--- title: "Solution Blueprint · Free Web App & MVP Planning Tool" canonical: "https://laurensdeleeuw.be/en/tools/solution-blueprint" markdown_alternate: "https://laurensdeleeuw.be/en/tools/solution-blueprint.md" language: "en-BE" content_type: "interactive-tool" robots: "noindex, follow" --- # Solution Blueprint Tell me what you're building. I'll show you what it actually takes. - **What Building:** What are you building? - **Shape Aria:** Project shape ## Shapes ### Booking system - **Id:** booking - **Hint:** Appointments, classes, rooms ### Customer portal - **Id:** portal - **Hint:** Where your clients log in ### Internal dashboard - **Id:** dashboard - **Hint:** Tools for your team ### Online store - **Id:** ecommerce - **Hint:** Sell products ### Marketing site + CMS - **Id:** marketing - **Hint:** Brand, blog, landing pages ### Marketplace - **Id:** marketplace - **Hint:** Buyers and sellers ### SaaS product (MVP) - **Id:** saas - **Hint:** Subscription software ### Custom workflow - **Id:** workflow - **Hint:** Something else entirely - **Needs Title:** What does it need to do? - **Needs Hint:** Pre-filled from your pick. Adjust to taste. ## Toggles ### Take payments - **Key:** payments - **Capability:** Online payments and invoicing ### Users log in - **Key:** accounts - **Capability:** Secure user accounts and login ### Send emails - **Key:** emails - **Capability:** Automated email notifications ### File uploads - **Key:** files - **Capability:** Secure file storage ### Bookings or scheduling - **Key:** scheduling - **Capability:** Calendar and booking flow ### Live updates - **Key:** realtime - **Capability:** Real-time notifications and sync ### Searchable content - **Key:** search - **Capability:** Fast in-app search ### Reports or stats - **Key:** reporting - **Capability:** Custom reporting and analytics - **Users Title:** Roughly how many users? - **User Tier Aria:** User tier - **User Small:** Small - **User Small Hint:** < 1,000 - **User Medium:** Medium - **User Medium Hint:** 1k – 10k - **User Large:** Large - **User Large Hint:** 10k+ - **Blueprint:** Your blueprint - **Youll Have:** What you'll have - **Pick One:** Pick at least one capability to see your blueprint. - **Complexity:** Build complexity - **Complexity Small:** Small - **Complexity Medium:** Medium - **Complexity Large:** Large - **Est Timeline:** Estimated timeline - **Weeks:** wk - **Running Cost:** Running cost - **Per Mo:** /mo - **Running Cost Title:** What's in the running cost ## Running Items - **Base:** Managed hosting, database, backups, monitoring - **Accounts:** Authentication and account infrastructure - **Emails:** Transactional email delivery - **Files:** File storage and bandwidth - **Realtime:** Real-time messaging infrastructure - **Search:** Search indexing and queries - **Reporting:** Reporting and analytics - **Payments:** Payment infrastructure (excludes per-transaction fees) - **Scheduling:** Calendar and scheduling services - **Want Built:** Ready to ship what this blueprint describes? - **Cta Title:** Want a planning tool like this, or the full system it outlines, built for you and ready to use? - **Talk:** Let's talk - **Disclaimer:** Honest blueprint, not a quote. Running cost covers hosting and the services your project relies on once live. It excludes payment processing fees (typically 1.5–3% per transaction), one-time setup, and your domain (~€15/year). - **About Title:** What this web app planning tool actually does ## About - Planning a custom web app or MVP usually starts with a vague brief and a lot of guessing. This free Solution Blueprint tool turns that brief into something concrete: which capabilities you actually need, how complex the build will be, how many weeks it takes, and what the monthly running cost looks like once it goes live. It runs entirely in your browser, with no sign-up and no email required. - Pick the shape of your project (booking system, customer portal, internal dashboard, online store, marketing site, marketplace, SaaS MVP, or a custom workflow) and the tool pre-fills sensible defaults. Then toggle the features your project really needs: payments, login, email, file uploads, scheduling, real-time updates, search, or reporting. Each toggle changes both the timeline and the monthly hosting cost in real time. - Use it as a starting point before talking to any developer or agency. Walk into your first call with a realistic timeline, a clear feature list, and a monthly running cost in your head, instead of nodding along to numbers you can't sanity-check. It's the same back-of-the-envelope math used when scoping new client projects. - **Faq Title:** Frequently asked questions ## Faq ### How accurate is this web app cost estimate? It's a realistic ballpark, not a fixed quote. The numbers are based on real costs for custom web app projects: managed hosting, authentication, transactional email, search, real-time messaging, file storage, and analytics. Expect the actual price to land within ±25% of the range shown, depending on scope, design polish, and integrations. ### What's the difference between an MVP and a production web app? An MVP is the smallest version of your product that proves people will use it. A production web app adds the polish, edge cases, monitoring, and reliability needed to support paying customers at scale. Most projects benefit from launching as an MVP first, then investing in production-grade features once usage and revenue are clear. ### How long does it take to build a custom web app? Most custom web apps with login, payments, and a couple of dashboards take 6 to 12 weeks of focused development. A simple internal tool can be ready in 3 to 5 weeks. A full SaaS or marketplace MVP usually runs 10 to 16 weeks. The blueprint above gives a more specific range based on the features you toggle on. ### What does the monthly running cost cover? Hosting, the database, automated backups, monitoring, and the third-party services your app depends on once it's live: authentication providers, email delivery, file storage, search infrastructure, and analytics. It does not include payment processing fees (typically 1.5–3% per transaction), your domain name, or one-off setup costs. ### Can I use this for a SaaS or marketplace MVP? Yes. Pick 'SaaS product (MVP)' or 'Marketplace' as the project shape. The tool already adjusts complexity and timeline upward for those, because they almost always need accounts, payments, real-time updates, and reporting from day one. ### Do I need to give an email or sign up? No. The tool runs entirely in your browser. Nothing is stored or sent to a server. You can refresh the page, change your inputs, or close the tab without leaving any data behind. ## Using the interactive tool Open the [canonical HTML page](https://laurensdeleeuw.be/en/tools/solution-blueprint) to use the calculator or generator. This Markdown alternate provides its complete explanatory content, labels, options, results guidance, FAQs, and limitations.