Web app development cost: what it costs and how to keep the budget under control
A web app is more than a website: users log in, enter data, and the application calculates, stores and sends something. Typical examples are internal tools, booking systems, calculators or admin interfaces. Costs range from a few thousand to six figures. This article shows where they come from and how to get a reliable quote.
The main cost drivers
The price isn't set by the number of screens but by what happens behind them:
- Roles and permissions: one user type is simple; admin, staff, customer and partner with different rights multiply logic and testing.
- Business logic: pricing calculations, approval workflows, status transitions and exceptions.
- Integrations: CRM, accounting, payments, email, calendar. Every integration needs error handling.
- Data migration from spreadsheets or legacy systems.
- Requirements for security, logging, accessibility and availability.
How to estimate the budget
Write the features as user stories: "As a customer I want to repeat an order so that…". A developer estimates each story in hours. The total times the hourly rate, plus project management, testing and a buffer, gives the budget. With us a development hour costs €30; every item is estimated before work starts and can be ordered individually.
For orientation: a simple internal tool with login, two or three forms and a list is often 40 to 120 hours. An application with several roles, payments and a CRM integration quickly reaches several hundred hours. These are experience values, not a promise; an estimate of your list is more reliable.
Fixed price or time and materials?
A fixed price gives planning certainty but requires a precise description. Every later change becomes a change request. Time and materials is more flexible but needs transparency: weekly timesheets and a cap per package.
A middle way works well: a fixed price per clearly described feature, ordered step by step. You pay only for what you actually approve and can reprioritise after the first packages.
Contract: acceptance and rights to the code
In Germany, software development is usually agreed as a contract for work (Werkvertrag). Acceptance under Section 640 BGB is then the key moment: warranty starts and the final payment usually falls due. Define beforehand what acceptance is tested against: test cases, browsers, data volumes.
Important and often overlooked: rights to a program created by employees automatically belong to the employer (Section 69b of the German Copyright Act), but not when external developers write it. Have the exclusive usage rights and the source code transferred by contract. With us, code and access are yours from day one.
Don't forget running costs
After launch come hosting, database, email delivery and monitoring, from around €20 a month depending on scale. Add dependency updates, small changes and bug fixes. Budget a monthly hour allowance for these instead of negotiating each issue separately.
Frequently asked questions
- Is a web app cheaper than a native app?
- Usually yes, because one codebase runs in the browser on every device. Features like offline use or push notifications are partly possible as a Progressive Web App.
- Can we start with a no-code tool?
- For simple internal workflows, yes. Once roles, integrations and data volumes grow, no-code tools hit limits and per-user licence costs get expensive.
- How long does development take?
- A small tool is usable within a few weeks. Larger applications are built in stages of two to four weeks, each ending with a usable version.
Sources
Send us your feature list or describe the workflow the web app should handle. You get an estimate per feature in hours and euros.
Get a web app estimate