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Software Cost Planning7 min read

Why do some software builds cost $10K and others cost $100K?

The variables that explain a 10x cost spread between projects that sound similar from the outside.

Two projects can be described the same way — 'a tool to manage our orders' — and produce wildly different quotes. The difference isn't the developers. It's everything around the developers.

The variables that drive the spread

  • Specification quality — vague specs are priced for the worst case.
  • Number of user roles and the permission model.
  • Integrations and how brittle each one is.
  • Data model complexity and migration risk.
  • Compliance requirements (HIPAA, SOC 2, GDPR).
  • Hosting, environments, and operational expectations.
  • Whether QA, design, and PM are included.

How to land at the lower end honestly

Tighten the spec. Reduce v1 scope. Limit integrations to what's load-bearing. Defer compliance until you need it. Most of this is decided during architecture planning, before a single developer is engaged.

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