Most software quotes are incomparable because they describe different amounts of work. This page puts every category we build on one scale, so a figure for a website can be read next to a figure for a mobile app without pretending they are the same kind of purchase.
Every category, one table
Floors are what a first working version costs. Ceilings are what we have seen a mature, multi-module build reach. Everything in between depends on the four questions further down.
| What is being built | Floor | Ceiling | Typical weeks |
|---|---|---|---|
| Shopify store, theme build | from Rs 9,999 | Rs 3,20,000 | 2-8 |
| ERP, first working module | from Rs 9,999 | Rs 1,50,000 | 3-10 |
| CRM, pipeline and follow-up | from Rs 9,999 | Rs 75,000 | 2-8 |
| Payment, ERP or marketplace integration | from Rs 30,000 | Rs 6,00,000 | 2-10 |
| Business website, five to eight pages | from Rs 35,000 | Rs 90,000 | 3-8 |
| eCommerce store, custom build | from Rs 80,000 | Rs 15,00,000 | 6-20 |
| Test automation suite | from Rs 1,00,000 | Rs 30,00,000 | 4-16 |
| Web application | from Rs 4,00,000 | Rs 15,00,000 | 10-20 |
| Desktop application | from Rs 5,00,000 | Rs 18,00,000 | 12-20 |
| Mobile app, one platform | from Rs 6,00,000 | Rs 18,00,000 | 12-20 |
| Mobile app, both platforms | from Rs 8,00,000 | Rs 35,00,000 | 12-22 |
Two things stand out. A Shopify store and a CRM start at the same figure, which says nothing about either: one is a hosted platform configured to sell, the other is a database with a workflow in front of it. And the ceiling is typically three to five times the floor, which is the real reason two quotes for “a website” can differ by a lakh.
Why the gap between floor and ceiling is so wide
A floor buys one workflow, one user role and one integration. Each of those three words hides a multiplier.
Every additional role means permissions, different screens and an audit trail. Every integration means credentials, failure handling and reconciliation. Every workflow beyond the first means the data model has to be generalised, which is where most of the engineering time actually goes.
The ceiling is not a bigger version of the floor. It is a different system with the same name.
What moves a budget from the floor to the middle
- Users and roles. One admin panel is cheap. A manager, an operator and an auditor each seeing something different is not.
- Money movement. Any system that takes a payment, refunds it, and reconciles the settlement against a bank statement costs more than one that only displays a price.
- Offline behaviour. If the work has to continue when the network drops, sync and conflict resolution enter the scope.
- Reporting the business will defend. A dashboard is easy; numbers that agree with the accountant’s numbers take longer.
- Data already on the floor. Migration, cleansing and reconciliation are usually a fifth to a third of a project and are rarely in the first quote.
The four questions that fix a budget
- How many distinct kinds of user, and what can each one do?
- Which outside systems must this talk to, and in which direction?
- What must keep working when the internet, the server or the payment provider fails?
- Which three reports will be checked every month, and against what source?
Answer those in writing and the ceiling collapses toward the middle. Leave them open and every honest developer quotes the ceiling, because that is what protects them.
Where budgets usually break
The failure is almost never in the build. It is in the assumption that a fixed price bought a fixed scope, when scope was never written down.
Three predictable ones. A client budgets for a website and the first month of use reveals a booking requirement. A store is scoped without returns, and returns are half the support load. An ERP is bought module by module until the modules no longer share a customer record.
How to read a quote against this table
Find the row. If the quote is far below the floor for that category, ask what has been left out, because something has. If it is far above the ceiling, ask which of the four questions attracted the number.
Then check the shape of the payment: a deposit, milestone payments tied to something you can see working, and a retainer that starts only after handover. A quote that asks for most of the money before the first screen exists is not cheaper, it is just riskier.
FAQ
Is the floor a real price or a marketing number? It is a real scope. A Shopify theme build at Rs 9,999 buys a configured theme and a launch checklist, not a custom design. The floor is honest as long as what it excludes is stated.
Why is a mobile app more expensive than a web application? Two codebases, two stores, two review processes and a release cycle you do not control. The shared-code route narrows the gap but does not close it.
Can a project be delivered in phases to spread the cost? Yes, and it is usually the right answer. The first phase should end with something usable by real people, not with a technical foundation nobody can see.
Does GST change the comparison? It applies to all of them equally, so it changes the total but not the ranking. Ask for every figure with GST included so the comparison holds.
Where do prices for a specific category sit? Each row above has its own cost page with the module breakdown, which is the only place the numbers mean anything.
Software budgets in Noida
We quote software from Noida with the scope written before the number, and we will say which row of the table a project belongs to on the first call. Call 7840002466 or send the requirement through the contact page.
For the categories behind each row, start with custom software cost, web app cost, mobile app cost and desktop app cost.
