Project cost calculator
Software project cost calculator
I built this to give founders a planning range for a software project, not a vendor quote. Answer eight sizing questions, choose who would typically build the work, and you get a low, base, and high rough order of magnitude in USD.
Project sizing questions
How the range is built
The calculator follows the same sequence I use when sanity-checking an early budget: size the work, convert size to effort, price the effort at a vendor rate band, then add overhead and contingency.
- Size drivers: project type, workflows, roles, integrations, platforms, AI scope, compliance, and design readiness.
- Effort: base developer-days by project type, adjusted by documented multipliers, capped to prevent runaway stacking.
- Rate: 2026 hourly bands for the labor market you select: agency vendors by region, or an individual freelancer / solo developer option.
- Overhead: 12% for solo freelancers and Asia direct hires, 20% for agency vendors (QA, project management, and DevOps).
- Contingency: 10% to 30% based on uncertainty such as vague scope, legacy integrations, regulated data, or missing designs. Clear focused MVPs start lower.
The result is a vendor-neutral industry ROM. It is useful for budgeting conversations before discovery. It is not a contractual quote.
FAQ
Is this a fixed quote?+
No. The calculator returns a rough order of magnitude planning range with low, base, and high figures. A fixed quote needs a written scope, acceptance criteria, and discovery on integrations and non-functional requirements.
Why does labor market change the price but not the effort?+
The questionnaire sizes the work in developer-days first. The labor market you select only changes the hourly rate band applied to that effort. Choose a vendor region, or pick individual freelancer for a solo developer planning band without agency markup.
Does AI cut the whole project cost in half?+
No. AI-assisted tools can speed up some implementation tasks, but review, QA, security, product clarification, and integrations still take human time. This calculator does not apply a blanket AI discount to the entire estimate. At most, a small discount can apply to the implementation slice for a very simple focused MVP.
Where do COCOMO and Function Points fit in?+
COCOMO II and Function Point Analysis are useful as a sanity check and for portfolio-level forecasting, especially when you have calibrated historical data. They are not enough alone for an early startup quote when requirements are still moving. This page uses a founder checklist instead of asking for KSLOC or story points.
Does the result map to a specific vendor package?+
No. The output is a vendor-neutral industry ROM based on size drivers, effort, overhead, and contingency. It is not tied to any single agency offer or catalog price on this site.
Disclaimer: All figures on this page are planning ranges for software build cost. They exclude long-term cloud spend, paid third-party APIs, and post-launch feature work unless you size it separately. Share the URL query string to restore the same answers; it encodes coarse enums only, not free text about your product idea.