An MVP features list: what to include and what to cut.
A good MVP features list is short: the one workflow customers would pay for, plus accounts, billing, basic admin and the emails they need. Nearly everything else can wait. Test each feature with one question: would a customer refuse to pay in month one without it? If not, it goes on the later list.
Reviewed by Anubhav Gupta, Bespoke Devs · Updated
What to include: a starter MVP features list
Here’s a starting point for a SaaS product. Hours are typical build hours from our cost calculator. Use the MVP scope builder to sort your own list.
| Feature | Decision | Hours | Why |
|---|---|---|---|
| The core workflow | Include | Varies | It’s the thing they pay for |
| Accounts and login | Include | 24 | People need to come back to their work |
| Stripe billing | Include | 32 | Payment is the best test of demand |
| Basic admin | Include | 40 | So you can help customers without a developer |
| Transactional email | Include | 16 | Receipts, password resets and key alerts |
| Marketing site with analytics | Include | 24 | People need somewhere to find you and sign up |
| Third-party integration | Only if core | 20 each | Include it only if the product fails without it |
| File uploads | Only if core | 16 | Needed if the workflow runs on documents or images |
| AI features | Only if core | 48 | Include it when the AI is what customers pay for |
| Teams and roles | Usually later | 32 | A single account works for early customers |
| Reports and charts | Usually later | 32 | A data export or a report you run yourself will do at first |
| Multiple languages | Later | 24 | Add it once you’ve proved demand in one language |
| Real-time chat | Later | 56 | Email or a support tool covers this for now |
| Mobile app | Later | 160 | A mobile-friendly website usually does the job first |
General guidance, and every product differs. If your product is a team tool, for example, teams and roles belong in the first version.
Five questions for each feature
Go through your MVP features list and ask these, in order. Answer from what customers have told you, and not from what you imagine.
- Would they refuse to pay in month one without it?If yes, it’s in. If you don’t know, go and ask three of them.
- Can you do it by hand for now?Onboarding, reports and even some “automation” can be manual for your first ten customers.
- Can another tool cover it?A support inbox, a shared spreadsheet or an embedded form may be enough for now.
- What would it stop you from building?Every feature takes time from the core workflow.
- Does it have to be decided now?A few choices are hard to change later, such as whether accounts belong to a person or a company. Decide those up front, even if the feature waits.
An MVP features example
Picture an invented tool that lets small accounting firms chase clients for documents. The core workflow is: add a client, send a request, let the client upload files, and mark it complete.
For version one, that needs login, Stripe billing, file uploads, email reminders and a basic admin. For later: a client portal with its own login, integrations with accounting software, team roles and reports. Without the portal, clients can upload through a link. Without integrations, the firm downloads the files.
That’s 128 feature hours, plus the base build, design and marketing site. It fits comfortably in a fixed-price build, with room for one or two things from the “later” list if customers insist.
Two ways to get it wrong
Too much
- Features added because a competitor has them
- Settings for choices nobody has asked about
- Planning for scale you don’t have
- Launch delayed until it “feels ready”
Too little
- No way to pay, so you can’t test demand
- No admin, so every support request needs a developer
- A core workflow that’s only half working
- Skipped basics such as password reset
When you don’t need any of this yet
- You haven’t spoken to potential customers. Do that first, because no list can replace it.
- A landing page or a manual service could test the idea. Try that before building.
- You’d rather sketch it with [an AI app builder](/saas-mvp-development/vs-ai-app-builders). That’s a fine way to find your feature list.
Common questions
The workflow customers pay for, accounts, billing, a basic admin, and the emails that make it work. Add others only if the core doesn’t function without them.
Nothing is always safe to cut, since it depends on your product. Mobile apps, multiple languages, reports and team roles are the most common ones to move.
If you’re selling software, usually yes. People saying they’d pay tells you far less than people paying.
There’s no right number. If you can’t describe the scope on one page, it’s probably too large.
Keep reading
- SaaS MVP developmentWhat’s included, what it costs and how a 15-day build works.→
- SaaS MVP costBuild hours and rough prices for every common feature.→
- Fixed price vs time and materialsWho carries the risk, and how scope discipline protects a launch date.→
- Freelancer vs agencyCost, timeline and risk compared, including when the freelancer wins.→
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