Free Software Development Quote Template & Generator
A development quote is only as solid as the acceptance test behind each milestone. This template prices discovery as its own deliverable, then breaks build work into milestones with named features and a written test each one has to pass, lists the accounts, API sandboxes and content the client supplies with dates, separates vendor-billed running costs from your fee, and defines warranty against change control.
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| Description | Qty | Rate | Amount |
|---|---|---|---|
| Discovery and technical specification | 1 | $1,800.00 | $1,800.00 |
| Application development milestone | 1 | $7,200.00 | $7,200.00 |
| Testing, deployment, and handoff | 1 | $1,600.00 | $1,600.00 |
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Use-case checklist
What to include in a software development quote
Fixed-price development goes wrong in the last fifteen percent, when a feature that was one line on the quote turns out to need a permissions model, an export format and an edge case nobody discussed. Without a written acceptance test per milestone, the project has no way to be finished, only a queue of small requests that each sound reasonable and together consume the margin. Client dependencies are the second trap. A team that cannot log into the sandbox it was promised does not stop being paid staff, and idle developer weeks inside a fixed fee are unrecoverable. Naming the deliverable, the test and the dependency date converts both problems into change notes with prices instead of arguments.
- project objective and named deliverables
- platforms, integrations, and environments
- milestones and acceptance criteria
- client dependencies and third-party fees
- deposit, warranty, support, and change-control terms
Example starting lines
| Description | Qty | Rate |
|---|---|---|
| Discovery and technical specification | 1 | $1,800 |
| Application development milestone | 1 | $7,200 |
| Testing, deployment, and handoff | 1 | $1,600 |
Complete it cleanly
Tie every priced phase to a deliverable and acceptance test. State which accounts, licenses, content, and API access the client supplies, then price approved additions through a written change request.
How to make a software development quote in 6 steps
Open the quote generator
Start from this page so the quote opens with fields and sample lines already set up for software studios and independent developers. No account is needed to create or preview.
Enter both parties
Add your business name, address and contact details, then the customer name and address exactly as they should appear on the record.
Add the software development lines
Replace each sample line with the real work or goods. Make sure the document shows project objective and named deliverables, platforms, integrations, and environments, milestones and acceptance criteria.
Check the figures
Totals calculate as you type. Confirm quantities, rates, any tax line and the final total against your own records before you send anything.
Set the reference and dates
Give the quote a unique number and the correct date so it can be traced later and matched to related documents.
Review and download the PDF
Tie every priced phase to a deliverable and acceptance test. State which accounts, licenses, content, and API access the client supplies, then price approved additions through a written change request. Preview is free; a PDF download costs $4.99, or is included with Unlimited.
Worked example
A customer portal quoted at 380 hours with acceptance tied to each milestone
Tallow Row Software is quoting a customer portal for Verrick Industrial Supply, kickoff June 1, 2026. Verrick's 400 trade accounts want to see order history and download packing lists themselves, pulling from an ERP through a REST API that Verrick's own team will expose in a sandbox.
- Discovery: technical spec, data model and clickable flows, 40 hrs at $145.00, billed at signature and credited to the spec deliverable
- $5,800.00
- Milestone 1: authentication, account hierarchy and admin console, 120 hrs at $145.00; accepted when a Verrick admin creates an account and 2 sub-users sign in on staging
- $17,400.00
- Milestone 2: order history, filtering and packing-list download against the ERP sandbox, 160 hrs at $145.00; accepted when 20 sampled orders match the ERP record field for field
- $23,200.00
- Milestone 3: QA, UAT support, production deploy and a written runbook, 60 hrs at $145.00
- $8,700.00
- Fixed development fee, 380 hours total
- $55,100.00
- Verrick supplies by June 8: ERP sandbox credentials, a named technical contact, brand assets and 20 sample orders
- client dependency
- Running costs billed by the vendors directly to Verrick, estimated and not part of the fee: hosting, transactional email, error monitoring
- about $244.00 per month
- Warranty: defects measured against the accepted spec, 30 days from production acceptance
- no charge
- Approved additions after the spec is signed, quoted in hours on a written change note
- $145.00 per hour
- Optional support after warranty, 10 hrs per month at $135.00, quoted separately
- $1,350.00 per month
Every milestone here carries a test a non-developer can run. "Twenty sampled orders match the ERP field for field" ends a milestone; "order history works" does not, and that difference is what decides whether the $23,200.00 invoices in July or argues into September.
When this document is the right choice
Use this quote to present a fixed proposed price before work begins. A quote is best when scope and price are defined. Use an estimate instead when hidden conditions or an unfinished scope can materially change the final cost.
Frequently asked questions
What makes an acceptance criterion good enough to invoice against?
It has to be something the client can run without you and get a yes or a no. Compare "the portal shows order history" with "20 sampled orders match the ERP record field for field on staging." The second can be performed by Verrick's operations lead in an afternoon and closes a $23,200.00 milestone. Write one test per milestone, name who runs it, and set a review window after which the milestone is accepted if no written failures come back.
Verrick's 400 trade accounts have to exist in the portal on day one. Is that migration part of the build?
Only if a line says so, and it is the item missing from most portal quotes. Migrating 400 accounts means agreeing where the record of truth lives, deciding whether contacts come from the ERP or from the spreadsheet the sales desk actually maintains, resolving duplicates and dead accounts, and choosing how first sign-in works for a user who has never had a password. Price it as its own item with its own hours after you have seen a real export, because a clean table and a twelve-year-old customer list are different jobs, and write on the quote that the hours assume the agreed format. If the export or the sandbox slips, the schedule moves by the length of the delay, so keep the milestone that depends on it as late in the build as the design allows.
Who pays for hosting, API usage and third-party services once the portal is live?
Say it explicitly, because clients routinely assume a build fee covers everything that arrives with the software. The example puts hosting, transactional email and error monitoring in the client's own vendor accounts at roughly $244.00 a month, which also keeps the client in control of their data and billing. Where you must hold an account during the build, list it as a pass-through at cost with the handover date, and note that vendor pricing changes are outside your quote.
What separates a warranty fix from a billable change request?
The accepted spec. A warranty fix is behavior that does not match what was accepted, such as packing lists failing to download for sub-users when milestone one accepted that sign-in. A change request is new behavior, including a field nobody specified, a report added after UAT, or a browser outside the agreed support list. Say that plainly next to the 30-day warranty line and route everything else through a written change note at the hourly rate.
Verrick wants their own developer working alongside my team. How do I quote that?
Name what each side owns before the fixed fee is signed. In the example Verrick's team exposes the ERP endpoints and ships on its own release cycle, which is a clean seam; a shared codebase is not, and a fixed price over work you do not control is a number you will regret around milestone two. If they want commits in your repository, quote the review hours it costs, set a branch and review rule in writing, and say that defects traced to code your team did not write sit outside the 30-day warranty. Give their developer a standing slot in your working session rather than open access, so the collaboration lands as a calendar entry instead of as interruptions billed against the 380 hours.
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Start with the closest business workflow and adjust the details.