How much does a custom web application cost?
We have no price list for web applications, because every system has a different scope. Here is what drives the cost and what our quote includes.
How much a custom web application costs depends on its scope, so we have no price list. We give you a price for a specific scope of work once we have analysed your requirements, and the quote shows what drives the cost.
Why applications with similar names have different prices
An “order management system” can mean a form and a list of orders for one department. It can also mean an application with client accounts, staff assignment, quotes and online payments. The name is the same, but the number of screens and business rules to test can vary severalfold.
That is why, before we name a figure, we want to understand the process the application has to support. A quote based on nothing more than a project title ends either with a large safety margin in the price or with a dispute at the first change of scope.
What the cost of a web application depends on
| Factor | What it changes in the work | What we will ask |
|---|---|---|
| User roles | Each role means separate permissions, views and tests | Who logs in to the system and what can they do there? |
| Screens and processes | More forms, lists, filters and business rules | How many steps does the main process have, and how many exceptions? |
| Integrations with other systems | The work depends on the documentation of the other system’s API (application programming interface) and on testing | Which software does the application need to exchange data with? |
| Online payments | Payment gateway, payment statuses, refunds, subscriptions | Do clients pay in the application? Once, or on a subscription? |
| SMS and email notifications | Message templates, SMS gateway, handling of delivery failures | Who should the system notify, and about what? |
| Admin panel | Managing accounts, reference data and settings, data exports | What do you want to change yourself, without a developer? |
Our own projects show this well. We describe them without figures, because each had a different scope.
- The booking system for diagnostic scans has only two roles: staff member and administrator. Most of the work went into a six-step booking form, separate schedules for each scan category, and confirmations by email and SMS.
- Service Quotes has three account types: client, employee and manager. Each sees a different part of the process, and clients pay for the service online in the application.
- INVENTA Licenses has portals for clients, distributors and administrators. VR applications check their licences against it through a REST API.
- Offer Exchange is a SaaS platform with a free plan with limits and three paid subscriptions. Billing runs through an integration with Stripe.
In systems like these, the scope is set mainly by roles, payments and integrations. The look of the screens has less effect on the price. You can read more about how we run such projects on our page about custom web applications for businesses.
How the quote is prepared
We prepare a quote in three steps.
- Consultation. We talk about the problem the application should solve and how you work today. Sometimes we recommend a simpler solution than you expected.
- Requirements analysis. We describe the processes, user roles, screens and integrations with other systems. Project leads and developers work on the analysis together.
- Quote with a timeline. Based on the analysis, we give you a price for a specific scope of work and the deadlines for each stage.
The consultation and requirements analysis before the quote are free of charge. We usually send a quote within 2 business days, and within 5 at the latest.
It helps to bring the materials you use today to the consultation. Spreadsheets, document templates and screenshots of your current software show the process better than a general description.
What the quote includes
The quote describes the project in enough detail for you to compare it with other proposals. It includes:
- the scope of features, meaning a list of what the application will do,
- the split of the project into stages,
- the deadline for each stage,
- the cost of maintaining the application after launch.
The quote also covers the infrastructure: where the application will run, what server it needs and how we will protect the data. This way, you know the maintenance cost before you decide to build.
We bill a project as a fixed price or as time and materials. We agree the billing model for each project and spread payments across its stages.
How to lower the cost of an application
You save the most by starting with a smaller first version, called a minimum viable product (MVP). It supports the one process that takes up most of your team’s time today.
You add reports, extra roles and automations in later stages, when you already know what users actually use. This is how we build the first versions of platforms, as described on our page about SaaS and MVP development.
Decisions made before the analysis also bring the cost down:
- Describe how you work today. Existing document templates shorten the analysis more than a long list of features.
- Use ready-made services. A payment gateway handles payments and an external gateway sends SMS messages. We build only what is specific to your company.
- Do not add roles just in case. Each role means extra views, permissions and tests, so add it when someone will actually use it.
- Decide on hosting early. Changing the environment after launch costs more than a decision made at the design stage.
What is not included in the project price
The figure in the quote covers building the application within the agreed scope. A few costs come separately, because they continue for as long as the application runs:
- hosting and maintenance, billed as a fixed monthly fee (server, backups, security updates, responding to errors),
- fees for external services, for example Stripe’s payment fees or charges for messages sent through an SMS gateway,
- licences for the software and services the application uses.
Fees for external services depend on the providers’ price lists and on the number of transactions. That is why our quote lists the services the application will use.
How to ask for a quote
If you have an idea for an application, or a process that no off-the-shelf software supports, describe it in our quote form. We will analyse the requirements and come back with a proposed scope.
