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A fixed price is the most common request from founders with limited runway, and for good reason: the number does not move when the work takes longer. It only protects you if the scope behind it is written tightly enough to be tested. This is how that scope gets built, with one example product taken from idea to signed scope.
A fixed price MVP works when the scope is defined screen by screen, with acceptance criteria, before the price is set. The price can cover the user flows, backend, admin tools, store release and fixes to anything in scope that does not work. It cannot cover features that were never written down, changes of direction during the build, or third party costs. On a limited budget, the biggest savings come from cutting whole features and handling some work by hand at first, not from cheaper developers.
The same number means very different things depending on what sits behind it. This is the line we draw on every MVP we quote.
The line between the two columns is the scope document. The format we use is described in how to scope an MVP app, and the commercial side of the model is on our fixed price app development page.
Take a booking app for independent personal trainers. The founder arrives with a list of wishes. Each one gets one of three answers: in version one, later, or a decision the founder has to make first.
The answers depend on the business, not on a template. In Evesport, the trainer booking platform we built, chat and payments were both in the first release, because the product was an ongoing paid relationship between trainers and their clients. For another founder, the same two rows could safely wait.
Founders often try to save by looking for cheaper developers. The larger savings are in what gets built. The product decisions that add the most weeks to a first version, with two budgets for the same idea side by side, are set out in what an MVP app costs.
A low number is only low if it survives to launch. These are the patterns to check before signing, and the question to ask in each case.
Ask insteadWhat is on each screen, and what counts as done for each one.
Ask insteadFor accounts in your company's name from the first week.
Ask insteadWhether everything in scope is guaranteed to work, with fixes at no extra cost.
Ask insteadFor a working build on your phone every two weeks.
How to lay several quotes side by side is covered in how to compare app development quotes. If you are still choosing a pricing model, fixed price or time and material explains what each one protects.
If you cannot yet say what the first version must do, a fixed price will either be padded for risk or broken by changes. In that case, start with discovery, or with a small paid prototype, and fix the price once the scope is clear.
The same applies to research heavy products, where the core technology is still unproven. Fixed price rewards clarity; it cannot create it. Our approach for early stage products is on the MVP development for startups page.
Yes, if the scope is written screen by screen with acceptance criteria before the price is set. Without that, a fixed price is a guess that someone pays for later.
Small adjustments inside agreed screens are normal. New features or changes of direction are priced separately and agreed before work on them starts, so the original price stays fixed.
A narrow first version takes eight weeks or more. Most MVPs land between eight and twelve weeks, and products with payments, two user types or offline work between twelve and twenty two.
Features outside the written scope, third party fees such as store accounts, hosting and payment processing, and the content or data you provide.
Cut whole features rather than quality, handle some tasks by hand in an admin panel at first, use one codebase for iOS and Android, and fix the scope in a short discovery before the quote.
Our price bands for MVPs and larger products are on the pricing page, and every project gets one fixed number after a discovery call.
Thomas sets the company's long term strategy and direction, identifies market opportunities, and owns business development and client acquisition. He builds strategic partnerships that last beyond a single project. He works with clients from the first strategy conversation, so their business goals, not just their feature list, drive every decision.
Send us the list. We will tell you what fits a first version on a fixed price, what should wait, and how long that version would take.
30 minutes, no preparation needed.