# MVP cost calculator

For founders and product leaders planning a first release: answer seven questions and get an honest price range in US dollars, a timeline, and the engagement to start with. No sign-up and no email. The numbers start from Choie's own prices, a one-week coded prototype for a fixed $4,900 and full builds from $19,000 in four to six weeks. When a release is too big for one build, the result says so.

The calculator is interactive at https://www.choie.co/mvp-cost-calculator. Answers travel in the query string, so a filled-in estimate is a link: for example https://www.choie.co/mvp-cost-calculator?for=founder&on=web,ios&users=2&flows=2&with=signin,payments&stage=wireframes&when=quarter. To describe the product in plain words instead, use [scope your first release](https://www.choie.co/scope.md).

## The questions

1. **Who is it for?** Teams inside larger companies get a company project, scoped in writing. One of: A startup or my own company; A team inside a larger company. Query parameter `for`: `founder`, `company`.
2. **Where does the first release run?** Pick every platform that has to launch together. Any of: Web (Any browser); iOS (App Store); Android (Google Play). Query parameter `on`: `web`, `ios`, `android`.
3. **How many kinds of user?** Each kind needs its own views, permissions, and onboarding. One of: One (For example, customers); Two (For example, buyers and sellers); Three or more (For example, plus staff or admins). Query parameter `users`: `1`, `2`, `3`.
4. **How many critical workflows?** The jobs a user must finish for the product to work, like booking a session or sending an invoice. Signing in does not count. One of: One; Two or three; Four or five; Six or more. Query parameter `flows`: `1`, `2`, `4`, `6`.
5. **What can it not launch without?** Leave all of them off if none are needed yet. Any of: Sign-in and accounts; Payments (Checkout or subscriptions); Email, push, or SMS; Third-party data or APIs (A CRM, maps, or an AI model). Query parameter `with`: `signin`, `payments`, `messaging`, `data`.
6. **How much is decided?** The more decisions are made, the less of the build is spent making them. One of: Just an idea; Sketches or wireframes; Designs or a tested prototype; A live product. Query parameter `stage`: `idea`, `wireframes`, `prototype`, `live`.
7. **When does it need to launch?** A date keeps a first release small. One of: Within a month; In one to three months; No fixed date. Query parameter `when`: `month`, `quarter`, `open`.

## How the estimate works

Every estimate starts from the smallest first release: one platform, one kind of user, one critical workflow, and no integrations. At Choie that is a Ship it build, from $19,000 in four to six weeks. Each answer then adds a set amount, shown in the table, and the total is rounded out to the nearest thousand dollars.

The low end assumes decisions arrive already made and integrations behave as documented. The high end allows for open questions and the edge cases integrations bring.

It is a rough range, not a quote. The real number comes from a written scope after a 30-minute intro call, and that scope states one fixed price, not a range. What moves it is explained in [how much an MVP costs](https://www.choie.co/guides/mvp-cost).

| The release has | Adds (USD) | Extra time |
| --- | --- | --- |
| The base: one platform, one kind of user, one critical workflow | $19,000 to $22,000 | 4 to 4.5 weeks |
| Each platform after the first | $6,000 to $10,000 | 0.5 to 1 week |
| Two kinds of user | $2,500 to $5,000 | Up to 0.5 weeks |
| Three or more kinds of user | $6,000 to $10,000 | 0.5 to 1 week |
| Two or three critical workflows | $3,000 to $6,000 | Up to 0.5 weeks |
| Four or five critical workflows | $8,000 to $13,000 | 0.5 to 1.5 weeks |
| Six or more critical workflows | $15,000 to $24,000 | 2 to 3 weeks |
| Sign-in and accounts | $1,000 to $2,500 | No extra time |
| Payments | $2,500 to $4,500 | Up to 0.5 weeks |
| Email, push, or SMS | $1,500 to $3,000 | Up to 0.5 weeks |
| Third-party data or APIs | $2,500 to $6,000 | 0.5 to 1 week |
| Just an idea, with decisions still open | $0 to $3,000 | No extra time |

### When it is more than one build

A release is more than one build when it runs past the six weeks a Ship it build takes; then the result splits it into a first release and monthly work after it. It is a program, and not the right fit for Choie as one project, when it puts web, iOS, and Android in one release together with two or more integrations, three or more kinds of user, or four or more workflows; when it combines several platforms, three or more kinds of user, and three or more integrations; or when it has six or more critical workflows across platforms or kinds of user. These are the same lines the [comparison page](https://www.choie.co/compare#fit) draws.

