Guide

What apps and websites cost, and why quotes differ so much.

Ask five suppliers for a price and you may receive five answers that are far apart. That is not always because someone is overcharging. It usually means each one is imagining a different project. This guide shows how a quote is built so that you can compare like with like.

Key takeaways

Cost is mostly people's time, so scope and complexity matter more than screens or pages.
The same idea can cost a fraction or several times as much depending on what is in version one.
Ranges are honest. A single number before scoping is a guess.
Running costs — hosting, maintenance, services — continue after launch.
The figures below are illustrations from our own estimator's assumptions, not market prices for Hong Kong.

What you are paying for

A software project is built by a small team over some weeks. The price is, roughly, the team's time multiplied by their rate, plus the risk the supplier takes on. What drives the time:

The type of product. A brochure website is smaller than a booking system, which is smaller than a platform with several user types.
Where it runs. Web only, or web plus iPhone and Android.
Features. Accounts, payments, an admin area, notifications and bilingual content each add work.
Connections to other systems. Each integration adds time, and uncertainty if the other system is poorly documented.
Design and polish. Custom design, animation and fine detail take longer than a clean, standard look.
Certainty. A clear brief costs less than a vague one, because less time goes on discovering what you meant.

Three worked examples

Our cost estimator uses a simple, open model: base effort by project type, adjusted for platforms, features, integrations and polish, multiplied by a rate of HK$16,000 to HK$32,000 per person-week, then rounded. The rates are our assumption and can be changed in the tool. Using those assumptions, here is what three typical descriptions come to:

A bilingual marketing website. About 6 person-weeks, roughly HK$70,000–260,000, 4–7 weeks of calendar time with a team of two.
A web-based booking system with online payments, an admin area, notifications and English plus Chinese. About 19 person-weeks, roughly HK$240,000–850,000, 7–11 weeks with a team of three.
A cross-platform app with accounts, payments, an admin area, notifications and one or two integrations. About 29 person-weeks, roughly HK$370,000–1,270,000, 7–12 weeks with a team of four.

These are illustrations of the model, not Hong Kong market prices and not quotes. Real suppliers use different rates, teams and assumptions, and a real quote follows a conversation about your actual needs. The width of the ranges is deliberate: it shows how much uncertainty exists before the details are known.

Why two quotes for the "same" project differ

They assume different scope. One includes the admin area and notifications; the other does not mention them.
They use different team shapes: a freelancer, a small studio or a large agency with management overhead.
They allow different testing and review time, which is easy to omit and costly to lack.
They price risk differently. A fixed price for an unclear brief has to include a cushion.
They cover different after-launch support.

Ask each supplier to list what is included and excluded, in writing. Differences then become visible and comparable.

Costs that come after the build

Hosting and infrastructure, which grow with usage.
Third-party services: payment fees, messaging charges, map or email services, AI usage.
Maintenance: security updates, fixing breakage when browsers or phones change, and small improvements.
App store fees and requirements, if you publish an app.
Content and operations: someone has to keep the product's content current and handle its users.

A common rule of thumb is to budget a meaningful yearly percentage of the build cost for upkeep, but the right figure depends on the product. Ask your supplier to be explicit.

How to bring the cost down without hurting the result

Cut the first release, not the quality. See planning a first release.
Start on the web if you can; add native apps once there is demand. See native, cross-platform or web.
Reuse existing services for payments, sign-in or email instead of building them. See build or buy.
Prepare content early. Waiting for text, images and decisions is a hidden cost.
Decide quickly. Slow feedback stretches the schedule and the bill.

Keep reading

Frequently asked questions

Is a fixed price better than hourly?

Neither is automatically better. Fixed prices suit well-defined scopes; time-based pricing suits exploratory work. Many projects mix the two: a fixed scoping phase, then fixed or capped phases.

Why can't you give an exact price straight away?

Because the biggest cost drivers are details nobody knows yet. A quick range is possible; a firm price needs a short scoping conversation.

Are cheaper offshore quotes a good idea?

Sometimes, with careful management. The risks are communication, time zones and quality control. Compare what is included and how problems are handled, not only the headline figure.

Want a range for your own project?

Describe it in a few sentences and we will reply with questions and an indicative scope.

Request a project quote