What does an MVP cost?
For a real, production-grade MVP in 2026, expect $4k–$8k for a single-feature web app, $8k–$20k for something with auth, a database and payments, and $25k+ once you add multi-tenant accounts, dashboards or a mobile shell. We've shipped at every band — Fuel Finder sat at the bottom, Send Feedback in the middle.
What pushes the price up?
Three things, in order: scope creep (a 'small' admin panel doubles the build), bespoke design systems (Figma-to-pixel-perfect adds weeks), and integrations with old systems that don't have APIs. Everything else is rounding error.
Where can you safely cut?
Skip the marketing site for v1 — one landing route is enough. Skip role hierarchies — one user type ships in days. Skip the mobile app — a good PWA covers 90% of cases. Skip the analytics dashboard — Plausible plus a weekly CSV does the job.
What you should never cut
Auth done properly. A real database with backups. HTTPS and a custom domain. Error tracking. These are 5% of the cost and 95% of whether the thing survives its first paying user.
How we quote
Fixed price, scoped to two weeks. If we can't fit it in two weeks, we say so and we cut scope together — we don't pad timelines to justify a bigger invoice.