Help! Someone quoted me $55,000 to rebuild my app.

I read through the other comments here, but perhaps I can offer the contrarian view.

$55k sounds about right to me.

I can't speak for the dev shop you are referring to, but if it was me, when I price things like this for a client I'm baking in all the functionality that I know you're going to end up asking for but don't necessarily know to ask.

Your product isn't just the one line requirement in the OP, it's all sorts of (often mundane) things that a product just needs but you don't really think about as part of the core project. Things like: user authentication, end of free trial triggers, payment processing, subscription cancelation, all the transactional emails associated with those and other actions...etc

These things aren't difficult to do, but they take time - especially in a client-servicing context where you might be going back and forth with different designs or text you want to use.

If I was still doing consulting work, I don't think I'd even bother taking on an end-to-end SaaS project that didn't have a budget of more than $50k, knowing all of these little essentials that will inevitably crop up during the project.

Anyway, I don't mean to be a downer - I'm just surprised that other folks here are saying the price quoted was high.

If you don't have budget for the rebuild then it's a moot point. Like other's have said, your best bet is to find a technical cofounder. Since you have customers, you have some validation and cashflow, which actually puts you in a stronger position than most in terms of being attractive to a tech partner.

I would make that the lede of future posts like this rather than focusing on the unaffordable quotes you're getting - "I have customers and need a tech cofounder to help evolve the business into the next stage" frames the problem better IMO.

$55k is fair for six months of work. You can absolutely find cheaper but the quality may suffer. The risk isn't only the amount of money but the return on your investment. Will the developer you hire be able to deliver a good product? Will they understand your requirements and build what you need?

In my experience, the cheaper you go, the more you are increasing your risk of losing your investment entirely: ending up with a non-functional product.

Saul, I run a bootstrapped SAAS company and happy to give you some advice (no strings attached). The cost of 55K may or may not be high depending on how detailed and clear your scope of work and requirements are. Don't listen to people who are saying "Oh it is just a quick API call". It never is that simple.

You need a short term strategy and long term strategy. Short term, find a good dev. who is willing to work with you on this. You can surely find quality developers in countries with lower cost closer to home (eastern europe etc) who will cost you less than 5K USD per month give or take.. But can they finish it in 6 months ? That depends on their level of expertise and experience. Long term, you need to absolutely find a technical partner since you cannot always look for developers/freelancers who generally would not have an interest in your actual company.

Feel free to msg me privately if you want some direct advice.

Hi Saul, I agree with the 55k being rather normal point of view considering all the other aspects of the business like auth, emails, subscriptions, bug tracking, testing, etc. I'd say tech co-founder would give you the advantage of being able to pivot quickly and improve your product as you attract more customers.

15 paying customers already is proof that you're onto something and that you're able to do the marketing side, which leads me to my point: I'd be interested in pitching for that tech position. Let me know if you'd like to talk. Best

$55k and 6 months seems high for a widget that basically connects a few APIs together. I would get a second and third opinion.

Since this looks like it's meant to be embedded on websites, I think you should avoid no-code solutions like Bubble.

To be honest this looks like a good idea that needs a technical person leading the project. I would look for a technical person to join your team. It doesn't have to be a co-founder, but maybe a contractor that you trust.

I'd almost say 55k is on the good side. I'd personally charge more than that.

With regards to what you try to do moving forward, your 15 paying customers, how much revenue to they bring in?

Is the product massively broken, or is it more a few bugs? If only a few, I would talk to your dev partners and see what their day rate would be for an initial exploration into the bugs to be able to quote to fix them.

By onsite widget, do you mean in store or something like that?

well how much would you be willing to pay? you should get more quotes no matter what IMO... but if your app already has business going, 55k to get it to the next level does not seem that much.
That being said, Bubble.io is a marvel and i have no doubt you could redo it yourself on it.

Saul, what is the value of this project?

I agree that 55k isn't too much but it's not too little of a sum too. There is still a way to reduce the cost. Simply get developer or a contractor from developing countries like India, Sri Lanka, Thailand and similar.

Before giving the project, ensure the dev:

1. Is fluent with the language you both will use to talk like English. Communication gap can be disastrous.
2. Has done projects in similar niche.

Hi Saul,

55k for 6 months work from a developer isn't really that much, but going by your description of the product that time scale seems a little slow. (maybe the company quoting had more info than we do on this post?)

