“What does it cost to build a web application?” is the first question, and the hardest to answer honestly in one line. A web application is not a website and not a mobile app, and that difference is exactly what sets the price. The range runs from a tight internal tool at €8,000 to a multi-tenant SaaS well past six figures. This article lays out how that price is actually built up: by type, by component, and by year of keeping it running. Want a mobile app instead of a browser application? Read our guide to app development cost. Not sure whether you need a website or an application? Our price guide for building a website helps. And for the wider numbers behind all our custom work, read the price guide for custom software.
What does it cost to build a web application?
Having a web application built in 2026 costs roughly €8,000 to €18,000 for an internal tool or MVP, €20,000 to €50,000 for a standard portal or dashboard, and €50,000 or more for a complex web app or SaaS. The price turns on the number of screens, the number of roles and the number of integrations, not on the hourly rate alone.
| Web app type | Example | Build cost | Lead time |
|---|---|---|---|
| Internal tool or MVP | 1 main flow, login, 1 role, 1 integration | €8,000 to €18,000 | 3 to 6 weeks |
| Standard portal or dashboard | 8-15 screens, 2-3 roles, 2-4 integrations | €20,000 to €50,000 | 6 to 10 weeks |
| Complex web app or SaaS | Multi-tenant, 20+ screens, 5+ integrations, real-time or AI layer | €50,000+ | 3 to 5 months |
| Enterprise or mission-critical | High SLA, own DevOps, security audits, large datasets or 100k+ users | €100,000+ | 4 to 6 months |
Pricing verified 2026-07; always request a tailored quote, because scope makes or breaks the figure. These four numbers are the build cost. What comes on top each year in hosting, maintenance and tooling sits further down this article.
Website, web application or app: what does each choice cost?
A website informs you and needs to be found, a web application lets people log in and do real work in the browser, and a mobile app does that on the phone. That difference explains why quotes for “the same thing” vary so widely. A portal where clients edit data is a web application, not a website, and costs a multiple.
| Website | Web application | Mobile app | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Purpose | Inform, be found | Do work in the browser | Do work on the phone |
| Example | Company site, blog | Portal, dashboard, SaaS | Delivery app, field app |
| Interaction | Reading, contact form | Login, editing data | Login, offline, camera |
| Build cost | €3,000 to €25,000 | €8,000 to €90,000+ | €10,000 to €80,000+ |
| App store needed | No | No | Yes (€99 per year + 25 dollars) |
| Maintenance per year | 5 to 15% | 10 to 20% | 10 to 20% |
The biggest saving often sits in this choice itself. Many SMBs ask for an app when a web application solves the same problem without an app store, without two separate codebases, and with lower yearly costs. Torn between a web app, a SaaS and a real platform? Our comparison of web app vs SaaS vs custom platform helps you choose.
What makes up the price of a web application?
A €30,000 quote is not a black hole. It is made of line items you can see, split and steer one by one. Always ask for that breakdown, because a studio that names only a single end figure is hiding either inexperience or a buffer. The indications below are for a standard portal or dashboard; they shift with scope.
| Item | What it is | Indication |
|---|---|---|
| Discovery and scope | Scope document, screen list, integrations overview | €1,500 to €3,500 |
| UX and visual design | Wireframes and design for 10 to 15 screens | €3,000 to €8,000 |
| Login, roles and permissions | Authentication and user management | €2,000 to €4,000 |
| Per extra screen or view | List, detail or form | €600 to €1,500 |
| Integration with a modern API | Stripe, a CRM, your accounting | €1,500 to €3,500 |
| Integration with an older package | Legacy system without a clean API | €4,500 to €8,000 |
| Real-time, notifications and dashboards | Live updates, websockets, reporting | €2,000 to €6,000 |
| Testing, security and handover | QA, security check, deployment | €2,000 to €4,000 |
What stands out: the desk work at the front (discovery and design) and the back (testing and handover) together is easily a third of the budget. That is not a luxury. It stops you running into earlier decisions during the build phase, which is the most expensive kind of extra work there is.
What drives the price up or down?
The price of a web application is set by six dials: the number of screens and roles, the integrations, real-time and data processing, design and UX, the security and compliance requirements, and the tech stack. Not the studio’s brand name or the hourly rate sets the figure, but where these six stand. Turn one down and the quote drops.
- Number of screens, views and roles. An application with 6 screens and 1 role costs about a third of one with 20 screens and 4 roles. Roles and permissions add testing work at every layer.
