Plans & pricing
Competitive with the market. Priced for a community.
We are not doing this to make money. Invest Hamilton County is an economic development organization, not a software company. Alex exists to achieve our Vision. We price to keep universal access intact and to cover the cost of trustworthy community infrastructure. That is why the first tier is free for every audience, why the free tier runs on the exact same evidence base as the highest tier, and why Hamilton County residents, employers, and non-profits pay a fraction of market rates. Your community already invested in this. Revenue from those outside the county funds more of it.
The HCEDC Board adopted this founding rate card on August 11, 2026, with CEO delegation. Founding pricing is held for early members when checkout opens. Any change to a rate or a floor returns to the Board.
Step 1 · Who is this for?
Schools and government price differently: Alex for Schools is arranged per district ($18,000/yr per corporation, counselor access free), and Alex for Cities & Counties membership is arranged with each community.
Step 2 · Where do you live or operate?
If you live or operate here, you see the lowest price on every line.
Residents: free forever. Employers and non-profits: free first tier, working tiers at a fraction of market rate. Your community already invested in this infrastructure. This is your return.
Outside Hamilton County
Peer communities, chambers, and organizations can license the same platform at fair rates that fund more of this work back home. Our Board approved out-of-county pricing on August 11, 2026. Each plan's rate ladder shows the out-of-county figure.
Join the out-of-county waitlist →Alex for Workforce
For people
The journey is free forever for every resident, on your own device. Alex Plus is the same price everywhere.
The full coached journey. The data dignity layer never goes behind a paywall.
- The complete Alex coached journey: where you are, where you're going, your next step
- Your skills priced from public federal data
- Stair-step moves with local programs and live local employers attached
- Your Career Pathway Report, the full career ladder, and every skill priced one by one
- Resume builder, interview prep and cover letter, including reading the resume you already have
- Printable Skill Passport and the Passport Pack: the employer-ready PDF with your evidence
- Employer-verified next steps, the same as everyone else sees
Two things, and everything else is free: your journey follows you between devices, and your Alex coach. Built to be canceled: when you land the job, we celebrate you into free alumni mode.
- Alex Coach included: 200 private coached conversations a month, grounded in your journey and local data, never used for training
- Your journey synced across devices, never lost
- Priority invitations to coached sessions with local partners
Alex for Workforce vs the market: the full comparison
What the same capability costs anywhere else. Market rates are what comparable tools and services cost elsewhere; estimated rates note vendors who do not publish pricing.
| What you get | Market rate | Hamilton County | Outside the county |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Alex coached journey Where you are, where you're going, your next step, your supports, your progress. Five coached stages with real wage ranges and real local moves. Career Pathways |
$100,000+ statewide contracts Career navigation platforms (FutureFit AI class) sold to government agencies (estimated) | Free
100% off
Free forever for everyone. Your community already invested in it. |
Peer community license $8,000 to $15,000/yr For communities outside Hamilton County. Approved by the Board on August 11, 2026; join the list while enrollment is finished. |
| Skill Passport A printable, employer-ready record of what your skills are worth, priced from federal wage data across 393 metro areas. Career Pathways |
$100 to $250/session Professional career coaching and resume services (estimated) | Free 100% off | Included in community license |
| Local programs and live employers, attached to every step Every recommended move comes with the training programs that teach it and the Hamilton County employers hiring for it right now, from their own career pages. Full Employment |
Free, but ad-funded Commercial job boards monetize your attention and your data | Free
No ads. No data sale. Your journey stays on your device unless you save it. |
Included in community license |
| Alex Plus Your Alex coach, and your journey synced across devices. Everything else on the worker side is free. Career Pathways |
$39.99/mo LinkedIn Premium Career | $15/mo
62% below
Built to be canceled. Land the job and we celebrate you into free alumni mode. |
$15/mo Same price everywhere. People are people. |
Alex for Business
For business
Founding pricing, held. Join now and your rate is locked for your first full year. See our terms for how pricing changes are handled.
A free account with the working basics.
- All public calculators: WOTC, OJT, tax credit stacker
- Workforce Signal dashboard, the county labor market at a glance
- Saved results and alerts
The working toolkit for one employer.
- Everything in Subscriber
- Benefits competitive quick-check for your industry
- Skill-Priced Req Design, widen your pool without lowering the bar
- Feeder Pool Expansion, your talent pool, sized with local employment
Member, plus a named analyst, your brand on the output, and co-built work scoped with your team.
