The verdict in three sentences
A serious B2B SaaS MVP costs EUR 35,000 to 90,000 excl. VAT and ships in 10 to 16 weeks when scope is held to a single core feature. The foundations you must not cut are multi-tenancy, Stripe billing and role management, because rebuilding them after the first customers costs twice as much. With EUR 300,000 raised, commit no more than 30% to V1: the rest funds sales and iterations.
The minimum scope that sells
A B2B MVP is not a prototype. It must be billable to a first paying customer, which requires a technical base. Here are the building blocks and their weight in 2026 for an agency or product studio in Berlin or Lyon, where senior day rates run around EUR 550 to 750.
| Building block | Purpose | Indicative budget (EUR excl. VAT) | Can it wait? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Authentication, roles, invitations | Several users per customer account | 4,000 to 8,000 | No |
| Multi-tenant architecture | Data isolation per customer | 5,000 to 12,000 | No |
| Stripe subscriptions | Plans, free trial, invoices, VAT | 4,000 to 9,000 | No |
| Core feature | The reason to buy the product | 12,000 to 40,000 | No |
| Dashboard and exports | Visible value for the buyer | 3,000 to 8,000 | Partly |
| Third-party integrations | APIs, webhooks, connectors | 4,000 to 10,000 | Yes |
| Onboarding and emails | Account activation | 3,000 to 5,000 | Partly |
The core feature takes 35 to 45% of the budget. If it goes beyond half, the scope is too wide or poorly defined.
Timeline and recurring costs
| Phase | Duration | Deliverable |
|---|---|---|
| Scoping and mockups | 2 to 3 weeks | User stories, flows, clickable design |
| Technical foundation | 2 to 3 weeks | Auth, multi-tenancy, Stripe, CI/CD |
| Core feature | 4 to 7 weeks | Two-week sprints with customer demo |
| Acceptance and beta | 2 to 3 weeks | 3 to 5 pilot customers, fixes |
| Total | 10 to 16 weeks | Billable MVP |
For operations, plan EUR 100 to 400 per month of infrastructure (hosting, managed database, transactional email, monitoring) for the first 50 customers. Stripe charges about 1.5% + EUR 0.25 per European card transaction, plus 0.7% for Stripe Billing.
Funding the MVP without burning the round
Public innovation grants help: in France, Bpifrance's Bourse French Tech reaches EUR 30,000 for startups under one year old, and in Germany programmes such as EXIST play a similar role. Outsourced development is usually an eligible expense. A strong application includes a costed requirements document and a schedule, which is exactly what scoping delivers.
Mini case study
Thomas, founder of a construction scheduling startup, raises EUR 300,000. His MVP is quoted at EUR 68,000 for 14 weeks. He secures a EUR 30,000 grant, so the net cost drops to EUR 38,000, or 13% of the round. With a subscription at EUR 290 per month and 15 customers signed after 6 months, he reaches EUR 4,350 MRR, covering infrastructure (EUR 250) and maintenance (EUR 850 per month) more than three times over.
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FAQ
Can we build a SaaS MVP for under EUR 30,000?
Yes with no-code or a very narrow scope, but multi-tenancy and billing are then often patched together. For a B2B product aimed at paying customers, EUR 35,000 is a realistic floor in 2026.
Why is multi-tenancy essential from V1?
It isolates each customer's data and underpins security and GDPR compliance. Migrating later often costs EUR 15,000 to 30,000 and several weeks of product freeze.
How long until the first paying customer?
Count 10 to 16 weeks of development, then 4 to 8 weeks of beta. A first signed contract around month five is a good order of magnitude.
What does MVP maintenance cost?
About 15% of the initial cost per year, so EUR 10,000 for a EUR 68,000 MVP, excluding new features.
Do innovation grants cover an external agency?
In most European schemes, yes: development services are eligible expenses. The Bourse French Tech, for example, caps at EUR 30,000 and 70% of programme costs.
Let's scope your project. Describe your core feature and your fundraising date, and we will scope an MVP between EUR 35,000 and 90,000, deliverable in 10 to 16 weeks, with documentation ready for grant applications. 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.
