MVP Cost Calculator
Estimate your development cost, timeline, and team requirements in under 2 minutes. Get a clear picture before you start building.
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How Our MVP Cost Calculator Works
Estimating the cost of building a Minimum Viable Product (MVP) is one of the first challenges every founder faces. Get it wrong, and you might run out of runway before reaching product-market fit. Our free MVP calculator uses data from hundreds of successful projects to provide accurate estimates based on your specific requirements.
The calculator walks you through four simple steps. First, you select your project type—whether it's a SaaS application, marketplace, mobile app, internal tool, or AI-powered product. Each type has different base costs and complexities that affect the final estimate.
Next, you choose from our library of common MVP features. Authentication, payments, dashboards, messaging—each feature adds a known cost and time increment based on real project data. The calculator highlights features that are particularly relevant to your project type.
Then you select your design complexity level. A basic design using proven component libraries is fastest and most cost-effective. Custom designs with unique branding add more time, and premium designs with animations and micro-interactions require additional investment.
Finally, you choose your target platform. Web-only is the most efficient choice for most MVPs. Adding mobile support (iOS and Android) increases costs significantly but may be essential for certain products. The calculator adjusts all estimates based on your platform choice.
Within seconds, you get a detailed estimate including cost range, timeline in weeks, number of development sprints, and recommended team composition. This gives you a solid foundation for budgeting and planning your MVP development.
What Affects MVP Development Cost?
Project Complexity
A simple SaaS costs less than a two-sided marketplace with complex user flows and matching algorithms.
Feature Count
Each feature adds development time. Authentication, payments, and messaging are common cost drivers.
Design Requirements
Basic designs using component libraries cost less than custom designs with animations and micro-interactions.
Platform Choice
Web-only is most cost-effective. Adding mobile (iOS/Android) can increase costs by 40-80%.
Integrations
Third-party APIs, payment gateways, and AI services each add development time and complexity.
Timeline Pressure
Faster delivery may require a larger team, which can affect overall project economics.
Understanding what drives MVP costs helps you make better decisions about where to invest your budget. The most significant cost factor is usually project complexity—a straightforward SaaS with user accounts and a dashboard is simpler than a marketplace that needs to handle two-sided transactions, reviews, and dispute resolution.
Feature selection is where you have the most control. Every additional feature adds development time, but not all features are equal. User authentication is relatively straightforward (especially with modern tools like Supabase or Auth0), while real-time messaging or complex payment splitting requires more engineering effort.
Design complexity is often underestimated. Starting with a clean, functional design using established component libraries (like shadcn/ui or Tailwind UI) lets you ship faster and validate your idea before investing in custom design work. Premium animations and micro-interactions can wait until you've proven product-market fit.
Platform choice has a multiplicative effect on costs. Building for web first is almost always the right move for MVPs—you can reach all users with a responsive web app, then add native mobile apps once you've validated demand. Going mobile- first or building for all platforms simultaneously can double your development time and budget.
Typical MVP Costs by Project Type
| Project Type | Cost Range | Timeline |
|---|---|---|
| SaaS Application | $3,000 - $8,000 | 2-4 weeks |
| Marketplace | $5,000 - $12,000 | 4-6 weeks |
| Mobile App | $4,000 - $10,000 | 3-5 weeks |
| Internal Tool | $2,500 - $6,000 | 2-3 weeks |
| AI-Powered App | $5,000 - $15,000 | 3-6 weeks |
These ranges represent typical MVP projects based on our experience building products for startups. Your actual costs may vary based on specific requirements, but these benchmarks help you understand what's reasonable for each category.
SaaS applications are often the most cost-effective MVPs because the patterns are well-established. User accounts, subscription billing, and dashboards use proven solutions that experienced teams can implement quickly.
Marketplaces are inherently more complex because they serve two user types (buyers and sellers) with different needs. Split payments, reviews, search, and trust systems all add to the scope. However, a well-scoped marketplace MVP can still ship in 4-6 weeks by focusing on the core matching functionality first.
Mobile apps carry a premium because you're building for multiple platforms (iOS and Android) plus a backend. Cross-platform frameworks like React Native help reduce this cost, but you're still dealing with app store requirements, push notifications, and device-specific considerations.
AI-powered applications have the widest cost range because AI capabilities vary dramatically in complexity. A simple ChatGPT integration is straightforward, while custom model training or complex AI workflows require specialized expertise and more development time.
MVP Calculator FAQ
Common questions about estimating MVP costs and timelines
Ready for an Exact Quote?
This calculator gives estimates. For exact pricing tailored to your project, book a free discovery call with our team. We'll review your requirements and provide a detailed proposal within 24 hours.
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