What Software Actually Costs, in Dollars
No bronze, silver and gold. Software is priced by how you buy it — a fixed-price build, a developer by the month, hours on a retainer, or a one-off audit. Every figure below is indicative and becomes a real number only after we have scoped your project.
Price Follows the Engagement, Not a Tier
The same feature costs a different amount depending on who carries the risk of the estimate being wrong. That is the real difference between the models below.
Fixed price
You know the number before you commit and we carry the risk of our own estimate. It requires a scope we can both describe, which is why design and prototype sign-off come first. Best for a first version with a defined finish line.
By the month
You buy capacity rather than a deliverable, and you keep the right to change your mind every two weeks. Cheaper per feature over a long roadmap, but the total is open-ended because you decide when to stop.
By the hour
A block of hours each month for a product that is already live. Sensible for upkeep and small changes, a poor fit for a whole build because nothing caps the total.
Three Bands for a First Version
Most first builds land in one of these three shapes. Ranges are indicative and in US dollars; the confirmed figure comes after discovery and prototype sign-off.
Simple MVP
$12,000–$25,000 indicative
One platform, a focused idea, roughly 8 to 12 weeks.
- One platform: iOS, Android or web
- Roughly 10 to 18 screens, one user type
- Sign-in, core workflow, simple admin view
- One or two straightforward integrations
- Design, build, QA, launch and handover
Standard MVP
$25,000–$50,000 indicative
Two platforms or several user roles, roughly 12 to 20 weeks.
- Mobile plus web, or web plus a real admin panel
- Two or three user roles with different permissions
- Payments, notifications and file handling
- Custom backend, API and reporting views
- Everything in the simple band
Complex Product
$50,000–$100,000+ indicative
Multi-tenant, real-time or regulated. Typically 20 weeks and up.
- SaaS multi-tenancy, subscriptions and seats
- Real-time features: live tracking, chat, collaboration
- Deep integrations with systems you do not control
- Compliance obligations and audit trails
- Often phased, with a smaller paid discovery first
Illustrative bands, not a price list. They exist so you can tell within about a minute whether your idea is a $20,000 conversation or a $70,000 one. Nothing here is a quote.
Developers, Retainers and Audits
Not every engagement is a build. These three cover ongoing work, existing products and the cheapest possible way to find out whether you want to work with us.
Dedicated Developer
$6,000–$9,000 per engineer / month
Full-time, named and working only on your roadmap.
- Rate depends on seniority and specialism
- One month minimum, 30 days notice to stop
- Project management and QA share included
- Scale up or down at the start of any month
Maintenance Retainer
$65–$95 per hour
A monthly block of hours for software that is already live.
- 10 hours a month at the top of the band
- 20 to 40 hours a month in the middle
- 40 hours and above at the bottom of the band
- Unused hours roll over one month, not forever
Code Audit
$2,500–$4,500 one-off
A written verdict on code somebody else wrote.
- Architecture, security and data-handling review
- Honest finish-it or rewrite-it recommendation
- Costed plan for whichever route wins
- Yours to keep, even if you hire someone else
The audit is the cheapest way to start working with us: a small, fixed, finite piece of work that tells you how we think before you commit to a build.
What Moves the Number
Two apps that sound identical on a call can differ by a factor of three. These are the variables that do it.
Pushes the price up
- Two native platforms instead of one cross-platform build, which is close to two codebases to write and test.
- Screen count — the single most reliable predictor of effort, ahead of how clever the idea is.
- Integrations with systems you do not control, especially older ones with poor documentation or no sandbox.
- Real-time features: live tracking, chat, collaborative editing and anything that must stay in sync across devices.
- Compliance obligations such as HIPAA or PCI, which add audit trails, access controls and review time.
- Multiple user roles, because every role multiplies the permission cases that must be built and tested.
- Custom design work and animation beyond a clean, standard interface.
Brings the price down
- Launching on one platform first and adding the second once you know people use it.
- Cutting version one to the single workflow that proves the idea, and deferring the rest on purpose.
- Using proven services for payments, authentication, messaging and maps rather than building them.
- Accepting a standard design system instead of a bespoke visual language for the first release.
- Having your content, logos and business rules ready at kickoff instead of mid-sprint.