- Everything in Member
- Skill-bundle compensation benchmarking on Indianapolis-area wage curves
- Employer consultation + written brief (one per year)
- Build-vs-Buy training-gap costing with OJT and WOTC netted in
Your whole sector, self-serve.
- Everything in Member
- Your Industry Dashboard: employment, wages, openings, and feeder flows for every role your sector runs
- Quarterly sector signal brief
Multi-employer workspaces for sector initiatives.
- Everything in Bespoke, for every coalition member
- Shared workspace: joint training pipelines, shared feeder analytics
- Coalition decision log and facilitation support
Conversational labor-market analysis on top of your dashboards.
- 300 coached conversations per month across your team seat
- Answers grounded in county data with sources; points to the dashboards for the math
- Never a compliance or hiring determination; an analyst, not an oracle
- Requires any paid employer plan; repriced independently as model costs move
That is what the market prices the vendor tools covered by the Member plan at, per year, per employer (see the comparison below; several vendor rates are estimates). Member is $1,500 a year for Hamilton County employers, because the community already paid for the infrastructure underneath it.
What lands at each level: the full entitlement matrix
Every deliverable in Alex for Business, by plan. Coalition includes everything for every member organization.
| Deliverable | Subscriber (free) | Member | Industry | Bespoke |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Plan your workforce | ||||
| Talent Blueprint | ||||
| Workforce Signal Dashboard | ||||
| Your Industry Dashboard | — | — | ||
| Find and recruit | ||||
| Grow Your Recruiting Pool | — | |||
| Hiring from Overlooked Talent Pools | — | |||
| Guaranteed-Interview Paths | — | — | — | |
| Design the role | ||||
| What Should a Role Pay? | — | — | — | |
| Benefits Competitive Quick-Check | — | |||
| Design a Job Post by Skill | — | |||
| Full Role Breakdown | — | |||
| Train and offset cost | ||||
| Build-vs-Buy Training Costing | — | — | — | |
| OJT Reimbursement Estimator | ||||
| WOTC Eligibility Quick-Check | ||||
| Indiana Tax Credit Stacker | ||||
| Recognition & Credentials | ||||
| Understand skills and place | ||||
| Skill Ladder Explorer | — | |||
| Skills & Credentials Explorer | ||||
| Community Need by Tract | ||||
| Resources and IHC services | ||||
| Employer Resource Navigator | ||||
| Employer Consultation + Brief | — | — | — | |
| Hospitality Staffing Diagnostic | — | |||
| Site Selection Support | ||||
| Named Analyst + Custom Drill-Downs | — | — | — | |
| White-Label Reports + API | — | — | — | |
| Bespoke Workforce Portal | — | — | — | |
| What Should This Nonprofit Role Pay? | — | — | — | |
| Organizational Culture Diagnostic | ||||
Alex for Business vs the market: the full comparison
The closest commercial alternative for the same job, and what it costs.
| What you get | Market rate | Hamilton County | Outside the county |
|---|---|---|---|
| Labor market intelligence Workforce Signal dashboard, 420 tracked occupations, hiring and churn, industry dashboards with openings, wages, and feeder flows. Research and Planning |
$12,000/yr Lightcast Developer tier at Hamilton County's population band (published consortium rate card) | Free at Subscriber; Industry plan $3,000/yr 75% below | Peer-county license $8,000 to $15,000/yr Approved by the Board on August 11, 2026; join the list while enrollment is finished. |
| Hiring tax credits: WOTC, OJT, Indiana credit stacking Three calculators that find the federal and state money most employers leave on the table, per hire and per project. Workplace Excellence |
15 to 20% of your credit Commercial WOTC processors typically take a cut of every credit they file (estimated) | Free
100% off
Keep your whole credit. That is the point. |
Included in community license |
| Skill-priced req design Decompose any job description into priced skills. See which requirements are expensive, which are affordable, and which are cosmetic, then widen your qualified pool without lowering the bar. Workplace Excellence |
$6,000 to $20,000/yr LinkedIn Talent Insights (buyer-reported quotes) (estimated) | Member plan, $1,500/yr for the full toolkit 75%+ below | Peer-county license, waitlist |
| Feeder pool expansion Your real recruiting pool: skill-adjacent occupations whose workers would gain by moving to your role, sized with local employment, with the one or two skills they'd need named in plain language. Full Employment |
$10,000 to $20,000/yr Workforce analytics platforms (Chmura JobsEQ class, estimated; vendor does not publish) (estimated) | Member plan, included included | Peer-county license, waitlist |
