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Cost Guide

How Much Does It Cost to Build a SaaS MVP?

Planning a SaaS MVP starts with the workflow, integrations, and release requirements. This guide uses an illustrative budget for the base scope below, with the decisions that can change the estimate. A project-specific quote follows a scope review.

Last updated: October 2026

Plan the first release

Illustrative build budget

€6,000–€22,000

Planning estimate in EUR for the base scope below. A written quote confirms the price, tax treatment, and payment terms.

Indicative build window

6–14 weeks

Depends on agreed scope, access to services, feedback, and release requirements. Confirm availability and milestones before scheduling.

Before requesting a quote

Share the main user workflow, required integrations, existing assets, and target platforms. We can then separate the first release from later features.

These figures are planning assumptions, not market averages, a fixed offer, or a guaranteed delivery date. Ongoing services and maintenance need a separate budget unless included in the proposal.

What's included in base scope
  • 01User registration, login, and session management (email + OAuth)
  • 02Multi-tenant data isolation with row-level security
  • 03Stripe subscription billing (monthly/annual plans, trial period)
  • 04Core product feature loop (the one thing your MVP needs to prove)
  • 05Responsive web app deployable to Vercel or equivalent
What drives the cost
  • Multi-tenancy complexity — shared schema vs. row-level security vs. separate databases each add engineering time
  • Payment logic — Stripe subscriptions, trials, metered billing, and webhook handling are deceptively involved
  • Auth depth — magic links, OAuth, SSO, and role-based permissions scale cost with each addition
  • Admin tooling — dashboards, usage analytics, and internal control panels add workflows and permission checks
What's not in base scope
  • Mobile apps (iOS/Android) — separate scope entirely
  • Advanced analytics or BI dashboards
  • Integrations with third-party tools beyond basic webhooks
  • Dedicated admin portal with user management UI
In detail

Start with the workflow customers will pay for

Write down one complete journey: create an account, complete the core task, and pay for continued access. Define tenant boundaries and roles before estimating screens. A simple-looking dashboard can still require complex permission checks.

Make billing rules explicit

List trials, plan changes, failed payments, refunds, and account cancellation. Decide which events change access. Test repeated and delayed webhooks, not just the successful checkout. Advanced billing and internal admin tools need their own scope.

What to include in a comparable quote

Give each developer or team the same workflows, integrations, acceptance criteria, and release responsibilities. Ask what is excluded and how changes are priced. Compare handover documentation, testing, support, and recurring service costs alongside the build price.

Hosting, payment processing, email or SMS, third-party subscriptions, and ongoing maintenance should be budgeted separately unless explicitly included in the written proposal. Confirm current provider pricing for your expected usage and region. The planning range on this page is not a market survey or a fixed offer.

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Common questions

How much does it cost to build a SaaS MVP?

This guide uses an illustrative €6,000–€22,000 build budget for the listed base scope. The final quote depends on requirements, integrations, and acceptance criteria; it may fall outside this range.

How long does it take to build a SaaS MVP?

The planning window is 6–14 weeks for the listed scope. Availability, feedback, dependencies, and release approvals affect the schedule. Milestones are agreed after the scope review.

What is included in a SaaS MVP build?

  • User registration, login, and session management (email + OAuth)
  • Multi-tenant data isolation with row-level security
  • Stripe subscription billing (monthly/annual plans, trial period)
  • Core product feature loop (the one thing your MVP needs to prove)

What factors drive SaaS MVP development cost?

  • 01Multi-tenancy complexity — shared schema vs. row-level security vs. separate databases each add engineering time
  • 02Payment logic — Stripe subscriptions, trials, metered billing, and webhook handling are deceptively involved
  • 03Auth depth — magic links, OAuth, SSO, and role-based permissions scale cost with each addition
Working with Dusko

My case studies cover BookBed, a multi-property booking product built with Flutter and Firebase, and Callidus, a clinic platform built with React and Firebase. They show the implementation behind the estimate: tenant isolation, calendar workflows, and billing integrations.