Matt Turley, Continuum. Updated September 30, 2026.
You run a business, you are not technical, and you need an app built, finished, or freshened up. Here is what each kind of hire costs, what goes wrong with each, and how to pick.
If you run a business and need an app you will rely on for years, hire one senior developer who stays: you talk to the person writing the code, and they are still around when something breaks. Hire a freelancer from Upwork or Toptal for a small, clearly defined job you can check yourself, and an agency when you need several people working at once and have the budget for it.
| Freelancer (Upwork, Toptal) | Agency | One senior developer who stays | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Typical price | Upwork median $30/hr, most $15 to $50/hr.1 Toptal quotes after matching.2 | Clutch: most firms $25 to $49/hr worldwide, US firms $50 to $99/hr. Average project about $132,000.3 | Our prices at Continuum: fixed price per job. $299 code read, MVP Build from $15,000, retainers $500 to $10,000/mo. |
| Who you talk to | The developer, if you picked well | An account or project manager, then the team | The person writing the code, every time |
| Time to start | Once you have vetted them. Toptal says it usually matches you in about 48 hours.2 | After a proposal, a contract and a team assignment | At Continuum, days to a couple of weeks |
| Best for | A small, clearly defined task you can check yourself | Big builds that need several people at once, with a budget to match | A business app you will run for years and need someone to own |
| Main risk | Vetting is on you. They move on when the project ends. | Cost and layers. The senior people who sold it may not build it. | One person has limited hours. It will not suit a rush job that needs five people. |
| After launch | Usually gone, unless you keep paying hourly | A support contract, often with a different team | The same person keeps it running |
Numbered figures link to the sources at the bottom of the page. For a salaried hire instead, the US median wage for a software developer is $135,980 a year.4 Continuum prices are ours, from the pricing page.
This is how I work. I am Matt Turley, and I write the code myself: no team, no offshore handoff. Clients stay a long time. Porch Enclosure Systems has been a client since 2017, and BizJetJobs was a fifteen-year engagement that ran through 2024.
Every price is on the pricing page. For the wider picture, see app development cost. One-off work is a fixed price agreed before I start. A Ship Check is $299: I read your code and tell you what it needs. A Ship Fix is $4,000 to $15,000 to make a shaky app stable. An MVP Build starts at $15,000 and takes six to twelve weeks.
If you want someone to own the app month after month, the Partner retainer runs from $500 to $10,000 a month across five levels, month to month.
Tell me what the app needs to do and what has gone wrong so far. In 30 minutes I will tell you whether you need a freelancer, an agency, or me, and I will say so if it is not me. If your app is old and you are weighing a refresh against a rebuild, read refresh or rewrite an old web app first.