## Three releases, worked through

### A focused web app

One kind of user, one workflow, and sign-in, with wireframes already drawn.

- **Estimate:** $20,000 to $25,000, 4 to 5 weeks.
- **Start with:** Ship it.
- **Open it:** https://www.choie.co/mvp-cost-calculator?for=founder&on=web&users=1&flows=1&with=signin&stage=wireframes&when=quarter

### A two-sided marketplace

Web and iOS, buyers and sellers, two or three workflows, sign-in and payments, from wireframes.

- **Estimate:** $34,000 to $50,000, 5 to 7 weeks.
- **Start with:** Ship it, then Grow it.
- **A first release that fits:** the web only, two kinds of user, and up to three workflows, with sign-in and payments, $28,000 to $40,000, 4 to 6 weeks.
- **Open it:** https://www.choie.co/mvp-cost-calculator?for=founder&on=web,ios&users=2&flows=2&with=signin,payments&stage=wireframes&when=quarter

### Everything at once

Web, iOS, and Android, three kinds of user, four or five workflows, and every integration, from an idea.

- **Estimate:** $52,000 to $84,000, 7 to 11 weeks.
- **Start with:** Prove it, then Ship it.
- **Fit:** Web, iOS, and Android at once, with this much inside each, is several products in one release. Choie is not the right fit for all of it as one project.
- **A first release that fits:** the web only, two kinds of user, and up to three workflows, with sign-in and payments, $28,000 to $43,000, 4 to 6 weeks.
- **Open it:** https://www.choie.co/mvp-cost-calculator?for=founder&on=web,ios,android&users=3&flows=4&with=signin,payments,messaging,data&stage=idea&when=quarter

## What the number leaves out

- User recruitment and formal usability testing.
- Third-party services and their fees: hosting, payment processing, email, and app store accounts.
- Software, fonts, and libraries, which stay under their own licenses.
- Changes after launch. Defects in Choie's own work are fixed at no charge for 30 days; new work after that is a monthly engagement.
- A marketing site and analytics, unless the scope names them.

Ask any studio where each of these sits. A fixed price is only fixed if the list is written down.

## Where Choie fits, and where it does not

### Best fit

- A defined web or mobile project, at a startup or a larger company
- One primary user and critical workflow
- One owner who can make decisions every week
- A clear goal and a realistic first release

### Better elsewhere

- A program that needs dozens of people at once
- Every platform and integration in one first release
- Open-ended staff augmentation
- No clear owner, user or first release

## Questions about the calculator

### How accurate is the MVP cost calculator?

It gives a rough range, not a quote. It starts from Choie's published prices and adds a set amount for each platform, kind of user, critical workflow, and integration. The written scope after a 30-minute intro call replaces the range with one fixed price.

### Is the calculator free, and do I need to sign up?

It is free, with no sign-up and no email. Your answers sit in the page address, so you can bookmark the estimate or send the link to someone else.

### Why does every estimate start at $19,000?

That is where a full build at Choie starts: one platform, one kind of user, and one critical workflow, designed and built in four to six weeks. The smaller first step is the one-week coded prototype, a fixed $4,900, and its full fee comes off a build that starts within 60 days.

### What does it mean when the result says Choie is not the right fit?

That the release is several products at once, such as every platform with integrations, or many kinds of user and complex integrations together. A larger agency or an in-house team is better placed to build all of it in one go. Cut to a first release and it usually fits one build; the result shows what that release would cost.

### Are there costs on top of the estimate?

Only from third parties. Hosting, payment processing, email, and app store accounts are billed by their providers. After launch, defects in Choie's own work are fixed at no charge for 30 days, and new work after that is a monthly engagement.

HTML: https://www.choie.co/mvp-cost-calculator