| Compensation benchmarking by skill bundle Indianapolis-area wage percentile curves for your roles, plus what the skill bundle you demand actually prices at. Aggregate market data only, never another employer's numbers. Workplace Excellence |
$12,000 to $20,000/yr Payscale MarketPay for employers under 500 employees (buyer-reported) (estimated) | Member plan, included included | Peer-county license, waitlist |
| Inclusive-hiring credential (InvestAbility) A consumer-grade learning platform plus Bronze to Platinum recognition that makes your organization a destination employer for overlooked talent. Employer-level data only. Workplace Excellence |
Six-figure engagements Recognition-program design by communications firms, with no software (estimated) | Free
100% off
Grant-funded program deliverable for Hamilton County employers. |
Peer license $8,000 to $14,000/yr Approved by the Board on August 11, 2026; join the list while enrollment is finished. |
| Benefits competitive quick-check Your benefits package versus national incidence rates for your industry. A fuller confidential gap report is free to any Hamilton County employer through the consultation program. Workplace Excellence |
$5,000 to $15,000 Compensation and benefits consulting study (estimated) | Free 100% off | Routed through research partners |
| Economic and fiscal impact analysis Jobs, earnings, output, property tax, and school impact for your expansion scenario, from the county's own input-output engine. Research and Planning |
$9,975/yr IMPLAN annual license (federal procurement record, FY26) | Free with an employer consultation 100% off | Via research partners |
| Sites, buildings, and commercial real estate intelligence Available properties, parcel-level market data, TIF and tax context for your location decision, built from public records. Research and Planning |
$5,000 to $12,000/yr CoStar single-market subscription (buyer-reported) (estimated) | Member plan, included included | Peer-county license, waitlist |
| Culture and performance diagnostics Research-grounded culture diagnostic, engagement measurement, and a performance operating system for first-time managers on up. Workplace Excellence |
$15/employee + five-figure consulting Gallup Q12 per-employee survey plus engagement consulting (published per-employee rate) | Scoped engagements from $2,000 | Scoped engagements |
| Your own bespoke workforce portal An enterprise-grade build: talent availability in your real commute shed, wages, feeder roles, ZIP targeting, and a recruiting playbook, on your own domain, refreshed on cadence. Workplace Excellence |
$60,000 to $150,000+/yr Replicating this stack piecemeal at market rates, before consulting fees (estimated) | Scoped with your team 97% below | $6,000 to $15,000 build + $2,000 to $5,000/yr refresh Statewide availability approved by the Board on August 11, 2026. |
| Hospitality staffing diagnostic The 24-question staffing diagnostic, recommendation engine, and bespoke ROI report built for hotels, restaurants, and venues with our tourism partners. Workplace Excellence |
$5,000 to $15,000 Hospitality operations consulting engagements (estimated) | Diagnostic included at Member; bespoke ROI report scoped from $5,000 | Peer-market license, waitlist |
| Site selection support Curated provider shortlists, full market analysis with Quality of Life scoring, and complete relocation onboarding for businesses moving to or expanding in Hamilton County. Research and Planning |
$25,000 to $65,000 Consulting-firm site-selection and market studies | From $500 (Provider Match) to $12,000/yr (ongoing partnership) 80%+ below | Via research partners |
Alex for Non-profits
For non-profits
Founding pricing, held. Join now and your rate is locked for your first full year. See our terms.
The community picture, free: your census tracts, plainly mapped.
- Tract Navigator: every census tract in the county, mapped and explorable
- ACS indicators per tract: population, income, poverty, housing, education, commuting
- Compare any tract to the county median, with sources and vintages on every value
- Printable tract profiles for grant narratives
A working data partner for one organization.
- Everything in Community
- Grant-aligned data reports for your applications (two per year)
- Targeted funding scans matched to your programs
- One working session with the Alex team per year
- Full employer toolkit for your own hiring
Deep collaboration for organizations carrying big missions.
- Everything in Mission Member
- A needs-assessment package for your service area
- Unlimited grant-aligned data reports
- Named analyst and priority turnaround
- Board-ready impact briefings, twice a year
Narrative help grounded in your community data.
