What a realistic MVP budget looks like in 2026
The line items that decide the cost of a first release, and the ones founders usually leave out.
Product engineering
Software testing built
to catch bugs early.
Manual and automated testing for web, mobile and APIs, for products we build and for software another team built. For teams releasing often who need fewer bugs reaching users and releases they can trust.
10 yearsBuilding software
250+Projects delivered
90%Client retention
NDA before we talk
Tests and scripts stay in your repo
“They work like part of our own team. Same standups, same board, and they push back when a decision is wrong.”
Start your quote
Takes 2 minutes
What do you need tested?
Tick all that apply.
Suggested first step
You get:
Not sure what you need? Book a free 30-min call →
Trusted by teams in the US, UK, Canada & Europe
What we test
Six kinds of testing we take on most
Most clients start with one product and its release cycle. The same test suite, tools and reports then cover every release after.
01
Test automation for web apps
UI tests in Playwright or Cypress that run on every pull request, so regressions are caught before code is merged.
For exampleA Playwright suite covering sign-in, checkout and account pages
02
Mobile app testing
Testing on real iOS and Android devices, with Appium or Detox automation for the flows that matter most.
For exampleA 20-phone device matrix run before each store release
03
API and integration testing
Contract and API tests in Postman or REST Assured for the services your apps depend on.
For exampleAPI tests that run against staging after every deploy
04
Manual and regression testing
Exploratory and regression testing by testers who learn your product and check each release against a written plan.
For exampleA two-day regression pass before every monthly release
05
Performance and load testing
Load tests in k6 or JMeter that show where the system slows down, measured before and after fixes.
For exampleA load test simulating 5,000 users before a product launch
06
Security and accessibility checks
OWASP-based security checks and WCAG 2.2 AA testing with screen readers, with a fix list your developers can act on.
For exampleAn accessibility audit before a public-sector tender
Why Leapstrat
Why businesses choose Leapstrat for testing
Developers testing their own work compared with a Leapstrat QA team. Developer testing catches a lot; we help you see what it misses.
Compare
Developers test their own work
Leapstrat QA team
CoverageThe paths the developer had in mindWritten test plans covering edge cases and older features
RegressionChecked by hand when there is timeAn automated suite that runs on every pull request
Devices and browsersThe developer’s own laptop and phoneA matrix of the real devices and browsers your users have
Release speedReleases wait for someone to checkTests run in CI, so a release can ship the same day
Bug reportsFound by users after releaseLogged with steps, screenshots and severity before release
Who owns itKnowledge stays with individual developersYou: test plans, scripts and reports in your repo
01
A founder on every project
One of our two founders joins the workshop and stays on the project as your point of escalation.
02
Hours that overlap yours
Engineers on shift 09:00–23:00 IST: 4.5 hours with US Eastern, a full working day with the UK and Europe.
03
Handover planned from day one
Test plans, scripts and CI setup are kept ready for your own team to take over.
Testing software another team built? A one-week QA audit shows where bugs get through and what to fix first.
What the QA audit covers →How testing runs
Automated tests in your pipeline in 6 weeks
Testing starts with the release that matters most, and the automated suite grows every sprint. The bar shows a typical engagement, week by week.
01About 1 week
Audit and test plan
We review the product, bug history and release process, then agree what to test, how and with which tools.
You get: Test plan, tool choice and fixed estimate02About 1 week
Set up
Test environments, devices, test data and the CI pipeline set up, with the first smoke tests running.
You get: Smoke tests running in your pipeline03About 3 weeks
Build the suite
Automated tests for the main user journeys, plus manual regression for everything not yet automated.
You get: An automated suite for core journeys04About 1 week
Release check
A full regression pass and performance check on a real release, with bugs logged, fixed and retested.
You get: Release report and sign-off05Ongoing
Ongoing testing
Tests added for every new feature, each release checked, and quality trends reported back each month.
You get: A monthly quality report
Every sprint:
New tests for new features
A regression run before release
Bugs logged with steps and severity
Pass rate and coverage reported
Ways to work with us
Pick how testing is run
Most clients start with a fixed scope automation setup, then keep a QA pod or tester on a monthly plan. You can switch between phases.
