Adding a small feature to maintainable software may take 8-24 hours, about $400-$1,200 at Vertinus's $49.99 hourly rate. A complete workflow commonly needs 40-120 hours, about $2,000-$6,000. A feature crossing permissions, data, integrations, migration, and several interfaces may need 120-400 hours, about $6,000-$20,000.
The feature request is only part of the work. A developer must understand the existing architecture, preserve current behavior, update data and permissions, test the change, deploy it safely, and document new operating responsibilities.
Narrow enhancement: 8-24 hours
Approximately $400-$1,200 at $49.99 per hour.
Examples include one field carried through an existing workflow, a simple filter or export, a small administrator setting, an additional notification using an established service, or a modest validation rule.
This range assumes the codebase is accessible and the new behavior follows existing patterns.
Focused workflow: 40-120 hours
Approximately $2,000-$6,000 at $49.99 per hour.
Examples include a request-and-approval flow, document upload with review, customer status view, scheduled report, role-specific dashboard, or a one-way integration with controlled failure handling.
The estimate should cover records, roles, states, exceptions, interface, administration, tests, deployment, and training or documentation.
Cross-system feature: 120-400 hours
Approximately $6,000-$20,000 at $49.99 per hour.
This range may involve new data relationships, several user roles, customer access, two-way integrations, payments, migration, audit history, background processing, mobile behavior, or reporting and reconciliation.
A broad feature such as "add subscriptions" or "add scheduling" may actually be a product area with many rules and exceptions.
Existing-code condition changes the estimate
A feature is cheaper when the application builds reproducibly, tests critical behavior, uses supported dependencies, separates responsibilities, and has a reliable deployment process.
Cost rises when the new developer first needs to recover access, reconstruct environments, update unsupported technology, add monitoring, repair data, or understand undocumented rules.
Do not hide foundation work inside the feature. Price a bounded codebase takeover assessment when necessary.
Questions that define the feature
- Which users and organizations receive access?
- Which records, fields, and relationships change?
- What starts, approves, completes, cancels, or reopens the process?
- Which exceptions and corrections must be supported?
- What existing behavior must remain unchanged?
- Which system owns each piece of data?
- What history or migration is required?
- Which messages, documents, reports, or exports result?
- What proves acceptance?
Example: add approval to an existing request form
The system already stores employee requests. The company wants manager approval, rejection reasons, email alerts, an overdue list, administrator reassignment, and decision history.
- Existing-code and workflow review: 6-12 hours.
- Data, roles, and states: 8-18 hours.
- Manager and administrator interface: 16-30 hours.
- Notifications and overdue behavior: 8-18 hours.
- Testing, deployment, and documentation: 10-22 hours.
Total planning range: 48-100 hours, about $2,400-$5,000 at $49.99 per hour.
Example: add QuickBooks invoice synchronization
The existing job system stores completed work. The business wants approved jobs to create invoice drafts, preserve accounting identifiers, prevent duplicates, surface errors, and support reconciliation.
A narrow, one-way implementation may require 60-140 hours, roughly $3,000-$7,000 at $49.99 per hour. Complex items, tax, deposits, payments, bidirectional updates, and historical repair can require more. See the QuickBooks integration cost guide.
Control scope with a complete first slice
Do not request ten partially implemented screens. Choose the smallest scenario a real user can complete and the business can verify.
Separate required now, useful next, and possible later. Preserve an explicit list of excluded behavior so the estimate remains meaningful.
How Vertinus estimates feature additions
Vertinus charges $49.99 per hour for time actually worked up to the approved estimate. The first scope identifies the current-code review, user outcome, requirements, estimated hours, assumptions, exclusions, tests, and deployment responsibilities.
If the agreed work takes longer than estimated, Vertinus absorbs the extra hours. New requirements are estimated and approved separately.
Send Vertinus the current software, requested user outcome, and one representative scenario. We will identify whether it is ready for a feature estimate or needs a bounded takeover assessment first.