Because quotes for the same request often describe completely different work. One priced the screens; another priced the security, testing and data handling too. Some assume your prototype is sound; others assume it must be rebuilt. Until every quote covers the same scope, comparing the numbers tells you almost nothing about which is the better deal.
Information current as at 5 July 2026
You send the same request to three places and get back three numbers that barely seem to describe the same planet. This is not a sign that someone is lying, though someone might be. Far more often it is a sign that the three quotes are quietly describing three different jobs, and the price gap is really a scope gap in disguise.
When you ask several people to quote the same thing, you rarely give them the same brief, because you cannot yet describe the invisible work you do not know you need. So each one fills the gaps with their own assumptions. One assumes you want exactly the screens you showed them, working roughly as they do now. Another assumes you want those screens plus the security, the testing, the data handling and the reliability that make it safe for real customers. A third assumes your prototype is a tangle that has to be rebuilt from scratch. All three answer honestly, and all three answer a different question. The numbers differ because the jobs differ, not because one is cheating, and until the scope is the same across all of them, the prices are not comparable at all.
A quote far below the others is not automatically a bargain, and it is worth knowing what tends to be missing from it. Often it prices the happy path only, the version where nothing goes wrong, and leaves out error handling, security, testing and the work of recovering when a payment or a connection fails. Sometimes it assumes your prototype is production-ready when it is not, so the real work appears later as change requests. Sometimes it simply plans to move fast and leave you with shortcuts you will pay to unwind. A low number can be honest for a genuinely small job, but a low number for a job the others priced highly usually means the two quotes are not describing the same thing.
If you have made something and it needs to become real, send it over. We will tell you honestly what it needs to be live, safe and yours, whether that is a quick fix you can do or a proper build. No obligation.
It cuts both ways. A high quote is not proof of quality or thoroughness; it can reflect padding, a slow process, a big overhead being passed on, or simply a scope that is larger than you need. The goal is not to pick the dearest quote in the belief that price equals care. The goal is to understand what each number actually covers, so that a higher price is justified by more of the invisible work being included, not by more of it being charged for twice. An honest expensive quote and an honest cheap quote both tell you exactly what they cover; it is the ones that stay vague about scope, at any price, that should make you cautious.
The fix is to force every quote onto the same scope before you look at the numbers. Write down what you want in plain terms, including the boring parts: does it take payments, does it store personal data, how many users, what does it connect to, and what happens when something fails. Ask every quoter to price that exact list, and to state their assumptions in writing, especially what they assume about the state of your prototype. When two quotes assume different things about your foundation, the difference in their assumptions often explains the entire gap in their prices. Once the scope and assumptions match, the numbers finally mean something, and the cheapest honest quote for the right scope is a real answer rather than a trap.
If you have made something and it needs to become real, send it over. We will tell you honestly what it needs to be live, safe and yours, whether that is a quick fix you can do or a proper build. No obligation.
Whether you can name exactly what you want built, or you just know something is leaking, the next step is the same conversation.