How much does custom software development cost in 2026?

“How much does custom software cost?” is the first question any SME asks, and the one fewest vendors answer with real numbers. At Evicron, an AI and custom software studio based in Barcelona with over 200 projects delivered across 12 sectors since 2019, we think a sensible range — plus an explanation of what moves the price inside it — saves both sides weeks of meetings. This guide covers indicative prices by project type, the factors that push a quote up or down, and the 4 phases any serious build goes through.

Why there’s no single price tag

Any bare figure without context — “custom software costs X” — is marketing, not information. Cost depends on concrete variables: how many screens or workflows the system needs, whether it handles sensitive data (payments, payroll, medical records), how many external systems it must integrate with (an ERP, a payment gateway, an existing CRM), and whether the project starts from scratch or builds on something half-working already. Two projects that sound similar on a first call can differ by a factor of 3 or 4 once the actual scope is nailed down.

Indicative price ranges by project type

As a market reference — and what we work from at Evicron before a closed quote — these are the typical starting points by type of engagement:

• Corporate website or landing page with SEO/AI built in: from €3,500. Covers design, development, and optimization for both traditional search and generative engines.
• Custom SaaS product (a platform with users, roles, and its own business logic): from €12,000. This is the widest range, since the ceiling depends directly on how many modules and integrations it needs.
• Applied AI (agents, automations, integrations with language models on your own data): from €6,000.
• AI training for teams: from €1,500 per day.

In every case, the quote is closed after a free discovery phase: without that step, any figure — including the ones above — is only a starting point for negotiation, not a commitment.

What moves the price within each range

Within the same project type, three factors explain most of the variation:

• Integrations with existing systems. Connecting to an ERP, untangling data from a legacy CRM, or syncing with a payment gateway adds mapping and testing work that never shows up in a demo, but eats most of the real hours.
• Sensitive data. A system that touches payroll, payments, or medical records requires security controls, auditing, and regulatory compliance that a lightweight internal dashboard doesn’t.
• Closed scope versus open scope. An engagement with listed, prioritized features gets quoted more accurately — and more cheaply — than one that starts as “we want something like X but better,” where scope gets defined on the fly.

Custom software versus a standard SaaS: when the extra cost pays off

A generic SaaS or a no-code platform will almost always win on upfront cost. The question that actually matters isn’t which is cheaper to start, but which ends up more expensive over time. We covered this in detail when comparing vibe coding and no-code against custom software: generic tools work well for validating an idea or covering a low-risk internal need, but once the business depends on the system to scale, to integrate with what it already runs, or to handle sensitive data, per-seat licensing and the limits of a closed platform tend to outweigh, within two or three years, what a custom build would have cost. A custom CRM versus Salesforce or HubSpot is the clearest example: per-user licensing against a one-off development cost.

The 4 phases of a custom software project

A quote with no process behind it is worth nothing. At Evicron we always work with the same structure, so the client knows exactly what they’re paying for at each point:

1. Discovery (free): scope, integrations, and priorities get defined, and the final quote is closed.
2. Weekly sprints from the start: development kicks off with visible deliveries every week, not a single milestone at the end.
3. Working demo in week 2: the client sees and tests a functional version of the system, not a static mockup.
4. Delivery with your own code, no lock-in: the client owns the final code and can take it to another team if needed.

This Hipteca case shows that process applied to a real custom software project.

Questions to ask before signing a quote

• Is the quote closed, or an estimate that can grow along the way?
• Who owns the code once it’s delivered?
• When will I see a working demo, not a mockup?
• What happens if I need an integration that wasn’t in the original scope?
• Does the vendor respond in hours or in days when something goes wrong?

If you want a real price range for your project, start with a free discovery call in AI consulting or directly in custom software — we respond in under 24 hours. Get in touch and we’ll give you a concrete figure, not a generic rate card.