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Cylas Tee

SaaS MVP Development

The Smallest Version That Can Take A Paying Customer

An MVP, a minimum viable product, is the first version of your software that a real customer can sign up for, use and pay for. Not a demo, not a prototype, and not the full vision with every feature you have sketched. Just the one thing your product does, with a login in front of it, Stripe behind it and an admin screen so you can see who signed up. We scope that version with you, quote it as one fixed price and build it in two-week sprints on a stack your next developer will already know. Everything else waits for version two, on purpose.

Scope My MVP

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  • More Than A DecadeIn The Digital Space
  • 9Countries Served
  • 12hUsual Reply Time
  • 100%Code Ownership

The Unfair Advantage

Let Paying Customers Tell You What To Build Next

Honestly, the most expensive software mistake we see is not a bad idea. It is a good idea with a year of features bolted on before anyone was asked to pay for it.

Every feature you build before launch is a guess. Some will be right, most will be rearranged the moment real people use the product, and a few will never be touched at all. An MVP flips the order. You build the one thing the product is for, put a price on it, and let the people who pay decide what the second feature is. That is not cutting corners. It is the cheapest research you will ever do.

And yet, most founders never get there, because every quote they receive is for the whole vision. We scope the smallest version that can take a paying customer, quote it as one fixed price and put a working demo in front of you every two weeks. If you are one of them, we can help you get to the first invoice. And if the honest answer is that a landing page and a waiting list should come first, we will say so on the call.

Scope My MVP

Advantage #1

Find Out If People Will Pay Before You Spend A Year Building

A waiting list tells you people are curious. A Stripe checkout tells you they are serious. The difference between those two is the difference between a side project and a business, and you only find out by putting a price in front of real users.

Can you validate an idea without building anything? Yes, up to a point. Conversations and landing pages will tell you the problem is real. They will not tell you whether your version of the solution is worth paying for, or how much, or which part people actually use once they are in.

So we build billing into the first version, not the third. Subscription or one-off, through Stripe, in the currencies your customers pay in. From day one your product can earn, and every decision after that is based on what paying users do, not on what you hoped they would do.

Advantage #2

Launch On A Stack Your Next Developer Already Knows

The quickest way to build an MVP is often the worst way to own one. A no-code tool or an unusual framework gets you live fast, then holds you hostage the day you want a feature it cannot do, or a developer it cannot find.

We build on Next.js or Astro for the front end, Node.js or Supabase for the backend, Postgres for the data and Stripe for the money, hosted on Vercel or Render. None of it is exotic. All of it is documented, widely used and easy to hire for, which is exactly the point.

And it all lives in accounts you own from the first sprint: the repository, the hosting, the database, the Stripe account. When the MVP works and you raise a round or hire a team, there is nothing to migrate and nothing to ask us for.

Advantage #3

Leave Things Out On Purpose, Not By Accident

What if I tell you the most useful document from scoping is not the feature list, it is the list of things we agreed not to build yet? Team accounts, a native mobile app, five languages, single sign-on, a custom reporting dashboard. All good ideas. None of them needed to take your first payment.

Every one of them can be added in a later sprint, once a paying customer asks. Built before launch, they double the quote and the timeline and delay the only thing that matters, which is finding out whether anyone pays.

So the scope you sign is two columns: what ships, and what waits. You will know exactly what you are getting, what it costs, and that nothing on the second list is lost, only parked.

Who It's For

Who An MVP Is For

If you recognise yourself here, a first version is probably closer and cheaper than you think.

  • First-Time Founders With A Validated Problem

    You have talked to enough people to know the pain is real. Now you need something they can pay for, before the runway or the enthusiasm runs out.

  • Experts Turning A Service Into Software

    You do a thing for clients by hand, in spreadsheets and templates, and you have realised the method itself is the product. An MVP packages it so people can buy it without booking you.

  • Businesses Testing A New Revenue Line

    An established company with an idea for a tool its customers would pay for. A small, separate first version proves it without betting the main business.

  • Founders Rescuing A Stalled Build

    A previous developer or a no-code tool got you halfway. We will tell you honestly whether to finish it or restart smaller, and quote either.

What's Included

What Is In The Box

Six pieces every MVP ships with. Your one core feature goes in the middle of them, and that is the part we scope together.

