The Quote Was Cheap. The Project Wasn't.

You got three quotes. One was $80,000. One was $65,000. One was $35,000.

The $35,000 quote seemed too good to be true. But the proposal looked solid. The team seemed competent. They promised delivery in three months.

So you signed.

Six months later, you've spent $70,000. The project is half-finished. And you're starting to wonder if it will ever work properly.

The cheap quote wasn't cheap. It was a trap.

Why Cheap Quotes Exist

Low quotes don't appear by accident. They exist for specific reasons—none of them good for you.

Inexperience

Junior developers and new agencies quote low because they don't know better. They underestimate complexity. They haven't hit the problems that experienced teams anticipate.

They're not lying—they genuinely believe they can deliver for that price. They're wrong, but they don't know it yet.

You'll pay for their education.

Desperation

Some agencies quote low because they need the work. Any work. They'll figure out how to deliver later.

Later never comes. What comes instead: change requests, scope disputes, and invoices for things that "weren't in the original quote."

Intentional underbidding

Some vendors quote low knowing the real cost will be higher. They plan to make it up through change orders, ongoing fees, and your reluctance to start over with someone else.

By the time you realise what's happening, switching costs more than continuing. So you keep paying.

Different assumptions

Sometimes a low quote reflects genuinely different assumptions about scope. The cheap quote might exclude testing, documentation, deployment, or training. It might assume you'll handle things that other quotes included.

This isn't necessarily deceptive—but if you don't catch the differences, you'll pay for them later.

The Hidden Costs of Cheap

That $35,000 quote doesn't include what's coming.

Change requests (the obvious one)

"That feature wasn't in scope." "You didn't mention that requirement." "That's a change from the original specification."

Every conversation becomes a negotiation. Every clarification becomes an invoice. The project that was supposed to be $35,000 is now $35,000 plus $5,000 plus $8,000 plus $12,000.

You're past the expensive quotes before you're halfway done.

Quality shortcuts

Cheap work is fast work. Fast work skips things.

No automated testing—so bugs appear constantly. No code documentation—so changes take twice as long. No security review—so vulnerabilities lurk. No performance optimisation—so the system crawls under load.

You won't see these shortcuts immediately. You'll see them in six months when everything starts breaking. Or when a security incident exposes customer data. Or when the system can't handle growth.

The cost of fixing shortcuts exceeds the cost of doing it right initially.

Communication overhead

Good development partners understand your business. Cheap ones just write code.

Every feature requires extensive explanation. Obvious implications get missed. You spend hours in meetings clarifying things that shouldn't need clarification.

Your time has value. If you're spending 20 hours per month managing a cheap developer instead of 5 hours with an experienced one, that's 15 hours of lost productivity. Every month. For the duration of the project.

Rework

The first delivery doesn't match what you asked for. Not because requirements changed—because they weren't understood.

So you explain again. They rebuild. It's still not right. More explanation. More rebuilding.

Three rounds of rework cost more than getting it right the first time. And they destroy your timeline.

Technical debt

Cheap projects create debt you'll pay forever.

Code that works but can't be maintained. Architecture that handles today's needs but can't scale. Integrations held together with workarounds.

Every future enhancement costs more because the foundation is weak. Every new developer who touches the codebase wastes time understanding the mess.

Technical debt compounds. The cheap project keeps costing you long after the last invoice.

The rescue project

Sometimes cheap projects fail completely. The vendor disappears. The codebase is unusable. The deadline passes with nothing to show.

Now you need a rescue. A competent team to salvage what they can and rebuild the rest. Under time pressure. With a burned budget.

Rescue projects cost 2-3x what doing it right would have cost. And they start from a position of failure.

What Proper Quotes Include

Understanding why good quotes are higher helps you evaluate them fairly.

Discovery and planning

Experienced teams invest time upfront understanding your business, requirements, and constraints. This costs money. It also prevents expensive mistakes later.

A quote that skips discovery is a quote based on assumptions. Assumptions are usually wrong.

Realistic timelines

Good developers know how long things actually take. They've built similar systems. They've hit the unexpected problems. They pad estimates for reality.

