CookiesCustom SaaS development: what you are really buying
A custom SaaS is online software built around your business rules. At OTTOPILOTE, an MVP starts at €12,000 and ships in 4 to 6 weeks; a full product runs from €25,000 to €100,000 and up, in 8 to 12 weeks. Before signing, check the one thing almost no agency mentions: a written assignment of the rights to the code.
Ask Google France about custom SaaS development (“développement SaaS sur mesure”) and it now answers by itself: its AI Overview gives a definition, four price ranges, six steps and the names of three agencies. On 12 October 2026, we read in full the fifteen pages that answer draws on, or that follow it in the results. This article covers what they leave out: what a first tier really costs, what the ranges picked up by the AI are worth, and who owns the code once the invoice is paid.
💶 Our prices and timelines, published
Let’s start with ours, so you have a point of comparison. They are the ones on our custom SaaS pricing page, which details every line item; the full offer is on our B2B SaaS page.
The price is not the whole story. Here are the terms that come with it, as published on our pricing and plans page:
🔎 What the fifteen top pages on Google publish
On 12 October 2026, we read in full the pages ranking at the top of Google France for two French queries, “développement saas sur mesure” (custom SaaS development) and “agence développement saas” (SaaS development agency), plus the two pages the AI Overview cites for the first query. Fifteen pages, thirteen of them published by agencies that sell this kind of development. We do not name them: what matters here is what a buyer finds on them, or does not.
The first tier varies by a factor of four. Of the six pages that show a price, five give an entry tier; the sixth announces an overall range of €10,000 to €250,000, with no tiers. The amounts cannot be compared directly, because the agencies do not price the same thing: one counts screens, while another states the opposite, that its price depends on scope and not on the number of screens.
Timelines vary just as much, and often contradict each other. The first tier ships in 6 weeks at one agency, in 6 months at another. Six pages out of fifteen contradict themselves on their own site: an MVP “in under 3 months” at the top of the page and “in 3 to 6 months” in the FAQ; a headline promising a launch in one month while the body text talks of two to three months for a sellable version.
The AI Overview’s price ranges do not hold up
The four ranges that Google’s AI Overview repeats (from €15,000 to €20,000 for an MVP in 6 to 10 weeks, up to €500,000 and more) come from a single article. It bases them on “the analysis of hundreds of SaaS projects launched in France”, without saying who carried it out, on what sample or with what method. Elsewhere, the same article puts an entry-level custom build at around €30,000 to €40,000, then a solid agency-built MVP at €40,000 to €100,000.
Its worked example does not hold up either. A project manager, a designer and two developers for four months, for €50,000: about 80 working days, so 320 person-days, or €156 per day per person. The rates published in the same article start at €350 a day for a designer and €400 for a developer. At those rates, the designer and the two developers alone would cost at least €92,000.
For each quote, ask what the first tier contains: how many user roles, which integrations, what is excluded, and in how many weeks it runs in production. Two identical amounts can buy two unrelated products.
⚖️ Who owns your SaaS code
Seven pages out of fifteen tell clients they own the code, or that they “remain” its owner. The AI Overview picks up one of them to state that a custom build “makes you the owner of the solution”. None of these pages mentions a written assignment, and none cites an article of law. Yet under French law, the opposite applies by default.
Paying is not enough. Under French law, the author of a piece of software holds the rights to it by the mere fact of creating it, and a service contract does not take them away: that is article L111-1 of the Code de la propriété intellectuelle, France’s Intellectual Property Code. Ordering and paying for a development therefore transfers nothing to you. Article L113-9, often cited on this subject, does not work in your favour: it gives the rights to software written by employees to their employer, in other words to the agency.
The assignment is written, right by right. Contracts that transfer copyright must be evidenced in writing (article L131-2), and article L131-3 requires each assigned right to be mentioned, with its scope, purpose, place and duration. For software, the rights to list are those of article L122-6: reproducing it, modifying or adapting it, and placing it on the market, rental included. The exact reach of article L131-3 between businesses has been debated before France’s Cour de cassation; drafting the assignment to its requirements remains the prudent practice, and your lawyer remains the right person to review it.
