The verdict in three sentences
A 90-day web app MVP for a startup in Miami costs, in 2026, between 60,000 and 130,000 USD with an agency, initial hosting included. The budget only holds if the scope is limited to one core feature you can demo, for example assigning and tracking a last-mile delivery. Hiring a salaried CTO at about 15,000 USD a month (loaded) looks cheaper on paper but rarely meets a 3-month deadline.
What goes into a 90-day MVP
Investors do not fund a feature list: they want to see real usage, a few dozen active customers and retention numbers. The MVP must cover the main journey end to end, and nothing more.
| Block | Scope for a delivery startup | 2026 budget (USD) |
|---|---|---|
| Product scoping and mockups | Customer, courier, back-office journeys | 8,000 - 15,000 |
| Customer app (mobile web) | Ordering, live tracking, history | 15,000 - 31,000 |
| Courier app (PWA) | Jobs, routing, proof of delivery | 13,000 - 26,000 |
| Dispatch back-office | Job assignment, pricing, zones | 10,000 - 23,000 |
| Payments (Stripe, Apple Pay) | Collection, reconciliation | 6,000 - 13,000 |
| SMS and WhatsApp notifications | Delivery status | 3,000 - 8,000 |
| Metrics dashboard | Orders, retention, average delivery time | 6,000 - 13,000 |
Anything outside this table (loyalty program, restaurant marketplace, native app) waits for the funding round. Each feature added mid-project costs on average 1 to 2 weeks of delay.
Agency, salaried CTO or no-code: the comparison
The choice depends less on price than on the risk of missing the investor meeting.
| Option | Cost over 3 months | Realistic timeline | Main risk |
|---|---|---|---|
| Agency (team of 3 to 4) | 60,000 - 130,000 USD | 10 to 13 weeks | Poorly scoped features |
| Salaried CTO alone | 45,000 USD + 1 to 2 months hiring | 5 to 8 months | Single person, delay |
| CTO + 2 developers | 95,000 - 115,000 USD | 4 to 6 months | Hiring, management |
| Solo freelancer | 20,000 - 45,000 USD | 4 to 7 months | Availability, drop-out |
| No-code (Bubble, Glide, FlutterFlow) | 8,000 - 25,000 USD + 300 USD / month | 6 to 10 weeks | Technical limits, scaling debt |
No-code still makes sense to test a hypothesis with the first 20 customers. Once you need live GPS tracking, payments and a convincing demo for a technical investor, custom code takes the lead. An agency also delivers code the startup owns, which the future CTO can take over.
Running costs after launch
Hosting an MVP runs around 300 USD a month (server, database, storage, domain). Add 150 to 500 USD a month of SMS depending on volume, and 3,000 to 7,000 USD a month of maintenance if the agency handles fixes until the CTO arrives.
Mini case study
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Jason, founder of a last-mile delivery startup in Miami, has an investor meeting in 3 months. Option 1: hire a CTO at 15,000 USD a month; with 6 weeks of hiring and 5 months of development, the MVP ships in month 7 for about 97,500 USD in salary, too late for the round. Option 2: an agency at 95,000 USD ships in 12 weeks. The MVP handles 1,200 deliveries in its first month and the startup raises 1,500,000 USD in pre-seed. The agency costs about the same as the slower route, ships 4 months earlier and leaves a codebase for the CTO hired afterwards.
FAQ
Can an MVP really ship in 90 days?
Yes, if scope is frozen by the end of week 2 and a single person on the startup side signs off on decisions. Projects that slip add on average 3 to 5 features along the way.
Who owns the code?
The startup, through an assignment of rights in the contract. Investors check this during due diligence, along with access to the Git repository.
Is no-code enough to raise money?
For a pre-seed of 250,000 to 750,000 USD, often yes. Beyond that, investors ask about scalability, and a rewrite costs 40,000 to 80,000 USD.
Do we need a native mobile app from day one?
Rarely. A progressive web app installs on Android and works well on any recent phone; native adds 30,000 to 60,000 USD.
What does the MVP cost once live?
Around 300 USD a month for hosting, plus SMS and maintenance. Budget about 6,000 USD a month in total for the 6 months after launch.
Let's scope your project. Describe your core feature, investor deadline and budget, and we will propose an MVP scope you can ship in 90 days. 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.
