A direct breakdown of what small businesses actually pay for custom web applications, and the factors that move the number up or down.
Most small businesses pay between $15,000 and $80,000 for a custom web application. Simple internal tools and landing-page-plus-form projects start around $5,000–$15,000. Multi-feature platforms with logins, payments, dashboards, and integrations typically land between $30,000 and $80,000. Complex products with custom workflows, multiple user roles, and heavy third-party integrations can run $80,000–$150,000+.
Those ranges assume a small, focused team and a 4–12 week build. The exact number depends on a handful of factors that are worth understanding before you ask anyone for a quote.
Tier 1 — $5,000–$15,000: A landing page with a working contact or booking form, a simple internal tool (e.g. a single-table inventory tracker), or a basic automation connecting two existing tools.
Tier 2 — $30,000–$80,000: A SaaS MVP with authentication, a database, a billing integration, and a handful of core screens. This is the most common starting point for businesses building a real product.
Tier 3 — $80,000–$150,000+: Multi-tenant platforms, marketplaces, or internal systems replacing several existing tools at once, with multiple integrations and user roles.
No-code tools (Bubble, Softr, Glide) are genuinely cheaper for very simple internal tools and can be the right call under $5,000. But they hit a ceiling fast: once you need custom logic, real performance, or to integrate something the platform doesn't support, you either rebuild from scratch or pay an increasing "workaround tax." For anything you expect to still be using in two years, custom development on a standard stack (like Next.js and PostgreSQL) is usually cheaper over the life of the product.
Hosting (typically $20–$200/month depending on scale), domain and email costs, third-party subscription fees (payment processors, transactional email, analytics), and ongoing maintenance. Budget roughly 10–20% of the build cost per year for updates, bug fixes, and small improvements.
A simple web app — a landing page with a working form, or a single-purpose internal tool — typically costs $5,000 to $15,000 with a small development team.
A focused MVP with core features usually takes 6 to 12 weeks from kickoff to launch, assuming a dedicated team and a clear scope agreed upfront.
No-code platforms are cheaper for very simple tools, often under $5,000. Once a project needs custom logic, integrations the platform does not support, or has to scale, custom development on a standard stack becomes cheaper over time.
Yes. A reasonable budget for maintenance, bug fixes, and small improvements is roughly 10-20% of the original build cost per year, plus hosting costs of $20 to $200 per month depending on scale.