- 200 coached conversations per month
- Statements of need with sources your funders can check
- Private by design; never used for training
- Requires Mission Member or Impact Partner; priced separately from your base plan
Alex for Non-profits vs the market: the full comparison
The consultant line items this replaces.
| What you get | Market rate | Hamilton County | Outside the county |
|---|---|---|---|
| Community data for grant narratives County and tract-level indicators across demographics, income, housing, health, and workforce, cited and vintage-stamped so funders can check the math. Research and Planning |
$3,000 to $10,000/yr PolicyMap and comparable data-subscription seats (estimated) | Free 100% off | Via research partners |
| Grant opportunity scans A quarterly digest of grant sources matched to Hamilton County non-profits, with targeted per-organization scans at the Member tier. Quality of Life |
$2,148 to $10,788/yr Instrumentl subscription tiers (published) | Digest free; targeted scans in Mission Member, $1,350/yr annual up to 85% below | Waitlist |
| Grant-aligned data reports A cited, funder-ready data report matched to your specific application. We produce the evidence; you and your grant writer tell the story. Quality of Life |
$1,000 to $8,000/proposal Grant consultant support per proposal (published fee guides) | From $250; two per year included in Mission Member 75%+ below | Waitlist |
| Community needs assessment A full needs-assessment package for your service area: 20+ indicators, benchmarks, narrative, and visuals, built on the same warehouse the county plans with. Quality of Life |
$15,000 to $50,000 Consultant-led community needs assessment (published guide ranges) | Included in Impact Partner, $2,700/yr annual; standalone from $1,500 90% below | Waitlist |
| Primary research surveys Designed, deployed, analyzed, and written up, folded into your needs assessment or engagement. Research and Planning |
$10,000 to $25,000 Vendor-outsourced survey research per engagement (estimated) | Bundled in engagements included | $2,000 to $5,000 per engagement, waitlist |
| Hiring and retention tools Non-profits are employers too. The full calculator suite (WOTC, OJT, credit stacking, benefits quick-check) works for your team. Workplace Excellence |
See Alex for Business Same tools, same market comparison | Free 100% off | Included in community license |
| Funder and foundation intelligence For grantmakers: sector health reports, community needs assessments at portfolio scale, impact measurement frameworks, and an annual sector intelligence subscription. Research and Planning |
$25,000 to $65,000/study Consulting-firm sector studies for foundations | Sector reports from $2,500; annual intelligence $7,500/yr 80%+ below | Via research partners |
We are a grant opportunity directory and evidence shop, not a grant-writing service. We produce the data and match you with local grant-writing professionals when you need one.
How joining works
Three steps, no surprises
Every audience has a real free tier, not a trial. Create an account, use the tools, keep them.
The rate card is adopted; paid checkout opens once enrollment is finished. Early members keep the founding figures on this page.
Month to month, cancel in two clicks, and when a tool has done its job we celebrate you out the door.
Questions
The honest answers
Who counts as "Hamilton County"?
Anyone who lives in the county, and any employer, non-profit, school, or unit of government that operates here. If that's you, you see the lowest price on every line, and residents never pay at all. Your community already invested in this infrastructure; local pricing is the return.
Why is this so much cheaper than the market rates listed?
Because we are not a vendor. Alex is built and run by Invest Hamilton County, the county's non-profit economic development organization, on data infrastructure the community already funds. Revenue covers costs and expands the mission; it does not have to return a margin to investors. Paid tiers widen the feature surface, never the truth: every tier gets the same data integrity.
When can I actually pay for a plan?
The Board adopted the rate card on August 11, 2026. Self-serve checkout is still being finished, so for now you can join the launch list from any plan card and we will reach out. Early members keep the founding pricing on this page.
Is the free tier actually free, or a trial?
Actually free, indefinitely. Residents get the whole career journey free forever. Employers and non-profits get a real working first tier at no cost. Free-tier users are the mission, not a sales funnel.
What happens to my data?
Your career journey computes on your own device and syncs to your account only if you opt in. Employer inputs stay yours: comparisons use aggregate market data, never another employer's numbers. Nothing is sold, no ad networks, no tracking pixels, and you can erase your data in two clicks.
I'm outside Hamilton County. Can I use this?
Yes. Our Board approved out-of-county pricing on August 11, 2026. Peer communities, chambers, and organizations license the platform at rates that fund more of this work back home. Self-serve enrollment is still being finished, so the out-of-county waitlist above is the front of that line. Larger engagements are scoped directly with our team.
About these numbers
Founding pricing. Every plan starts with the same data integrity as the free tier; paid tiers widen the feature surface and add coached conversations, never a different truth. Coach conversations are private, never used for training, and always grounded in the same public data. Market rates were researched July 2026 from published rate cards, procurement records, and buyer-reported ranges; lines marked estimated reflect vendors who do not publish pricing. Comparisons describe the closest commercial alternative for the same job, not identical products. Our Board approved out-of-county pricing on August 11, 2026.