An honest look at the money - beyond day rates and marketing. Six points that every mid-sized business should know before requesting a quote.
Almost no one in the software industry talks openly about money. We think that is a mistake.
Anyone who has software built spends a five-figure sum - sometimes six figures. And still often ends up unsure about what actually happened. This page is an attempt to have the conversation that is so often missing from the sales meeting. Six points, each with an honest answer.
Almost every enquiry starts with the question: "What does an hour cost with you?" That is understandable - but it is the wrong question. No one wants to buy hours. You want your problem solved.
A developer charging 80 euros an hour who needs four days for a task is more expensive than one charging 140 euros who solves it in a day. Hourly rate times effort is the equation - and the effort depends on skill, tools and experience. Our typical rates lie between 110 and 150 euros per hour, depending on complexity. But the more honest figure is the total sum for a clearly defined piece of work.
Many clients want a fixed price. "Tell me the sum, then I know where I stand." That is human. It is just usually not what helps in the end.
Anyone who gives you a fixed price before truly understanding the problem has to guess. And they deliberately guess high, because otherwise their risk becomes too great. The result: you pay a safety margin that is either never needed (you pay too much) or that still is not enough (a fight over extra charges). We work with estimate ranges, not single figures. And we only name them after the problem analysis - before that, any number would be a guess.
Fixed prices look professional and reduce sales friction. They are a tool used to convince clients to sign a contract. The expensive truth only emerges when the fixed price either leads to extra charges or to a product that is officially "within budget" but has been cut short in important places, because otherwise the margin was gone.
There is a middle way: a fixed price per phase. First the problem analysis at a fixed price (small, clearly defined). Then the result - and a new fixed price for the next phase, now with real knowledge. That is how it works with us.
Anyone who has software built almost always thinks only about the build. That is like calculating only the construction price when buying a house - not the heating, insurance, repairs, electricity, upkeep.
For your software that means: hosting (typically 20 to 200 euros per month, depending on size), maintenance (small adjustments, library updates, new requirements - rarely under 200 euros per month for active systems), further development (if you want to keep using it, you will also want to keep improving it). Software that is built once and then left standing decays within two years. Anyone who offers you software without talking about the afterwards is not being honest with you.
Software projects rarely break on the technology. They break on misunderstandings. "But we discussed that." "That was never mentioned." "That is not how it was meant." Every one of those hours is paid time that no one wanted.
By far the most important investment at the start is not code, but understanding. Whoever begins with a week of diagnosis and sketching saves two months of rework later. For this we take a clearly separated first step - the problem analysis - that works on its own. If, after the problem analysis, you realise we are not the right fit, you have a clear document in hand and move on. No lock-in, no extra charges.
So that you have a rough idea of where your project might land:
A small tool - 4,000 to 12,000 euros. A clearly defined helper: an internal form that collects and sends data. A dashboard for one specific question. An automation between two existing systems. Two to four weeks of work.
A mid-sized system - 15,000 to 45,000 euros. Your own application with several user roles: enquiry management, appointment booking, a small CRM, material management. Two to four months of work, in several phases.
A larger undertaking - 50,000 euros and up. A complete operating system for your company that replaces or connects several departments. Six months to two years, always in clear stages with interim results. That is not a sprint, but an accompaniment.
It often happens that someone comes to us wanting a solution for 20,000 euros - for a problem that honestly costs 60,000. Most providers then either say yes (and quietly cut corners) or no. We do neither.
We say what we see. And we do not build the whole thing, but the part that gives the biggest leverage for your budget. Maybe that is a first stage that grows later. Maybe it is a smaller tool that does not replace an existing tool but complements it. Maybe it is also nothing - if we realise that your money would not be well invested here, we say so. Better no contract than an unhappy client.
Money is not the real topic. Trust is. And trust comes from openness, not from glossy brochures.
We name our rates, our estimate ranges and our orders of magnitude, because we believe you have the right to know that before the first conversation. Anyone who does not want to work with this openness is not in the right place with us. Anyone who values it should know: you will never get a quote from us with something hidden in it.
Exactly how we proceed with the problem analysis is described under Before we build, we clarify what is broken. Which government funding programmes might make your project cheaper you will find under Funding for digitalisation. What comes after the build and what it costs is under Maintenance and further development.