Fixed scope projectA test suite set up to a planMost teams
Dedicated podA QA team that tests every release
Staff augmentationQA engineers inside your team
Best for
Automation setup, audits and load tests
Products with frequent releases
Teams with an engineering lead
Pricing
Fixed price per scope
Monthly rate for the whole pod
Flat monthly rate per engineer
Led by
Our QA lead, against milestones
Our QA lead, reporting to you
Your own engineering lead
Team
QA lead and automation engineers, set by the scope
QA lead, automation and manual testers
From one QA engineer, month to month
How it works →
How it works →
How it works →
Fixed scope project
A test suite set up to a plan
Most teams- Best for
- Automation setup, audits and load tests
- Pricing
- Fixed price per scope
- Led by
- Our QA lead, against milestones
- Team
- QA lead and automation engineers, set by the scope
Dedicated pod
A QA team that tests every release
- Best for
- Products with frequent releases
- Pricing
- Monthly rate for the whole pod
- Led by
- Our QA lead, reporting to you
- Team
- QA lead, automation and manual testers
Staff augmentation
QA engineers inside your team
- Best for
- Teams with an engineering lead
- Pricing
- Flat monthly rate per engineer
- Led by
- Your own engineering lead
- Team
- From one QA engineer, month to month
Client result · SaaS and B2B · United Kingdom
70%
Fewer bugs reaching production
A test suite that moved a SaaS team to weekly releases
ChallengeA SaaS team released once a month because every release needed three days of manual checks, and customers still reported bugs.
ApproachWe wrote a test plan, automated the main journeys in Playwright and the APIs in Postman, and ran both on every pull request.
ResultBugs reaching production fell by 70%, and the team moved from monthly to weekly releases.
PlaywrightPostmanGitHub Actionsk6
See all client results →
Bugs reaching your users?
Tell us how you test and release today. On a 30-minute call we will tell you where bugs get through, what to automate first, and what it should cost.
Industries and tools
Testing for seven sectors, with tools that fit your stack
The sector sets the rules for security, accessibility and compliance. We choose tools your own team can keep running after handover.
Industries
SaaS and B2BFintechHealthcareLegal and professional servicesRetail and ecommerceLogisticsTravel Sector not listed? Book a call →
Web automationPlaywright · Cypress · Selenium · WebdriverIO
MobileAppium · Detox · XCUITest · Espresso · BrowserStack
API and performancePostman · REST Assured · k6 · JMeter
Process and reportingJira · TestRail · GitHub Actions · GitLab CI · Allure
Security and ownership
✓ NDA signed before discovery✓ Masked test data, never real customer records✓ Test scripts and reports in your repo✓ Access removed at handover
FAQ
Questions about quality engineering
Tools, access and keeping tests running. Anything else, ask on the call.
Most automation setups fall between $8k–$25k. Ongoing testing is a monthly rate set by the size of the team. After a 30-minute call we send a written estimate within one working day.
Yes. A one-week QA audit reviews the product, bug history and release process, then we send a fix-first list and a test plan.
Both. Automation suits flows that run on every release, such as sign-in, checkout and core APIs. Manual testing suits new features, visual checks and edge cases. We agree the split in the test plan.
The ones that fit your stack, usually Playwright or Cypress for web, Appium for mobile, Postman for APIs and k6 for load. Tests run in your CI pipeline and stay in your repo.
For automation, read access to the repo and a staging environment. For manual testing, a test build and test accounts are enough. We sign an NDA before discovery.
Yes. Tests are written in your stack’s language with a short guide, and we walk your team through them at handover.
Insights
All testing articles →
Read before you start
Hiring
Dedicated team or fixed-price project: how to choose for your next build
Most software engagements fail the brief before anyone writes code, because the commercial model does not match how the work will actually change. A dedicated team and a fixed-price project are both valid. They answer different questions. Choose a dedicated team when the roadmap will move A dedicated team is the right shape when you […]
Engineering
Shipping an MVP in 12 weeks with a distributed team
Twelve weeks is enough to put a product in front of real users. It is not enough to build the version you will be embarrassed to throw away later if the first month is spent negotiating the backlog. Week 0 is a decision, not a workshop Before the first sprint, name the user, the job […]
Tell us how you test today.
Send the details for a written estimate within one working day, or talk it through with one of our founders first.