“How much will it cost?” is the first question in almost every conversation. Good. Budget is not embarrassing - it is one of the most important constraints of any project. The problem starts when nobody wants to give even an indicative range before you sign a contract.
Below are realistic ranges for the Polish market and the factors that affect the price most. No marketing “it depends”.
The short answer: three brackets
- Website or landing page: usually PLN 5,000–9,000. Scope: design, implementation, responsiveness, basic SEO and analytics.
- Web application MVP: usually PLN 25,000–45,000. Scope: workshop, UX/UI design, core features, launch and room to grow.
- Custom system: from PLN 60,000 upwards. Scope: process analysis, integrations, admin panels, roles, security and documentation.
These are ranges, not verdicts. Two applications with a similar description can differ in price by 2x - and usually not because one company is “greedy”. The difference is in the details.
What really increases the price
1. Feature scope
Every feature is not just a screen but also logic, permissions, error handling and testing. “Adding a simple panel” often means several days of work. The more exceptions to the rule, the higher the cost.
2. Integrations
Connecting payments, accounting, ERP, booking systems or an external API can be more work than the entire interface. Integrations have their own pace, limits and unpredictable behaviour.
3. UX/UI design
Good design is not “nice colours” - it is decisions that shorten the user’s path to the goal. An application without thoughtful UX often comes back for rework, which is the most expensive kind of rework.
4. Security
Authentication, permissions, encryption, dependency audits and data protection are costs that are hard to show on a screenshot. But their absence costs far more when an incident happens.
5. Speed and flexibility
A project “for yesterday” requires more commitment and often a larger team. The same goes for scope changes along the way - each has a cost, even if it does not appear on the invoice immediately.
6. Maintenance and development
The launch price is not the product price. Hosting, monitoring, security updates and development are separate line items. Plan for them from the start instead of discovering them three months later.
Why the cheapest option is often the most expensive
A very cheap quote often skips what you cannot see: documentation, tests, error handling, security and code handover. Everything works at the start. The problem appears when you want to add a feature, change vendors or pass an audit.
Code without documentation and tests is not a saving. It is a deferred cost.
How to compare quotes
- Ask for a concrete scope, not a list of technologies.
- Check whether the quote is fixed and what it includes.
- Ask about milestones and acceptance points.
- Establish who owns the code and whether you get the repository.
- Ask how security is handled and what happens after launch.
How to reduce cost without ruining the product
Build less, but smarter. Limit the first version to features that let you test the most important assumption. Postpone everything non-critical. Staging is cheaper than rewriting.
The good news: you do not need to know everything at the start. You only need to know what problem you want to solve. The rest can be designed together - and quoted fairly.
Need a concrete quote for your idea? Get in touch - the first consultation is free and the quote is fixed.