Software development cost calculator.
A fixed price, not a $10k–$150k range.
Answer six questions about roles, screens, integrations, payments, data and compliance. This calculator returns one of Kinetico Agency's three published tiers: Lean $15k–$22k in 6 weeks, Standard $22k–$35k in 8 weeks, Full $35k–$50k in 10–12 weeks. Your tier is the highest any single answer produced. Calibrated for web and SaaS builds, with no email gate.
The calculator
How does this software development cost calculator work?
It asks the six questions that move a scope, and it takes the highest tier any single answer produced, not the average. Three user roles put a build in Full even when everything else is small, because each role carries its own screens, permissions and states. Averaging the inputs is how a calculator quotes low and the vendor re-quotes later.
| Input | What it changes about the build | Tier it produces |
|---|---|---|
| Roles | Screens, permissions, and every state each role can be in | 1 → Lean · 2 → Standard · 3+ → Full |
| Screens | Design weeks, and the empty/loading/error/edge states behind each screen | 6–10 → Lean · 12–20 → Standard · 20–30 → Full |
| Integrations | Auth flows, webhooks, retries and failure handling per external system | 0–1 → Lean · 2 → Standard · 3+ → Full |
| Money | Checkout, subscription state, invoices, refunds; payouts add compliance | None → Lean · Payments → Standard · Payouts → Full |
| Data | Background jobs, caching, chart components and live update handling | Simple → Lean · Dense or live → Standard |
| Compliance | Architecture, hosting, access control and audit trail, not paperwork | None → no change · GDPR residency → Full · HIPAA/PCI/SOC 2 → outside the band |
The same six answers are what a scoping call starts from. Send them to every vendor you are talking to and their quotes become comparable against one scope. That is what the share link in the result panel is for. The longer reasoning behind each question is in what a web app costs.
What do the three tiers actually buy?
These are the published tiers, not calculator output. Every one is a fixed price against a written scope, over a fixed number of weeks, with design and engineering done by the same people.
| Tier | Fixed price | Weeks | Scope | What it proves |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lean | $15k – $22k | 6 | 1 user role · 6–10 screens · auth + one core workflow · 0–1 integration | Will anyone use the core loop at all? |
| Standard | $22k – $35k | 8 | 2 roles · 12–20 screens · core workflow + admin · payments or 2 integrations | Will they pay, and can you operate it? |
| Full | $35k – $50k | 10 – 12 | 3 roles · 20–30 screens · billing, notifications, reporting · 3+ integrations | Can this run as a business, not a demo? |
The pricing page carries the full reasoning: what moves the number, what is and is not included, and how scope changes are priced. See the pricing page.
Where does the money go inside the price?
A calculator that returns one number tells you nothing about what you are buying. This is the split every Kinetico build is quoted against.
| Phase | Share | What you get |
|---|---|---|
| Scoping & product definition | 5 – 10% | One 30-minute call → written scope: modules, screens, states, integrations, weeks, one number |
| Product design | 20 – 25% | Flows, every screen and state, a coded design system in the repository |
| Engineering | 50 – 60% | TypeScript end to end: frontend, API, database, auth, roles, payments, integrations, admin |
| QA, launch, handover | 10 – 15% | Tests, production deploy in your accounts, monitoring, docs, repo and accounts transferred |
A $30,000 Standard build, line by line
| Line | Share | Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Scoping & product definition | 7% | $2,100 |
| Product design | 23% | $6,900 |
| Engineering | 57% | $17,100 |
| QA, launch, handover | 13% | $3,900 |
| Total (Standard tier, 8 weeks) | 100% | $30,000 |
The arithmetic and the reasoning behind each line are in the software development cost breakdown.
Why do other cost calculators return a $10k–$150k range?
Because most are built by vendors who bill hourly, and an hourly vendor cannot commit to a number before the scope is known. A range that wide is not an estimate. It is a form that produces a sales call. Here is the difference, stated plainly.
| Typical vendor calculator | This one | |
|---|---|---|
| What you get back | A range: Sommo publishes $10,000–$50,000 / $50,000–$150,000 / $150,000+ by complexity; appdevelopmentcost.com publishes $10K–$150K+ | One of three published fixed-price tiers — the same numbers quoted on /pricing, with no band wider than $15k |
| Email gate | Result emailed after a form, or shown only after a call is booked | Result on the page, no email, shareable by link |
| How inputs combine | Usually averaged or summed into an hourly total | Highest tier any single answer produced, the rule used in the scoping call |
| What the number means | An estimate that is re-quoted once scope is understood | A bracket; the fixed number comes from a written scope within 5 working days |
| Scope honesty | Every input produces a quote, including work the vendor rarely does | Regulated and 30+ screen builds return “outside the band” instead of a number |
Ranges above are quoted from each vendor's own calculator page, read on 21 August 2026: Sommo (“$10,000–$50,000 for basic apps, $50,000–$150,000 for medium-complexity apps, and $150,000+ for advanced apps”) and appdevelopmentcost.com (“$10K – $150K+ or even more”). Both are useful pages; the point is not that they are wrong but that a no vendor can commit to a range that wide before the scope is known. That is the difference a fixed price makes. If a figure here is out of date, tell us at hello@kinetico.agency and we will correct the row.