I see a few people here saying they could build it in 5mins for 100 USD, not likely a quality end product, not likely tested or deployed properly.

I'd advise you to get some more quotes and to include as much detail about what you want in those quote requests.

p.s. I also run a development agency that can deliver this with ease -> https://odwyer.software/

$54k and 5 month

I just peaked at your site, 55k seems pretty high. I’m curious how your site is getting the data? If it’s scraping the data, then it’s no surprise that your site keeps on breaking.

The embedded nature of your product leaves me to believe that bubble would probably be a poor fit.

I’d really focus my efforts on finding a new tech cofounder.

Hey Saul! Sounds like you've got lots of offers on the table. I'd be happy to help you interview folks and compare offers pro bono -- I'm an engineer with 10 years of experience freelancing and leading software teams.

Can you redo it yourself with No-Code tools? Bubble/Webflow + Typeform with Stripe + Zapier? Build up your initial user base until your ducktape no-code solution can't scale any further, then see if you can bring on a new technical co-founder and/or raise money for rebuilding a scalable product with code. If you don't have the money to buy consultants or hire in-house devs then you need to start getting thrifty and swifty (but not shifty).

The issue is that getting more quotes will allow you to find a lower cost. How much lower who knows. The one you have seems about right.

You were already burned by one tech co-founder. Besides, it is difficult to find a co-founder who will work as hard as you do. Instead, you will find someone who really wants a job and/or the ability to say they work at a startup. (yes I am jaded)

As the ex-CEO of a funded startup, here is my advice:

1. Hire a single developer to fix the bugs. A freelancer that is not affiliated with a company. Do one at a time as you can afford. Options include students, freelance websites, and angel.co.
2. Work on getting more customers onto the app. Make a goal and achieve it.
3. Save up the funds to hire a developer (Director level) who you trust. What you want is a worker, not a founder.

Wait what's the current valuation of the app?

Hi, a senior dev here. You mentioned that the current product is broken. Why not just fix it instead of rebuilding it from scratch?

Restoring the current codebase and perhaps refreshing/cleaning it up might take someone a fraction of time that a complete rebuild would take. Add an extra day or two for them to write up essential documentation and you could be in a good spot again.

Us developers often prefer to rebuild things from scratch rather than take over existing code after another devs. The reasons might simply be that we don’t like the way it has been coded or that we can’t be bothered to invest the time into understanding how it works.

So it is usually easier to start from scratch because then everything seems simpler and cleaner and sort of “done right”. But that is only for as long as the new developer is on the project. Once they leave, the cycle repeats.

So unless there are other strong reasons for starting from scratch, I would aways recommend to fix rather than rebuild.

Good luck!

Ah... to re-build or not to re-build ... that's the eternal question. My two cents, after being in this situation many times myself, is to bring an idependant software architector (not developer) and ask to review the situation. Architectors are not cheap but will be able to give you the answers you are looking for. I would also advice you to ask that person to also read your User Requirements and Split it in Technical Tasks/Milestones. After doing that you will have clear picture, on how to start and where to spend even on a minimal budget.

p.s. I also run a development agency : dinem.co.uk

send you an email. Let's discuss it.

Saul, share your email with me. I made a few connections from this platform who may help you even better. Not sure if they are okay with me sharing their details here.

If you don't find a technical co-founder, be sure to find someone that will help you with on-going changes. A product like this is literally never done and if you don't have an agreement with a dev shop or engineer then you'll be creating a post like this every couple of months. You might consider asking this dev shop if they're willing to lower their rate if you guarantee them a monthly retainer of some kind. This will give you the flexibility that will be a requirement going forward. This also gives you some monthly revenue targets ;)

Also, there's a ton of things that need to be built that aren't stated or immediately obvious that someone with experience building products like this understands is necessary for you to operate your business. So the people throwing around ~$12k estimates are definitely not seeing the bigger picture.

55k is really too much for such application. You need someone who knows how to fetch data from API. For making the app SaaS with auth, subscription. Let me know if i can give you an advice on PM.

How much did it cost to build the current app? And why do want to rebuild vs fixing?

Given your current stage, find a developer (I have a dev if you need it) to rebuild on bubble.io or Thunkable (should be $20k) and keep them on a monthly retainer ($5k-$10k) to update the app and maintain it's infrastructure.

