In short
According to published price ranges, having custom software built by a provider based in Germany costs €5,000–20,000 up front for a small internal tool. A web app or minimum viable product (MVP) costs €15,000–60,000, and a system with several modules €50,000–250,000. Maintenance usually adds 15–20% of the development cost each year. As of November 2026.
Key takeaways
- Providers based in Germany charge €5,000–20,000 for a small internal tool and €15,000–60,000 for a web app or MVP.
- Customer portals start at €8,000. With roles and ERP integration, providers quote €20,000–150,000 and up.
- Freelance software developers in German-speaking countries charge a median of €90 an hour, about €720 a day. Agencies quote €80–180 an hour.
- For maintenance and updates, most providers budget 15–20% of the development cost a year. Over three years, that’s 45–60%.
- According to Germany’s Federal Statistical Office, prices for software development in Q2 2026 were only 0.8% higher than a year earlier.
How much do web apps, customer portals and SaaS products cost?
According to published ranges from providers based in Germany, a small internal tool costs €5,000–20,000 up front. The first module of custom business software costs €10,000–35,000, and a web app or minimum viable product (MVP) €15,000–60,000. Customer portals and SaaS MVPs start at €8,000, and systems with several modules cost €50,000–250,000.
| Type of project | Typical scope | One-time | Providers |
|---|---|---|---|
| Analysis or planning before the project | workshop, requirements, a written plan or a prototype | €1,500–4,500, some as starting prices | 4 |
| Small internal tool | a few core features, such as forms, appointment booking or a dashboard | €5,000–20,000 | 4 |
| Custom business software, first module | one core process with a database, for example to replace an Excel spreadsheet | €10,000–35,000 | 2 |
| Web app or MVP | first working version of a product, a web app with several components | €15,000–60,000 | 5 |
| Customer portal, first version | login, documents, first self-service features | €8,000–60,000 | 3 |
| Customer portal with roles and ERP integration | company accounts, approvals, integration with your ERP system | €20,000–150,000 and up | 2 |
| SaaS MVP | first version you can sell to paying customers | €8,000–90,000 | 9 |
| Business application with several modules | several modules, user roles, integrations with existing systems | €50,000–250,000 | 4 |
| Complex platform or ERP-like system | several user groups, extensive business logic | €50,000–600,000 and up | 4 |
Source: our own survey, · websites of 20 providers based in Germany; VAT mostly not stated
How to read the table: We haven’t found any official statistics on the prices of software projects. Germany’s Federal Statistical Office (Destatis) tracks how prices for software development change, but it doesn’t publish project prices. So the figures come from the providers themselves. On November 7, 2026, we opened the pricing pages and guides of 23 providers that give euro amounts for software development and are based in Germany according to their legal notice (Impressum). The table draws on the 20 providers that give ranges for specific types of projects. We found them through our competitor research from October 2026 and through web searches for software and SaaS costs. Each row runs from the lowest to the highest figure that providers give for that type of project.
The rows overlap because each provider defines its tiers differently. Starting prices apply to the smallest scope, so a quote for your project will often be higher. Two rows rest on only two providers each and are less certain as a result. We also opened the pages of three German-language providers based in Austria and the Netherlands. They aren’t included in the table. We don’t name competitors as a matter of principle, so you can’t check the individual figures directly here.
Our cost guide How much does it cost to build a SaaS product? breaks down the cost of a SaaS MVP, and our guide What is SaaS? explains what defines a SaaS product. The features a customer portal can include are listed on our customer portal development page. If you need a website rather than a web app, see How much does a website cost in Germany?
What drives the cost of a software project?
The cost of a software project comes down mainly to working time multiplied by the daily rate. The time depends on how many features, integrations and user roles the software needs, how much data has to be migrated and how thoroughly it’s tested. Settle these points before you request quotes, because only then can you compare them.
