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How Much Does Custom Software Cost? The Real Ranges — Not Just "It Depends"
"It depends" is true — but on its own, it doesn't help anyone decide whether it's even worth asking for a quote. Here are the real ranges, what falls into each one, and why fixed pricing exists in the first place.
Every business that's looked into custom software has heard the same answer: "it depends on the scope." That's true — a simple order-tracking system and a full ERP integrated with invoicing don't cost the same thing. But "it depends" on its own doesn't help anyone decide whether it's even worth asking for a quote.
What follows are real ranges, based on what each type of project typically requires. They're not a quote — they're a starting point so you know whether what you have in mind is in the right ballpark before investing time in a conversation.
What Actually Drives the Price
It's not the technology used, and it's not how many "screens" the system has. What actually moves the price is the real complexity of the problem: how many different types of users the system serves, how many integrations it needs with other systems, whether it involves payments or invoicing, whether it needs to work offline or as a native app, and how well-defined the process already is that it's going to automate.
A well-defined project, even a large one, tends to cost less than a small but poorly-defined one — because part of the work on any custom system is figuring out, together with you, where the exceptions in your process actually are. The clearer that already is going in, the less design rework there is later.
Investment Ranges
- Up to R$5,000
- A conversion-focused landing page, a one-off automation connecting two existing systems, or a small, well-defined internal tool — one screen, one flow, no multiple user roles.
- R$5,000 to R$15,000
- A mid-sized web application: a dashboard with authentication, a few access roles, one or two integrations. This is the most common range for a company's first custom system when it's still running on spreadsheets.
- R$15,000 to R$30,000
- A system with multiple modules, several user roles, more complex integrations (payments, invoicing, third-party ERPs), or a full digital product built to scale.
- Above R$30,000
- Larger platforms, legacy system migrations carrying real business risk, or products whose scope only becomes fully clear after a longer discovery phase.
Why Fixed Price, Not Hourly
Billing by the hour shifts the risk of a wrong estimate onto the client — if the project takes longer than planned, the bill climbs and nobody knows where it stops. Fixed pricing flips that around: once the problem is understood, the proposal comes with a set price already attached, and the risk of a bad estimate sits with whoever's building it, not whoever's paying for it.
That only works because the proposal comes after a real conversation about scope — not before. That's why the first step is always understanding the problem, at no cost, before any number shows up.
Frequently asked questions
Why isn't there a fixed price table by system type?
Because two systems of the same "type" can have completely different scopes — an automation might involve two steps or twelve. The ranges above are an honest starting point; the exact number only comes after actually understanding the problem.
Do I have to pay to get a proposal?
No. The first conversation and the fixed-price proposal are both free.
Can the price change once the project has already started?
The scope locked in at the proposal stage is what the price is based on. If new needs come up along the way — which is normal — they're quoted separately, never folded into the already-agreed price without a conversation.
Are cheaper systems lower quality?
No — they cost less because the scope is smaller, not because there's less care involved. The same process of understanding, planning, and validating applies to a R$4,000 project and a R$40,000 one, scaled to what each one actually needs.
Tell me the problem you need to solve. Fixed-price proposal, free of charge.