Costs & rates · 2026

How much does it cost to build an MVP?

Honest cost ranges for six common MVP types, from US freelancers to offshore agencies, built from real 2025 developer pay data rather than agency sales pitches.

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Short answerA simple web app MVP costs about $68K–$125K with US freelancers, $104K–$234K with a US agency, or $16K–$38K offshore. A SaaS MVP runs $244K–$487K with a US agency, $97K–$207K in Eastern Europe.

MVP cost calculator

Pick the closest scope and adjust the timeline. Ranges run from lean to fully loaded rates.

Build cost only. Hosting, third-party services and maintenance are extra (see below).

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Cost by scope and engagement model

Total build cost. Low end: shorter timeline and leaner rates. High end: longer timeline and premium rates.

ScopeUS freelanceUS agencyE. Europe agencyLatAm agencyS. Asia agency
Prototype / proof of concept4–6 weeks$17K – $31K$26K – $57K$10K – $24K$7K – $17K$4K – $9K
Simple web app MVP8–12 weeks$68K – $125K$104K – $234K$41K – $99K$29K – $70K$16K – $38K
SaaS MVP with billing & integrations12–16 weeks$158K – $260K$244K – $487K$97K – $207K$69K – $146K$37K – $79K
Cross-platform mobile app + backend14–20 weeks$234K – $412K$360K – $772K$143K – $327K$101K – $232K$54K – $125K
AI-powered product (LLM / RAG)12–18 weeks$186K – $344K$287K – $645K$114K – $274K$81K – $194K$43K – $104K
Two-sided marketplace16–24 weeks$292K – $539K$449K – $1.01M$178K – $428K$126K – $303K$68K – $163K

Hourly rates by role

What each role on an MVP team typically bills, by engagement model.

RoleUS salary (median)US freelanceUS agencyE. Europe agencyLatAm agencyS. Asia agency
Full-stack developer$140,000$88–108$135–202$54–86$38–61$20–33
Back-end developer$175,500$110–135$169–253$67–107$47–76$26–41
Front-end developer$150,000$94–115$144–216$57–92$41–65$22–35
Mobile developer$175,500$110–135$169–253$67–107$47–76$26–41
DevOps / cloud engineer$175,000$109–135$168–252$67–107$47–76$25–41
AI/ML engineer$189,500$118–146$182–273$72–116$51–82$28–44
Tech lead / product manager$200,045$125–154$192–289$76–122$54–87$29–47
UX/UI designer$104,000$65–80$100–150$40–64$28–45$15–24
QA engineer$104,300$65–80$100–150$40–64$28–45$15–24

US salaries: medians for employed US developers by role (Stack Overflow Developer Survey 2025), or BLS May 2025 medians for designers and QA. Offshore rates scale US pay by each region's median developer pay: Canada/UK/W. Europe 54%, Eastern Europe 32%, Latin America 22%, India/South Asia 12% of US.

What actually drives the cost

A full-stack developer's pay works out to about $67/hr in the US. What decides your budget is how many weeks of that time your scope needs. The biggest levers:

  • Number of user types. Every distinct role (buyer, seller, admin, team member) adds screens, permissions and test cases. Marketplaces cost more mainly because they are two products.
  • Platforms. Web only is cheapest. Native mobile roughly doubles front-end work; a cross-platform framework (React Native, Flutter) recovers much of that.
  • Integrations. Payments, calendars, CRMs and data imports are each small projects with their own edge cases. Budget 1–2 weeks for each non-trivial one.
  • Compliance. Healthcare (HIPAA), finance or enterprise security reviews (SOC 2) can add 20–50% for audit logging, access controls and documentation.
  • Design polish. A clean component-library UI is fast. A custom design system is a separate project.
  • AI features. The model API is cheap to call; getting reliable output is not. Evaluation, guardrails and cost controls are where the time goes.

Hidden costs and how to save

Costs founders forget

  • Maintenance: a common rule of thumb is 15–25% of the build cost per year.
  • Infrastructure: hosting, database, email, monitoring: usually a few hundred dollars a month at MVP scale. LLM usage can be much more.
  • Your own time: someone has to write requirements, answer questions quickly and test every release.
  • App stores: Apple $99/year, Google $25 once, plus review cycles on every release.
  • Version two: keep budget in reserve to act on what the MVP teaches you.

Cut cost without cutting corners

  • Scope the MVP around one core workflow, done well.
  • Use managed services for commodity pieces: hosted auth, Stripe, a managed database.
  • Start with a generated admin panel instead of custom back-office screens.
  • Pick a stack the market can staff (see hiring difficulty by stack).
  • Pay for a 1–2 week discovery phase before committing to the full build.

Fixed price or time and materials?

Fixed price works when scope is small and fully specified; the vendor prices in risk and every change becomes a negotiation. Time and materials fits how MVPs really go. Protect yourself with two-week milestones, a budget cap per milestone and the right to stop after any of them.

Before you sign with a dev shop

Questions to ask a dev shop

  • Who exactly will work on my project, and can I speak to them?
  • Can I see a product you built that is still running in production?
  • Who owns the code, designs and accounts, and when does ownership transfer?
  • How do you handle scope changes, and how are they priced?
  • What does handover look like if we part ways after the MVP?
  • How many hours of overlap will we have each working day?

Red flags

  • A firm fixed price before any discovery or written spec.
  • No access to the code repository until the final payment.
  • Senior people in the sales call, unnamed juniors on the project.
  • No automated tests or staging environment in the plan.
  • Hosting and domain accounts registered in the agency's name.
  • Reluctance to share references from past clients.

Frequently asked questions

How much does it cost to build an MVP in 2026?

For a simple web app MVP (8–12 weeks), roughly $68K–$125K with US freelancers, $104K–$234K with a US agency, and $16K–$38K with an agency in India or South Asia. A SaaS MVP with billing and integrations runs $244K–$487K with a US agency.

How long does it take to build an MVP?

Most MVPs take 8–16 weeks once scope is agreed. Prototypes can ship in 4–6 weeks; marketplaces and mobile apps with a backend typically take 4–6 months.

Is it cheaper to hire freelancers or an agency?

Freelancers usually cost 40–50% less per hour than a US agency, but you take on project management, design coordination and QA yourself. Without a technical co-founder, an agency's project management is often worth the premium.

Should I outsource my MVP offshore?

Offshore and nearshore agencies typically cost 60–85% less than a US agency, but results depend heavily on vetting, clear written specs and time-zone overlap. Nearshore teams are a common middle ground.

Fixed price or time and materials?

Fixed price suits small, well-defined scopes. For most MVPs, time and materials with a capped budget per milestone is more honest and usually cheaper overall.

Methodology

  • Role pay: median total compensation for employed US developers by primary role (Stack Overflow Developer Survey 2025); designers and QA use BLS May 2025 medians. Hourly = annual ÷ 2,080.
  • Engagement models: billed rate = pay × markup. Assumed markups: US freelancers 1.3–1.6×; US agencies 2–3×; offshore and nearshore agencies 2.5–4× local pay, because they sell into US-priced markets and staff senior developers.
  • Regional pay: each region's median developer pay relative to the US, pooled across its main countries in the same survey.
  • Scope scenarios: team composition and timelines are typical ranges, not quotes. Use the calculator to adjust the timeline.