How to Build an MVP With No Money (or Very Little)

You Don't Always Need $30K to Start

The conventional wisdom says you need $15,000-$50,000 to build an MVP. That's true if you need custom software built by a professional team. But here's what nobody talks about: many successful products didn't start with custom software at all. They started with spreadsheets, existing tools duct-taped together, and founders doing things manually that would eventually be automated.

If you want to build an MVP with no money, you have more options than you think. This guide covers the realistic paths from zero-budget to low-budget, and honestly addresses when you actually need to open your wallet.

Option 1: No-Code Tools ($0 - $100/month)

No-code platforms have matured dramatically. What used to produce clunky, limited products can now produce genuinely usable applications — complete with databases, user authentication, payment processing, and custom workflows.

The best no-code tools for MVPs in 2026

What you can realistically build with no-code

• A marketplace where sellers list items and buyers browse/contact them (Bubble or Softr + Airtable)
• A booking system where clients select a time and book an appointment (Calendly + Carrd landing page)
• A directory or listing site with search and filtering (Softr + Airtable)
• A simple SaaS tool with user accounts and a core workflow (Bubble)
• A content platform or community with user-generated content (Webflow + Memberstack)

What you can't build with no-code (yet)

• Applications requiring complex real-time features (live collaboration, video chat)
• Products with heavy data processing or custom algorithms
• Native mobile apps with device-specific features (camera, GPS, accelerometer)
• Applications with strict performance requirements (sub-100ms response times)
• Products requiring complex third-party API integrations

The honest limitations

No-code tools will get you to market. They will not get you to scale. At some point — usually when you hit 500-1,000 active users or need features beyond what the platform supports — you'll need to rebuild with custom code. This is fine. The point of the MVP is to validate, not to build your forever platform. Many founders use the revenue from their no-code MVP to fund the custom rebuild.

Option 2: Free Tiers and Open Source ($0)

If you can code (or have a technical co-founder), the entire modern development stack offers generous free tiers that can carry an MVP through its first year.

A complete free-tier tech stack

• Frontend framework: Next.js (free, open source)
• Hosting: Vercel (free tier: 100GB bandwidth, serverless functions)
• Database: Supabase (free tier: 500MB database, 50,000 monthly active users)
• Authentication: Clerk (free tier: 10,000 monthly active users) or Supabase Auth (included)
• Email: Resend (free tier: 3,000 emails/month) or Mailgun (free trial)
• File storage: Cloudinary (free tier: 25GB storage)
• Error monitoring: Sentry (free tier: 5,000 events/month)
• Analytics: PostHog (free tier: 1M events/month)
• Version control: GitHub (free for public and private repos)
• CI/CD: GitHub Actions (free tier: 2,000 minutes/month)

Total monthly cost: $0

This isn't a compromise stack. This is what many funded startups use. The free tiers are generous enough to support thousands of users, and upgrading to paid plans is seamless when you need more capacity.

The catch

This option requires technical skills. If you're not a developer and don't have a technical co-founder, the free-tier stack is theoretically available but practically unreachable. Learning to code while building your MVP is possible but extremely slow — expect 6-12 months instead of 4-8 weeks.

Option 3: Sweat Equity and Co-Founder Partnerships ($0)

If you're a non-technical founder with a validated idea, the most cost-effective path to a custom MVP is finding a technical co-founder who believes in the vision enough to build it for equity instead of cash.

Where to find technical co-founders

• Y Combinator's co-founder matching — Free service that pairs founders with complementary skills
• Indie Hackers — Community of bootstrapped founders, many looking for non-technical partners
• Local startup meetups — Developers attend these looking for interesting projects
• Hackathons — Build together in a weekend and see if you work well as a team
• University programs — CS students looking for real-world projects and startup experience

How to attract a technical co-founder when you have no money

You need to bring something to the table. A technical co-founder doesn't need another idea person — they need a partner who handles everything they don't want to do:

• Validated demand: You've talked to 20 potential users and have a waitlist of 200 people
• Domain expertise: You understand the industry, the customers, and the competitive landscape deeply
• Sales ability: You can sell the product, close early customers, and generate revenue
• Hustle: You handle marketing, customer support, fundraising, and operations

The founder who shows up with a validated idea, a waitlist, and two paying concierge customers is infinitely more attractive than the one who shows up with "I have a great idea for an app."

Option 4: Pre-Selling ($0 Upfront, Funded by Customers)

Pre-selling means getting customers to pay for your product before it exists. This isn't a theoretical concept — it's how some of the most successful products in history were funded.

