The honest question for SMBs in 2026 is not “does custom software cost a lot” but “what do I get for which budget and what annual costs am I left with”. Below €15,000 you cannot get a serious platform built. Above €250,000 you are in enterprise territory and likely at the mercy of quote inflation. The SMB field sits in between. For broader context read our complete guide on building custom software. This article shows, per project type, what is realistic, which five factors set the price, what TCO over 24 months looks like, and how to spot hidden extras in any quote.
How is the price of custom software determined?
In nearly every quote we see, five factors push the price up or down. Not the tech choice or the logo of the agency, but these five dials.
- Scope: how many features, screens and roles. A platform with 8 screens and 2 roles costs about a third of a platform with 25 screens and 5 roles.
- Integrations with external systems. One link to a well-documented API (Stripe, HubSpot, Shopify) costs €1,500 to €3,500. A link to an older package without an API climbs to €4,500 to €8,000 per integration.
- Tech stack and architecture. A standard Next.js + PostgreSQL + Vercel or Hetzner stack is predictable. Microservices, custom DevOps or a custom ML pipeline add 30 to 60 percent.
- Team seniority and composition. A senior fullstack developer (€115 to €165 per hour) delivers 2 to 3 times more working functionality in the same time than a medior. See also the Stack Overflow Developer Survey 2025.
- Lead time and parallelism. A rush project typically costs 20 to 35 percent more than the same work at a normal pace.
What does custom software cost per project type?
| Project type | Example | Build cost | Lead time |
|---|---|---|---|
| MVP / proof-of-concept | First working version, 1 main flow, basic auth, 1 integration | €8,000 to €18,000 | 2 to 3 weeks |
| Standard SMB platform | Full platform: 8-15 screens, 2-3 roles, 2-4 integrations | €20,000 to €50,000 | 4 to 8 weeks |
| Extensive custom build | Multi-tenant, 20+ screens, 5+ integrations, custom calculation logic or AI layer | €50,000+ | 2 to 4 months |
| Enterprise / mission-critical | High SLA, custom DevOps, security audits, 100k+ users or large datasets | €100,000+ | 3 to 6 months |
Which costs sit next to the build?
- Hosting and infrastructure. For a standard SMB platform €40 to €250 per month.
- API and AI credits. An AI component costs €30 to €400 per month depending on volume.
- Maintenance and further development. Count on 10 to 20 percent of the build price per year.
- Tooling licences. Sentry, PostHog, monitoring, email services. €40 to €200 per month.
- Training and adoption. 2 to 5 days of support at delivery plus a refresh session after 4 weeks.
- Opportunity cost of internal time. A platform project requires 4 to 12 hours per week from an internal product owner.
TCO over 24 months: what do you actually pay?
Worked example for an average SMB platform of €45,000 in build cost. We show how total costs play out over 24 months.
| Cost item | Year 1 | Year 2 | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| One-time build cost | €45,000 | €0 | Discovery, design, build, testing, delivery |
| Hosting + database | €1,200 | €1,500 | Vercel or Hetzner + Supabase |
| AI and API credits | €1,800 | €2,400 | Usage grows with adoption |
| Tooling (Sentry, PostHog, email) | €720 | €840 | Monitoring + analytics + transactional email |
| Maintenance and further development | €6,000 | €8,000 | About 13 to 18 percent of build price per year |
| Training and internal time | €3,000 | €1,500 | 40 hours year 1, 20 hours year 2 internal PO time |
| Total | €57,720 | €14,240 | 24-month TCO: €71,960 |
Build cost is about 63 percent of total cost in year one and almost everything in year two. Anyone steering on the build quote alone misses half the picture.
Difference by vendor type: freelancer vs agency vs TopDevs
| Vendor | Hourly rate | Typical build cost | Strong at | Risk |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Freelance developer | €65 to €110 | €10,000 to €35,000 | Small projects, short lines | Bus factor 1, no backup during illness |
| Small dev agency (5-15 people) | €95 to €145 | €30,000 to €120,000 | Standard platforms, stable teams | Variable quality per team |
| Large software house | €130 to €220 | €80,000 to €400,000+ | Large scope, certifications | High overhead, long lead time, vendor lock-in |
| TopDevs | €95 to €135 | €8,000 to €180,000 | Fixed price, code in your ownership, AI focus | No 500k+ enterprise projects |
What is a fair hourly rate in NL for custom development?
- Junior developer (0-2 years): €55 to €85 per hour.
- Medior developer (2-5 years): €75 to €110 per hour. The workhorse of most teams.
- Senior developer (5-10 years): €115 to €165 per hour. Makes architecture choices, prevents expensive mistakes early.
- Specialist (security, DevOps, AI/ML): €145 to €220 per hour. Peaks for specific needs.
According to Forrester analysis of low-code and outsourcing, the market is shifting toward hybrid teams rather than pure offshoring. For SMB projects under €100,000, offshore rarely outweighs a Dutch team.
How do you avoid hidden extras?
- Vaguely defined scope. Always ask for a scope document with a number per screen and per integration.
- No fixed rate for change requests. Ask: “what is your change-request rate and how is it approved?”
- Mandatory monthly retainer after go-live. Require code ownership and no lock-in. At TopDevs we put this in our terms and conditions by default.
