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If you already want a quote, our fixed-price MVP page has the scope and packages. This guide is for the step before: working out a sensible budget, and why quotes for the same idea can differ by a factor of ten.
MVP cost by type: published price ranges
| MVP type | What it is | Published market price | Typical timeline | 99 Francs |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Landing page and waitlist | One page that collects sign-ups before the product exists | Custom Framer site from US$3,000 (Framer Websites) | About a week | From US$1,500, paid once when it is done |
| Clickable prototype | Clickable screens to test with users, no backend | US$5,000–15,000 (Purrweb) | 3–6 weeks | Product design for 8–12 screens: US$4,500–9,000 |
| Web app | One core workflow, sign-up, data and an admin view | US$10,000–50,000 basic (Designli); US$15,000–30,000 simple no-code (LowCode Agency); US$20,000–65,000 for most (Upsilon) | 6 weeks to 3 months | From US$5,000, in fixed-price phases |
| Mobile app | A cross-platform iOS and Android app with one core flow | US$25,000–40,000 (Purrweb calculator); US$30,000–80,000 (its FAQ) | 3–4 months to App Store submission | Development from US$8,000 |
| AI product | An agent, copilot or search over your own data | US$20,000–65,000 for most (Upsilon, AI-focused); +US$15,000 for AI (Purrweb); US$150,000–400,000+ complex (Designli) | About 3 months | Single-workflow AI agents from US$2,500; typical agents US$5,000–15,000 |
| Marketplace or multi-role product | Two or more user types, payments and moderation | US$50,000–150,000 (Designli); US$30,000–60,000 for mid-complexity builds (LowCode Agency) | 8–14 weeks or more | Fixed after a call, in fixed-price phases |
Sources, checked 30 October 2026, all from each agency's own pricing: Designli (basic, moderate and complex bands), LowCode Agency (simple, mid-complexity and complex tiers with timelines), Upsilon (MVP minimum and typical range), Purrweb (calculator, FAQ and prototype prices) and Framer Websites. We left out "average MVP cost" figures from articles that do not say whose prices they are. For these agencies and others side by side, see our shortlist of MVP development agencies for non-technical founders.
What drives the cost of an MVP
Screens are a poor way to estimate an MVP. Two products with the same twelve screens can differ by tens of thousands of dollars, because the cost sits in what happens behind them. Purrweb's public calculator shows this well, because it prices features one by one on top of a US$25,000–40,000 base:
| Feature | Added to a Purrweb MVP estimate |
|---|---|
| Authentication | +US$3,000 |
| Admin panel or CMS | +US$6,000 |
| Chat | +US$7,000 |
| Payments | +US$8,000 |
| Integrations and APIs | +US$8,000 |
| AI | +US$15,000 |
- Platforms. A web app is one codebase. iOS and Android add a second surface to test and a store review to pass; a cross-platform framework keeps that close to one.
- User roles. Every additional type of user, such as buyer and seller or patient and clinician, brings its own flows, permissions and edge cases.
- Integrations. Payments, calendars, CRMs and other companies' APIs take more time than they look on a screen, because their failures have to be handled too.
- AI. A model call is cheap to add and expensive to make reliable: evaluation, guardrails, a fallback for wrong answers and the running cost of every request.
- How finished the design is. Arriving with tested screens takes weeks out of a build; arriving with an idea adds them back.
- Who builds it, and where. Rates differ several times over between a large US agency, a European studio and an offshore team, and between a big team and a small senior one.
- Compliance. Health, finance and children's data bring reviews, audit trails and hosting rules before the first user signs up.
How to keep an MVP budget small
- Write down the one assumption the MVP has to prove. Every feature that does not help prove it moves to version two.
- Build for one type of user first. A marketplace can launch with one side handled by hand.
- Do by hand what software would automate later: approvals, matching, onboarding calls.
- Test the promise with a landing page and a waitlist before paying for the product behind it.
- Launch on one platform: the web first, or one mobile platform, unless your users clearly live on both.
- Keep part of the budget for the weeks after launch, when real users show what to fix.
Fixed price or hourly: what it means for the budget
An hourly or time-and-materials quote protects the agency when the scope moves; a fixed price protects you, as long as the scope is written down. Our answer on building an MVP at a fixed price compares the two, and how long an MVP takes covers the timeline. Whatever the model, ask when the first invoice is due: before work starts, or after you have seen something working. Upsilon, for example, takes no advance payment and invoices every two sprints.
What an MVP costs with 99 Francs
We build MVPs from US$5,000 in fixed-price phases. The scope and price of each phase are agreed before it starts; you pay at the end of the phase, once you have seen it working, and there is no deposit. Either side can stop between phases, and you keep the code, designs and content produced so far; these are the same terms as on how we work. A tightly scoped first release, with one primary user and one core action, takes two to three weeks; larger products run as several phases. The packages and what each includes are on our MVP development services page, and the payment model is explained step by step in how we build an MVP with no upfront payment.
When the design should come first, product design for 8–12 screens is US$4,500–9,000 on our product design page, and our mobile app development starts from US$8,000 for a cross-platform build. One founder in Cape Town came to us with only an idea for a game; we took it through game design and native prototypes to a Telegram Mini App with a server, leaderboard and admin panel, in about three weeks of active development (CryptoCrush).
Costs that come after launch
- Hosting, database and email sending. Small at MVP scale, growing with users.
- Store accounts for a mobile app. Apple charges a yearly developer fee and Google a one-time one.
- AI usage. Every model call is billed, so the running cost grows with each active user.
- The first users. Ads, content or outreach; what users cost after an app MVP launches shows real install prices from our own apps.
- Iteration. The first weeks after launch are when real users show what to change; see what happens after the MVP launches.
