SaaS Development Cost Breakdown 2026 | Complete Budgeting Guide

You have a SaaS idea. Maybe you've validated it with potential customers. Now you need to know: how much will it actually cost to build?

As a team that's built SaaS products from scratch (including our own — Agiled, Billed, and SchedulingKit), we can give you a realistic picture of what to expect.

This isn't a vague "it depends" guide. We're giving you actual numbers, phase by phase, so you can build a real budget.

The Real Cost of Building a SaaS Product

Here's the truth most agencies won't tell you: the initial build is only 30-40% of your first-year cost. You also need to budget for infrastructure, marketing, support, and iteration based on user feedback.

Total First-Year Cost Breakdown

| Category | Cost Range | % of Total | |---|---|---| | MVP development | $50,000 – $150,000 | 35-45% | | Design (UI/UX) | $15,000 – $40,000 | 10-15% | | Infrastructure and hosting | $6,000 – $24,000 | 5-8% | | Post-launch iteration | $20,000 – $60,000 | 15-20% | | Marketing and launch | $10,000 – $40,000 | 8-12% | | Support and maintenance | $12,000 – $36,000 | 8-12% | | Total Year 1 | $113,000 – $350,000 | 100% |

That's the honest picture. Now let's break each phase down in detail.

Phase 1: Discovery and Planning ($5,000 – $15,000)

Before writing a single line of code, you need a solid foundation. This phase typically takes 2-4 weeks.

What Gets Delivered

Product requirements document: Detailed feature list with user stories and acceptance criteria
Information architecture: How data flows through the system
Wireframes: Low-fidelity layouts for all key screens
Technical architecture: System design, technology stack selection, infrastructure plan
Database schema: Data model for your core entities
Project roadmap: Phased plan with milestones and estimates
Risk assessment: Technical and business risks with mitigation strategies

Why This Phase Matters

We've seen too many projects skip discovery to "save money" and end up spending 2-3x more when they have to pivot mid-development. A $10,000 discovery phase can save you $50,000+ in wasted development.

Our approach at ZTABS: We offer a standalone 2-week discovery sprint for $8,000. You get a comprehensive technical specification, wireframes, and a detailed estimate — regardless of whether you hire us for development.

Phase 2: UI/UX Design ($15,000 – $40,000)

Good design isn't a luxury for SaaS — it's directly tied to conversion rates, user retention, and willingness to pay.

Design Cost Breakdown

| Deliverable | Cost | Timeline | |---|---|---| | UX research and user personas | $3,000 – $6,000 | 1 week | | Information architecture and user flows | $2,000 – $5,000 | 1 week | | Wireframes (all screens) | $4,000 – $10,000 | 1-2 weeks | | High-fidelity mockups | $5,000 – $12,000 | 2-3 weeks | | Interactive prototype | $3,000 – $8,000 | 1 week | | Design system / component library | $5,000 – $10,000 | 1-2 weeks |

What Good SaaS Design Includes

Onboarding flow: The first 5 minutes determine whether a trial user converts. Invest heavily here.
Dashboard: The home screen users see every day. It needs to surface the right data instantly.
Core workflows: The 2-3 actions users perform most frequently must be frictionless.
Settings and billing: Often neglected, but a confusing billing page creates support tickets and churn.
Empty states: What users see before they have data. These are opportunities to guide users toward value.
Responsive design: 30-40% of B2B SaaS usage happens on mobile or tablet. Don't ignore it.

Phase 3: MVP Development ($50,000 – $150,000)

This is the biggest cost center. The range is wide because SaaS products vary enormously in complexity.

What an MVP Must Include

Every SaaS MVP needs these foundational elements:

Authentication and user management ($6,000 – $12,000)

Email/password registration and login
Social login (Google, GitHub, etc.)
Password reset flow
Email verification
Session management

Multi-tenancy ($8,000 – $20,000)

Workspace/organization model
Data isolation between tenants
User invitation and role management
Tenant-specific settings and customization

Subscription and billing ($10,000 – $25,000)

Pricing plans and plan switching
Stripe integration for payment processing
Usage tracking (if usage-based pricing)
Invoice generation
Free trial management
Dunning (failed payment recovery)

Core product features ($20,000 – $70,000) This varies wildly by product. A project management tool has very different features than an analytics platform. Budget 40-50% of your total development cost for core features.

