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In 2026, a clickable prototype with user testing typically costs $2,000 to $6,000. Full MVP design, meaning UX and UI ready for development, usually starts around $5,000 with a small product design studio. A full MVP designed and built by a development agency usually costs $10,000 to $30,000 or more.
At INSAIM, MVP product design starts at $5,000 and typically takes 2 to 4 months. We design the MVP and hand it off to your developers or any development team. We are a Lisbon-based product design agency for SaaS, AI and tech startups.
Prices are in USD and exclude VAT. INSAIM prices checked against our current price list on 13 October 2026.
MVP design vs full MVP development: what you are paying for
Most MVP cost guides quote the price of a finished, coded product. MVP design is a different, earlier piece of work, and it is worth budgeting for separately.
- A clickable prototype shows how the product will work, without code. It is enough to test a hypothesis with users or show investors what you are building.
- MVP design is the full user experience and interface, ready for development: product structure, user flows, the screens, a design system and files your developers can build from.
- MVP development turns the design into working software: front end, back end, integrations, testing and release.
How much of the MVP budget goes on design? Design is usually a minority of the total. With a $15,000 budget, MVP design from $5,000 leaves around two thirds for development, QA and the first iterations. With $25,000, it leaves around $20,000. Spending on design first is how you avoid paying developers to rebuild screens that should have changed on paper.
How much does MVP design cost?
- Market: a clickable prototype with user testing usually costs $2,000 to $6,000. Full MVP design with a small product design studio starts around $5,000. Agencies that design and build the whole MVP quote ranges such as $5,000 to $25,000 or $10,000 to $30,000, depending on scope.
- INSAIM: MVP product design starts at $5,000. That is a starting point, not a fixed package: MVPs differ a lot, and the same budget is spent differently on a two-sided marketplace, a B2B dashboard or a mobile health app. We agree the scope with you before the work starts.
- After launch: ongoing product design is available as a subscription at $3,900 a month, with a one-month minimum.
Pricing models for MVP design
- Fixed price. A set scope for a set price. Best for an MVP with a clear hypothesis and core feature list, and the easiest to compare between studios.
- Subscription. A monthly fee for continuous design work, one request at a time. Best after launch, when the product changes every week. It usually costs less than hiring a senior product designer full time.
- Time and materials. You pay for hours spent. Flexible, but harder to budget; it suits products whose scope is still moving.
For most pre-seed and seed teams, a fixed-price MVP design followed by a subscription after launch is the most predictable route.
What MVP design usually includes
The exact mix depends on the product and its goals, but an INSAIM MVP design project usually covers:
- Product structure and user flows.
How users move through the product, for each role. - Feature definition and prioritisation.
What goes into the MVP and what waits. - Wireframes for key screens.
The layout and logic before visual design. - Clickable prototype.
To test the flows with users and show investors. - Core UI for the main screens.
The visual design of the screens the MVP launches with. - Interaction specifications.
States, errors and edge cases developers need. - A scalable design foundation.
Components and styles the product can grow on. - Development-ready files.
Clean Figma files and documentation for your developers.
User research and usability testing can be added when the hypothesis needs checking with real users. You own all design files.
How long MVP design takes
At INSAIM, MVP design typically takes 2 to 4 months. A tightly scoped product moves faster: for Tapobit, a B2B SaaS platform, we designed the MVP in one month. A product that needs its concept rethought takes longer: Happy Hero went through about six iterations over roughly three months.
What moves the timeline:
- How tested the hypothesis is. A validated idea goes straight to flows and screens; an untested one needs discovery first.
- The number of iterations. Each round of founder and user feedback adds time, and saves development time later.
- Who is involved. Projects move fastest when the founder and the lead developer join from day one.
What drives the cost of MVP design
- Roles and scenarios. A product with one user type is simpler than a marketplace or a platform with admins, customers and specialists.
- Platforms. Web, mobile or both.
