Custom Software Development Cost Calculator
Last updated: October 15, 2026
Estimate a custom-software project budget from development labor, project management, quality assurance, infrastructure, licenses and contingency.
Starting figures illustrate this model. Enter your own measurements, quoted costs and applicable terms; this page does not retrieve live prices or provider rates.
Estimated custom-software project cost
—
- Core development labor: —
- Project management: —
- QA and security testing: —
- Infrastructure, licenses and contingency: —
On this page
Quick summary: Estimate a custom-software project budget from development labor, project management, quality assurance, infrastructure, licenses and contingency.
Read the complete guide
Updated reference sections in this guide are in English.
What this calculator estimates
Estimate a custom-software project budget from development labor, project management, quality assurance, infrastructure, licenses and contingency.
How to use it
Enter Development hours; Blended development hourly rate ($); Project management (%); Quality assurance and security testing (%); Infrastructure and deployment setup ($); Third-party licenses and data services ($); Contingency (%). Select Calculate to update the results.
How the calculation works
The estimate calculates core development labor, adds project-management and QA percentages, infrastructure and licenses, then applies contingency.
Worked example: starting scenario
| Development hours | 2000 |
|---|---|
| Blended development hourly rate ($) | 120 |
| Project management (%) | 15 |
| Quality assurance and security testing (%) | 20 |
| Infrastructure and deployment setup ($) | 15000 |
| Third-party licenses and data services ($) | 10000 |
| Contingency (%) | 15 |
| Estimated custom-software project cost | $401,350.00 |
|---|---|
| Core development labor | $240,000.00 |
| Project management | $36,000.00 |
| QA and security testing | $48,000.00 |
| Infrastructure, licenses and contingency | $77,350.00 |
Important limitations
Requirements maturity, architecture, integrations, security, data migration, testing, compliance, team location, change requests and ongoing support affect actual cost.