You got three quotes for your MVP and the gap between the cheapest and the most expensive is 10x — and not one of them explains why.
This happens constantly. Not because anyone's being dishonest, but because "an MVP" can mean very different things, and each team quotes their own interpretation of what you described in a 45-minute call. The problem isn't the price — it's that nobody broke down what actually drives it.
What's actually being quoted
Before looking at any number, it's worth being clear about one thing: an MVP isn't your full product at a discount. It's the most stripped-down version that lets you test a specific hypothesis with real users. When someone quotes you USD 60,000 for an MVP, they're almost always quoting something else — a full product, with every edge case handled, built to scale from day one.
The first thing a serious team should do with you is narrow the scope. Not guess — narrow. That alone reduces the variance in pricing dramatically.
The variables that move the price the most
The type of product. An internal management tool for a 10-person team is a completely different problem than a marketplace with two user types. The complexity of the core flow is the first multiplier.
Integrations. Payments, geolocation, document uploads, transactional emails, connecting to an existing ERP — each integration adds real development and testing time. Think of a founder launching a medical appointment app: if it also needs to integrate with a hospital's patient records system, that can easily double the timeline for version one. That's not an estimate — it's the geometry of the project.
The stack and who maintains it. Some technologies are faster to get started with but more expensive to maintain or scale. Others have a steeper initial curve but save you rewrites later. The right stack depends on the case; there's no universal answer.
The actual team behind the quote. A solo freelancer, an agency with subcontractors, a dedicated team — each model has different coordination costs and different risks. The freelancer might be cheaper on paper and leave you halfway through. The big agency might charge you for meetings and slide decks you don't need. A mid-sized dedicated team usually offers the best cost-to-risk ratio for an MVP.
The pace of delivery. Two weeks of focused development by a team working on nothing else costs differently than the same volume of work spread over two months. Speed has a price, and that's fine — what matters is knowing it upfront.
Real price ranges by project type
These are reference ranges for the Argentine market, with local development teams, in 2024–2025. They're not quotes — they're benchmarks so you walk into a pricing conversation with context.
Concept validation (Validate): If you need to test the core flow with real users — basic auth, one main screen, the essential value proposition — you're looking at around USD 3,900 at a fixed price. Two weeks. No surprises.
MVP to show users or investors (Launch): A product with more screens, two or three integrations, a full onboarding flow, and a basic admin panel. This range starts at USD 8,000 and can reach USD 20,000 depending on the real scope, in eight weeks.
Scale or second version (Scale): You have something running and want to add layers — more users, more integrations, reporting, roles. From USD 15,000, with a timeline that depends on the state of the existing codebase.
From AI prototype to production: You built something in Lovable, Bolt, or Bubble. It works in the demo but can't hold up under real users. The work is figuring out what to keep and what to rewrite. From USD 6,000, depending on how close to the edge the original prototype already is.
Why the 10x gap between quotes
When you get a very low quote, something's almost always missing: testing, deployment, revisions, coordination time, or parts of the scope the developer assumed you wouldn't ask for. When you get a very high one, something's almost always extra: screens you don't need in version one, architecture built for 100,000 users, or the overhead of a large agency with a lot of internal structure.
The answer isn't to pick the one in the middle by elimination. The answer is to compare quotes that are actually quoting the same thing. And that only happens when the scope is written down.
How to narrow scope before pricing
What we do before giving a number is a product definition session. We ask what hypothesis you're trying to test, who the first-version user is, which flow absolutely has to work, and what could wait for a second iteration. From that, we put together a fixed-price proposal with a committed delivery date — in writing, within 24 hours.
We don't charge for that session. Not out of generosity — but because without that conversation, any number we give you is a guess.
Your code lives in your GitHub from day one. We run a demo every Friday. And if we don't hit the agreed date, we keep going at no extra cost. Those three things should be the floor of any pricing conversation, not a differentiator.
What to actually compare before deciding
When you have several quotes in front of you, check for this: Is the scope written out in detail, or is it a general description? Is the price fixed or hourly? Is there a committed delivery date or just an estimate? Is the code yours from day one?
If any of those questions doesn't have a clear answer in the quote, it doesn't necessarily mean something's being hidden — it might just mean it hasn't been defined yet. And that's exactly what's worth resolving before signing anything.