  • Sign-Up, Login & Accounts

    Email and password, Google sign-in if you want it, password reset and the basic user roles your product needs on day one.

  • Stripe Billing

    Subscriptions or one-off payments, free trials if you want them, invoices and a page where customers manage their own plan.

  • Admin Dashboard

    A screen for you: who signed up, who paid, what they did, and the switches you need without asking a developer.

  • Landing Page & Onboarding

    A simple front door that explains the product and gets a new user to the useful part in minutes, not a tour of every screen.

  • Hosting In Your Accounts

    Vercel or Render, Supabase or a Postgres database with backups, and a staging copy, all set up under your name.

  • Analytics From Day One

    Sign-ups, activation and drop-off tracked from launch, so version two is planned from numbers rather than guesses.

Our MVP Process

From Idea To First Invoice

Cylas Tee is a Certified ScrumMaster and a PMI Agile Certified Practitioner, and an MVP is where that training matters most, because the whole job is deciding what not to build. Most MVPs we scope are typically live within 8–12 weeks, in two-week sprints.

  1. 01

    Scope: What Ships, What Waits

    We start with a call in your time zone and one question: what does the person who pays you actually need to do in the product on day one? Everything else goes on the second list. We will ask who the customer is, how they find you today, what they would pay and what they are using instead right now. From that you get a two-column scope, the one core feature plus login, billing and admin on one side and everything parked for later on the other, with a fixed quote. If a landing page and a waiting list should come first, we will say so, and we will both know whether we are a good fit.

  2. 02

    Design & Prototype

    Before any code, you click through the product. We turn the scope into wireframes and then a clickable prototype of the sign-up, the core feature, the checkout and the admin screen, so you can walk the path your first customer will walk and tell us where it feels wrong. Alongside it you get a short technical plan in plain English: Next.js or Astro, Supabase or a Node backend, where it is hosted and roughly what that costs per month. Changing a screen here costs an hour. Changing it after it is built costs a sprint.

  3. 03

    Build In Two-Week Sprints

    Work runs in two-week sprints with a recorded demo at the end of each one, so you are using real features from the first fortnight. The first sprint usually puts login, the database and the skeleton of the core feature in place. Billing and admin follow, then the polish that makes a stranger trust the product with their card. You send feedback in writing when it suits you, and we reorder the backlog together. Your job is to react honestly to what you see. Ours is to keep the code clean enough that your next developer can pick it up without us.

  4. 04

    Launch To Paying Users

    We test on real devices, switch Stripe from test mode to live, point your domain at the hosting in your own account and turn analytics on. You get documentation, a recorded walkthrough and a repository in your name. Then the useful part starts: real people signing up, paying or not, and telling you what version two should be. Honestly, launch day is the simplest step. The weeks after it are where the product gets decided, and you can run them yourself or keep us on, quoted monthly.

SaaS MVP Development Pricing

Scoped First, Then One Fixed Quote

Every MVP is custom, because the one feature your product is for is different from everyone else’s. So we scope the first version with you first and give you one fixed quote before any work starts.

If you’re looking for a “cheap” or a quick one-and-done app, we’re probably not the best fit. The cheapest MVP is a landing page and a conversation, and if that is where you are, we will tell you so.

What we quote is the smallest product that can take a paying customer and still be worth owning afterwards: login, Stripe billing, admin, a clean codebase and hosting in your name. The way in is a short call or the free website audit. Tell us what the product does for the person who pays for it, and you will have a fixed price in writing before anything starts.

Custom Quote

The smallest version of your product that can sign up, serve and charge a real customer, scoped together and built in two-week sprints.

Custom Quote

  • Two-column scope: what ships, what waits
  • One core feature, built properly
  • Sign-up, login & user roles
  • Stripe subscriptions or one-off payments
  • Admin dashboard & analytics
  • Next.js, Postgres & Vercel or Render in your accounts
  • Documentation & recorded walkthrough
Request My Custom Quote

We scope first, then quote one fixed price before work starts. Hosting, database, Stripe fees and any third-party services are paid directly by you, and we estimate them up front. Builds: 50% deposit, 50% on launch.

FAQ

Frequently Asked Questions

Straight answers to the questions we hear most. If yours is not here, just ask.