Priorities right now or get the app working on a platform that allows you to keep the overhead/maintenance cost low. Gain traction, grow your subscriber base and then revisit building a solution that doesn't require bubble or Thunkable.

Just to put it in perspective: With $55k you can hire at least 15 people (customer service assistants, developers etc...) to work at your project full time for 1 year in the Philippines. I recommend you to check south asian remote job boards like this one: onlinejobs.ph and hire someone who can help you.

Since you don't mention anything like a Statement of Work (a document laying out the requirements, milestones, and acceptance criteria), I'd call that a reasonable cost for getting from the core idea to a full product. Or, rather, six months sounds reasonable for one developer and that's how much independent developers cost.

If you're setting your sights lower than being fully functional, you can try to gently push back by asking what they had in mind over those six months and, once you can see their plan, asking if they'd be willing to take the job in pieces.

But barring trying to find a country with cheaper hourly rates (which adds its own expenses, generally speaking), you probably can't cheat the final cost, just spread out when it gets paid.

Some considerations that don't directly answer your question, but I believe are necessary:

• Building software is not just taking a spec and implementing it. It's an ongoing, iterative process that involves product development, architecture, bug fixing, pivoting, technical debt, etc. Building the initial version of an app is like having a baby ... just because it's alive doesn't mean it's "done".
• Technical co-founders and dev shops are not comparable. Co-founders are equals who impact all aspects of a young business. If your goal is to give your co-founder a spec and have her implement it, you're likely going to have a painful relationship.

I cannot say anything about the price but 6 months sounds a little too much. Maybe they included an extensive period for going back and forth about details, but still... I have built more complex apps in less time.

I've seen organizations pay millions for widgets. I suppose it's all about the long term value. Buisiness is business.

At the end of the day you have to ask what is it really worth to you? Your time (do it yourself), your money (pay someone) or your resources (your technical partner or finding a new one)?

I personally like befriending local professors who know a few students who want to make some extra money or fancy dinners (via gift cards). In exchange for their saturday I get a few hours with them in the room coding away. (I think people underestimate college kids. I've gotten decent production code out of it. Over all a fair and affordable exchange)

I think this boils down to where you're going to hire developers. I have worked with software development agency in south east asia before and I've seen more complicated product than this one. 55k for a rebuild is quite high, I'd say about $15k-$20k sounds right to me.

p.s: I'm currently looking for products that I can build on a part time basis. If you're still looking for a tech co-founder then feel free to send the scope of your product to my email [email protected] or https://jsmiranda.com

This seems like a fair price for 6 months. But I would definitely get more quotes. I'm shamelessly plugging myself, email me at [email protected]. Apart from all that, finding a tech co-founder is also hard to nail a good fit but definitely worth it if you're looking at this from a longterm perspective.

The product itself can be easily built within a couple hours. If you also build a platform to configure it, payments using stripe etc, it would add some.
So I would think about 5-10k and ~1 month (I'm a freelance dev)

I would start with small tasks one by one and increment the product value step by step.

$55k sounds pretty high for that. My startup is a web development financing company ( https://financed.dev/ ) and we specialize in helping businesses like yours by providing 3-year payment plans for development services.

But if you want to go with the company you've already chosen, you can also take a look at Spectrum Capital Pros. They specialize in 12 - 24-month loans for businesses like yours. ( https://spectrumcapitalpros.com/ )

Honestly, though, what it looks like is happening is you have a WordPress site without any optimization and a few poorly-written plugins. I'd recommend installing a plugin like Fast Velocity Minify, paying for the upgraded CloudFlare plan, and having someone optimize your CloudFlare settings. Hit me up (see profile) and I'll profile your site / recommend fixes for free.

Hi,

I understand your situation. We have been in similar situations. As for now, we build products with Bubble. Let me know if you need help rebuilding your web app.

Rebuilding with Bubble should be significantly cheaper, depending on the type of project you're aiming to rebuild.

Kindly have a look at our website if you're interested to know what we can do for you.

Mido
No-Code Venture
www.nocodeventure.com

Hi @Saul_E. If you are considering using something like Bubble, you could also check out adalo.com. I came across it recently and it looks like it could work for you to build out your own app also.