How pre-selling works

1. Create a landing page that explains your product (Carrd, $0-$19/year)
2. Add a payment option — "Pre-order for $X" or "Early access: $X/year"
3. Drive traffic through community posts, personal outreach, and small ad budgets
4. Collect payments via Stripe ($0 to start, 2.9% per transaction)
5. Use the revenue to fund development

When pre-selling works

• You've already validated demand through interviews or a waitlist
• Your product solves a clear, painful problem that people are actively spending money on
• You can deliver the product within a reasonable timeframe (2-3 months)
• You're transparent about the timeline ("Expected launch: March 2026")

When pre-selling doesn't work

• Your product is a nice-to-have, not a must-have
• You haven't validated demand (people won't pre-pay for something they're not sure they want)
• Your target audience is consumers (B2B pre-selling is much more reliable)
• You can't deliver on a reasonable timeline

Real numbers

If you pre-sell a SaaS product at $29/month to 50 early adopters on annual plans ($348/year), you've generated $17,400 before writing a line of code. That's enough to fund an MVP with a development partner in a cost-effective region.

Option 5: Grants, Competitions, and Startup Programs ($0 - $50,000)

Free money exists for startups — it just requires effort to find and apply for it.

Startup grants

• Startup grant programs: Many countries and cities offer grants for tech startups. In Europe, programs like Horizon Europe, national innovation funds, and regional development grants provide $10,000-$100,000+ in non-dilutive funding.
• Industry-specific grants: If your product addresses healthcare, education, sustainability, or social impact, specialized grants exist. The Social Innovation Fund, climate tech grants, and health innovation programs are worth exploring.

Startup competitions

• Hackathons with prizes: Many offer $5,000-$25,000 for winning teams
• Pitch competitions: University and accelerator pitch events often award $10,000-$50,000
• Innovation challenges: Large companies (Google, Microsoft, AWS) run innovation programs with cash prizes and credits

Cloud credits

• AWS Activate: Up to $100,000 in AWS credits for startups
• Google for Startups Cloud Program: Up to $100,000 in Google Cloud credits
• Microsoft for Startups: Up to $150,000 in Azure credits
• Vercel Pro: Free for open-source projects and startups through their sponsorship program

Cloud credits don't help you build the product, but they eliminate your infrastructure costs for 1-2 years — which means more of your budget goes to actual development.

Accelerator programs

Programs like Y Combinator ($500K for 7%), Techstars ($120K for 6%), and dozens of regional accelerators provide funding, mentorship, and network access. The application process is competitive, but acceptance means you have the resources to build properly.

When You Actually Need Money

Let's be honest: some products cannot be built for free. Here's when you need to budget real dollars.

You need money when:

• Your product requires custom software with complex business logic
• You're building a native mobile app
• Your product involves hardware, IoT, or physical components
• Regulatory compliance requires professional review (fintech, healthtech)
• Your timeline is tight and you need a professional team moving fast
• You've validated demand and are ready to build something that scales

You don't need money when:

• You're still validating whether anyone wants this
• Your MVP can be built with no-code tools
• You have the technical skills to use free-tier services
• A concierge MVP (manual delivery) would test your hypothesis
• A landing page with a waitlist would tell you what you need to know

The Smartest Path for Cash-Strapped Founders

If you're starting with zero budget, here's the sequence that gives you the best chance of success:

1. Validate first ($0, 2-3 weeks) — Customer interviews and landing page tests
2. Concierge MVP ($0, 2-4 weeks) — Deliver the service manually to 5-15 customers
3. No-code MVP ($0-$100/month, 2-4 weeks) — Build a functional product with Bubble or similar
4. Pre-sell or apply for funding ($0 effort, potential $5K-$50K return)
5. Custom MVP ($10K-$30K, 4-8 weeks) — When you have revenue, funding, or both

Each step validates more aggressively than the last. If you fail at step 1, you've lost nothing. If you fail at step 3, you've spent $200 and a few weeks. You only reach step 5 — the expensive step — when you have strong evidence that the product will work.

Make the Most of a Small Budget

Building with limited resources isn't a disadvantage. It forces you to focus on what matters, move quickly, and make decisions based on evidence instead of assumptions. The most expensive MVP mistake isn't spending too little — it's spending too much on the wrong thing.

Ready to figure out the best path for your budget? Talk to our team — we work with founders at every budget level. Whether you need guidance on no-code tools, help scoping a lean MVP, or a full development team, we'll recommend the approach that makes the most sense for where you are right now. First conversation is always free.