How much does a custom software project cost for a small business?

The short version

For a small business or nonprofit hiring an outside team in the U.S., most custom software projects we see land in one of three brackets:

• $3,000 – $10,000 — a focused internal tool, a single connection between systems, or a small portal. One main task, modest data, simple logins.
• $10,000 – $35,000 — a real application replacing several spreadsheets and email chains. Different types of users, connections to at least one other system, and dashboards.
• $40,000 – $100,000+ — a product or operational system your business depends on. Accounts for many customers, billing, a mobile app, lots of connections, full activity records — the works.

Independent developers and small firms in this market generally run $75–$150/hour; large agencies quote two to three times that for the same work, because you're also paying for their project managers and office space. Offshore firms quote less than anyone; you usually find out why during the first round of bug fixes.

What actually drives the price

The number of screens is a poor proxy for cost. The things that actually move the budget are:

• Connections to other systems. Every system you have to connect to — QuickBooks, Stripe, Salesforce, an old back-office system, a medical records system — adds real time. Just connecting securely to some of these can eat a week.
• Different types of users. "Admins, staff, and clients each see different things" is roughly twice the work of an app where everyone sees the same thing.
• How complicated the data is. A simple list of records is cheap. Records with history, approval steps, and a full trail of who changed what is not.
• Rules and regulations. Medical-privacy (HIPAA), payment-card (PCI), or security standards — or even just "donor data has to stay in the U.S." — each add both build time and ongoing cost.
• Instant updates. "Everyone sees changes the moment they happen" is a different kind of build than "refresh the page and you'll see the change."
• Mobile. A website that works well on phones is one project. A true iPhone/Android app that also works without internet is another project on top of it.
• Polish. A functional internal tool and a polished customer-facing product can have the same feature list and a 3× cost difference. Polish is real engineering.

Three example budgets, with what you get for the money

These are illustrative scenarios — not real clients, but composites of projects we and others in the industry quote regularly.

Scenario 1 — A regional coffee roaster's wholesale order portal. ~$8,000. The owner is tired of taking wholesale orders by text message and email. They want their café and restaurant customers to log in, see their custom price list, place a recurring weekly order, and have that order flow into the existing fulfillment spreadsheet. One user type (wholesale customer), one integration (the existing Google Sheet), Stripe for payment, no mobile app. Roughly three weeks of senior engineering, including a few days of polish and onboarding the first five customers.

Scenario 2 — A 14-person dental practice's patient intake and scheduling system. ~$25,000. Three user roles (patient, front desk, dentist). Patients fill out intake forms on their phone before the appointment; the front desk sees flagged forms; the dentist sees a clean summary in the room. It connects to the practice's scheduling system and sends reminders by text. Built with medical-privacy rules in mind (signed agreements, encrypted data, and a record of who accessed what). About two months of work, with a follow-up support plan for ongoing changes.

Scenario 3 — A nonprofit's case-management platform across 12 program sites. ~$75,000. Case workers track families across enrollment, services, and outcomes. Five roles, role-based access to client records, an offline-capable mobile app for home visits, dashboards for funders, exports for annual grant reports, and single sign-on so staff log in with their existing Microsoft 365 accounts. About five to six months end-to-end, plus a dedicated post-launch support agreement. This replaces three separate subscription tools and roughly 40 hours of weekly manual reporting.

The line item most quotes hide: maintenance

Custom software is a living system. Web browsers update, the software it relies on needs security updates, the IRS changes a form, a connected service changes how it works. A reasonable rule of thumb:

• Hosting and running costs — usually $20–$300/month at this scale, often closer to the low end on a modern platform.
• Ongoing maintenance — budget 15–25% of the original build cost per year. A $25,000 build typically needs $4,000–$6,000/year just to stay healthy.
• New features and enhancements — separate from maintenance. Most clients spend somewhere between 10% and 50% of the build cost per year extending the system, depending on appetite.

If a vendor quotes you a flat number with no mention of post-launch support, ask them what happens when something breaks in month four. The answer will tell you whether you're buying software or a one-night stand.

How to budget before you ever talk to a vendor

You don't need a specification to get a useful estimate. You need:

• The problem in one paragraph. Not the solution. The thing that's costing time or money today.
• The people involved. Who uses the software, what they're doing now, and what they'd do differently.
• The integrations you can name. List the systems the new tool has to talk to.
• A budget range, even rough. Tell vendors what you can spend. The good ones will tell you honestly if it's enough.
• A definition of "done" for v1. What's the smallest version you'd actually use?

A serious estimate takes a 60–90 minute conversation, not a three-line form. If you're trying to size this out, our first call is free — bring those five items and we'll give you a real range.