- Data and dashboards. Data-dense screens, filters and reports take more design work.
- AI features. Showing how an AI product reaches its answers, and when users can trust it, needs extra design thinking.
- Regulation. Healthtech and fintech add compliance and accessibility requirements.
- Brand. If the MVP also needs a brand identity, it adds to the scope; at INSAIM brand identity starts at $3,500.
How to keep MVP design costs down
What we learned designing Happy Hero and other early-stage products:
- Start with a tested hypothesis. It is better to know which core features users truly need, and which are nice to have, before design starts.
- Cut the MVP to its core. It is tempting to copy large, successful apps; they all started small.
- Involve the founder and the lead developer from day one. The hard parts of a first version are often technical, not visual.
- Settle the interactions in design, not in code. Changing a layout is much cheaper than changing shipped code.
Working with your developers
INSAIM designs MVPs; we do not build them. We hand off to your in-house team or any development studio, with Figma files, components and interaction specifications they can build from without guessing. If you do not have developers yet, we can introduce development partners we have worked with.
Faster MVP design with AI-assisted design systems
Instead of drawing every screen by hand, we design a few key screens, build the design kit and components, and use AI tooling (Claude with MCP and custom skills) to roll the system out across the remaining screens. On a recent product redesign, this saved our team more than 100 hours. For an MVP it means more of the budget goes on the decisions that matter, and less on repetitive screen work.
Start with a trial
Not sure a studio is the right fit? INSAIM offers a trial task, so you can see our team, process and results before committing to the full MVP.
MVPs we have designed
We do not publish what individual clients paid, but each of these projects maps to a package with a public starting price.
- Tapobit, a B2B SaaS platform for digital business cards and smart QR codes, Germany. We designed the whole platform, from registration to a custom card builder with 7 widgets, roles and user access, plus a design system for scaling and a process for handing layouts to development. We also created the brand identity.
- Happy Hero, a pre-seed mental health app, USA. The founders came with three different prototypes. We started over with a simpler version focused on the key features, mapped user flows in black-and-white wireframes, and went through about six iterations with the founder and CTO before handing detailed documentation to developers. The app is now live in the App Store.
- WellO, a health-tracking platform for nutritionists and their clients. The client came with no product concept. We designed it iteratively, testing hypotheses and moving from simple to complex: it grew from a nutrition diary into a platform with expert recommendations, video courses, in-app purchases and an AI assistant, without overloading the interface.
- Playwrk, a mobile app that blends gaming and professional networking, USA. We updated the brand and designed the MVP from the client's specification: onboarding, daily matches, profiles, chat and a referral programme.
About INSAIM
INSAIM is a design and development agency for SaaS, AI and tech companies and startups, based in Lisbon, Portugal. We design MVPs, products, brands and websites. Since 2016 we have delivered 300+ projects and been design partner to 80+ startups, with a 15+ person team. We are rated 5.0 on Clutch and Upwork.
MVP product design from $5,000, typically 2 to 4 months. Product design subscription $3,900 a month. Book a call
FAQ
How much does MVP design cost?
A clickable prototype with user testing usually costs $2,000 to $6,000. Full MVP design, ready for development, starts around $5,000 with a small product design studio. At INSAIM MVP product design starts at $5,000.
How long does it take to design an MVP?
At INSAIM, typically 2 to 4 months. A tightly scoped B2B SaaS MVP can take about a month; a product whose concept needs rethinking takes longer.
Is MVP design included in MVP development quotes?
Sometimes, but often only lightly. Many development agencies quote mainly for the build. Ask how much of the quote is UX and UI, and whether you get a prototype you can test before code is written.
I have $15,000 for an MVP. How should I split it?
A common split is design first, then development. MVP design from $5,000 leaves around $10,000 for development, QA and the first iterations, which suits a tightly scoped product.
What happens after the MVP launches?
Most teams keep designing as they learn from users. INSAIM offers ongoing product design as a subscription at $3,900 a month.
