Prototype cost
What an electronics prototype costs. Board, firmware, enclosure, working unit.
Most first prototypes are quoted piece by piece, or by a design firm at five figures. Here is what the market publishes, what our $7,500 package covers, and what makes a device cost more.
What the market charges
Freelance marketplaces
Priced per piece
Varies
Board layout, firmware and enclosure are usually separate gigs from separate people. You coordinate fabrication, parts, assembly and whether the pieces fit.
Product design firms (published guides)
$10,000–$50,000
4–12 weeks
An electronics prototype with a custom circuit board.
byitl full prototype
from $7,500
4–6 weeks
Custom circuit board, ESP32 firmware and enclosure designed together, plus one assembled, flashed, working unit.
| Who | Price | Time | What it covers |
|---|---|---|---|
| Freelance marketplaces | Priced per piece | Varies | Board layout, firmware and enclosure are usually separate gigs from separate people. You coordinate fabrication, parts, assembly and whether the pieces fit. |
| Product design firms (published guides) | $10,000–$50,000 | 4–12 weeks | An electronics prototype with a custom circuit board. |
| byitl full prototype | from $7,500 | 4–6 weeks | Custom circuit board, ESP32 firmware and enclosure designed together, plus one assembled, flashed, working unit. |
What $7,500 includes
- Custom circuit board: KiCad schematic and layout, checked against the fab's design rules before ordering. Fab-ready Gerbers, BOM and pick-and-place files.
- Firmware: ESP-IDF source for the ESP32 family, flashed over a single USB-C cable. Pin definitions are generated from the board, so the two can't drift apart.
- Enclosure: Designed around the real board model. Print-ready STL, editable STEP, laser cut files where the design uses them, renders, and an illustrated assembly guide.
- One working unit: Assembled, flashed and tested by us, then shipped to you.
- The review reports: Every board, enclosure and firmware build passes an automated review before it reaches you. You get the reports.
What moves the price
- Power
- USB power is the cheapest path. A rechargeable battery adds a charger and protection, and months on small batteries adds deep-sleep firmware and bench current measurement.
- Radio
- Wi-Fi and Bluetooth come with the ESP32. LoRa and cellular add a module, antenna work and gateway or carrier setup.
- Boards
- Every extra board is its own layout, connector and enclosure fit.
- Loads
- Displays, fans and relays are routine. Motors and high-current loads add driver circuits, thermal design and protection.
- Environment
- An indoor printed case is simplest. Outdoor sealing and very small or wearable devices both cost more.
- Software
- A device-only build is simplest. Cloud reporting and phone apps are their own builds.
Questions
- How much does it cost to build an electronics prototype?
- Published guides from product design firms put an electronics prototype with a custom circuit board at $10,000 to $50,000 over four to twelve weeks. Our full prototype starts at $7,500 and takes 4–6 weeks, because it is built on one platform (ESP32) with a pipeline that designs the board, firmware and enclosure together.
- What does $7,500 include?
- A custom circuit board, ESP32 firmware and an enclosure designed around the real board, plus one assembled, flashed, working unit, the design files and the review reports. A simple sensor device sits near the starting price; more boards, more parts or harder assembly cost more.
- Why not hire freelancers for each part?
- You can, and each piece will cost less. You then own the integration: making the board fit the case, the firmware match the board, and the parts arrive and get assembled. That coordination is where first prototypes usually slip.
- What isn't included?
- Injection-mold tooling, production runs and FCC certification. Those are separate engagements, and certification is done by a test lab. We build the prototype that gets you there.
- How do I pay?
- Paid 40% at kickoff, 30% when you approve the design, and 30% at handoff, each through a payment link. You approve the design before anything is ordered and can stop after any milestone.