How the calculator counts
The software development cost calculator works in hours, because that is how every agency prices custom work, whether it shows you the hours or not. It adds three things.
- A base every project carries: workshops to fix the scope, screen design, and security, backups and testing. That is 62 to 110 hours before a single feature.
- Hours per module you pick, low and high, for a standard version of that module. A portal or a mobile app weighs more than sign-in or a PDF export.
- Integrations, 20 to 80 hours each, depending on how good the other system's API is.
The complexity choice multiplies the modules and integrations: 0.8 for simple rules, 1.4 for rules with many exceptions. The hours then become euros twice: at 85 euro an hour, an example rate inside the Belgian market range, and across the full market band, low hours at 50 euro and high hours at 150. Calendar time assumes a team of two developers at 60 productive hours a week, plus two weeks for the scope and the launch. Everything is computed in your browser; nothing you pick leaves your screen until you choose to send it to us.
Hours per module
These are the hours the calculator uses at standard complexity. They follow the worked example in our guide on custom software development cost, where a planning tool for a haulier came to 286 hours for a first phase.
| Module | Hours, low | Hours, high | What is in it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Base | 62 | 110 | Scope workshops, screen design, security, backups, testing |
| Sign-in, users and roles | 16 | 30 | Accounts, roles such as office and planner, password reset, two-factor sign-in |
| Records and admin screens | 60 | 140 | The core: lists, detail screens, search, filters for your own data |
| A portal for your clients | 60 | 120 | A separate sign-in for clients, their own records and documents |
| A mobile web app for staff | 60 | 120 | Screens for the field, photos, offline basics, installable on a phone |
| Reports and dashboards | 30 | 60 | Totals, charts and exports that management reads |
| Online payments | 20 | 50 | A payment provider, refunds, the link to invoices |
| More than one language | 15 | 40 | Interface in two or more languages, dates and numbers per language |
| Import from Excel | 16 | 30 | Reading your current spreadsheet in, with a report of what failed |
| PDFs and documents | 12 | 24 | Generated PDFs, uploads, a document list per record |
| An AI feature | 40 | 100 | Summaries, extraction from documents or an assistant on your own data |
| Each integration | 20 | 80 | A link with accounting, a CRM, a web store or another system |
The ranges are wide on purpose. A records module for one table with five fields is a different job from one with twenty related tables; the calculator cannot see that, a first conversation can.
Reading the result
The big figure is the range at 85 euro an hour. Use it to answer one question: is this a 10,000 euro project or a 100,000 euro one? That is what you need to decide whether to go ahead, and to recognise a quote that is far off.
The full market range below it is much wider, because both the hours and the rate vary. A freelancer at the low end of the rate and the low end of the hours, or a large agency at the top of both, will both land somewhere inside it. Rates differ by country and by the size of the agency, so quotes from abroad can land elsewhere in the band. How teams across Europe compare is on nearshore software development.
The verdict under the result splits the work into phases. A first phase with the core screens that runs in production after a couple of months is worth more than a full system on paper. We quote a fixed price per project after a first call, phase by phase, never a day rate.
What the calculator leaves out
A calculator cannot see everything that moves a price. Check these before you trust any range, ours included.
- Hosting and upkeepA small company tool runs on a modest server; reckon on a monthly hosting cost and a few hours a year for updates. The yearly side is covered in custom software.
- Licences you replaceSoftware you build may save per-user licences of a package; compare the two over five years, as the guide on custom software development cost does for Odoo.
- Data migrationMoving years of history out of an old system can cost as much as a module.
- Native appsThe calculator counts a web app for phones. An app in the App Store and Google Play is a separate build; see app development cost.
- Your own timeWorkshops, testing and answering questions take hours on your side too.
If you are choosing between a package and custom work, read replace Excel with software first, and CRM vs ERP if you are unsure which kind of system you need.
Turning the estimate into a fixed quote
Three steps take you from this range to a price you can sign.
- Write down what it must do. The modules you ticked, the screens you need, who uses them and which systems it talks to. The software requirements template gives you the headings.
- Pick the first phase. The smallest part that removes the biggest pain, usually the core records and one integration. Everything else waits until that part is in use.
- Ask for a fixed price per phase. Not an hourly budget that runs on. A good quote lists what each phase delivers and what is out of scope.
Our own platforms started that way. The transport platform of DA Logistics began with fuel and planning and grew into fleet, staff and a driver app in three languages; the same core then went live for a second haulier, Zuco Logistics, with domain, server and app on one afternoon. The management platform of Business Centrum replaced a spreadsheet with files, documents and a client portal. A web application of that kind is what we build in web application development.
Questions about the estimate
How much does custom software cost?
At 85 euro an hour, sign-in, admin screens, reports and one integration come to about 16,000 to 36,000 euro; add a client portal, a mobile web app and two more integrations and it reaches about 27,000 to 65,000. The calculator gives the range for your choice of modules.
Why are the ranges so wide?
Because the same module can be small or large depending on your data and rules, and because rates differ by a factor of three across the market. A first conversation narrows the hours; a fixed price removes the rate question.
Is the calculator a quote from VBS?
No. It uses market rates and typical hours, not our price list. We quote a fixed price per project after a first call, phase by phase.
Does my input get stored?
No. The sums run in your browser. Your choices sit in the page address so you can share the estimate; nothing reaches us unless you press the button to discuss it.
How long does a first version take?
With a team of two, most first phases take two to four months, scope and launch included. The calculator shows the calendar time for your choice.