# Startup cost benchmarks
> What did it cost to get the first version out the door?
Canonical: https://ponicorn.com/reports/startup-cost-benchmarks
Published: 2026-09-05
## Findings
Not enough data yet to compare segments.
## Sample
- Published startups: 81
- With a stated launch cost in US dollars: 1
- Solo-founded in that cohort: 0
- Segments withheld below the sample floor: 1
## Method
- A cost counts only when the founder stated one figure for getting the first version out. A cost described in words but not as a number — "the domain alone was $47k" — is kept as a note on the profile and left out here. Figures in other currencies are excluded rather than converted.
- "Launch cost" is whatever the founder counted: a domain, a month of hosting, an app store fee. It is not a total cost of building the business, and the profile note says what was included.
- A business that charges two ways is counted under both models, so the group sizes add up to more than the cohort.

Founders who mention a launch cost tend to mention it because it was small. Read this as the cost of starting the kind of business that gets started cheaply, not as what software costs to build.
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Ponicorn recomputes this report from the published records on every request.