What does this calculator not cover?
Not quoted here
- A second client surface. The studio does build React Native mobile, on the same TypeScript stack, with the same people, against the same API. But these six questions are calibrated for one web surface, so a mobile client alongside a web app is real scope and is priced on the call rather than guessed here.
- Regulated builds. HIPAA, PCI-DSS and SOC 2 change architecture, hosting and audit trail. The calculator returns “outside the band” rather than a number.
- Third-party fees. Third-party services (payments, email, hosting, monitoring) are bought, not built, at v1; their fees are in your accounts and listed in the scope.
- Brand and identity. Brand & identity (name, mark, type, voice) is scoped separately when the product needs one.
- Enterprise programmes and staff augmentation. We don't take $250k enterprise programmes — that isn't what the studio is built for. We don't sell staff augmentation or engineers by the month.
What turns a bracket into a number
- One 30-minute scoping call produces a written scope and a fixed price; you decide from there.
- Within 5 working days. Modules, screens, states, integrations, weeks and one price.
- Changes that swap one thing for another of the same size are absorbed inside the fixed price.
- Changes that add scope are written up with their cost and weeks before any work starts, so the number only moves when you decide it should.
- You own the repository, deployment accounts, design files and documentation at handover, with no licence or lock-in. No retainer is required to keep the product running.
What else do people ask about the calculator?
- How accurate is a software development cost calculator?
- A calculator gets you to the right bracket, not to a quote. This one asks the six questions that move a scope: roles, screens, integrations, payments, data density and compliance. It returns one of three published fixed-price tiers. Lean $15k–$22k in 6 weeks, Standard $22k–$35k in 8 weeks, Full $35k–$50k in 10–12 weeks. It cannot see your data model, your existing code or your deadline. That is why the result is a bracket, and why the real number comes from a 30-minute scoping call and a written scope within 5 working days.
- How does this calculator decide which tier you land in?
- It takes the highest tier any single answer produced, not the average. Three roles put you in Full even if everything else is small, because each role carries its own screens, permissions and states. That is the same rule we apply in a scoping call, and it is why calculators that average their inputs quote low and then re-quote later.
- Why does this calculator give a fixed price instead of a $10k–$150k range?
- Because Kinetico publishes fixed prices. A first version is $15,000–$50,000 over 6–12 weeks, quoted as one number against a written scope before any work starts. Changes that swap one thing for another of the same size are absorbed inside that price; changes that add scope are written up with their cost and weeks before work starts. A range wide enough to always be right is not an estimate.
- Can I use this to estimate MVP cost?
- Yes. A first version is exactly what the tiers describe. Lean proves whether anyone uses the core loop, Standard proves whether they pay and whether you can operate it, and Full proves whether it runs as a business rather than a demo. If you want the reasoning behind the numbers rather than the calculator, the cost breakdown post shows where the money goes inside a build and the MVP development service page shows the week-by-week calendar.
- What does this calculator not cover?
- A second client surface. Kinetico does build React Native mobile, on the same TypeScript stack, with the same people and the same API behind it. But these six questions are calibrated for a single web surface, so a mobile client alongside a web app is scoped on the call rather than guessed here. The calculator also excludes third-party service fees (payments, email, hosting, monitoring), which are bought rather than built and billed to your accounts; brand and identity, which is scoped separately when the product needs one; and regulated builds under HIPAA, PCI-DSS or SOC 2, which need a different shape of team and a different number.
- How do I turn this estimate into an actual software development quote?
- Book the 30-minute scoping call and bring the six answers. One call produces a written scope covering modules, screens, states, integrations and weeks, plus one fixed price, within 5 working days. There is no retainer, no hourly billing, and you own the repository, deployment accounts, design files and documentation at handover. You can also copy the share link from the result panel and send the same six answers to every other vendor you are talking to, so their quotes are comparable against one scope.
What should you read next?
Book a 30-minute scoping call
Bring the six answers. You leave with a written scope and one number within five working days. If a studio is the wrong shape for your stage, we will say so.
Prefer email? hello@kinetico.agency