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US Software Development Cost Calculator

What a US agency charges to build software in 2026, by role and sprint, and how much the same project costs nearshore and offshore.

Updated · By Niraj Kumar · 4 sources

Project

The baseline: a React front end with a Node or serverless back end.

Unique layouts, not every page: a product page template counts once.

CRM, ERP, shipping, tax, analytics… 32 hours each.

Features

Sign-up and loginSign-up and login

Email and social login, password reset; SSO or MFA is complex.

User profiles and settingsUser profiles and settings

Profile pages, preferences and account deletion.

Roles and permissionsRoles and permissions

Who can see and do what; complex means custom policies.

Teams and multi-tenancyTeams and multi-tenancy

Organisations, invitations and data isolated per customer.

Admin panel / CMSAdmin panel / CMS

Manage users, content and settings without a developer.

Product catalogue and checkoutProduct catalogue and checkout

Listings, variants, cart, checkout and orders.

Payments and subscriptionsPayments and subscriptions

Stripe or similar: plans, invoices, webhooks and refunds.

Search and filteringSearch and filtering

Full-text search and facets; complex means a search engine.

Email and push notificationsEmail and push notifications

Transactional email, push and in-app alerts.

File and media uploadsFile and media uploads

Uploads to object storage, previews and image resizing.

Real-time chatReal-time chat

Messaging over WebSockets, read receipts and history.

Maps and locationMaps and location

Maps, geocoding, distance search or live tracking.

Reports and dashboardsReports and dashboards

Charts, exports and scheduled reports for users.

AI / LLM featuresAI / LLM features

Chat assistants, summaries or retrieval over your data.

Multiple languagesMultiple languages

Translated interface, locale formats and RTL support.

Offline mode and syncOffline mode and sync

Works without a connection and syncs changes later.

Design and quality

UI/UX designUI/UX design
QA and testingQA and testing

Team

Mid-market US agencies; big consultancies bill $200 to $300 an hour.

Agency tierAgency tier
Seniority mixSeniority mix

More developers shorten the calendar, not the hours.

Sprint lengthSprint length
%
0%50%

A reserve for scope that changes once work starts. 15 to 20% is usual; more for a vague brief.

Likely budget, United States$278,000Range $218,000 to $362,000
Total effort
2,152 hours
1,001 hours of development
Timeline
14 weeks
7 sprints of 2 weeks, up to 20 weeks if the scope grows
Blended rate
$129 an hour
Across every role on the team
Maintenance after launch
$50,000 a year
About 18% of the build: updates, fixes and small improvements
Lowest-cost region
Philippines & Vietnam
$73,500, $205,000 less
Where the budget goes, United StatesHover or focus a row for its hours and share of the budget.
  1. 1Front-end development$68,500
  2. 2Back end, platform and integrations$58,000
  3. 3Contingency reserve$36,500
  4. 4UI/UX design$35,000
  5. 5Project management$26,000
  6. 6QA and testing$22,500
  7. 7Hardening and launch$12,500
  8. 8DevOps and CI/CD$11,000
  9. 9Discovery (sprint 0)$8,300
Sprint plan, 14 weeks192 hours of development per sprint; design, QA, DevOps and PM run alongside.
SprintFocusHoursCostRunning total
Sprint 0Discovery, backlog, architecture and first designs198$25,000$25,000
Sprint 1Project setup, Sign-up and login and 2 more330$43,500$68,500
Sprint 2Roles and permissions, Teams and multi-tenancy, Admin panel / CMS303$39,000$107,000
Sprint 3Admin panel / CMS, Payments and subscriptions, Search and filtering303$39,000$147,000
Sprint 4Search and filtering, Email and push notifications and 2 more303$39,000$186,000
Sprint 5Reports and dashboards, Integrations303$39,000$225,000
Sprint 6Hardening, acceptance testing and launch132$17,000$242,000
Team by role, before contingency
RoleHoursRateCost
Project manager / BA231$130/h$30,000
UI/UX designer302$120/h$36,000
Senior developer488$160/h$78,000
Mid-level developer601$125/h$75,000
QA engineer250$90/h$22,500
Total1,872$129/h$242,000
The same scope in every region, offshore to onshoreMid-market agency rates at the tier you picked, with each region's coordination overhead added for a US client.
  1. 1Philippines & Vietnamoffshore$73,500
  2. 2Indiaoffshore$77,000
  3. 3Eastern Europeoffshore$106,000
  4. 4Latin Americanearshore$119,000
  5. 5Canadaonshore$220,000
  6. 6Western Europeoffshore$226,000
  7. 7Australiaoffshore$249,000
  8. 8United Kingdomoffshore$250,000
  9. 9United Statesonshore$278,000

How is software development cost estimated?

Mid-market agencies in United States bill a blended $129 an hour across developers, design, QA and project management. A SaaS product with teams, billing and reporting comes to about $278,000. Teams in Latin America, Eastern Europe and Asia build the same hours for 55 to 75% less, once their coordination overhead is added.

build = Σ features (hours × complexity × stack) + screens × 10 h + integrations × 32 h + 40 h setup total = discovery + design + build + 10% hardening + QA % + DevOps + PM (12% + time-zone overhead) cost = Σ role hours × regional rate × agency tier; likely = cost × (1 + contingency) sprints = 1 + ⌈build ÷ (developers × 40 h × weeks × 0.8)⌉ + hardening

This page uses the same method as the Software Development Cost Estimator, which explains each term and assumption in full.

Worked example

A B2B SaaS product on Next.js: 25 screens, team accounts, roles, Stripe subscriptions, an admin panel, notifications and a reporting dashboard, three integrations, custom UI/UX and standard QA. Built by a US agency (mid-market rates), 3 developers in 2-week sprints, with 15% contingency.

  1. 1Discovery (sprint 0): 60 hours, $8,300
  2. 2UI/UX design: 290 hours, $35,000
  3. 3Front-end development: 492 hours, $68,500
  4. 4Back end, platform and integrations: 418 hours, $58,000
  5. 5Hardening and launch: 91 hours, $12,500
  6. 6QA and testing: 250 hours, $22,500
  7. 7DevOps and CI/CD: 70 hours, $11,000
  8. 8Project management: 201 hours, $26,000
  9. 9Contingency reserve: 281 hours, $36,500
  10. 10Blended rate: $129 an hour across the team
  11. 11Schedule: 7 sprints, 14 weeks

About $278,000, within a range of $218,000 to $362,000, and 14 weeks from kickoff to launch.

Frequently asked questions

What do US software agencies charge per hour in 2026?

Mid-market agencies bill about $125 an hour for a mid-level developer and $160 for a senior, $120 for a designer and $90 for QA, a blended $125 to $135 across a team. Boutique studios and large consultancies charge $175 to $300. The BLS puts the mean US software developer wage at $71.20 an hour (May 2025); agencies bill two to two and a half times that to cover benefits, bench time, sales and margin.

When is an onshore team worth the premium?

When the work needs constant conversation: a product still being discovered, regulated data that must stay in the US, or stakeholders who cannot give up their working day to calls at odd hours. A common compromise is a US product manager and architect with nearshore or offshore developers, which the Blended delivery option prices.

How much does a mobile app cost to build with a US agency?

For the scope on this page, about $235,000, with a range of $184,000 to $305,000 at mid-market rates: 1,816 hours at a blended $129 an hour, delivered in about 12 weeks by 3 developers. Change the features and team above for your own scope.

Sources

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