How much does custom software development cost?

The short answer

Custom software covers anything from one integration to a platform that runs a business. The price follows the scope, so the table starts with the smaller projects. These are our typical prices, not a quote.

• Every price includes interface design for the agreed scope, engineering, testing, deployment to your accounts and 30 days of bug fixes.
• Hosting, licences, AI models and paid APIs are billed to you directly.
• A quote far below these numbers is usually for a prototype, a no-code build or work that leaves out testing and failure handling.

What makes a project a platform

A project usually becomes a platform when several of these are true at once. Each adds work that a smaller project does not have.

We have built platforms of this kind. One is a load management platform for a freight brokerage, built end to end, with loads, carriers and money in both directions on the same records. Another is the backend of a guest benefits platform, which turns property bookings into guest passes and keeps them correct when bookings change.

• More than one kind of user, including people outside your company: customers, partners or suppliers with their own accounts.
• Several integrations that the core workflow depends on.
• Money moving through the system: payments, invoices, payouts or reconciliation.
• Records that change after they are created, by people and by other systems.
• Requirements for audit history, detailed permissions or regulated data.
• An existing system to take over and move forward without stopping the business.

How fixed-price stages work

A platform is not priced as one large project with a single launch date. It is split into stages of two to four weeks. Each stage has a written scope, a fixed price and acceptance criteria, and ends with working software in use.

You commit to one stage at a time. After each one you can continue, change direction or stop. You pay for the work done and keep everything built so far.

New ideas that appear during a stage go into the next one with their own price, so the current stage never drifts.

• Start with a 30-minute call. If the scope is clear, you get a written fixed quote within one or two business days.
• If the scope is open and the project is $10,000 or more, a scoping sprint of three to five business days produces a plan, an architecture and a fixed price for the build. It costs $1,500 and is credited in full if we build it.
• Larger projects are paid per milestone, so each payment matches delivered work.
• The code, repository and infrastructure are in your accounts from the first day.

When a smaller project is the better start

Not every problem needs a platform. If one part of the business hurts, start there. It costs less and shows what a larger system would really need.

Smaller projects can later become parts of a platform. The code stays yours, so nothing is thrown away when the scope grows.

• Data typed into two systems by hand: an integration, from $3,500.
• A recurring process run by copying and checking: process automation, from $3,500.
• Documents or emails read and re-typed every day: an AI workflow, from $6,000, with a person reviewing anything uncertain.
• A team running its work in spreadsheets beside a CRM: a custom CRM or internal tool, from $10,000.
• A new product that needs real users and payments: an MVP, from $12,000.

Fixed price vs time and materials

With a fixed price you know the cost before work starts, and the supplier carries the risk of underestimating. It needs a scope written precisely enough to check against: which users, which journeys, which integrations and what happens when things fail.

Time and materials means you pay for the hours worked. It suits work whose scope cannot be fixed in advance, such as investigating an unfamiliar legacy system or research where each step depends on the last result.

We work at a fixed price per stage by default. Time and materials, at $60 an hour, is only for work whose scope genuinely cannot be fixed, and the aim is to reach a point where the next stage can be.

• Fixed price: known cost, scope written up front, changes go into the next stage.
• Time and materials: flexible scope, final cost known only afterwards, hours need close tracking.
• Either way: ask to see working software every week, not only status reports.

Hidden costs to plan for

The build is the largest line, but rarely the only one. Ask about each of these before you compare totals.

• Hosting and third-party services: cloud, email, file storage, SMS, AI model usage and paid APIs. With us these are billed to your accounts directly, so you see the real cost.
• Data migration: moving records from spreadsheets or an old system, with checks that totals match.
• Your team's time: someone has to answer questions, make decisions and test each stage. A stage waits when decisions do.
• Design beyond the agreed scope: a brand identity, a full design system or marketing design are separate from interface design for the build.
• Security and compliance work for regulated data, such as reviews, audit logging and data-processing agreements.
• Rollout: training, moving work that is already in progress and running the old and new systems side by side for a while.
• Maintenance after launch: our monthly support starts at $1,200 for 20 hours. For a product that keeps evolving, dedicated development is $3,500 a month for 60 hours.

How to compare custom software quotes

Quotes for the same system can differ several times over. Before comparing totals, check that they describe the same work.

• Is the price fixed for a written scope, or an hourly estimate that can grow?
• Is the work split into stages you can stop after, or one large commitment?
• Which users, journeys and integrations are included, and what is explicitly excluded?
• Are design, testing, failure handling, deployment and documentation in the price?
• Which running costs will you pay, and to whom?
• Who owns the code, the repository and the cloud accounts from day one?
• How long is the warranty for bugs, and what does support cost after it?
• Who will you talk to every day: someone who writes the code, or an account manager?

Frequently asked questions