What a $240K Consulting Prototype Actually Gets You (And the AI Alternative)
You've been quoted $150,000 for a prototype. Or $240,000. Or "it depends on scope" — which in consulting means it depends on how much you ask for after signing.
Before you sign that SOW, here's exactly what your money buys, in granular detail. The numbers come from publicly available consulting rate cards and published engagement data from McKinsey, BCG, Deloitte, and comparable boutique shops.
The Phase-by-Phase Breakdown
Phase 1: Discovery Workshop — 2 weeks
What you get: 6-10 stakeholder interviews, a current-state assessment, and a "problem statement" deck.
Who's in the room: A senior consultant ($300-450/hr), sometimes a junior consultant ($150-225/hr), and your team members who are pulled from actual work.
What it costs at Big 4 rates:
- Senior consultant, 10 days × 8 hrs × $375/hr avg = $30,000
- Junior consultant, 10 days × 8 hrs × $175/hr avg = $14,000
- Phase subtotal: ~$44,000
At a boutique (smaller firm, "senior partner" rates), you might pay $200-280/hr. Still lands around $28,000-38,000 for two weeks of professional time.
Phase 2: Requirements Documentation — 1 week
What you get: A 30-60 page requirements document. Business capabilities, user stories, non-functional requirements, integration points. It's thorough. It's probably not what your engineers will actually use.
Who's in the room: The junior consultant writes it. The senior consultant reviews it. You approve it.
What it costs:
- Junior consultant, 5 days × 8 hrs × $175/hr = $7,000
- Senior consultant, 3 days review × 8 hrs × $375/hr = $9,000
- Phase subtotal: ~$16,000
Phase 3: Wireframes / UX Design — 1 week
What you get: A Figma file. Multiple screens. Annotated with interactions. Review cycles that add 2-3 days of stakeholder feedback before anyone calls it "final" (it won't be final).
Who's in the room: UX/UI designer ($125-200/hr), project manager ($100-150/hr).
What it costs:
- UX designer, 5 days × 8 hrs × $160/hr = $6,400
- PM, 5 days × 8 hrs × $125/hr = $5,000
- Phase subtotal: ~$11,400
Phase 4: MVP Build — 3-4 weeks
What you get: The actual software. Maybe. If the design is finalized. If scope didn't creep. If the two junior developers they assigned actually have experience with your tech stack.
Who's in the room: 2 developers, 1 QA, on and off throughout.
What it costs at mid-tier consulting rates ($175-225/hr for senior, $100-150/hr for junior, $85-120/hr for QA):
- 2 developers × 4 weeks × 40 hrs × $175/hr avg = $56,000
- QA, 3 weeks × 40 hrs × $100/hr = $12,000
- Phase subtotal: ~$68,000
At a boutique with lower rates, you might see $120-160/hr. At a Big 4, you're looking at $200-350/hr. The same build, at McKinsey rates, could run $110,000-140,000 for the development phase alone.
Phase 5: QA + Handoff — 1 week
What you get: Bug fixes. Browser testing (because someone uses Safari and has opinions about it). A demo. One round of "this isn't quite right" that turns into 2 days of revision.
What's included: QA testing, demo prep, documentation, and one knowledge transfer session.
What it costs:
- Developer, 5 days × 8 hrs × $175/hr = $7,000
- QA, 5 days × 8 hrs × $100/hr = $4,000
- Project manager, 5 days × 8 hrs × $125/hr = $5,000
- Phase subtotal: ~$16,000
The Total Cost
| Phase | Duration | Conservative Estimate | Big 4 Estimate | |-------|----------|----------------------|----------------| | Discovery workshop | 2 weeks | $44,000 | $60,000-80,000 | | Requirements doc | 1 week | $16,000 | $22,000-30,000 | | Wireframes / UX | 1 week | $11,400 | $16,000-22,000 | | MVP build | 3-4 weeks | $68,000 | $120,000-140,000 | | QA + handoff | 1 week | $16,000 | $22,000-28,000 | | Contingency buffer | 1-2 weeks | $18,000 | $25,000-40,000 | | Total | 8-10 weeks | ~$173,000 | ~$265,000 |
The $240,000 figure is real. It's not the maximum — it's the midpoint for a well-scoped engagement with a reputable firm. Scope changes, additional stakeholders, or a firm with a strong brand premium will push it higher.
What You Actually Receive
After 8-10 weeks and $150K-240K:
✅ Likely delivered:
- A Figma file (screens, not code)
- A requirements document (30-60 pages)
- A partially-functional web app (often missing real integrations)
- A demo environment you can show stakeholders
❌ Likely NOT delivered:
- Production-ready code (by definition — it's a prototype)
- Real integrations to Stripe, Salesforce, your existing systems
- Documentation your engineers can actually use
- A codebase you can extend without the original firm
The output is designed to get you to a "yes" on the next phase of funding or build. It's not designed to be the foundation of a real product. That's a different engagement, with a different SOW, at a different price.
The AI Alternative
ProtoForge's approach produces the same functional output — a working web app with real database, real CRUD operations, real data — in 48 hours, at $29/month.
What you get:
- Real database tables (not hardcoded sample data)
- Working CRUD interfaces (create, read, update, delete records)
- A deployed URL you can share with stakeholders
- A complete specification document (the AI generates it before building)
What you don't get (yet):
- Real integrations with Stripe, SSO, or third-party APIs — these are stubbed in the prototype
- Pixel-perfect design — the generated UI is functional, not designed
- A dedicated human project manager (the AI doesn't do stakeholder politics)
The trade-off is customization for speed. For a founder evaluating an idea before committing to a full build, or a CTO needing stakeholder consensus on a prototype budget, the 48-hour version at $29/month answers the same question as the $240,000 version — at a different order of magnitude.
The Actual Comparison
| | Consulting ($150K-240K) | AI-Driven ($29/mo) | |-|--------------------------|---------------------| | Timeline | 8-10 weeks | 48 hours | | Output | Figma + partial code | Working web app, real database | | Real integrations | Yes (included) | Stubbed (Stripe, SSO, etc.) | | Change orders | Billable ($175-350/hr) | Unlimited (subscription) | | Handoff documentation | PDF + Figma | Structured spec + working code | | Design quality | Bespoke | Functional | | Cost transparency | Revealed over time | Known upfront |
The Question to Ask Before Signing
Before you sign a consulting SOW for a prototype, ask this:
> "If I wanted to deploy this prototype to production — meaning my team takes what you've built and extends it — how much additional work does that require?"
If the answer is more than a week of engineering time, what you're buying is not a prototype. It's a proposal with nicer graphics.
ProtoForge generates working software, not proposals. If the prototype reveals something worth building, your team starts from working code, not from reverse-engineering a Figma file.
ProtoForge generates working software prototypes from business descriptions in 48 hours. Real database, real CRUD, real URL — not a wireframe or a requirements document. $29/month, no usage limits.