TL;DR
A London-built MVP averages £90 k. A hybrid team (UK product lead + Eastern-Europe devs) lands around £55 k.
Cut costs with R&D tax credits, SEIS, and a disciplined DevOps plan.
1 — 2025 price bands
| Team model | Hourly rate | Typical MVP budget |
|---|---|---|
| London agency | £90–120 | £90 k – 120 k |
| Regional UK | £65–85 | £60 k – 80 k |
| Hybrid (UK PM + EE devs) | £40–60 | £45 k – 60 k |
2 — Hidden costs founders overlook
- VAT (+20 %) – instantly inflates every UK invoice.
- GDPR & legal (£5 k – 10 k) – privacy policy, ICO registration, IP assignment.
- Maintenance (15 – 25 % / year) – OS updates, cloud bills, SLA support.
3 — Three proven ways to trim spend
- Hybrid team – keep local product ownership, move coding near-shore.
- R&D Tax Credit – up to 27 % cash back on qualifying work.
- SEIS + Innovate UK grants – together can slash 30 – 50 % off the headline cost.
4 — Crunch your own numbers
Estimated_Build = DayRate * DevDays Annual_Support = Estimated_Build * 0.20 Net_Cost = (Estimated_Build + Annual_Support) - (Grants + TaxCredits) 👉 Dive deeper
- Full breakdown with case studies & hourly-rate tables
- UK App Cost Calculator (3-minute questionnaire, instant PDF)
Shipped a UK app recently? Drop your numbers in the comments so we can sanity-check each other’s budgets.
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