- One decision-maker who can approve inside two business days.
- A back office that is a simple admin view at first, rather than a full internal product.
Included, and Never Included
Third-party costs are real and they are yours. We would rather you see them on this page than in an invoice.
In every fixed-price build
- Discovery, UI and UX design, clickable prototype
- Development of every screen in the signed scope
- QA on real devices and automated tests where they pay for themselves
- Project management and end-of-day written updates
- Deployment setup, documentation and handover
- Post-launch window for fixing defects in what we built
Priced in if you need it
- App store submission and review handling
- Data migration from an existing system
- Infrastructure setup and cost tuning in your cloud account
- In-app copywriting when you would rather we drafted it
- Training sessions for the team who will use an internal tool
Third-party costs, at list price
- Apple and Google developer account fees
- Paid APIs, model usage and software licences
- Cloud hosting, storage and bandwidth after launch
- SMS, email delivery and push notification services
- Domains, stock imagery and paid fonts
Outside what we sell
- Marketing, app store optimisation and paid acquisition
- Legal advice, or writing your privacy policy and terms
- A markup on third-party services routed through us
- Any guarantee of app store approval or of downloads
- Work outside the signed scope without a written change request
You Never Pay Far Ahead of the Work
A typical fixed-price split. The exact percentages are written into the contract before you sign, and they are negotiable.
On signing
Roughly a quarter of the total, covering discovery and design. Work starts the day it clears.
At prototype sign-off
Roughly a quarter, once the screens and clickable prototype are approved and the scope is fixed.
At feature complete
Roughly a third, when every agreed feature is built and in your hands on a test build.
At launch
The balance on release and handover. Intellectual property transfers in full at this point.
Monthly engagements are invoiced in advance for the coming month; retainers are invoiced monthly for the agreed block of hours. Everything is quoted and billed in US dollars.
An Estimate Is Not a Quote, and We Will Not Blur the Two
Everything on this page is an estimate: a range built from projects of a similar shape. It becomes a quote — a fixed number in a contract — only after discovery, when we have a screen inventory, a list of integrations and a signed-off prototype. Anyone who gives you a firm price for a mobile app on a first phone call is either guessing or planning to make it back through change requests.
Start with the calculator for a range in about a minute, then book the estimate call to turn it into something you can budget against.
Questions About Cost and Payment
What is included in a fixed-price MVP?
Discovery, UI and UX design, the clickable prototype, all development for the agreed screens, QA on real devices, deployment and environment setup, app store submission where relevant, technical documentation, handover and a post-launch window in which defects are fixed at no charge. Project management and the daily written updates are part of the price rather than a separate line item. What is not included is anything outside the signed scope, and third-party costs that you pay directly.
How does payment work?
Fixed-price projects are billed against milestones, typically an initial payment on signing, one at prototype sign-off, one at feature complete and the balance at launch, with the exact split written into the contract before you sign it. Dedicated developers are invoiced monthly in advance. Support retainers are invoiced monthly for the agreed block of hours. Everything is quoted and billed in US dollars.
What happens if the project takes longer than estimated?
On a fixed-price project that is our problem rather than yours. If we underestimated the work we absorb the extra time, which is the entire point of buying it that way. The exception is scope: if the extra time comes from something you asked for after sign-off, it is quoted as a change request and you approve the number before anything starts. On a monthly dedicated team you pay only for the months you use, so the timeline stays under your control.
What is not included in the price?
Third-party costs that are genuinely yours: Apple and Google developer account fees, paid API and software licence fees, cloud hosting after launch, SMS and email delivery charges, domain names, stock imagery and paid fonts. We set all of these up in your own accounts so you pay list price instead of a marked-up version routed through us. Marketing, legal advice and content writing also sit outside the build price unless separately agreed.
Do you work hourly?
For maintenance, small changes and support on a product that already exists, yes, against a monthly block of hours at an agreed rate. For new builds we prefer a fixed price or a monthly dedicated team, because open-ended hourly billing on a large build gives you no cost ceiling and gives us no incentive to be efficient. If you specifically want hourly billing for a new build we will talk it through, but we will usually recommend one of the other two.
Get a Real Number for Your Project
Tell us what you want built and we will come back with a scope, a range and the assumptions behind it — in writing, at no charge.