Cheap quotes often reflect optimistic timelines. When reality hits, you pay the difference—in delays, rush charges, or cut corners.

Quality infrastructure

Testing. Code review. Documentation. Security practices. Performance monitoring. Deployment automation.

These aren't optional extras. They're the foundation of software that works and lasts. Quotes that exclude them aren't cheaper—they're incomplete.

Communication and management

Regular updates. Clear documentation. Responsive support. Project management that keeps things on track.

This overhead costs money. It also prevents the chaos that costs more money.

Contingency

Good quotes include buffer for the unexpected. Because there's always something unexpected.

Cheap quotes leave no margin. The first surprise becomes a change order.

The Real Calculation

Let's do the maths on that $35,000 quote.

The cheap quote journey:

• Original quote: $35,000
• Change requests: $25,000
• Rework cycles: $15,000
• Extended timeline (your time): $10,000
• Bug fixes post-launch: $8,000
• Technical debt (year one): $12,000

Actual cost: $105,000

The proper quote journey:

• Original quote: $80,000
• Minor scope adjustments: $5,000
• Your time (less management): $3,000

Actual cost: $88,000

The "expensive" quote was $17,000 cheaper. And you got better software, faster, with less stress.

This isn't hypothetical. We see this pattern constantly. The cheap quote almost always costs more.

How to Evaluate Quotes Properly

Price is one factor. Here's what else matters.

Compare scope, not just price

What does each quote include? What does it exclude? Where are the assumptions?

A $50,000 quote that includes testing, documentation, deployment, and training is cheaper than a $35,000 quote that excludes them—because you'll need those things eventually.

Assess communication quality

How did they respond during the quoting process? Were they asking good questions? Did they understand your business?

If communication is poor before they have your money, it won't improve after.

Check the team

Who will actually do the work? What's their experience? Have they built similar things?

A quote from an agency means nothing if junior developers do the work while seniors move to the next sale.

Evaluate process

How do they manage projects? How do they handle changes? What's their testing approach? How do they deploy?

Mature processes prevent the chaos that inflates costs.

Talk to references

Not the references they provide—find your own. Look at their past projects. Talk to past clients. Ask what went wrong, not just what went right.

Trust your instincts

If something feels off, it probably is. If a quote seems too good, it probably is. If promises sound unrealistic, they probably are.

The discomfort you feel now is cheaper than the disaster you'll feel later.

When Cheap Makes Sense

To be fair, sometimes lower-cost options are appropriate.

Throwaway prototypes: If you're validating an idea and might discard the code entirely, investing heavily doesn't make sense.

Simple, well-defined projects: If the scope is truly simple with no ambiguity, execution risk is lower. But be honest about whether your project is actually simple.

Offshore for specific tasks: Experienced offshore teams can deliver quality work at lower rates for well-defined components. But this requires strong management and clear specifications.

Internal tools with limited users: If five people will use it and their expectations are low, overengineering wastes money.

For anything that matters—customer-facing products, core business systems, competitive differentiators—cheap is expensive.

Questions to Ask Before Signing

Before accepting any quote:

1. What's included in this price? Get a detailed breakdown. Look for exclusions.

2. What happens when requirements change? Because they will. Understand the change process and pricing.

3. Who will do the work? Names and experience levels. Not "our team."

4. What's your testing process? If the answer is vague, expect bugs.

5. How do you handle delays? Every project has them. What's the plan?

6. Can I talk to past clients? Specifically clients with similar projects. Listen for what went wrong.

7. What do you need from me? Good partners need your involvement. If they claim to need nothing, they're not planning to understand your business.

The Investment Mindset

Software isn't an expense to minimise. It's an investment to optimise. The same logic applies to your website—the cheap option rarely is.

The question isn't "how do I spend less?" It's "how do I get the best return?"

A $100,000 project that works perfectly, launches on time, and requires minimal maintenance is a better investment than a $50,000 project that drags for a year, launches buggy, and needs constant fixes.

The cheap quote feels like savings. It's usually the opposite.

Choose partners who understand your business, plan for reality, and charge fairly for quality work. The price is higher. The cost is lower.

Evaluating software quotes? Book a call with our team. We'll help you understand what's really in those numbers—and what should be.