Cost guide
How much does MVP development actually cost?
There is no single market price, because 'MVP' means different things to different vendors. Here is how the common models compare, and what a fixed $3,500 sprint does and does not cover.
Free 15-minute fit check · no equity · no retainer
- $3,500
- fixed price
- 14 days
- to launch
- 100%
- code ownership
- No equity
- ever taken
- No retainer
- no hourly billing
The four models
What you are really choosing between.
General descriptions of how each model tends to work. Actual quotes vary widely by vendor, country and scope, so treat these as orientation rather than benchmarks.
Development agency
Typically five figures and up
Discovery, design and build phases with a project manager between you and the engineers. Change orders are common as scope shifts.
Risk: Cost and timeline risk sits mostly with you.
Freelance developer
Highly variable, often hourly
Direct access and lower rates, with quality and security depending entirely on the individual. Availability can change mid-project.
Risk: Single point of failure; ownership rarely documented.
In-house hire
A salaried commitment before validation
The right answer once the product is proven, but a long recruitment cycle and a permanent cost before you know the idea works.
Risk: Highest fixed commitment, slowest to start.
Fixed-price sprint
$3,500 total, staged
A written blueprint, a locked price and a production-ready build in 14 days, with the code transferred to you at handoff.
Risk: Scope is capped by design; large systems do not fit.
Cost drivers
What actually moves the number.
Number of workflows
One core workflow fits a sprint. Three separate workflows is three times the product, whatever the price model.
User roles
Every additional role multiplies the permission rules, the screens and the testing surface.
Payments
Checkout is quick. Subscriptions, proration, refunds and payouts to third parties are not.
Integrations
A documented modern API is fast. A legacy system without documentation is the single biggest cost risk in any build.
Data complexity
Simple records are cheap. Historical reporting, permissions per field and audit trails are not.
Design bespokeness
A clean systemised interface ships fast. A fully bespoke visual identity is a separate project.
Our number
$3,500 fixed, in three staged payments.
$500
Blueprint · day 0
$1,750
Build · day 7
$1,250
Delivery · day 14
Cost questions
Answered without the hedging.
What drives the cost of an MVP?
Scope, first. Then integrations, the number of user roles, whether payments are involved, and how much of the design is bespoke. Time spent deciding what not to build reduces cost more than any other factor.
Why do agency quotes vary so much?
Because most quote against effort, not outcome. Two agencies reading the same brief can assume very different scopes. A written blueprint removes that ambiguity before anyone prices the work.
What ongoing costs should I expect after launch?
Hosting, a domain, email delivery and, for AI products, model usage. For an early-stage MVP with modest traffic this is typically a small monthly amount billed to your own accounts.
Is a cheap MVP a false economy?
It is when 'cheap' means a prototype you cannot launch or code nobody can maintain. What matters is whether the delivered product is deployed, secure, documented and owned by you.
Next step
Find out if your idea fits in 14 days.
Tell us what you want to build. We reply within one business day with a straight yes, no, or here is what we would cut.