The difference is who carries the risk when something goes wrong. With a fixed price, the agency gives one price and handles every problem: if Apple rejects the app twice, getting it approved is the agency's job at no extra cost. With hourly billing, the hours for each part are estimated up front, and anything beyond the estimate is billed. We offer both; a typical 2-week MVP is $3,999 to $8,999.
Written by Ganesh Ghatti · Founder, Squirrel Technologies
Updated
| Fixed price | Hourly | |
|---|---|---|
| How the price is set | One price for the agreed scope | Hours estimated for each part before the project starts |
| Who carries the risk | The agency | Shared: work beyond the estimate is billed |
| App Store rejections | Fixing and resubmitting is our responsibility | One rejection planned in the estimate; unexpected extra rounds are billed |
| Scope changes | Swapped for planned work of similar size, or quoted separately | Billed as extra hours |
| Best for | A clear scope and a fixed budget | Uncertain or changing requirements |
Suppose an iOS app is rejected three times. On a fixed-price project, every resubmission is our job and costs you nothing extra. On an hourly project, we would have estimated one rejection; the second and third are unexpected, so the extra hours are added to the bill.
A typical 2-week MVP is priced between $3,999 and $8,999. The final price depends on what is being built: complex features such as escrow accounts or WebRTC calling cost more, and so does building for more than one platform (for example a mobile app, a desktop app, and a website).
Hosting, AI model usage, third-party services, and app store developer accounts are paid directly to the providers and are not part of our price.
Whichever model you choose, get these in writing.
Both models follow the same 14-day process.
Day 1
Your one to three decision makers sit with our product manager or lead developer. We decide which part of the product will test your idea and write down what waits for later.
Days 2–3
We study your top two or three competitors, agree the pages and screens, finalise the user journey, and use AI to create a demo from your brand guidelines.
Days 4–9
Our developer builds the core features, sign-in, database, and the other parts the product needs, using AI coding tools such as Claude, Cursor, and Codex.
Day 10
We put the product on a server so people can use it online. A simple MVP does not need a CDN, queues, or microservices.
Days 11–14
AI writes the unit tests; people test the full user journey and we watch the backend. One or two rounds of changes, then launch and handover.
Want the detail behind each day? Read Can You Really Build an MVP in Two Weeks?
Built an iOS and Android AI journaling app with React Native and Expo from the client's designs. Both stores approved it on the first attempt, and it was live 14 days after kickoff.
App Stores Deployed
Kickoff to Live on Both Stores
Attempt Approval: App Store & Google Play
Not always. A fixed price includes the risk of things going wrong. Hourly can cost less if everything goes to plan, and more if it does not.
The change can replace planned work of similar size; otherwise it is quoted separately.
Compare what each includes and leaves out, the costs outside development, how changes are handled, and what support comes after launch.
Hosting, AI model usage, third-party services, and app store developer accounts, which are paid to those providers.
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