| Cost driver | What determines it | Published figure |
|---|---|---|
| Features and business logic | number of features, rules and special cases | small tool €5,000–20,000; business application with several modules €50,000–250,000 |
| Integrations | connections to ERP or CRM systems, accounting software or payment providers | €2,500–20,000 per integration, €3,000–25,000 for a CRM integration (one provider’s market overview); just over 10 of about 60 developer days in one worked example |
| ERP integration for a customer portal | portal with or without data from your ERP system | first version €8,000–20,000; with roles and a first ERP integration €20,000–60,000 (one provider) |
| Multi-tenancy | separate data and users for each customer company | portals from €10,000, multi-tenant portals from €25,000 (one provider) |
| Planning and design | workshop, written plan, design drafts, clickable prototype | planning from €2,500 and design from €2,000 at one provider; design from €4,000 at another |
| Data migration, security and testing | state of your existing data, role-based access, automated tests | not published as separate items |
| Team location | Germany, Eastern Europe or Asia | €80–180 an hour in Germany, €40–80 in Eastern Europe, €20–50 in Asia (one provider) |
| Contingency buffer | reserve for changes and the unexpected | 20–30% (one provider) |
Source: our own survey, · pricing pages and guides of nine providers based in Germany
One provider calls integrations an underestimated cost factor, because the other system is rarely as well documented as you’d hope. In its worked example of an internal order management tool connected to an inventory management system, that integration takes up just over 10 of about 60 developer days. At €1,000 a day, the provider arrives at €60,000 for development.
Multi-tenant means that several customer companies use the same software, but each one sees only its own data. Our explainer What is a multi-tenant SaaS architecture? shows how the separation works and why it adds effort.
You can lower the entry price if the first phase covers only what your process really needs. To do that, ask for the estimated person-days for each module. Then you can see where the effort lies and what could wait for a later phase. Our how-to on writing a software requirements specification shows how to write these points down. Before any development, check whether off-the-shelf software already covers your processes. Our comparison Build or buy software? shows when each option pays off.
From our work: what do three typical projects cost?
By our calculation, the first module of custom business software costs about €15,000–60,000 over three years, a customer portal with ERP integration about €30,000–100,000 and a web app with one integration about €22,000–100,000. The calculations are ours, and the figures come from our survey of November 7, 2026. They aren’t Datafalke prices or quotes.
| Example | One-time | Ongoing per year | Three years |
|---|---|---|---|
| First module of custom business software, replacing an Excel spreadsheet | €10,000–35,000 | €1,740–8,200 | €15,220–59,600 |
| Customer portal with roles and one ERP integration | €20,000–60,000 | €3,240–13,200 | €29,720–99,600 |
| Web app with one integration, such as an order management tool connected to an inventory system | €15,000–60,000 | €2,490–13,200 | €22,470–99,600 |
Source: our own calculation based on our survey,
Here’s how we calculate, so you can do the same with your own quotes:
- One-time: For the module, we use the ranges of two providers: €10,000–25,000 for one digitized core process and €15,000–35,000 for a web app with clearly defined process logic. For the portal, we use one provider’s range for a portal with roles and a first ERP integration. For the web app, we use the range of the five providers for a web app or MVP.
- Ongoing per year: We budget maintenance and updates at 15–20% of the development cost, as four providers do. According to one provider, hosting adds €20–100 a month. That’s €240–1,200 a year. The low end uses the lowest figures throughout, and the high end the highest.
- Three years: the one-time price plus three years of ongoing costs.
This doesn’t include further development, your own time for workshops, testing and training, or fees for external services. For an order management tool like this, one provider estimates about 60 developer days at €1,000 each. Including maintenance, that provider arrives at €80,000–95,000 over three years.
According to another provider, a portal with several modules and ERP integration costs €60,000–150,000 or more to build. By the same calculation, that comes to about €88,000–244,000 over three years. If you calculate your quotes the same way, you’ll see what a low entry price costs over the full term. Our cost guide How much does it cost to build a SaaS product? works out the three-year cost of a SaaS MVP with servers, a payment provider and maintenance.
What hourly and daily rates are typical?
Freelance software developers in Germany, Austria and Switzerland charge a median of €90 an hour excl. VAT, and the middle 50% charge €80–100. An eight-hour person-day therefore costs about €720. Agencies and software companies quote €80–180 an hour in cost guides and price overviews. That’s €640–1,440 a day.
