How Much Does Custom Software Development Cost in 2025?

“How much does it cost to build an app?” is the most common question we get. And the honest answer is: it depends — but not in the vague, hand-wavy way most agencies use that phrase.

Cost depends on specific, measurable factors. This post breaks them down so you can walk into a conversation with a development team knowing what to expect.

What Drives the Cost

Four things determine what you’ll pay:

1. Complexity

A marketing website with five pages and a contact form is a fundamentally different project from a multi-tenant SaaS platform with user roles, billing integration, and a real-time dashboard.

The more user roles, integrations, data models, and business logic your system has, the more it costs. This is the biggest factor by far.

2. Design requirements

Do you have designs already? If a developer is working from a polished Figma file, that’s faster and cheaper than designing from scratch. If you need original UI/UX design work, budget for it separately.

3. Third-party integrations

Every API integration — Stripe, HubSpot, Shopify, Salesforce, a payment gateway — adds development time. Some APIs are well-documented and take a day. Others are poorly maintained and take a week. Ask your developer how many integrations are in scope and what their estimate is for each.

4. Who builds it

This is the variable most people underestimate. Rates vary dramatically:

Developer Type	Typical Hourly Rate (USD)
Offshore (South Asia, Eastern Europe)	$20 – $50/hr
Mid-tier agency	$80 – $150/hr
Senior freelancer / boutique studio	$120 – $200/hr
Top-tier US/UK agency	$200 – $350/hr

Cheaper doesn’t mean worse, and expensive doesn’t mean better. But in general, senior developers ship faster, write fewer bugs, and produce code that’s easier to maintain — which means the total project cost is often comparable even at higher hourly rates.

Typical Price Ranges

Based on hundreds of conversations and dozens of projects we’ve delivered or reviewed:

Marketing Website (5–15 pages)

Simple: $3,000 – $8,000
Custom design + CMS + animations: $8,000 – $20,000

Shopify Store

Theme customization: $2,000 – $8,000
Full custom theme + integrations: $10,000 – $35,000

Web Application (MVP)

Simple CRUD app: $10,000 – $25,000
Multi-user platform with auth, dashboards, integrations: $25,000 – $80,000

SaaS Platform (full build)

V1 with billing, multi-tenancy, admin panel: $50,000 – $150,000+

Mobile App

Single platform (iOS or Android): $25,000 – $80,000
Cross-platform (React Native/Flutter): $30,000 – $100,000

These are all-in numbers including design, development, testing, and deployment. They assume a competent mid-to-senior development team, not the cheapest option on a freelance marketplace.

Fixed Price vs Hourly Billing

There are two common pricing models:

Hourly billing means you pay for time spent. The risk is on you — if the project takes longer than estimated, you pay more. This model works when the scope is genuinely uncertain (R&D, prototyping, ongoing maintenance).

Fixed price means the developer quotes a total cost for a defined scope. The risk is on them — if they underestimate, they eat the difference. This model works when the requirements are clear and both sides agree on what “done” means.

At Ten Peaks Tech, we use fixed pricing for every project. We believe if we can’t scope it well enough to fix the price, we’re not ready to build it. You know the number before we write a line of code.

Red Flags When Getting Quotes

Watch out for these:

No written scope document. If a developer quotes you a price without documenting exactly what they’ll build, you have no shared definition of “done.” That’s how disputes happen.
Dramatically lower than everyone else. If three agencies quote $30,000–$50,000 and one quotes $8,000, the cheap option is either cutting scope you haven’t noticed, outsourcing to junior developers, or planning to hit you with change requests later.
“We’ll figure it out as we go.” Agile doesn’t mean unplanned. A good team adapts to change but starts with a clear direction.
No mention of post-launch support. Software needs maintenance. Ask what happens after launch — is there a support period? What does ongoing work cost?

How to Get an Accurate Quote

To get a useful quote from any development team, provide:

What the system needs to do — user stories or a feature list, even if rough.
Who uses it — how many user types/roles, expected traffic volume.
What it integrates with — payment processors, CRMs, APIs, existing systems.
Your timeline — is there a launch deadline?
Your budget range — this isn’t a negotiation trick. Knowing your range helps the developer scope realistically instead of gold-plating or cutting corners.

The more detail you provide, the tighter the estimate. A one-paragraph brief gets you a range of $20K–$80K. A detailed spec gets you a fixed number.

Get a Free Quote

At Ten Peaks Tech, we provide fixed-price quotes for every project. Book a free consultation — tell us what you’re building, and we’ll give you an honest number within 48 hours. No obligation, no hourly billing, no surprises.