MVPs for founders
MVP development for Australian founders
An MVP, a minimum viable product, is the first version of your product: one core workflow, built properly enough that real users can rely on it and pay for it. We build MVPs for Australian founders in 8 to 12 weeks for $15,000 to $40,000 ex GST, with a written scope from a paid discovery workshop and a fixed price before we start, and we tell you what to leave out.
What is included
- Discovery workshop and UX wireframes
- Sign-in with email, Google and passkeys
- Database, one core workflow and an admin panel
- Email notifications
- Deployed with continuous integration, plus documentation
- 30-day warranty
- Price
- From $15,000
- Timeline
- 8 to 12 weeks
Prices are in Australian dollars and exclude GST.
Who is MVP development for?
MVP development is for people who need a real product in front of real users, not a prototype that has to be thrown away.
- Founders with a validated idea and a budget, who need a technical partner rather than a co-founder they have not found yet.
- Established businesses launching a software product beside their main trade.
- Founders whose cheap first build failed, and who need it done properly this time.
- Teams that need something to put in front of customers and investors within a quarter.
What kinds of MVPs do we build?
An MVP is small in scope and finished in quality: sign-in, one workflow done well and an admin panel so you can run it, with Stripe billing added if you charge from day one.
SaaS tools
Accounts, a subscription, one workflow and an admin panel: the shape of most software businesses on day one.
Marketplaces and booking platforms
Two sides, a listing, a booking or an order, and the payments between them.
AI products
A plain-English brief goes in and a useful result comes out, with the guardrails that stop the model inventing things.
A portal as a product
A system you first built for your own business, packaged so other businesses can subscribe to it.
Mobile-first products
When the product has to live on a phone, the MVP is a React Native app with the API behind it.
What should go in a first version?
The hardest part of an MVP is deciding what not to build. Discovery ends with a scope that names the one workflow the product exists for, who uses it, and the shortest path from sign-up to value. Everything else goes on a list for version two.
Usually in
- Sign-in with email, Google and passkeys.
- The one core workflow, built properly.
- An admin panel, so you can see and fix what users do.
- Email notifications for the moments that matter.
- Deployment with continuous integration, documentation and a 30-day warranty.
- Stripe billing as a priced add-on, if people pay from day one.
Usually out, for now
- Native mobile apps, when a responsive web app will do.
- Every integration you can imagine; one or two that matter.
- A custom design system; a clean, consistent interface first.
- Features for the customer you do not have yet.
How the project runs
MVPs follow the same five stages as every project: a discovery workshop that ends in a written scope, wireframes and designs you approve, two-week build sprints with a working demo at the end of each, launch with documentation and a 30-day warranty, then a care plan or a second fixed-price phase. From the first sprints you have something to show users and investors, and your client portal shows progress, files, messages and invoices throughout.
Stage 1
Discovery
We agree what we are building, for whom and why, and write it down.
Stage 2
Design
Every screen is wireframed and designed before any of it is built.
Stage 3
Build in two-week sprints
We build in two-week sprints, and each one ends with a demo of working software.
Stage 4
Launch
We go live on accounts in your name, hand over the documentation and start the 30-day warranty.
Stage 5
Care plan
Offered at launch and running from the end of the 30-day warranty, the care plan keeps the system hosted, secure and improving, month by month.
How much does an MVP cost?
MVPs cost $15,000 to $40,000 ex GST, the same package as our web apps: discovery, wireframes, sign-in, a database, one core workflow, an admin panel, email notifications, deployment with continuous integration, documentation and a 30-day warranty.
We reply to your enquiry with an estimate range within one business day. Because an MVP is over $10,000, it then starts with a paid discovery workshop ($500 to $1,500), credited to the project if it goes ahead. The workshop produces the written scope, and the price is fixed once you sign it.
Stripe billing and other integrations are $1,500 to $5,000 each, AI features start from $3,000, and a design system in your brand starts from $2,500.
What sits where in the $15,000 to $40,000 range?
Example scopes, not past projects
These examples are made up to show what moves a project within its published range. They are not past projects and not quotes: the exact price comes from the written scope.
Low end
Around $15,000
One core workflow, sign-in with email, Google and passkeys, one kind of user plus an administrator, email notifications and an admin panel: enough for real users to rely on.
Middle
Around $27,500
Two kinds of user, such as buyers and sellers, each with their own screens, and an onboarding flow for each.
Add-ons, priced on top: Subscription billing through Stripe ($1,500 to $5,000).
Top end
Towards $40,000
A second workflow and more custom design across the screens, with everything else still on the list for version two.
Add-ons, priced on top: An AI feature (from $3,000); A design system in your brand, when the brand is part of the pitch (from $2,500).
Payment terms
- A 30 to 50 percent deposit before work starts.
- Milestone invoices at design approval, the first working build and launch.
- Net 7 or net 14 payment terms, set out in the services agreement.
Frequently asked questions
What is an MVP?
A minimum viable product: the first version of a product with one core workflow, built well enough that real users can rely on it and pay for it. It is not a prototype or a demo. The point is to learn from real use before spending on features nobody has asked for, so the scope is deliberately small: sign-in, the one workflow, an admin panel and notifications, and a list of what waits for version two.
How much does an MVP cost in Australia?
$15,000 to $40,000 ex GST with us, fixed in a written scope. The low end is one workflow with sign-in and an admin panel; more workflows, kinds of user and custom design move it up the range. Stripe billing, other integrations and AI features are priced add-ons on top. Agencies commonly quote $30,000 to $100,000 for custom builds, and a freelancer may be cheaper but without the written scope, the sprints and the warranty.
How long does it take to build an MVP?
Eight to twelve weeks. Discovery and design come first, then two-week build sprints with a working demo after each, then launch. If you need something to show earlier, the first sprints already produce a build you can put in front of people.
What should I leave out of an MVP?
Anything that does not serve the one workflow the product exists for. Native apps, every integration, a custom design system and features for customers you do not have yet can all wait. Discovery produces a scope that says what is in, what is out and why.
Who owns the code and the product?
You do. The code, the designs, the accounts and the data belong to you once the project is paid for, and the services agreement says so in writing.
Can you help me work out what to build?
Yes. That is what discovery is for: a paid workshop ($500 to $1,500, credited to the project) where we map the users, the workflow and the risks, and write the scope. If the honest answer is that a smaller build, or no build at all, is the right move, we say so.
What happens after the MVP launches?
The 30-day warranty covers defects in what we built, and it sits alongside the consumer guarantees under the Australian Consumer Law rather than limiting them. From the end of the warranty you can take a care plan, with hosting, backups, monitoring, updates and change hours from $300 a month, and scope the next release as a second fixed-price phase, based on what real users did with the first.
Tell us about your project
Describe it in your own words and get a reply with an estimate range within one business day.