Admin dashboard ($8,000 – $15,000)

User management
Subscription management
System metrics and health
Feature flags
Content management (if applicable)

Notifications ($3,000 – $8,000)

Email notifications (transactional)
In-app notifications
Notification preferences

API layer ($5,000 – $15,000)

RESTful or GraphQL API
API documentation
Rate limiting
Authentication tokens for integrations

Technology Stack for SaaS in 2026

Here's what we recommend for most SaaS products:

Frontend: Next.js with React and TypeScript

Server-side rendering for SEO and performance
App Router for modern routing patterns
Excellent developer ecosystem
Cost-effective talent pool

Backend: Node.js with TypeScript (or Python for data-heavy apps)

Same language as frontend reduces complexity
Excellent for real-time features
Strong ecosystem for SaaS-specific needs

Database: PostgreSQL

Battle-tested, free, and incredibly powerful
Handles multi-tenancy well
Excellent for complex queries and reporting

Infrastructure: Vercel (frontend) + AWS or Railway (backend)

Scales automatically
Cost-effective at low volume
Enterprise-grade reliability

Payments: Stripe

Industry standard for SaaS billing
Handles subscriptions, invoicing, and tax compliance
Excellent developer experience

Development Timeline

A typical SaaS MVP timeline with a team of 3-5 developers:

| Phase | Duration | Key Deliverables | |---|---|---| | Sprint 0 (setup) | 1 week | Architecture, environment setup, CI/CD | | Sprint 1-2 | 4 weeks | Auth, multi-tenancy, user management | | Sprint 3-4 | 4 weeks | Core features (part 1) | | Sprint 5-6 | 4 weeks | Core features (part 2), billing integration | | Sprint 7-8 | 4 weeks | Admin panel, notifications, integrations | | Sprint 9 | 2 weeks | Testing, bug fixes, performance optimization | | Sprint 10 | 1 week | Deployment, monitoring setup, launch prep | | Total | ~20 weeks | |

Phase 4: Infrastructure and DevOps ($6,000 – $24,000/year)

Monthly Infrastructure Costs by Scale

| Scale | Users | Monthly Cost | Annual Cost | |---|---|---|---| | Pre-launch / MVP | 0-100 | $50 – $200 | $600 – $2,400 | | Early traction | 100-1,000 | $200 – $800 | $2,400 – $9,600 | | Growth | 1,000-10,000 | $800 – $3,000 | $9,600 – $36,000 | | Scale | 10,000-100,000 | $3,000 – $15,000 | $36,000 – $180,000 |

What You Need

Hosting: Application servers, database, file storage
CDN: Content delivery for global performance
Email service: Transactional emails (SendGrid, Postmark, or Resend)
Monitoring: Error tracking (Sentry), uptime monitoring, log management
Analytics: Product analytics (PostHog, Mixpanel) and web analytics
Security: SSL certificates, WAF, DDoS protection
CI/CD: Automated testing and deployment pipeline

Phase 5: Post-Launch Iteration ($20,000 – $60,000)

Your MVP is not your final product. Plan for 3-6 months of active iteration after launch.

What Post-Launch Iteration Covers

Bug fixes and stability: The first month after launch always surfaces issues that testing didn't catch.
User feedback features: Your users will tell you what's missing. Budget for quick wins.
Performance optimization: Real user traffic reveals bottlenecks that synthetic testing misses.
Onboarding improvements: Watch session recordings. Where do users get stuck? Fix those friction points.
Analytics instrumentation: Add tracking for key metrics that inform product decisions.

How to Prioritize Post-Launch Work

Use the ICE framework for every feature request:

Impact (1-10): How much will this affect key metrics?
Confidence (1-10): How confident are we in the impact estimate?
Ease (1-10): How easy is this to build?

Score = Impact × Confidence × Ease. Work on the highest-scoring items first.

Common SaaS Cost Mistakes

1. Building Too Many Features Before Launch

The #1 mistake SaaS founders make. Your MVP should solve one core problem exceptionally well. Everything else can wait.

2. Ignoring the Billing System

We've seen startups spend $100K on their product but $2K on billing. Then they can't handle annual plans, upgrades, or failed payments — and they lose revenue.

3. No Budget for Marketing

"If you build it, they will come" is a myth. Budget at least $10K-$40K for your launch — content marketing, SEO, paid ads, and outreach.

4. Skipping Security

A data breach in year one will kill your SaaS faster than any competitor. Budget for proper security from day one, not as an afterthought.

5. Choosing the Cheapest Development Option

A $20K MVP that needs to be rewritten at $80K is not cheaper than an $80K MVP that scales to $1M ARR.

SaaS Development Cost Calculator

Want an instant estimate for your SaaS project? Use our free Website Cost Calculator — select "Web Application" and configure the features you need.

For a detailed, personalized estimate, schedule a free consultation with our team. We'll review your concept, recommend a technology stack, and provide a phased budget plan — no commitment required.

About ZTABS

We've built SaaS products for clients and ourselves. Our products Agiled, Billed, and SchedulingKit serve thousands of users. We bring that product-building experience to every client engagement.

Our SaaS development services include:

Product discovery and planning
UI/UX design
Full-stack development (Next.js, React, Node.js, PostgreSQL)
Stripe billing integration
Multi-tenant architecture
DevOps and CI/CD setup
Post-launch support and iteration

Learn more about our SaaS development services →