It depends on the user groups, how the platform makes money and what it needs to do. Answer a few questions and you'll get an estimate you can check, not a figure from a pricing model.
Built for clients including Tata Steel, M&G Investments, Digistore24, Toppers in Concert, Bar-le-Duc and Loogman
Cost check
Work out what your platform costs
A few questions, then a request for an estimate you can check. No obligation.
Step 1 of 8Takes about two minutes
What drives the price
What drives the cost of an online platform
A platform is more than a website with a login. These are the six things that determine the price.
User groups and permissions
A marketplace has at least two sides; a SaaS product has several organisations that must never see each other's data. Each group gets its own screens, permissions and notifications.
The revenue model
Subscriptions, commission per transaction or a combination: the revenue model lives in the data model. Invoicing, payouts to providers and trial periods each take their own work.
Foundations that last
Separation of customer data, login and the way you model invoicing are not cheap to add later. Getting them right up front takes time and saves a migration with paying customers on board.
Features for every group
Profiles, matching, messaging, payments and reviews: every feature has to work for each group that uses it. Matching and payments weigh more than a profile page.
The admin environment
Behind every platform is a team that helps users, checks content and solves problems. Without a good admin environment every request becomes manual work, so it belongs in the budget from the start.
Growth and maintenance after go-live
More users means more hosting, more support and heavier reports. Maintenance, monitoring and further development belong in the budget, not as a surprise afterwards.
From question to quote
How we arrive at a price
1
Your answers
The cost check tells us what you want built, who it is for and which parts it needs.
2
A short call
We call you back, ask what it needs to achieve and what is already in place, and tell you if an off-the-shelf package would suit you better.
3
A quote you can check
Scope, timeline and price on paper before anything is built. If the budget doesn't fit, we show you what to build first.
What an online platform costs, and what it depends on
The questions we hear most often before someone has a platform built, with the answers we also give in a first conversation.
1
How much does it cost to build an online platform?
The honest answer: it depends on the scope. A membership platform for one group of users is a different project from a marketplace where providers and buyers find each other, pay and leave reviews. And a SaaS product where several organisations each have their own environment is different again.
That is why we don't quote a figure on this page. A price from a pricing model is almost never right for a platform, and a wrong number sends your business plan in the wrong direction. With your answers from the cost check we give you an estimate you can check, and in the quote we fix scope, timeline and price before anything is built.
2
From first version to a platform with many users
A platform grows in phases, and with each phase the money goes somewhere else. In the first version it goes into the foundations and the core feature. With the first paying users comes work in support, administration and the features they ask for. With many users it's about speed, monitoring and reports that work across all customers.
Growing pains are rarely about computing power. They are the report that searches across all customers, the background task that runs per customer and the administrator who can no longer see what's going on. If you know that in advance, you can budget each phase instead of being surprised by it.
3
Why quotes for a platform vary so much
The difference is rarely in the hourly rate but in what is and isn't included. Is the admin environment included? Is the revenue model worked out, with invoicing and payouts? Is the platform set up for several organisations, or does that still have to be done later?
Ask how customer data is kept separate
Ask what's in the admin environment
Ask who owns the source code and the infrastructure
4
Start small without throwing work away
A first version with just the core is the best start for a platform: you test whether supply and demand find each other and whether users are willing to pay, before you build everything. The risk is a first version that has to be rebuilt afterwards.
We build the first version narrow, but on foundations that last. The data model, the permissions and the invoicing are right from the start, so the next phase builds on it instead of starting over.
5
What does a platform cost after go-live?
A platform is never finished. There is hosting that grows with the number of users, monitoring, security updates and support for users who get stuck. On top of that you pay per use for services such as the payment provider and sending email.
How much that costs depends on the number of users and how fast you want to keep building. We agree it in advance, so you know where you stand.
6
How to keep costs under control
The biggest cost on a platform is building what nobody uses. Start with the core feature users come for, watch what they do, and hold back features added just in case until someone asks for them.
Start with one audience and one core feature
Use existing services for payments, email and login
Build in phases, with a working version after each phase
Amsterdam
Who you'll talk to
You talk to the founders
No salespeople. We read your answers and call you back. Then you build with a permanent team from our office in Amsterdam.
Frequently asked questions about online platform development
How much does it cost to build an online platform?
It depends on the number of user groups, the revenue model, the features needed in the first version and the integrations with other systems. The cost check on this page lets you share that in a few minutes, and you get an estimate you can check. In the quote we fix scope, timeline and price before anything is built.
Why isn't there a price on this page?
Because a price from a pricing model is almost always wrong for a platform. We would rather give you an estimate based on your answers, from people who have read them, than a figure that sends you in the wrong direction.
How much does it cost to build a marketplace?
A marketplace has at least two sides, and often payments with payouts to providers, search and matching, messaging, reviews and an admin environment. How much of that has to be in the first version determines the price most. You can share that in the cost check.
How much does it cost to develop a SaaS product?
That depends on the core feature, the number of organisations that will use it and how your billing works: per user, per use or a combination. We build the separation of customer data and the billing properly from the first version, because changing them afterwards is expensive.
What does an online platform cost after go-live?
That depends on the number of users and how fast you want to keep building. Fixed elements are hosting, monitoring, security updates, support and the per-use costs of services such as the payment provider. We agree it in advance.
How long does it take to build a platform?
That depends on the scope of the first version. We work in short cycles with a working version after each one, so you can test with real users early on. The timeline is in the quote.
Who owns the platform once it's finished?
You do. With a platform the software is your business, so depending on your developer is a risk. The source code lives in your own repository, the infrastructure is in your name, and there is documentation explaining the architecture decisions.
Can I start with a first version and expand later?
Yes, and that is often the best start. We build the first version narrow, on foundations that last: data model, permissions and billing are right from the start, so the next phase builds on it instead of starting over.
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