The short answer
| Project type | Typical price with us | Typical timeline |
|---|---|---|
| Focused internal tool or workflow app | From $12k | 4–8 weeks |
| Business platform (portal + admin + integrations) | $30k–$80k | 2–4 months |
| Complex, multi-tenant or enterprise-integrated system | $80k+ | 4–9 months, phased |
What the market says
- Clutch pricing data (review-based and weighted toward offshore firms) shows most projects between $10,000 and $49,999, with an average project around $132,480 over roughly 13 months, and typical hourly rates of $25–$49.
- Saritasa, a US firm, estimates $50,000–$100,000 for an MVP or internal tool, $100,000–$250,000 for a mid-size web or mobile app, and $250,000–$1M+ for complex SaaS or enterprise systems, with labour from about $25/hour offshore to $250+/hour for specialized US firms.
- SOLTECH, an Atlanta firm, cites $75,000–$100,000 as a small-business baseline.
- For context, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reports a median annual wage of about $136,000 for software developers (May 2025) - before benefits, recruiting and management.
The spread is real: the same "customer portal" can cost $20,000 or $200,000 depending on scope, quality, team location and how much risk the vendor prices in.
What actually drives the cost
Roles and permissions
Every user type (admin, staff, manager, customer, partner) needs its own screens and rules. Three roles is simple; ten is a different project.
Screens and workflows
Count the distinct things people do - submit, review, approve, schedule, pay, report. Each workflow with its own states and notifications adds design, build and testing time.
Integrations
Accounting, payments, CRM, e-signature, messaging, ERP. Each adds build and ongoing maintenance, and some APIs are much harder to work with than others.
Data migration
Importing years of records from spreadsheets or legacy systems - and cleaning them - is often underestimated.
Compliance and security requirements
Audit logs, data retention rules, encryption requirements and third-party security reviews add scope, especially in finance, health and legal work.
Platforms
Web only is cheapest. Adding iOS and Android apps, offline use or desktop clients increases scope.
Pricing models
| Model | How it works | Good for | Watch out for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fixed price | One price for a written scope | Clear requirements, budget certainty | Vague scopes, which lead to disputes |
| Time & materials | Pay for hours used | Evolving products, R&D | Budget overruns without strong management |
| Monthly retainer / team | A team for a monthly fee | Ongoing product development | Paying for capacity you don't use |
We work on fixed-price scopes for builds, because they force the clarity that makes projects succeed. Changes mid-project are written up as change requests with their own price, and you decide.
Costs after launch
- Hosting: roughly $50–$500 a month for typical small-business applications; more for high-traffic or data-heavy systems.
- Maintenance: 15–20% of the build cost per year for security updates, dependency upgrades, integration changes and small improvements.
- Third-party services: email delivery, SMS, payments, maps, AI model usage - billed at their published rates.
How to spend less without getting less
- Phase it. Ship the workflow that saves the most time first; fund the next phase from the savings.
- Buy commodity parts. Use proven services for auth, payments and email instead of building them.
- Write down acceptance criteria. Precise scopes are cheaper to deliver and to price.
- Clean your data early. Migration is faster when the source is tidy.
- Choose a team that shows working software weekly. Problems caught in week two are cheap; problems caught in month four are not.
Want a real number for your project? Tell us about it on the quote page - you'll get a written scope and a fixed price.
Sources
- Clutch - Software development pricing
- Saritasa - How much does custom software cost
- SOLTECH - Custom software development cost
- U.S. BLS - Software developers (Occupational Outlook Handbook)
Prices, plans and laws change. We review this guide periodically; check the linked sources for the latest figures. Nothing here is legal or financial advice.
