By the time you have two or three finalists, every vendor looks good. Their decks show live products, their reviews are positive and the calls go well. The differences sit in three places: what each proposal assumes, what the contract lets you do when something goes wrong, and how the vendor handles a short paid first milestone. We write proposals and contracts ourselves, so this guide reads them from the vendor’s side of the table.
If you’re still building a shortlist, start with how to choose a software development company. It covers the brief, the scorecard and the questions to ask. This guide picks up where that one ends.
A price is only as good as the assumptions behind it. Two proposals with the same total can describe very different products.
| What you see | What it can mean | What to ask |
|---|---|---|
| A wide range, like $30,000-120,000 | The vendor hasn’t decided what it would build | “Which features move the price from the low end to the high end?” |
| A fixed price on a one-paragraph brief | Every unclear item will come back as a change request | “List what’s included and what counts as a change.” |
| Hours by role, with no feature list | You can’t tell what you get for the money | “Break the hours down by feature.” |
| No line for testing | Testing gets squeezed, or you end up doing it | “Who tests, and when?” |
| No running costs | Hosting, store fees and outside services land on you after launch | “What will this cost each month after launch?” |
| A team of “experts” | The people haven’t been chosen yet | “Who exactly, at what level, for how many hours a week?” |
Also look at what the proposal leaves out on purpose. A good proposal says what waits for a later release. If nothing is left out, the vendor either hasn’t read your brief or is agreeing to everything to win the deal.
Running costs start before launch. The Apple Developer Program costs 99 USD per membership year, and a Google Play developer account has a US$25 one-time registration fee. Those are small and fixed. Hosting and paid outside services grow with your users, so ask for a monthly figure at the number of users you expect in the first year.
You sign with a company, but you work with four or five people. Ask:
The last question matters most, because people do leave. On the Traza project, one of our developers dropped out mid-project. We covered the cost and gave the work to the second developer, so the client’s budget and launch date stayed the same. Ask every finalist for an example like that, and for their rule in writing.
Contracts are written for the day something goes wrong. These five terms decide how that day goes.
Send this list before price talks end. A vendor that pushes back on access or exit terms is telling you how a breakup would go.
The fastest way to judge a vendor is to pay for one or two weeks of work and look at the result. Pick a milestone that:
Ours is the discovery sprint on our MVP development page. It costs $3,000 and takes one week. You get a written scope, up to 6 main screens in a clickable prototype, a technical plan, a day spent testing the riskiest technical question, a backlog with hours and a fixed price for the build. If you continue with us, the $3,000 counts toward the build. If you don’t, any team can use the files.
During the milestone, watch for what a sales call hides:
Switching vendors adds one step: find out what you have before you agree a price for the next phase. Without that, every new vendor is guessing at the state of the code, and the guess ends up in the price.
Our code and architecture audit costs a fixed $3,500 and takes 5 working days. It covers what you own, the state of the code, security findings and what to keep, fix or rebuild. It’s sold on its own, so you can take the report to any team.
Don’t skip the security part. In Verizon’s 2026 Data Breach Investigations Report, 31% of breaches started with software vulnerabilities, ahead of stolen passwords as the top way attackers got in.
Proposals are easier to read when you have your own range to hold them against.
You can estimate your MVP’s cost and timeline before the first vendor call.
Compare the finalists on three things: the assumptions behind each proposal, the contract terms for ownership, access, changes, acceptance and exit, and how each vendor handles a short paid first milestone. The milestone tells you more than a sales call.
What will be built and what waits for later, the assumptions behind the price, who will do the work and at what level, how testing is done, the running costs after launch, and how changes are priced.
Ownership of the code, designs and accounts; access to repositories from day one; change control; acceptance criteria; and exit terms with a handover. Have a lawyer check the ownership clause for your country.
It depends on your contract and the law where you are. In the US, the Copyright Office explains that commissioned work counts as made for hire only in set categories and with a signed written agreement. Put the transfer of rights in writing.
One or two weeks, a fixed price and a result you keep even if you stop, such as a written scope, designs and an estimated backlog. Our discovery sprint is one example: $3,000 for one week, counted toward the build if you continue with us.
Roles, approach and resources are easier to judge on a short first milestone than in a sales call. Agree on that milestone, who reviews the work and how you can leave, then decide on a long-term team. Explore dedicated development team and the Livetag case study.
Plan a first milestone with a vendor
Start with an AI-assisted project brief covering scope, budget, market assumptions and risks. Review its hypotheses before making a commitment.
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