What is an MVP, and what should yours actually include?
An MVP is the smallest version of your product that a real customer would pay for — not a demo, and not a half-finished version of the full roadmap. It exists to answer one question: will people use and pay for this? Everything that doesn't serve that question is deferred, because every extra feature costs money now and delays the only feedback that matters.
In practice a production SaaS MVP means one core workflow done properly, plus the unglamorous foundations around it: authentication, billing, a sensible data model, and infrastructure that won't fall over when your launch post does well. What gets cut is the admin dashboard nobody has asked for yet, the second user role, the integrations you might need next year, and the settings screen with fourteen toggles.
We work with UK founders — most of them non-technical — who need that first version built properly by people who have shipped one before. If you want the detail behind the numbers, we've published a full breakdown of UK MVP costs and a line-by-line look at what £15K actually buys.
- Prototype from:
£5,000
- Production MVP from:
£15,000
- Typical timeline:
8–12 weeks
- Contract:
Fixed price, fixed scope
- Code ownership:
Yours from day one
How much does it cost to build an MVP?
Fixed-price packages start at £5,000 for a validation prototype and £15,000 for a production SaaS MVP. Every engagement is quoted after a free scoping call, so you know the total before we start and the price holds unless you ask for something new in writing.
Validation Prototype
from £5K
4–6 weeks
Test demand before you commit to a build. A landing page, a waitlist, a clickable prototype and a written scoping document you can take to investors.
- Clickable prototype of the core flow
- Landing page + waitlist to measure real intent
- Written scope and fixed quote for the production build
Production SaaS MVP
from £15K
8–12 weeks
A real product your first customers can pay for: authentication, billing, the core workflow, and the infrastructure to run it safely.
- Auth, billing (Stripe), and the core product workflow
- Deployed, monitored infrastructure you own
- Dedicated PM, senior developer and designer throughout
Mobile or AI MVP
from £20K
10–14 weeks
Cross-platform mobile apps (iOS + Android) or LLM-powered products, with the same fixed-price, fixed-scope contract.
- React Native or Flutter across both app stores
- LLM features with a modelled per-user running cost
- Store submission and release management included
Full package details and maintenance plans are on our pricing page. Weighing this against other routes? We've written honestly about agency vs in-house vs freelancer and no-code vs custom development — including the cases where hiring us is the wrong answer.
How the build works, week by week
Free scoping call
A 30-minute call where we pressure-test the idea, agree what the MVP must do, and tell you honestly if we're the wrong fit — including when no-code or an in-house hire would serve you better.
Discovery and fixed quote
User flows, data model, and a written scope. You get a fixed price and a week-by-week schedule before any code is written. The number you sign is the number you pay.
Design and build sprints
Two-week sprints, each ending in a Friday demo of working software. You own the Linear board, you're in a private Slack channel with the whole team, and code lands in your GitHub from the first commit.
QA, launch and handover
Testing, deployment, and a written playbook covering deploys, on-call and the architectural decisions we made — so your next hire can pick it up cold.
More detail on scoping is in our guide to scoping a SaaS MVP you can ship in 8 weeks, and on timelines in how long it takes to build an MVP.
Why UK founders work with us
- Fixed price, not an hourly meter. You get a number before we start and it holds. Changes are quoted as written change orders you approve.
- A senior team, not a hand-off. The people who scope your project build it: a dedicated PM, senior developer and designer. No subcontracting, no junior-led builds.
- You own everything. Code in your GitHub from the first commit, infrastructure in your accounts, a written handover playbook at the end.
- Boring technology on purpose. We'll talk you out of fashionable choices that won't scale and into proven ones your next hire can pick up.
- Honest advice, including no. If no-code fits your problem or you're better off hiring in-house, we'll say so on the first call.
What we build
B2B SaaS platforms, marketplaces, internal tools, AI-powered products and cross-platform mobile apps. Our default stack is Next.js and TypeScript on Postgres with Stripe billing — the reasoning is in our guide to the best tech stack for a SaaS MVP.
For mobile we build cross-platform with React Native or Flutter so one codebase ships to both stores. For AI products we integrate OpenAI or Anthropic models and model the per-user running cost before you commit.
Related services: custom software development, mobile app development and product strategy. See recent builds in our case studies.
MVP development FAQs
Guides for founders building an MVP
Tell us what you're building
A 30-minute scoping call, no obligation. You'll leave with a realistic price range and timeline — and an honest answer about whether we're the right team for it.