what an MVP costs in late 2026, from a studio with fixed prices

"how much will my MVP cost?"

it's the first question most founders ask me. it's a fair one.

so here are our real numbers, and what shapes them.

the short answer

at startup ui, every launch has a fixed price and a target timeline.

• landing sprint: $2,500. one custom landing page, ready to collect leads, in 5 to 7 business days.
• brand sprint: $5,000. a positioning workshop, a logo and visual identity, and a short brand guide, in 1 to 2 weeks.
• website launch: $5,500. up to five pages in your brand, with a CMS you can edit, in 2 to 3 weeks.
• app launch: $12,500. a focused web app around your three core workflows, in 4 to 6 weeks.
• full startup launch: $19,500. your web app, your website, and a starter brand, launched together in 5 to 7 weeks.

booked one at a time, the brand, the website and the app come to $23,000. together, you save $3,500.

you can add up your own launch in our cost calculator.

what an MVP actually is

MVP means minimum viable product: the smallest version someone could genuinely use.

for us, that's three core workflows. the moments a customer comes back for. around them: up to eight main screens, login, a database, a billing integration, and a basic admin for your team.

three workflows sounds small. it's the right size to ship in weeks and learn something real.

what moves the price

the scope moves the price. and a few things move the scope more than anything else.

• workflows. each one adds screens, states, and tests.
• integrations. a billing integration is part of every app launch. custom integrations get their own quote.
• data. big migrations and offline sync take real engineering time.
• regulated workflows. health and finance need careful claims, reviews, and more states.
• marketplaces. two sides means two products to design.
• mobile. native iOS and android apps are quoted on their own.

that's why every quote starts with a 15 minute call, or with a launch blueprint.

the ways to build an MVP in 2026

there are more ways to build a first version than ever. each one fits a different moment.

build it yourself with AI. app builders and coding agents can take you surprisingly far. the cost is mostly your time and your taste. it's a wonderful way to test an idea. the harder parts arrive later: permissions, payments, edge cases, security, and the release.

hire freelancers. flexible, and you choose each person. you also become the project manager, and keeping the design and the code in sync becomes your job.

hire an agency. a full team, usually with a bigger budget and a longer timeline.

work with a small studio. one senior team designs and builds, so the design survives all the way into the product. at startup ui, that's an art director, a ux/ui designer, and me as design manager, on one calendar.

the right path depends on your runway, your timeline, and how much of the work you want to own.

how payments work

every launch is paid in three parts: 50% to book, 30% at the working preview, and 20% at acceptance.

on a full startup launch, that's $9,750 to book, $5,850 at the preview, and $3,900 at acceptance.

the preview comes early. you see the product working while most of the work is still ahead.

what comes after launch

every launch includes two rounds of consolidated design changes, deployment and a handoff, and 30 days of fixes for defects against the agreed scope.

after that, some founders continue with their own team. others keep us on as their product design team: growth is $11,000 a month, and partner is $25,000 a month, with engineering quoted separately.

still shaping the idea?

start with a $750 launch blueprint. it's a workshop that turns your idea into a plan: the scope, your key user flow, a wireframe, and a fixed quote for your launch.

book a launch within 30 days, and the $750 comes off its price.