Indicative build cost
£23,000–£35,000
Roughly 7 to 11 weeks, UK-built — with 20% off for a 24-month Run commitment
Smart Path Studio · Estimator
What will it actually cost?
Four questions, an honest range, and the working shown. Most agencies make you book a call to find this out. We don’t think you should have to.
01
What are you building?
Pick the closest. We’ll refine it properly in discovery.
02
How many other systems does it talk to?
Payments, CRM, accounting, someone else’s API — anything you don’t control.
03
Do you have designs or a brand already?
Design is roughly a fifth of most builds. Having it done saves real money.
04
Will people be paying to use it at launch?
This sets the monthly. If it breaks and someone is paying, we answer the phone — that’s the difference between the two tiers.
05
How long would you commit to us running it?
The term is what buys the build discount — it isn’t a lock-in we sell on its own. Leave early and you repay only the discount you haven’t earned.
Discovery first
£2,500
One week. Credited against the build if you go ahead within 90 days.
Then, per month
£395
Run · Standard — your product is live. Starts at go-live, not signature.
First year, all in
£32,160
Build at the midpoint, discovery, and 8 months of running it.
Worth knowing
This sits in our published MVP range
£30,000–£48,000 over 8–12 weeks, UK-built. Against a defensible market reference of £35,000–£55,000. Roughly 10–15% under, and explicitly UK-built.
The bottom of this range sits under our £30,000 build floor. If your budget is nearer the low end, the honest route is a smaller first phase rather than a discount.
Show the working
Base estimate — Customer-facing product50–75 days
One or two integrations× 1.15
Rough ideas and a logo× 1.00
Adjusted days57–86 days
Blended day rate£508
Build at list£29,000 – £44,000
24 months commitment−20%
Build range£23,000 – £35,000
Discovery (credited if you proceed within 90 days)£2,500
Running it, per month£395
Months of Run inside year one (go-live at about week 11)8
The blend is 50% developer, 35% senior developer, 15% tech lead£425 / £545 / £695
What this number is, and what it isn’t
This is an estimate from four questions. It is not a quote, and we won’t pretend otherwise — anyone who quotes a bespoke build from a web form is guessing, and the guess is always low.
What it is good for: telling you whether we’re in your budget before either of us spends an hour on a call. The real number comes out of discovery, in writing, with the assumptions listed.
Who carries it if we get the estimate wrong
We do. A build is agreed against a scope, not against a timesheet — if it takes us longer than we estimated, that is our problem and not your invoice. What changes the price is a change to the scope, and we price that in writing before it starts.
Included in the build
- Design and build
- Testing and deployment
- Cloud set up in your accounts
- Documentation and handover
- Code and IP, yours as you pay
Not included
- Third-party licences, at cost
- Cloud hosting, billed to you directly
- Cyber Essentials fees, from £320
- Content and copywriting
- Anything outside the agreed scope — priced in writing first
Our day rates, since you’ll ask
| Role | Per day | 10+ days a month |
|---|---|---|
| Developer | £425 | £383 |
| Senior developer | £545 | £491 |
| Tech lead / architect | £695 | £626 |
| Fractional CTO | £950 | £855 |
Ten days a month or more and those drop by 10%. No VAT to add.
No obligation on the call. If we’re not right for you we’ll say so, and we’ll usually know inside twenty minutes. It goes to [email protected].
We are not VAT registered, so there is no VAT to add — the price you see is the price you pay. Third-party licences, cloud charges and certification fees are passed through at cost, never marked up. Rates benchmarked against published UK market data, September 2026.