what a web app costs, and why the estimate is a range
business · 2026-10-25 · 4 min
a website is a set of pages. a web app is a set of rules: who can see what, what happens when two people do the same thing at once, what the system does when the payment fails. that difference is why "quanto costa una web app" cannot have a single answer, and why any quote that gives you one before asking about the rules is fiction.
the shape of the cost
the first version of a small internal tool — one login, one list, one form, one export — is a few weeks of work. in italy, from a solo developer, that is roughly 8,000 to 20,000 euro. a customer-facing product with payments, accounts, emails and an admin panel is a project measured in months, from 25,000 up.
the number is not driven by the number of screens. it is driven by the number of states: what happens when the user is logged out, when the email is already taken, when the payment is pending, when the data is wrong, when two admins edit the same record.
the five decisions that move the price
- accounts — none, magic link, password, google, or teams with roles. each step is a different project.
- payments — one-off, subscription, invoices, refunds, VAT. subscriptions alone can double the billing work.
- integrations — every external system is a contract with someone else's bugs. crm, erp, email, calendar, courier.
- data — who owns it, where it lives, how long you keep it, who can export it. gdpr is a design constraint, not a pdf.
- the admin side — every app needs a back door for you to fix things. it is half the product and nobody remembers to quote it.
what the first version should not include
everything you thought of in the second meeting. the first version exists to answer one question: do people use this? every feature that does not help answer it is a feature that delays the answer.
i quote a first version that does one job end to end, with the boring parts done properly: error messages, backups, a way to export the data. then we look at usage and decide the second version with evidence instead of enthusiasm.
the part nobody quotes
maintenance. a web app is not a statue; it has dependencies that update, browsers that change, certificates that expire, and a database that grows. budget 15-25% of the build cost per year for keeping it alive, and more if it handles payments.
also budget the exit: if the developer disappears, can someone else run it? the code in a repository you own, a documented database, no secret server configuration in someone's head. what if the freelancer disappears is the post i wish more clients read before signing.
how to get a comparable quote
describe the flow in sentences, not features: "a customer books a slot, pays a deposit, receives an email, and i see it in a list". then ask for a fixed price on that flow, a separate price for the admin panel, and an hourly rate for everything after. three numbers, one scope, comparable.
faq
how much does a simple web app cost?
a small internal tool with one login, one workflow and one export usually starts around 8,000-12,000 euro from a solo developer in italy. a customer-facing product with payments and accounts starts around 25,000.
how long does a web app take?
four to eight weeks for a first internal version, three to six months for a product with payments, accounts and an admin panel. the estimate is honest only if the scope is written.
can i start with a spreadsheet and move later?
yes, and often you should. a spreadsheet with ten users teaches you the rules for free. build the app when the spreadsheet breaks, not before.