Answers
The questions founders actually ask
Each page answers one question in the first paragraph, then explains it. Written to be useful whether or not you ever hire anyone.
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The three most common questions are what an MVP costs, how long it takes, and how many features it should have. The short version: $3,000 to $15,000 from a solo developer in Australia, four to twelve weeks on a normal engagement, and three features.
How much does it cost to build an MVP in Australia?
In Australia in 2026, an MVP typically costs $3,000 to $15,000 from a solo developer, $15,000 to $50,000 from a small studio, and $50,000 to $150,000 from a full agency. No-code builds cost under $1,000 plus monthly fees. Launch My MVP charges a fixed $3,500 AUD for a three-feature product delivered in 48 hours.
How long does it take to build an MVP?
Most MVPs take four to twelve weeks with a solo developer, or three to six months with an agency including a discovery phase. A tightly scoped MVP with three features can be built and deployed in 48 hours. The timeline is set almost entirely by how many features are in scope and how fast decisions get made.
Can you really build an MVP in 48 hours?
Yes, if the scope is fixed to about three features before the build starts, the developer works on nothing else, and the foundations — authentication, payments, deployment — come from a proven starter rather than being written from scratch. What you cannot get in 48 hours is custom design, a large feature set, or a native mobile app.
What should be included in an MVP?
An MVP should include exactly one complete path from a user arriving to getting the value you promised, plus whatever is strictly required to support it — usually accounts and payments. Everything else belongs in version two. If removing a feature would not stop a user getting value, it does not belong in the first version.
How many features should an MVP have?
Three, in most cases. One feature that delivers the core value, and up to two that are genuinely required to support it. Below three the product usually cannot demonstrate anything; above five the build time, the bug surface and the cost all rise faster than the learning does.
What is the difference between an MVP and a prototype?
A prototype demonstrates an idea; an MVP delivers it. A prototype can be clickable screens with fake data, built to test whether people understand the concept. An MVP is real software with a real database that real users can use to get a real outcome — which is the only way to test whether they will actually pay.
Do I need a technical co-founder to build an MVP?
No. You need a working product; how it gets built is a separate question. A technical co-founder is valuable long term but costs 20 to 50 percent of your company and takes months to find, and the best ones want to see traction first. Paying for a first version, then recruiting from a position of proof, is usually the better order.
Should I use no-code or custom code for my MVP?
Use no-code if your product fits a standard pattern, you want to build and change it yourself, and per-user pricing works at your scale. Use custom code if the product is unusual, you need to own the asset, per-seat costs break your economics, or you have already hit a wall working around a platform's limits.
Who owns the code when someone builds your MVP?
Whoever the contract says, which is why it must say so explicitly. Under Australian law, a contractor generally retains copyright in what they create unless the agreement assigns it to you. Always require written assignment of all intellectual property, the repository transferred to your account, and deployment under your own hosting login.
How do I validate a startup idea before building anything?
Talk to ten people who have the problem, ask how they solve it today and what that costs them, then try to get a commitment before the product exists — a pre-order, a deposit, a signed letter of intent. Interest is not validation. A commitment of money or time is. This takes a week or two and costs nothing.
What is a fair price for MVP development?
A fair price is one where the scope is written down, the total is known before you commit, and the risk of the build taking longer sits with the developer rather than you. In Australia that is roughly $3,000 to $15,000 for a three-to-five feature MVP from a solo developer. Be sceptical of open-ended hourly quotes with no scope document.
How do I write a brief for an MVP developer?
Describe the problem, who has it, and what a user must be able to do — not how to build it. One page is enough: the user, the problem, the three things the product must do, what success looks like, your deadline and your budget. Naming technologies you do not understand makes the brief worse, not better.
Want the long version?
Three longer guides go further: the full Australian cost picture, a method for cutting a feature list down to something shippable, and an hour-by-hour account of what a 48-hour build actually involves.