What Is An MVP, In Plain English?
A minimum viable product is the smallest version of your software that a real customer can sign up for, use and pay for. It is not a prototype, which only looks like a product, and it is not the full vision. It does one thing well, with a login, billing and an admin screen around it, so you can find out whether people pay before you spend a year building the rest.
How Long Does An MVP Take?
Most MVPs we scope are typically live within 8–12 weeks, built in two-week sprints with a recorded demo at the end of each one. The biggest factor is not the technology but how disciplined we are together about the second list, the things that wait for version two. A scope that stays small ships on time.
What Do You Leave Out, And Why?
Anything that is not needed to take the first payment. That usually means team accounts, single sign-on, native mobile apps, multiple languages, custom reporting and complicated permissions. They are all good ideas, and they can all be added in a later sprint once a paying customer asks for them. Built before launch, they double the cost and delay the only thing that matters.
How Does Billing Work?
Through Stripe, in your own Stripe account. Subscriptions or one-off payments, free trials if you want them, and a page where customers manage their own plan and download invoices. Stripe’s fees are paid by you directly to Stripe, as with any business taking card payments. We will tell you what they are before you decide.
What Will It Cost To Run Each Month?
Hosting on Vercel or Render, a Supabase or Postgres database and analytics are all paid directly by you to the providers, and for most early-stage products the starting tiers are modest. We estimate the monthly running cost at scoping so there are no surprises. Keeping us on after launch is optional; the product keeps running whether you do or not, because it all lives in your accounts.
Why Not Build It With A No-Code Tool?
Sometimes you should, and we will say so if a form, a spreadsheet and an automation would prove the idea. See workflow automation. The trouble starts when the product works. No-code tools get expensive at volume, cannot do the one custom thing your customers ask for, and are hard to move away from. An MVP on Next.js and Postgres costs more up front and is yours to grow in any direction.
Do I Own The MVP?
Yes. The repository, the hosting, the database and the Stripe account are opened in your name from the first sprint, and once the project is paid the source code and the intellectual property are yours. If you raise money or hire a team later, there is nothing to migrate and nothing to ask us for.
What If Nobody Pays?
Then you have learned the most valuable thing an MVP can teach you, for a fraction of what the full build would have cost. Usually the numbers show something more useful than a flat no: people sign up but stall at one step, or they use a feature you thought was minor. Analytics is wired in from launch so you can see exactly that, and version two, or a change of direction, is planned from real behaviour rather than guesses.

Our Guarantees

Promises We Put In Writing

We would rather work for free than see an unhappy client. These are the guarantees every project comes with.

Fixed Quote Before Work Starts

Software projects have a reputation for running over budget, and honestly, most of that reputation is earned. So we do it differently. After discovery you get a fixed scope and a fixed price, in writing, before any work starts. If you ask for something outside that scope later, we tell you what it costs before we build it, not after. No surprises, no hidden extras, and no invoice you did not see coming.

You Own The Code And The Accounts

Everything is built inside accounts in your name: your GitHub repository, your Vercel or Render hosting, your Supabase or Postgres database and your Stripe account. Nothing runs through a login you cannot see, and once the project is paid the source code and the intellectual property are yours. If you want, just send us “We are taking it in-house”, we won’t take it personally, and you will already have everything you need. We would rather you understand your own systems than be stuck with us.

Our Time Is Limited

As every build here takes up a significant amount of time and attention, and Cylas Tee or someone from his team reads and tests the code before it goes near your customers, we only take on a handful of new projects each month. That is how each of our clients gets the attention they deserve. If you are remotely interested in getting your MVP built this year, we strongly suggest you contact us today to reserve a slot.
Reserve Your Slot

Compare

What Ships vs What Waits

FeatureIn The First VersionParked For Version Two
The Core FeatureOne, done properlyFeatures two to ten
AccountsEmail, password, Google sign-inTeam accounts, single sign-on
BillingStripe subscriptions or one-offCustom invoicing, usage-based pricing
AdminA simple dashboard for youReporting suite, staff permissions
PlatformsWeb app, works on any phoneNative iOS and Android apps
LanguagesOneLocalisation

Got A Question?

Ready To Scope Your MVP?

Tell us what your product does for the person who pays for it. You will get a straight answer on what should ship first, what should wait, and a fixed quote for the version that can take a real payment. Every message is read and answered by Cylas Tee himself or someone from his team.

Scope My MVP

Usually replies within 12 hours · Fixed quote before starting