Midnyte

Answers

Last updated 30 September 2026

Questions people ask before hiring a technical lead or commissioning a build. Every figure on these pages carries its source, its date and, where the sample is small enough to matter, its size — because most of what is published on these subjects carries none of the three.

• How much does a website cost in the UK?No UK dataset publishes what agencies charge — so here are the figures that do exist, with their samples and dates, and who accessibility law actually applies to.
• What does an e-commerce site cost in the UK?Shopify’s published prices, what the card processors really charge, and the seven regulations that turn a checkout into development work.
• What does custom software cost to build in the UK?Salary data, published government rate cards and the National Audit Office, each with the caveats that usually get dropped on the way to a headline.
• What is a software developer’s day rate in the UK?Median £510, London £535, Scotland £450 — with sample sizes. And why the junior-to-senior ladder everyone publishes is noise.
• Is offshore development actually cheaper?Every offshore rate guide is published by someone selling offshore development. Here is the one controlled comparison that is genuinely public.
• What does a fractional CTO cost in the UK?UK contract day rates, what a two-day-a-week retainer works out at, and what the full-time alternative costs. Sourced and dated, because nobody else publishes this for Britain.
• Fractional CTO vs a full-time hire, with the actual numbersEvery comparison of these two declines to price it. This one puts a first-year and a year-two figure on both sides, and says when hiring is the right answer.
• When you need a fractional CTO — and when you do notSix signals that say you need technical leadership, four that say you need something cheaper, and the two-day piece of work worth buying before any retainer.
• How long does it take to build an MVP?Published timelines disagree threefold because almost none of them states the team size. Here it is as a function of team size, plus what actually causes the slip.
• Your developer has gone quiet. What now?A recovery order for a half-built app. Secure the accounts first, establish whether you legally own the code second, and leave the lawyer until last.
• Who owns the code when an agency builds your app?Under UK law, paying for software does not transfer the copyright in it. What the Act actually says, and the four things that should be in the contract.
• Flutter or React Native, if you are building in the UK?Every comparison argues from a feature table. The question that decides it is which one you can still hire for in Britain, and the vacancy data answers it.
• Is a fractional CTO inside or outside IR35?For most startups the question does not arise, because the rules only apply to medium and large clients. What that means, and what the engagement should look like on paper.
• Why do app development quotes vary so much?Every quote is a day rate times a day count, and you can work out both from the number you were given. Plus the four things the cheap quote left out.
• What does it cost to maintain an app per year in the UK?Everyone repeats 15 to 20 per cent and nobody derives it. The four line items in pounds, including the one that is not optional.
• What should a discovery phase include, and what does it cost?The deliverable list, the duration the UK government publishes for its own services, and the two tests for whether yours was worth paying for.
• What security questions will enterprise clients ask my startup?The internet says SOC 2. In the UK the cheap credible answer is usually Cyber Essentials, and here is what it costs and the five questions that actually block deals.
• What does technical due diligence cost?Costed from days rather than asserted as a band, what an investor looks for versus an acquirer, and the finding that most often holds up a deal.
• What does it cost to replace an Access database with a web app?Count the tables, forms and reports and the price stops being a mystery. Plus the expensive part, which is not the rebuild.
• Should my first technical hire be a developer or an agency?The UK employment arithmetic both sides leave out, and the risk of a single first hire that nobody puts a number on.
• Why was my app rejected from the App Store?The numbers Apple actually publishes, including the review-time statistic almost every page on this subject misquotes, and the one that says rejection is a round trip.
• What is Google Play’s 12-tester rule?Twelve testers, fourteen continuous days, personal accounts only. Quoted from Google, with the reset rule the vendor pages invented and Google has never published.
• Does the Online Safety Act apply to my app?No, you are not too small — there is no size exemption, and here are the section numbers that prove it. Plus what a low-risk service must actually hold.
• Do I need to register with the ICO, and what does it cost?The fee changed in February 2025 and most pages still publish the old one. Current tiers, the all-or-nothing exemption rule, and why a studio pays anyway.
• Does my website legally have to be accessible?Four separate rules get merged into one scare story. What binds a private company, what WCAG actually is, and when the European Accessibility Act reaches a UK seller.
• Can I claim R&D tax relief on software development?Building something bespoke is not R&D, and HMRC says so in as many words. The current rates, the real test, and the deadline that voids claims six months after year end.
• What do I need to sell software to the NHS?DTAC is not a certification and NHS England says so in terms. What actually carries legal force, who has to be a registered clinician, and when you become a medical device.
• How do I sell software to the UK public sector?Five lots now, not three, and the buyer changed its name in April. The current routes and thresholds, plus the SME figure that answers whether a framework is worth it.
• Do I need FCA authorisation to build a fintech?Often not, if you use someone else’s permissions properly. The agent route and what it costs you in control, the real capital figures, and how long the FCA actually takes.
• What does it take to integrate with HMRC’s APIs?The sandbox is self-service and production is not. The approval step every engineering guide omits, the mandation dates, and the rule that decides your architecture.
• My software project is over budget and late. What now?What the government’s own project data shows, why the famous failure statistics measure estimation bias rather than failure, and the decision that actually has to be made.
• What happens if my development agency goes bust?Where you sit in the queue, why a liquidator can walk away from your contract, and why the insolvency protection everyone cites runs in the opposite direction.