Every article on this topic gives the same answer: "it depends." That is technically correct and completely useless. Yes, it depends — on what you are building. The question is: depends on what, exactly, and by how much?
This guide breaks down the real cost drivers, shows you what you get at different price points, and explains the offshore differential so you can make an informed decision before you talk to a single vendor.
The five variables that actually determine cost
Scope of the feature set
The number and depth of features is the dominant cost driver. An app with five screens and one user role costs a fraction of one with twenty screens, three user roles, real-time updates, and a background job queue.
Before any estimate is meaningful, you need a feature list — not a concept, a list. Every distinct user action: log in, view dashboard, create a record, edit a record, invite a colleague, export data, receive a notification. Each action is a development unit. Count them.
Integrations
Every third-party service the app connects to adds time. A Stripe payment integration is one to two weeks. A Salesforce sync is another. Twilio for SMS, SendGrid for email, Google Maps for location — each is additive. Budget at least a week per major integration and double it for anything enterprise (legacy ERPs, custom ERP APIs, government systems).
Authentication complexity
Basic email/password login is straightforward. Add social logins, multi-factor authentication, or enterprise single sign-on (Okta, Azure AD) and the authentication layer becomes its own project. Role-based access control — different user types seeing different parts of the app — multiplies this further.
Admin and operations tooling
Most apps need an admin panel: user management, activity logs, support tooling, reporting. This is scoped as an afterthought by almost every client. It typically represents 20–30% of total development time. Budget for it explicitly.
Design requirements
Building on a component library (shadcn/ui, Material UI, Chakra) is significantly faster than custom UI design. If you want a fully custom visual identity, pixel-perfect Figma implementation, and bespoke component system, add two to four weeks to any project estimate.
Realistic price ranges by app type
These reflect development cost only. Hosting, ongoing maintenance, and third-party service costs are separate.
Landing page with contact form: $800–$2,500
Marketing website with CMS: $3,000–$8,000
Internal tool / admin panel (single workflow): $8,000–$25,000
E-commerce on Shopify or WooCommerce (custom design): $5,000–$15,000
Custom e-commerce (own cart, payment flow, inventory): $20,000–$60,000
SaaS MVP (one user role, core feature set, no billing): $15,000–$40,000
SaaS with roles, integrations, subscription billing: $40,000–$120,000
Enterprise platform (complex workflows, SSO, API layer): $80,000–$300,000+
What you get at each price point
Under $10,000 — template-based or narrow scope. A freelancer or junior agency using pre-built components. Appropriate for proofs of concept, landing pages, and internal tools with a single workflow. Do not expect custom architecture or production-grade error handling.
$10,000–$30,000 — a small team or mid-level agency can deliver a real MVP. A working product with a defined feature set. You will make trade-offs on design depth or feature breadth. Right budget for most first-version products.
$30,000–$80,000 — a competent team delivering a properly scoped product. Custom design, multiple user roles, three to five integrations, admin tooling, a sensible architecture for future scaling. Where most serious product builds land.
$80,000+ — complex platforms, significant integration work, enterprise-grade features, and a team structure capable of ongoing development. Not appropriate as a first version unless the scope genuinely demands it.
The offshore cost differential
A senior full-stack developer in the United States or United Kingdom costs $8,000–$15,000 per month. The same seniority and stack coverage in Pakistan costs $2,500–$4,000 per month.
For a three-month build with two senior developers:
- US/UK: $48,000–$90,000
- Pakistan (via a structured company): $15,000–$24,000
The quality differential, when you hire through a company with a vetting process, is not proportional to the price differential. Pakistani engineers with five-plus years of production experience build the same React and Node.js applications as their US counterparts — at a lower price because the cost of living in Karachi or Lahore is different from San Francisco or London.
The important caveat: the differential only holds with a structured engagement. A marketplace freelancer at $15/hour is not equivalent to a dedicated senior developer at $3,500/month through a registered company. Accountability, IP ownership, and continuity matter. See our full breakdown on hiring from Pakistan.
Costs most clients do not plan for
Ongoing maintenance: Software requires upkeep. Security patches, dependency updates, small bug fixes. Expect 10–20% of the original build cost per year even with no new features.
Third-party API costs at scale: Stripe fees, email delivery, SMS, cloud compute — these are zero at development time and non-trivial at scale. Forecast them before launch.
Content: Someone has to write the copy, produce images, and populate the CMS. Almost always scoped out and scrambled for at go-live.
Future iterations: The first version of any product will need changes once real users interact with it. Budget a second phase before you start the first one — not as a surprise after launch.
How to scope before you talk to anyone
Before any development conversation, prepare:
A one-paragraph product description. What does it do, who uses it, what are the three most important things a user can do?
A feature list written as user actions — not "dashboard" but "user can view sales from the last 30 days", "user can export as CSV", "admin can deactivate a user account." Each line is a discrete scope item.
An integration list. Every third-party service you know you need.
Two or three design references. Apps whose UX feels right to you. This calibrates the developer on design expectations faster than any written description.
With this document, any competent developer or agency can give you a meaningful estimate in under 48 hours.
Use our estimate tool → to get a scoped proposal from Codalyst Tech, or send your brief directly and we will respond within one business day.