- Integrations. One link to a modern API costs €1,500 to €3,500. A link to an older package without a clean API climbs to €4,500 to €8,000. On day one, connect only what you genuinely need.
- Real-time and data processing. A simple form is cheap. Live updates, dashboards with heavy queries, or concurrent editing by many users demand different choices and add up fast.
- Design and UX. A polished, bespoke design costs more than a plain standard one. Worth it for a client-facing portal, rarely for an internal tool.
- Security and compliance. A web application sits on the open internet and often handles personal data, so security is a real budget line, not an afterthought. More on that in the section below.
- Tech stack and scale. A standard Next.js or Astro with PostgreSQL is predictable and easy to maintain. PostgreSQL is the most-used database among developers and React one of the most-used web technologies (Stack Overflow Developer Survey 2025), so you can easily find people to take over your application later. That trims both the price and the lock-in risk.
Want to dig into the choice between off-the-shelf and building your own? Read no-code vs custom, because that call often sets the whole bottom of your budget.
What does a web application cost per year?
A web application is not a one-time purchase but a living product. Budget 10 to 20 percent of the build price per year for maintenance, security updates and small further development. The good news: unlike a mobile app, there are no app-store fees and hosting is cheap, so the yearly costs are lower than many people expect.
A worked example makes it concrete. Say you build a standard portal for €30,000. Here is what the cost looks like over 24 months.
| Cost item | Year 1 | Year 2 | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| One-time build cost | €30,000 | €0 | Discovery, design, build, testing, handover |
| Hosting and database | €720 | €1,080 | Vercel or Hetzner + PostgreSQL, grows with usage |
| Tooling (monitoring, email, analytics) | €480 | €600 | Sentry, PostHog, transactional email |
| Maintenance and security updates | €3,600 | €4,800 | About 12 to 16 percent of the build price |
| Further development | €2,400 | €3,600 | New features based on real usage |
| Total | €37,200 | €10,080 | 24-month TCO: €47,280 |
The build cost here is about four fifths of the total in year one and nearly everything in year two. Anyone steering on the build quote alone misses the part that keeps the application secure and compatible for years. For the full method behind these numbers, everything is broken out in our price guide for custom software.
What do security and speed cost?
Security and speed are two cost items that barely register for a website but do weigh on a web application. A security check against the OWASP Top 10 plus GDPR work form a fixed line in the quote, and a fast load time is built into a modern stack. They are not a luxury; they decide whether people use the application safely and gladly.
Security first. A web application with logins sits on the open internet and is therefore a target. A serious studio tests against the OWASP Top 10, the list of the ten most common security risks for web applications, and counts that security check as a fixed line in the quote. If your application handles personal data, GDPR work comes on top: proper access rights, logging and data minimisation.
Speed is the second. Slow screens cost usage directly: the probability that someone bounces rises 32 percent as load time goes from 1 to 3 seconds (Think with Google). Google counts a Largest Contentful Paint under 2.5 seconds as good (web.dev Core Web Vitals). A modern stack hits that bar by default; an application running on an outdated foundation pays it back later in lost users and rework.
How do you keep a web application’s cost down?
You keep a web application’s cost down by making six choices, not by building cheaper: start with an MVP, pick a web application over an app, limit your integrations, ask for a fixed price on a clear scope, demand code ownership, and work with a studio with short lines. Quality does not have to suffer for it.
- Start with an MVP. Build the one flow that truly counts and test it with real users, rather than everything at once. That is how our MVP approach works, and it saves half your starting budget.
- Pick a web application over an app where you can. No app store, no two codebases, lower yearly costs.
- Limit your integrations. Every link costs money, older packages especially. On day one, connect only what you genuinely need.
- Ask for a fixed price on a clear scope. Then the price risk sits with the studio, not with you.
- Demand code ownership and an open-source stack. So you can always switch later and never pay ransom. Read why in code ownership and vendor lock-in.
- Pick a studio with short lines. Talk straight to the builders and no budget vanishes into translation layers. What else to check is in software studio vs freelance developer.
How do you actually get started?
Start small and sharp. A 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. That document is your insurance against apples-to-pears comparisons and against hidden extras later. What that looks like in practice, you can see in our Mastone case.
Book a free intake call. In thirty minutes we look at your idea, give an honest price indication, and tell you which type of application fits your goal and budget. With or without working together, you walk away with a clear picture.
