The short answer
Most founders ask this question hoping for one number. The honest answer is a range, and the range depends less on screens than on what your product has to get right. A focused MVP — one core user, one core job, built to be used by real people — typically costs between $10,000 and $20,000 and takes about four weeks.
Where you land in that range comes down to a handful of decisions you can make before any code is written.
What moves the price
What $10k buys vs. what $20k buys
| Area | Around $10k | Around $20k |
|---|---|---|
| Users | One role + admin | Several roles, permissions |
| Money | Simple payments | Multi-party splits, ledger |
| Data | Your own data | External feeds, scraping, AI |
| Controls | Secure login, monitoring | + approvals, audit trail |
Illustrative guide — your Build Plan sets the exact scope and price.
Hidden costs founders miss
The build is only part of the bill. Hosting, third-party services and ongoing fixes all add up — but the costliest surprise is rework. Money stored the wrong way, or a prototype that has to be rebuilt before launch, can cost more than doing it right the first time.
The cheapest build is the one you only pay for once.
How to get a number you can trust
Ask for a short, paid planning phase before the build. It should produce a written scope — what's in, what's out — a data and security plan, a timeline and a fixed price. If the developer can't give you those, you're buying an estimate, not a quote.
Independent senior developer for real-estate and fintech founders. Top Rated Plus on Upwork with 100% Job Success. Builds MVPs, rescues stalled builds and hardens AI prototypes.
See client work →