If you're a non-technical founder with a SaaS idea, the first question is usually not "which framework?" but "what will this cost me, and do I have to give away equity to get it built?"
Here's an honest breakdown from the builds we do at Vynuro.
Your three realistic options
1. Find a technical co-founder. Cheapest in cash, most expensive long term. A co-founder typically takes 20-50% of the company, and finding the right one can take months.
2. Hire freelancers by the hour. Hourly billing feels flexible, but scope creep is the norm. Without someone owning the architecture, many founders end up paying twice: once for the first version and again to rebuild it.
3. Fixed-price MVP development. You agree on a scope, a price and a timeline before any code is written. You keep 100% of the equity and the code. This is the model we use for SaaS MVP development for non-technical founders.
What actually drives the price
- Number of core features. One core workflow (e.g. "users upload a file and get a report") is very different from five.
- Auth and roles. A single user type is simple. Teams, admins and permissions add time.
- Payments. Stripe subscriptions, trials and invoices are a solid chunk of work on their own.
- AI features. A chat or RAG feature over your own documents adds cost for retrieval, prompt design and testing.
- Admin panel and reporting. Often forgotten, always needed once you have paying users.
Typical ranges
- Scope + wireframes only: a few hundred dollars. Worth doing first, because it turns a fuzzy idea into a fixed build plan.
- Lean MVP with 1 core feature, auth and deployment: low thousands.
- Full MVP with admin, Stripe subscriptions and an AI feature: mid thousands, usually 4-8 weeks.
These are ranges, not quotes. The point of a fixed-price model is that you get one number after a scope call and it doesn't move unless you change the scope.
How to keep the cost down
- Cut the MVP to the one workflow your first 10 customers will pay for.
- Use boring, proven tech (Next.js, Node, PostgreSQL, Stripe) instead of something exotic.
- Ask for weekly demos, so you catch misunderstandings in days, not months.
- Make sure you own the repository and the hosting accounts from day one.
Questions to ask any developer before you pay
- Is the price fixed, and what exactly is in scope?
- Who owns the code and the accounts?
- How often will I see working software?
- What happens after launch: docs, handover, support?
If you want a second opinion on your scope, you can hire a developer to build your SaaS MVP on a fixed price with Vynuro, or simply use the checklist above when you talk to anyone else.
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