"Discovery phase" can mean a $5,000 week or a $50,000 month, so it helps to know what is normal and, more importantly, what you should get for the money.
The short answer
A discovery phase typically costs 5 to 15 percent of the total project budget, often $5,000 to $20,000. The right question is not just the price but the deliverable: are you paying for a document, or for something that actually de-risks and accelerates the build?
What is normal
- As a share of budget: roughly 5 to 15 percent.
- In dollars: commonly $5,000 to $20,000.
- For a $150k build: discovery around $8,000 to $15,000.
If a discovery quote is a large fraction of your whole budget, or produces only slides, scrutinize it.
What good discovery includes
- A clear problem definition and target user.
- Scope: the features that matter and the ones that do not.
- A rough architecture and data model.
- A realistic cost and timeline for the build.
The value question
The trap is paying for discovery and getting an ambiguous document the development team then has to interpret and rebuild from, so you effectively pay for the same thinking twice (see discovery debt). Good discovery's output should carry directly into the build.
How to get more than a document
The highest-value version of discovery does not stop at paper. A product simulation captures the same problem definition, scope, architecture, and data model, then makes them runnable, a working codebase and a live mock database, for a flat fee. You get the discovery thinking and a head start, instead of a report you hope the builders read correctly (more in why a product simulation beats a discovery phase).
Paying for discovery soon? Ask what you will hold at the end. Start a project for a scope that ends in something runnable.
Frequently asked
How much should discovery cost?
Typically 5 to 15 percent of the total project budget, often $5,000 to $20,000. For a $150k build, expect roughly $8,000 to $15,000 of discovery.
Is discovery worth paying for?
The thinking is worth it; the format matters. Pay for discovery only if the output actually de-risks the build. A document that the dev team cannot build cleanly from is poor value.