The verdict in three sentences
For a non-technical founder in London or Berlin who has validated the problem with 20 customers and is raising EUR 300,000 to 1 million, a B2B SaaS MVP costs EUR 45,000 to 90,000 with a fixed-price agency (10 to 14 weeks), EUR 40,000 to 80,000 with two freelancers over 4 months, or EUR 250,000 a year with an in-house team. The fixed-price agency offers the best risk and speed ratio while the market is unproven, provided the code and documentation are handed over to you. An in-house team becomes relevant after the first 10 paying customers, when iteration speed matters more than cost.
What a B2B SaaS MVP must contain in 2026
A B2B MVP is not a mock-up. Your first customers will put real data in it and their IT department will ask security questions. The minimum scope fits into four blocks.
| Functional block | Minimum content | Share of budget | Estimated development days |
|---|---|---|---|
| Authentication | E-mail and password, Google or Microsoft SSO, admin and user roles | 10 to 15% | 8 to 12 d |
| Multi-tenancy | Data isolation per customer company, invitations, team management | 15 to 20% | 12 to 18 d |
| Stripe billing | Monthly and annual plans, free trial, compliant invoices, EU VAT | 10 to 15% | 8 to 12 d |
| Core feature | The one thing your 20 customers will pay for | 40 to 50% | 30 to 50 d |
| Technical foundation | EU hosting, backups, logs, CI/CD, automated tests | 10% | 8 to 10 d |
| Total | 100% | 66 to 102 d |
Anything beyond this scope (analytics dashboard, public API, mobile app, multiple integrations) waits for version 2. Every feature added before the first payments delays market proof by the same amount.
Freelancers, agency or in-house team: the comparison
| Criterion | Two freelancers | Fixed-price agency | In-house team (CTO + 2 devs) |
|---|---|---|---|
| MVP budget | EUR 40,000 to 80,000 (80 to 115 days at EUR 500 to 700 daily rate) | EUR 45,000 to 90,000 fixed | EUR 250,000 a year fully loaded, 6 months of it before the MVP |
| Time to start | 2 to 4 weeks | 2 to 3 weeks | 3 to 5 months of hiring |
| Time to deliver | 4 to 6 months | 10 to 14 weeks | 6 to 9 months after the first hire |
| Overrun risk | High, time and materials | Carried by the agency | Carried by you |
| Dependency risk | High if a freelancer leaves | Medium, mitigated by documentation | Low once the team is stable |
| Product design and UX | Sourced separately (EUR 600 to 800 a day) | Included | To be hired |
| Code ownership | Must be contracted | Must be contracted, full assignment | Native |
A senior full stack developer's daily rate in Paris sits between EUR 500 and 700 in 2026, and London rates are often 10 to 25% higher. Two good freelancers deliver fast, but the non-technical founder effectively becomes project manager and technical arbiter, a role they rarely have the time or skills for.
The costs quotes forget
| Additional item | Estimated annual cost 2026 | Comment |
|---|---|---|
| EU hosting (Scaleway, OVHcloud, AWS Frankfurt) | EUR 1,200 to 4,800 | Depending on traffic and redundancy |
| Tools (Sentry, transactional e-mail, monitoring) | EUR 1,000 to 3,000 | Essential from the first customer |
| Stripe fees | 1.5% + EUR 0.25 per EU transaction | On revenue collected |
| Post-MVP corrective maintenance | EUR 1,500 to 3,000 per month | Or 10 to 15% of the initial budget per year |
| Security audit or penetration test | EUR 4,000 to 9,000 | Often required by the first enterprise customer |
| GDPR compliance (records, DPA, sub-processors) | EUR 1,500 to 4,000 | Lawyer or external DPO |
Mini case study
Léa, founder of a Berlin startup digitising supplier audits for industrial buyers, has just raised EUR 600,000. In-house option: a CTO and two developers at EUR 250,000 a year, hired within 4 months, MVP delivered 6 months later, i.e. 10 months and about EUR 125,000 in salaries before the first customer invoice. Agency option: EUR 68,000 fixed price, delivered in 12 weeks, then EUR 2,500 a month of maintenance while Léa hires her CTO. She gains 7 months of selling time and saves about EUR 57,000 on the MVP, enough to fund 9 months of a first salesperson's salary.
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FAQ
How much does a B2B SaaS MVP cost in 2026?
Allow EUR 45,000 to 90,000 with a fixed-price agency, for 66 to 102 days of development. Below EUR 35,000, multi-tenancy or billing are usually rushed.
Do I need a CTO before building the MVP?
Not necessarily. A fractional CTO or technical advisor (1 to 2 days a month, EUR 1,000 to 2,000) is enough to challenge the agency, then you hire after the first 10 customers.
How do I avoid agency lock-in?
Require by contract full IP assignment, Git repository access from day one, architecture documentation and tests covering at least 60% of business logic.
No-code or code for a B2B MVP?
No-code (Bubble, Glide) costs EUR 10,000 to 25,000 but quickly hits limits on multi-tenancy and the security enterprise IT teams demand. It tests appetite, rarely bills large accounts.
Is a French-speaking agency outside Paris an option?
Yes, a team based in Dakar charges 30 to 40% less for comparable senior work, on GMT, which overlaps fully with London and within one or two hours of Berlin.
Let's scope your project. Describe your core feature and your 20 pilot customers: we will price a fixed-scope MVP between EUR 45,000 and 90,000, deliverable in 10 to 14 weeks with code and documentation handed over. Detailed quote within 48 h. WhatsApp +221 77 596 93 33.
Mohamed Bah
Fondateur, Kolonell
Passionate about digital and entrepreneurship in Africa, Mohamed has been helping Sénégalese businesses with their digital transformation since 2020. Founder of Kolonell, he believes every SME deserves a professional and accessible online présence.