“Custom” does not mean “yours”. One of the fifteen pages describes an application developed to order, hosted by the agency and rented to the client on a subscription. This model exists and can be a good fit; you just need to know that it is what you are buying. French law does not set the moment of transfer either, at delivery or on full payment: the contract does.
At OTTOPILOTE, the assignment of rights is written into the contract, and the source code, access and documentation are handed over to you at delivery, once the project is paid. For the day you might want to change provider, our article on the reversibility clause (in French) sets out what must be handed over to you when you leave.
🧾 What we can show you
An agency you entrust with a SaaS should be able to show you some. Of the fifteen pages surveyed, six cite at least one named client, and only one ties a quantified result to one of them. Here are ours, as published on our missions page, without a single extra figure. We have delivered five SaaS projects.
A SaaS that serves several customers raises one more question, how to isolate their data: our article on multi-tenant architecture (in French) details the three ways to do it. And if your need fits in an off-the-shelf tool, our comparison no-code or custom development (in French) will spare you an unnecessary build.
🧮 What to budget for after launch
Maintenance. Our budgeting benchmark: 15 to 20% of the build cost per year, for fixes, security updates and small improvements. It is an order of magnitude, not a statistic: no public study measures it, and the two pages in the sample that give a ratio (15 to 20%, 15 to 25%) do not source theirs either. After our 30 days of free fixes, a monthly follow-up takes over, or your own team does, and we train it. Our application maintenance offer (in French) details this follow-up.
France’s innovation tax credit. The crédit d’impôt innovation (CII), a French tax scheme, can offset part of the cost, under strict conditions. According to the Service-Public fact sheet on the CII (in French, checked on 20 February 2026), it is reserved for SMEs, covers the design of prototypes or pilot installations of a new product, and is worth 20% in mainland France, on eligible expenses capped at €400,000, so a credit of €80,000 at most. Two pages in the sample get it wrong: one announces a credit “of up to €400,000”, the other a rate of 30%. Check your project’s eligibility with your accountant.
✅ Before you sign: eight questions to ask
They apply to us as much as to any other agency. Written answers are worth more than verbal ones.
To follow the project once it is under way, our guide to the steps of creating a SaaS (in French) sets out what you receive at each phase. And if your tool serves your own teams rather than subscribing customers, our web applications page is probably the right place to start.
🎯 In summary
📚 Sources
- Article L111-1 of the French Intellectual Property Code (Code de la propriété intellectuelle) (in French): the author holds the rights by the mere fact of creation, and a service contract does not take them away. Read on 12 October 2026
- Article L113-9 (in French): the rights to software written by employees go to their employer
- Article L122-6 (in French): the exploitation rights in a piece of software
- Article L131-2 (in French): contracts that transfer copyright are evidenced in writing
- Article L131-3 (in French): each assigned right is mentioned, with its scope, purpose, place and duration
- Service-Public, innovation tax credit (in French): eligible companies, rate and expense cap of this French scheme; fact sheet checked on 20 February 2026
- OTTOPILOTE survey of 12 October 2026: 15 pages read in full, ranking at the top of Google France for the French queries “développement saas sur mesure” and “agence développement saas”, plus the two pages cited by the AI Overview; the agencies are not named
Frequently asked questions
With us, count at least €12,000 for a first version, and several tens of thousands of euros for a product that serves several roles and connects to your tools. Elsewhere, our survey of 12 October 2026 found entry tiers of €15,000 to €60,000, which do not contain the same thing from one agency to the next.
With us, 4 to 6 weeks for an MVP and 8 to 12 weeks for a full product in production, with a demo every Friday. Among the agencies surveyed, the first tier takes anywhere from 6 weeks to 6 months, and 6 pages out of 15 contradict their own timelines.
Under French law, by default its author does: the developer, or the agency that employs them. The client only becomes the rights holder through a written assignment contract that names the rights transferred; a paid invoice is not enough. We write this assignment into our contracts, and the source code is yours once the project is paid in full.
We recommend setting aside 15 to 20% of the build price every year. This benchmark rests on no study: it is there to plan a budget, not to predict an invoice. The first month of fixes is included in our projects.
Possibly, if you are an SME and the project designs the prototype of a new product. The innovation tax credit (CII) is a French scheme, worth 20% in mainland France and capped at €80,000. Have your accountant confirm eligibility before you count on it.