- Proprietary frameworks or in-house platforms. Ask: “which open-source stack do you build on?”
- No written guarantee on bug fixes. Three to six months is standard. At our shop this is called the correction guarantee.
When do you pick fixed price vs hourly rate?
| Model | When it fits | Upside | Downside |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fixed price | Scope is clear, MVP or standard platform | No surprises, price risk sits with the agency | Agency builds in a buffer |
| Hourly rate (T&M) | Long lead time, scope evolves | Maximum flexibility | No price ceiling |
| Capped T&M (hybrid) | Uncertain but within a ceiling | Mix of flexibility and ceiling | Ceiling often gets hit anyway |
What ROI is realistic for SMB platforms?
For SMB platforms we see on average 150 to 400 percent ROI in year one on well-chosen cases. For the full calculation method, read our guide to calculating workflow automation ROI.
- Mastone (real-estate platform with WWS points logic): investment around €45,000, saving 18 to 25 hours per month. See the Mastone case.
- Recruitment platform with AI screening: investment €32,000, saving 12 hours per week per recruiter, 20 percent more placements.
- Accountancy portal for invoices: investment €38,000, saving 25 to 35 hours per week across a team of 6.
Budget split per phase: where does your money go?
A solid quote breaks the budget down per phase, so you know per step what you are paying for and which part you can adjust later. In a typical SMB project of €45,000 we see this split come back. The desk work up front (discovery and design) is not a luxury; it stops you from running into earlier decisions during the build phase.
| Phase | Budget share | Example at €45,000 | What you receive |
|---|---|---|---|
| Discovery and scope | 8 to 12 percent | €3,600 to €5,400 | Scope document, screen list, integration overview |
| UX and visual design | 12 to 18 percent | €5,400 to €8,100 | Wireframes, Figma designs, design system |
| Build and development | 50 to 60 percent | €22,500 to €27,000 | Working front-end, back-end, integrations |
| Testing and QA | 8 to 12 percent | €3,600 to €5,400 | Test suite, bug fixes, security check |
| Delivery and training | 6 to 10 percent | €2,700 to €4,500 | Deployment, handover, training, documentation |
| Buffer and contingency | 5 to 10 percent | €2,250 to €4,500 | Unexpected scope additions |
Worked example: a complete €25,000 platform quote with line items
To move out of the abstract: below is a realistic quote like we would issue for an SMB platform of €25,000. A customer portal with login, dashboard, invoice overview, document upload and Stripe integration. Lead time about 4 weeks.
| Line | Description | Hours | Amount |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Discovery week, scope document, screen list | 20 hours | €2,200 |
| 2 | UX wireframes and visual design (12 screens) | 32 hours | €3,520 |
| 3 | Authentication, roles, account management | 24 hours | €2,640 |
| 4 | Dashboard, lists, filters, navigation | 40 hours | €4,400 |
| 5 | Invoice overview, statuses, exports | 28 hours | €3,080 |
| 6 | Document upload with storage on S3 or Supabase | 20 hours | €2,200 |
| 7 | Stripe integration (customer + payment method + invoice) | 24 hours | €2,640 |
| 8 | Testing, QA, security pass, browser tests | 20 hours | €2,200 |
| 9 | Deployment, DNS, monitoring (Sentry, PostHog) | 8 hours | €880 |
| 10 | Handover session, README, training (2 half-days) | 12 hours | €1,320 |
| Total | Fixed price including correction guarantee | 228 hours | €25,080 |
What stands out: discovery, design, testing and delivery together already account for 38 percent of the budget. The raw build lines (3 to 7) are 62 percent. A quote that puts 90 percent on the build and 5 percent on delivery often produces something that technically works but falls over in production.
NL vs Poland vs India: what is the real cost?
The hourly rate is not the real cost. With offshore, review hours, time-zone overhead, communication friction and rework add up fast. The table below runs the numbers on a typical SMB platform of 600 hours, based on public benchmark rates and what we see in practice for SMB projects under €100,000.
| Region | Gross hourly rate | 600 hours gross | Internal overhead | Real cost |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Netherlands (small agency) | €95 to €135 | €57,000 to €81,000 | 5 to 10 percent | €60,000 to €89,000 |
| Poland / Ukraine | €45 to €75 | €27,000 to €45,000 | 20 to 30 percent | €32,000 to €58,000 |
| India / Philippines | €20 to €45 | €12,000 to €27,000 | 40 to 70 percent | €17,000 to €46,000 |
| Hybrid (NL lead, EU execution) | €60 to €95 | €36,000 to €57,000 | 10 to 15 percent | €40,000 to €66,000 |
- Under €100,000: the gap between NL and Poland is often eaten up by coordination hours.
- Between €100,000 and €250,000: a Poland team with an NL lead can land 25 to 35 percent cheaper.
- Above €250,000: offshore only becomes truly profitable with a dedicated tech lead and a full-time PO on your side.
How do you actually get started?
A short discovery of one to two weeks costs €1,500 to €3,500 and produces a scope document you can use to compare any quote on an equal footing. Without that discovery, you are comparing apples to pears.
Plan a free intake call. In thirty minutes we look at your use case, give an honest price indication and tell you whether custom is the right choice for you. For the full decision path, also read our complete guide to building custom software and our terms and conditions.
