What is the Average Cost of a Software POC in 2026? (Cost Factors & Estimates)

If you’ve been thinking about developing a product and asked yourself how much money you can budget to test the theory behind the product, then you’re in the right spot. In this long-form guide, we will discuss the average cost of a software proof of concept (POC) for 2026, why that number is significant, what drives the cost of a software POC up or down, and how to create a POC to give yourself clear answers and not waste time and money on it.

This guide will be more of a practical, step-by-step roadmap than a technical whitepaper full of jargon. Additionally, you’ll be able to see real-life examples of what a software POC looks like and the tables and sources we’ll provide to help you have informed conversations regarding budgets with your team or developer.

How Much Does a Software POC Really Cost?

Let’s get straight to it. The average cost of a software POC in 2026 usually falls between $15,000 and $70,000 for most small- to mid-level projects.

• Simple, single-purpose POCs can cost as little as $5,000–$10,000.
• Complex, enterprise-level POCs with multiple integrations can go beyond $100,000–$150,000+.

Timeline estimates:

• Basic POC: 2–6 weeks.
• Complex POC: 6–12+ weeks.

What are the primary expenses in creating these apps? Several components can affect these costs, including integration and API costs, AI/ML tools and other software components, compliance requirements, complexity of the data, and the development team you select when you build the POC (Proof of Concept).

These price ranges are also consistent with the information provided by developers’ pricing guides, market analysis, and reports published by Grand View Research. Consequently, you will get a good estimate of what your POC will cost when establishing your budget.

These ranges align with market signals for custom software and enterprise software growth and match supplier-level pricing patterns seen across vendor writeups and cost surveys.

Why You Should Care About The Average Cost Of A Software Poc

A POC is the cheapest way to get a “no” early. Spending $15k to discover a critical integration that won’t scale is far better than losing $200k (and months) building something that can’t be shipped. POC work answers the single most important question any founder or product lead has: Can this be done technically and with acceptable performance?

Through this budget, you are essentially paying for your verification. You will be in a much better position to negotiate with your vendors over price, and it will be much easier for your POC to receive funding or approval from the internal organization.

The Growth of the Software Industry Will Affect POC Pricing in 2026

As the software market continues to expand at an increasing rate, the developer market (rates), tooling, and economic factors related to vendors will all be impacted significantly by this continued growth of the industry.

According to analysts at Grand View Research, the Software Market will maintain extremely high single-digit to low double-digit CAGRs, which means the need for highly-skilled engineers and other specialists continues to be on the rise. Higher demand usually nudges costs upward for specialized POC work (AI, data pipelines, or integrations).

At the same time, many platforms and managed services (serverless, ML inference platforms, off-the-shelf integrations) make certain POC tasks cheaper and faster. Goodfirms and other 2026 cost surveys show that baseline custom development costs remain significant, but the early-stage investment for a focused POC is still quite achievable for startups with $15k–$50k.

Typical Cost Bands And What They Buy

Below is a practical breakdown you can use in vendor conversations. The numbers reflect common ranges in 2026 market research and supplier reports, and they map to what most product teams actually buy. (Remember: these are estimates; exact quotes will depend on the scope.)

These bands match patterns in vendor posts and vendor cost guides and reflect how firms package POC development.

Key Cost Drivers: Dissecting The Software Poc Cost

If you want to predict the average cost of a software POC for your project, map your scope against these drivers:

Number and complexity of integrations

Connecting to one external API is inexpensive; connecting to multiple legacy systems with brittle documentation quickly adds hours. Integration complexity is one of the top drivers of POC development cost.

Data volume and data engineering

If your POC requires realistic datasets, anonymization, or ETL pipelines, expect to incur additional costs. A POC that uses synthetic data can be cheaper but less convincing.

AI / ML / Data modeling

AI components are expensive because they require data cleaning, model selection, evaluation, and optimization. If your POC includes ML, plan on the higher end of the range. Recent AI project guides show large variability depending on model complexity.

Performance & security requirements

If you need the POC to show production-like latency, throughput, or pass certain security benchmarks, that increases testing and engineering time.

Compliance & regulatory work

Any POC touching regulated data (health, payments) needs extra controls, audits, and possibly legal review.

Team composition & hourly rates

In-house vs. boutique agency vs. large consultancy will vary widely. Agencies with deep domain expertise cost more but reduce risk.

UX/UI fidelity

A rough proof (no UI) costs less. Clickable mocks or polished front-ends increase cost but make stakeholder demos easier.

Geography & hiring model

Where your team is located and whether you use contractors or a full vendor matter. Offshore rates are lower, but sometimes lengthen timelines.

Number of scenarios to validate

Validating 1 core hypothesis is far cheaper than validating 5 separate technical paths.

If you add these up in a scoping session, you’ll have a defensible estimate for your POC development cost.

Want to Avoid Spending Six Figures on the Wrong Build?

TekRevol’s POC specialists help you test risky assumptions early, validate integrations, and confirm feasibility, before full development begins.