| Who | Per hour | Per 8-hour day | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Freelance software developers | median €90, middle 50% €80–100 | about €720, middle 50% €640–800 | freelancermap, 2,337 profiles for Germany, Austria and Switzerland, September 2026 |
| Freelance software and web developers | median €90 | about €720 | freelancermap, survey for the Freelancer-Kompass 2026, 356 respondents |
| Freelancers, according to providers’ price overviews | €70–120 | €560–960 | two providers |
| Agencies and software companies | €80–180 | €640–1,440 | four providers |
| By experience level | junior €70–100, mid-level €90–120, senior €110–150 | €560–800, €720–960, €880–1,200 | one provider |
| Published rates for maintenance and support | €120, about €125, €175 | €960, about €1,000, €1,400 | three providers |
| Teams in Eastern Europe and Asia | €40–80 and €20–50 respectively | €320–640 and €160–400 respectively | one provider |
Source: freelancermap (in German) (external site), · 2,337 profiles; listed rates, not fees actually billed
Source: freelancermap (in German), · Freelancer-Kompass 2026
Source: our own survey, · cost guides and pricing pages of eight providers based in Germany
Profile data shows the rates freelancers ask for, not what they end up billing; freelancermap points this out itself. We count a day as eight hours, as freelancermap does in its example.
Convert quotes into person-days. At a daily rate of €720, €20,000 buys just under 28 person-days; at €1,200 a day, just under 17. So an hourly rate tells you little until you know how many hours a quote assumes.
Teams in Eastern Europe or Asia charge lower hourly rates. One provider points out that coordination, longer feedback loops and rework can quickly eat up that advantage.
Prices for software development are currently rising more slowly than prices for services overall. According to Germany’s Federal Statistical Office (Destatis), producer prices for software development and programming were 0.8% higher in the second quarter of 2026 than a year earlier. Prices for services overall rose 3.7% over the same period. In that quarter, the index for software development stood 8.2% above its 2021 average.
Source: Destatis (in German) (external site), · producer price index for services, 2021 = 100
What do other software developers charge?
In their cost guides, software providers give overall ranges from about €5,000 for small tools to over €500,000 for large platforms. The guides largely agree at the low end and diverge above it. Like this article, all of them come from providers that sell software themselves.
| Source | Small tools | MVP or simple web app | Large systems |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cost guide by a software company, Mar 2, 2026 | €5,000–15,000 | €15,000–50,000 | from €50,000 to over €600,000 |
| Guide by a provider with a cost calculator, 2026 | €5,000–15,000 | €15,000–50,000 | €80,000–300,000 and up |
| Cost guide by a digital agency, Jun 9, 2026 | €5,000–15,000 | €15,000–50,000 | €150,000–500,000 and up |
| Cost guide by a software company, September 2026 | €5,000–20,000 | €20,000–60,000 | €150,000–500,000; very large projects can exceed €1 million |
| Market overview by a provider, 2026 | not specified | €15,000–50,000 | several modules €50,000–250,000 |
| Service page of a software company, undated | not specified | €10,000–25,000 | platforms €65,000–220,000 |
Source: cost guide by a software company (in German), · VAT not stated
Source: cost guide by a digital agency (in German), · VAT not stated
Source: cost guide by a software company (in German), · VAT not stated
Source: our own survey, · guides and service pages of three providers, no exact date
At the top end, the ranges diverge because the guides define large projects differently. Even a single provider gives two ranges for a SaaS MVP on two of its pages: €10,000–25,000 and €15,000–30,000. On a third page, it gives €25,000–80,000 for a SaaS MVP or platform. Some providers only give a rough order of magnitude. One puts a small application or MVP in the low to mid five-figure range. Another writes that its projects start at about €10,000 and usually run to five or six figures.
All of these overviews come from providers that sell software themselves. The same goes for this article; our own services are in the next section. So compare quotes on scope. Ask which features, integrations and roles are included, how many person-days the quote assumes and what’s missing. To vet providers beyond the price, use our 12 questions for choosing a software developer.
How much does Datafalke charge for custom software?
At Datafalke, we quote a fixed price for development after discovery. You start with a paid entry offer that has its own deliverable, and we tell you its price before you place an order. The intro call is free.
For a new product idea, we start with a discovery sprint; for existing processes, with a process check. Scope and process are on our SaaS development and custom business software pages.
- Discovery sprint: user flows, clickable prototype, architecture, data model, risk list and a fixed-price quote for the MVP
- Process check: three days of work with two workshops, a standard-or-custom recommendation and a 10–15-page report
- SaaS MVP and business software pilot: at a fixed price that we quote after discovery and before development begins
- Software care S: updates, monitoring and two hours of work a month; software care L by agreement
Your code, accounts and documentation are under your control from the start. Our software development page explains what that covers.
We work exclusively with businesses and self-employed professionals. All offers exclude VAT.
What does software cost to run after launch?
