App Development · MVP for Startups and Privates
MVP app development: from idea to a working app in weeks.
You have an idea and a question: will someone use it? Before spending as if the answer were yes, let's build the smallest version to put in the hands of real users. On iPhone, Android and web, with code and account in your name.
What is an app MVP
An MVP (minimum viable product) is the first version of an app with only the functions that solve the main problem. It serves to understand with real users if the idea works, before investing in the complete product.
- What it contains
- The feature that makes the app useful, logging in, measuring what users do. Enough.
- What it is not
- A prototype to throw away. It is real code, publishable in stores, which grows with later versions.
- How long does it take
- Weeks, not months: a single codebase for iOS, Android, and the web, developed with the help of AI.
- How much does it cost
- Depends on what comes in. Market bands are on the cost page; our quote is at a fixed price.
Try to build it
What goes into your MVP, and what can wait.
Ideas often arrive with everything included: chat, badges, three languages and dark mode. The first launch needs a smaller set. Tap or drag the features and watch the app take shape.
Indispensable for leaving8 functions
This is a complete product disguised as an MVP. Move something to "After".
Every idea comes with everything in it. Touch or drag functions to lighten it.
The Heart of Your Idea
The thing no one else does like that
Every touch becomes a given
After4 functions
Who it is for
App development for startups, founders and individuals with an idea.
Startup
You need to show partners and investors that someone uses the product. An MVP with real users is worth more than ten slides.
Founder with an idea
You have a job, an idea, and little time, and you need to figure out quickly if it's worth it, without playing off your life savings.
Private and Professional
You want to create an app for your idea or for your customers and you've never seen a line of code. That's fine: the technical questions are ours.
Validate before spending
Do you want to create an app for your idea? First find out if anyone wants it.
A page and a waiting list.
A landing that explains what the app does and collects emails. In a few days you know if the message matters, and to whom. If no one leaves the email, you've saved an app.
A clickable prototype, made with AI.
With programming agents like Claude Code, a prototype that you touch and navigate comes in a few days. You hand it over to some person in your audience and watch where it hangs, without explaining anything.
A real commitment.
The hardest test: ask for something in return. A pre-registration, a small advance, a letter of intent if you sell to companies. Whoever pays before the app exists is your first real user.
If the answer is no, you have saved months. If it is yes, the prototype becomes your MVP blueprint.
Do you already have a prototype made by yourself with Lovable, Bolt or Cursor? We bring it to production and to stores: we talk about it in the page on artificial intelligence app.
Build, measure, learn
The MVP is the first lap.
It is the cycle made famous by Eric Ries with The Lean Startup: you build little, you measure how users react, you decide what to keep. Each round answers only one question, and the round after starts from there.
Build
Only the function that tests the idea, more access and measurement. True code, publishable, not a mockup.
Measure
Who signs up, who comes back after a week, where it freezes. Numbers from real users, not compliments from friends and relatives.
Learn
Keep what works, change what doesn't convince, take the rest off. Then we start again, with a new question.
Timings
Weeks, not months.
The cost depends on your MVP's scope. For market ranges and their sources, see our page on how much it costs to develop an app. We give a fixed price quote after the free audit.
One codebase, three platforms.
We write the app once with Next.js, React and TypeScript, then bring it to iPhone and Android through Capacitor, alongside the web version. One codebase to write, test and fix. For the full process, see our page on iOS and Android app development.
Development accelerated by AI.
The team works with programming agents like Claude Code. In a GitHub controlled experiment, those using an AI assistant completed a programming task 55% faster (GitHub, 2022). We spend the time saved on the decisions AI cannot make for us: understanding what to build.
The stores on the calendar from the first day.
On average, 90% of apps sent are reviewed in less than 24 hours (Apple). On Google Play new personal accounts must first do a closed test with at least 12 testers for 14 days (Google): we start it while finishing the MVP. Review, TestFlight and closed testing are explained on our pages about App Store and Google Play.
We have already published an app in the stores, including working through rejections.
Athleex it was born like this: a web base, then App Store, Google Play and PWA. With Apple we did the complete tour of the review. If your MVP sells subscriptions, we already know where they look. The Case Study.
- 3.1.1
- In-app purchases
- 3.1.2
- Subscription Terms
- 2.1
- Demo Accounts for Reviewers
Numbers of Apple's App Review Guidelines: the rules on which Athleex was rejected and then approved.
Ownership of the idea and code
Your idea. Your code. Your accounts.
NDA before details
If you want, we sign a confidentiality agreement before I tell us the idea in detail. It's normal, and we don't take offense.
The code is yours
Repository on your account from day one. The contract recognizes you ownership of the code written for you: you can take it to another team whenever you want.
Accounts are yours
Apple Developer, Google Play, domain, server, keys: registered to you or your company. We enter as collaborators and exit when you decide.
An idea alone cannot be registered. Code, trademarks and confidential information can be protected. For trademarks and patents, consult an industrial property specialist.
VAT number and company
Do I need an Italian VAT number to sell an app?
Not to publish a free app. To earn revenue from it, usually yes. Your accountant should advise on the right business structure.
As an individual, you can join the Apple Developer Program for 99 USD per year (Apple), and open a personal Google Play account with 25 USD one-time (Google). Your first and last name appear as the seller on the App Store.
If the & apos;app cashes continuously, between sales, subscriptions or advertising, it is an economic activity: they usually serve VAT number or a company. Individual company or company depends on expected revenues, partners and investors. We do not give tax advice; we tell you what technical choices change with the answer, such as account and payment holder.
Two practical details. For a business account you need the number D-U-N-S, both from Apple, where as a seller the company name appears (Apple), both from Google (Google); the 14-day closed test rule instead concerns personal accounts (Google). If you distribute in the European Union, Apple asks you to state if you are a commercial operator under the Digital Services Act: if you are, address, phone and email appear in the tab of the app (Apple).
Frequently asked questions
MVP, no startup jargon.
It's the first version of the app with the minimum it takes to solve the main problem: the feature that makes the app useful, access and measurement of what users do. Chats, badges, multiple languages and sophisticated panels wait for the data to say they are needed.
If the MVP stays small, weeks and not months. The cost depends on what comes in: market segments, with sources, are on the page about how much it costs to develop an app. After the free 30-minute audit we give you a fixed price quote.
With a landing and waiting list to measure interest, a clickable prototype to let your audience try and, when possible, a pre-registration or pre-sale. If no one signs up or pays, you've saved yourself an app.
If you want, we'll sign an NDA before the details. The code is in a repository in your name and the contract recognizes the ownership of the code written for you; Apple and Google accounts are registered to you. For brand and patents, you need an industrial property consultant.
To publish a free app no: just a personal developer account. If the app cashes continuously, they typically serve VAT or a company; the right form is decided by the accountant based on revenues, partners and investors. We don't give tax advice.
Yes. We work with founders, professionals and individuals who have an idea. It starts with the free audit: if the idea is ready you move to the prototype, if it is not we tell you what to validate before spending.
The prototype looks and touches, but it doesn't really work: it serves to try the experience in a few days. The MVP is a real app, with real data, that can be published on the App Store and Google Play.
No. MVP is real code, written to grow: the postponed functions are added on the same basis, for iOS, Android and web together.
Tell us your idea
Let's start with the smaller version.
Tell us briefly what you want to build and who it is for. Within one working day, we will contact you to arrange the free audit: what belongs in the MVP, how to validate it and where to start. We can sign an NDA first if you wish.