“How much does it cost to build my website?”
“How much does it cost to build my mobile app?”
“How much does it cost to build our IoT analytics portal?”
These are very reasonable questions, but there are few morally responsible answers. The only responsible answer is: “Well, what’s your budget?”
Over the years, I’ve gathered a list of common features that have a surprising range of costs:
Feature | Lowest I’ve Seen | Highest I’ve Seen |
---|---|---|
Login form | $500 | $850,000 |
Navigation menu | $200 | $500,000 |
Content editor | $50 | $900,000 |
Video player | $100 | $2,100,000 |
Image cropper | $400 | $700,000 |
Grid layout on a homepage | $1,000 | $600,000 |
Analytics charts | $500 | $2,500,000 |
The challenge of estimating software projects is that software is a creative act: you can paint a line, or you can paint a Monet. Every person involved has a different opinion about the amount of creativity needed for every minuscule feature.
I’ve noticed there is no way to predict where people will fall on the scale. I’ve seen small businesses desire the million dollar login form, and I’ve seen global enterprises be fine with the $500 version. This is why estimation is so dangerous.
The most important thing in software is to launch as quickly as possible. Unshipped software is like having a stockpile of inventory wasting away in a warehouse. If you want to celebrate a successful launch, focus on collaborating with your product teams, changing the scope of features based on budget, and letting go of your darlings.