How much does it cost to build a SaaS v1 in Switzerland?

It comes up on every scope call: what does the first version cost? The honest answer fits in one sentence — it depends on what the product has to do the day its first real customer uses it. But “it depends” helps no one decide. Here are the numbers and the mechanics behind them.

The range, no hedging

A SaaS v1 built properly by a full-stack developer in Switzerland usually lands between CHF 18,000 and CHF 45,000. At the low end: a tight-scoped product — auth, one core flow, payments, deployment. At the high end: multiple user roles, dense business logic, third-party integrations, a data dashboard.

That is not the price of a prototype. A clickable prototype costs a fraction of it. It is the price of the version that survives its first paying customer — the one a founder can show an investor without apologising for the state of the product.

What actually moves the price

Three levers move the budget far more than “number of screens”. First: the data model. A simple schema is fast; business logic with nested rules (usage billing, fine-grained permissions, regulatory calculations) eats the most time. Second: integrations. Each third-party service — payments, email, external API — adds wiring, error cases and tests. Third: the expected level of finish. An internal tool tolerates rough edges; a product shown to investors tolerates none.

Why a fixed fee, not hourly

Hourly billing transfers all the risk to you: if the estimate slips, your budget absorbs it. A fixed fee flips the load. One price, agreed after the scope call, with a written scope and dated milestones. If I got the estimate wrong, that is my problem, not your invoice. You know the amount before you sign — and you can defend it to a board without a footnote.

The cost that matters is never the quote. It is the cost of rebuilding in six months because the data model was shaky from week two. A well-laid v1 costs more up front and far less over the year.

In one line

Budget CHF 18,000–45,000 for a SaaS v1 ready for a real customer, fixed-fee, delivered in 4–6 weeks. If your product falls outside that range, the scope call will say so in twenty minutes — free.