Validate Your Software Concept Today

Where People Waste Money On Pocs (And How To Avoid It)

• Trying to build an MVP disguised as a POC. Scope tightly; a POC proves feasibility, not market fit.
• Poorly defined acceptance criteria. Write success criteria before dev begins.
• Skipping test data/setup. If the environment is unrealistic, the POC won’t teach you much.
• Too many features. Each extra flow multiplies the hours. Strip to the riskiest assumption.

Tip: define 3 success criteria (functional, non-functional, business). If your POC doesn’t answer those, it failed to do its job, even if the demo “looks nice.”

Sample POC Scoping Checklist

While hiring, consider these:

• What is the single technical assumption we need to validate?
• Which APIs or external systems must be used? (Provide credentials/access.)
• What data will be used? Is it synthetic or real? Are there privacy constraints?
• What are the acceptance criteria? (e.g., “API X returns <200ms for 95% of calls”, or “model achieves >80% accuracy on test set”)
• Who will demo the POC, and what artifact is required (video, demo, repo, docs)?
• Expected timeline and milestones.

If you take this checklist to expert calls, you’ll get clearer, tighter software POC pricing.

Real-life Examples

Fintech real-time scoring (mid complexity)

Needs real-time API throughput testing and a basic ML model. POC: $20k–$45k, 6–8 weeks. (Many firms report similar numbers after failed large builds; early POCs have saved them $200k+.)

Marketplace identity verification (simple)

Validate third-party KYC provider integration. POC: $7k–$18k, 2–4 weeks.

IoT device-to-cloud proof (complex)

Device connectivity, edge logic, and cloud ingestion. POC: $40k–$120k+, depending on device count and scale.

These examples align with reported organization ranges and market surveys for 2025–2026.

Table: How features map to cost (quick estimator)

Use this to quickly add or subtract from a baseline average cost of a software POC.

How To Get The Best Value? Procurement Tips

1. Buy outcomes, not hours. Ask developers to price milestones tied to acceptance criteria.
2. Insist on reproducible artifacts. You want code, scripts to run, and a short runbook.
3. Request a minimalist demo plan. “Show me these 3 flows in a 10-minute demo.”
4. Include a failed-path clause. If the POC shows the idea won’t work, some vendors will discount next-phase work.
5. Ask for a technical appendix. That helps you compare offers quantitatively.

What Vendors (And Tekrevol-Style Agencies) Will Usually Include?

Most product engineering vendors will include:

• Project scoping and architecture decisions.
• One or more working components (API tests, UI demo, basic model).
• Documentation and a demo session.
• Recommendations and next steps.

If you want an example of how an agency packages PoC services, TekRevol lists PoC and Custom AI validation services that emphasize building a small functional prototype using real data and delivering a validation report, which is what you should expect in a professional POC engagement.

Industry Stats & Macro Context (Why Poc Budgets Are Sensible In 2026)

• The global software market is forecast to expand significantly over the next several years, indicating sustained demand and rising rates for skilled engineering. Grand View Research projects robust growth in the software market, which indirectly affects development and POC pricing.
• Custom software development demand is also growing rapidly; Grand View Research reports the custom software development market expanding with a strong CAGR, underscoring why specialized POCs (custom integrations, enterprise setups) command higher fees.
• Software developers’ cost surveys (e.g., GoodFirms 2026 custom cost survey) show that baseline project budgets for custom software remain in ranges where a well-scoped POC is affordable and prudent relative to full development budgets.

These macro factors justify the POC development cost as a strategic, budget-saving move.

Example Pitch You Can Use To Get Quotes

We need a POC to validate [single technical assumption].

Deliverables: working demo that performs [acceptance criteria], deployment scripts, data sample, and a 1-page technical report.

Timeline: 6 weeks.

Please provide fixed-price quotes for (A) baseline POC and (B) POC + basic performance testing.

Using this language will get developers to give you apples-to-apples pricing comparisons for the software POC cost.

Final Checklist Before You Green-Light Budget

• Have you defined the single riskiest assumption?
• Are acceptance criteria measurable?
• Have you listed required integrations and data access?
• Did you set a realistic timeline (2–12 weeks)?
• Do you prefer fixed-price or time-and-materials for this scope?

If the answer is “yes” to all, you’re ready to budget the average cost of a software POC with confidence.

Ready to Validate Your Software Idea with Tekrevol?

In 2026, the average cost of a software POC sits in a sweet spot: affordable enough for startups to validate crucial assumptions, but significant enough that enterprises take it seriously. A good POC reduces wasted spend, shortens timelines, and turns risky bets into measured decisions.

You now have a clear picture of the average cost of a software POC in 2026, what drives that cost, and how a focused POC can prevent expensive missteps later.

At TekRevol, we help founders and product leaders design lean, outcome-driven POCs that answer the right technical questions, without overbuilding or overspending. From early feasibility checks to enterprise-grade validation, our team turns assumptions into evidence and gives you a clear roadmap forward.

If you’d rather invest once but invest wisely. Let’s talk before you write a larger check.