After launch, the main costs are maintenance, hosting and further development. For maintenance and updates, most providers budget 15–20% of the development cost a year. According to one provider, hosting a typical business application costs €20–100 a month; at another, a maintenance contract with two hours a month costs €260.
| Item | Published figure | Providers |
|---|---|---|
| Maintenance and updates, rule of thumb | 15–20% of the development cost a year; three providers give 10–20% or 10–15% | 7 |
| Maintenance contract with a block of hours | €260 for 2 hours, €1,040 for 8 hours, €3,120 for 24 hours a month | 1 |
| Performance monitoring as an add-on | from €89 a month | 1 |
| Hosting a business application | €20–100 a month; infrastructure alone €20–50, high-availability setups €150–400 | 2 |
| Managed hosting with updates and monitoring | from €136 a month per server; entry package with two servers €348 a month | 1 |
| Operations billed by the hour | 2–5 hours a month at about €125 an hour | 1 |
| Running a small SaaS product | €500–2,000 a month, including hosting, monitoring and updates | 3 |
| Maintenance and support billed by the hour | €120 or €175 an hour | 2 |
| Ongoing development on a fixed monthly budget | €4,000–12,000 a month | 1 |
Source: our own survey, · pricing pages and guides of 13 providers based in Germany
Over three years, 15–20% a year adds up to 45–60% of the development price. So before you sign, ask what a maintenance contract includes: security updates, monitoring, backups and how many hours for changes. Also ask which hourly rate applies to work outside the contract. Our cost guide How much does software maintenance cost? shows what maintenance buys in hours and when version upgrades are due.
Updates aren’t optional. The OWASP Top 10:2025 (external site), the OWASP Foundation’s list of the most critical security risks to web applications, ranks software supply chain failures third. This category includes outdated components with known vulnerabilities. According to OWASP, every organization “must ensure an ongoing plan for monitoring, triaging, and applying updates” over the lifetime of an application.
Frequently asked questions
Fixed price or time and materials: which costs less?
It depends on how precisely the scope is defined. A fixed price makes costs predictable, but it requires a clearly described scope, and the provider builds in a risk buffer. With time and materials, you pay for the hours worked and carry the risk that there will be more of them. We build at a fixed price after discovery; changes are made only through a written change request that states the price. Our article on fixed price vs. time and materials compares when each model fits.
How much does an app cost?
According to one provider, a first version of an app usually costs €10,000–25,000, and a business app with its own backend and integrations €25,000–80,000. Another gives €20,000–100,000 for an app for iOS and Android. You also pay the app store fees: US$99 a year for the Apple Developer Program (external site) and a one-time Google Play registration fee (external site) of US$25. A web app, by contrast, runs in the browser and can be distributed without registering with an app store (MDN Web Docs (external site)). We build software as web apps.
Source: our own survey, · cost pages of two providers based in Germany
How much does custom business software cost?
Based on the published ranges of two providers, a first module of custom business software that covers one process costs €10,000–35,000. For a business application with several modules, four providers give €50,000–250,000. If off-the-shelf software already covers your processes, it’s often the cheaper choice. We find that out in a process check before you invest in development. Our how-to How to replace Excel with a web app walks through the switch step by step.
What budget is realistic for a small business?
According to the KfW SME Digitalisation Report 2025 (external site), small and mid-sized companies in Germany that invested in digitalization spent around €25,000 on average in 2024. The report, published in April 2026, shows just under €10,000 for companies with fewer than five employees, around €34,500 for those with 10–49 employees and just under €189,000 for those with 50 or more. For a small business, a first module at €10,000–35,000 is therefore a major expense. Start with the process that takes up the most time today.
Is there funding for software development?
It depends on your project and, in Germany, on the federal state your company is based in. As of November 2026, the FAQ on our software development page covers the German federal and North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) state programs we’ve checked and what they exclude. Only count on funding once you’ve checked the program’s conditions.
How do I compare two quotes?
Compare scope and total cost over three years; the entry price alone tells you little. Ask for the person-days per module, the assumptions, the buffer and what isn’t included. Ask about maintenance, hosting and the hourly rate for changes. Also find out who owns the code, accounts and documentation.
Do these prices include VAT?
Most providers don’t say. In our survey, only six of the 23 providers state explicitly that their prices exclude value-added tax (VAT) or that VAT is added. One of them does so only for a single add-on. Ask before you compare two quotes.