Short answer. Yes, on one condition. Nobody can give an honest total price on an idea, because the price depends on things the idea does not say: the number of user roles, payment and delivery integrations, data to import, languages, offline mode. Anyone who gives you a "zero to the end" total after a WhatsApp message will adjust it later. On the other hand, a written scope, produced by one to two weeks of scoping, allows a fixed price, paid by milestones, with a clear rule for changes. Even before that scoping, a public grid by category tells you which range you are in.
This guide answers a question a shop owner asked us in Arabic, word for word: "can I know in advance how much the complete development will cost, from zero to the end?". Here is the complete answer, valid whatever team you choose.
Why "it depends" is true, and why it is not an answer
An app has no price per square metre. Two projects described by the same sentence, "a delivery app", can cost five times more or less depending on what they contain. That is not a vendor's excuse, it is the reality of the trade, and you can check it: the eight factors below explain almost all the gap between two quotes.
The first two factors dominate. Each user role is one more app, with its screens, rules and tests. Each Algerian integration, CIB and Edahabia through SATIM, Yalidine, carrier SMS, is a mini-project with its documentation, tests and support. The other six each move the price by twenty to fifty percent. None can be guessed from an idea. All can be read in a written scope.
That is why "it depends" is true. And that is why it is not an answer: the answer is the document that removes the "it depends".
«Nobody can give a total price on an idea. Everybody can give one on a written scope.»
Scoping: two weeks that turn an estimate into a price
Scoping is the phase where you write down what the app does, and above all what it does not do. It lasts one to two weeks depending on project size, happens remotely, and produces a document you can re-read, challenge and have priced by whoever you want.
The deliverable contains at least: the screen list per role, business rules in plain sentences, integrations with their prerequisites, data to import and its state, languages, what is explicitly out of scope, and the milestone calendar with an amount per milestone. This document belongs to you. A vendor who refuses to hand it over is telling you something.
If the vendor charges for scoping, that is normal: it is engineering work. What matters is that the amount is announced upfront and that the document is yours at the end, whether you continue with them or not.
A fixed price is paid by milestones, never upfront
A fixed price is not a promise, it is a structure. It is split into milestones that each have a visible deliverable and an amount. You see the deliverable before you pay the milestone. Here is the structure we apply and that you can demand from any team.
What if I change my mind along the way? It is frequent and healthy: you understand your product better when you see it. The rule is simple: a scope change is described in writing, priced separately, and you accept it or not before it is done. The fixed price stays fixed for the initial scope. What blows up budgets is not the changes, it is the absence of that rule. It is the same logic as in our diaspora founder's guide: written scope, milestones, code ownership.
«A fixed price is not a promise. It is a document.»
Placing yourself before scoping: the grid by category
You do not need scoping to know which range you are in. We publish a price grid by app category, in dinars, with what is included and what is not. It serves one purpose: checking that your budget and your project are in the same category before spending time on scoping.
Three costs appear in no development total and must be budgeted separately: annual maintenance, usually fifteen to twenty-five percent of the initial cost, the Apple and Google developer accounts, and backend hosting. A quote that does not mention them is not wrong, it is incomplete.
How to read a quote, and spot the one that will move
- No scope attached? It is an estimate, not a price. Ask for the list of screens and integrations.
- A "package" without milestones? You will pay without seeing. Demand a deliverable per payment.
- Nothing on maintenance, stores, hosting? The total is incomplete, add them yourself before comparing.
- Code and account ownership not written? It must be, in your name, from the contract.
- A price far below the others? Usually the priced scope is smaller than yours. Compare scopes, not totals.
- Full payment upfront? No. Scoping, yes; the rest by milestones.
Frequently asked questions
- Can I get a price without scoping?
- A range by category, yes, that is what the public grid gives. A total price, no: it depends on a scope that only scoping writes down.
- Can the price change after scoping?
- Only if you change the scope, in writing, and after accepting the price of the change. The price of the initial scope does not move.
- How long does scoping take?
- One to two weeks depending on project size, remotely, with two or three workshops and a written document at the end.
- I am in France, how does invoicing work?
- Quotes and invoices in euros, a clear contract, milestone payments. Any serious team in Algeria works this way with clients based in Europe.
- What does the price cover after delivery?
- The warranty period included in the last milestone, usually thirty days of fixes. Then annual maintenance is contracted separately, around fifteen to twenty-five percent of the initial cost.