The agile software development lifecycle has the same phases as any software project: you decide what to build, plan it, build it, test it, release it and learn from users. The difference is that agile runs these phases in short loops and repeats them, instead of running each one once. The Agile Manifesto principles put the goal plainly: “Deliver working software frequently, from a couple of weeks to a couple of months, with a preference to the shorter timescale.”
No single standard owns the names of the phases. The Scrum Guide only defines the loop itself, the Sprint, at one month or less. The six names below are a common way to describe the whole lifecycle, and we use them here because each one is a point where a founder has to decide something.
| Phase | What you decide | What you get | How long with us |
|---|---|---|---|
| Concept | The problem, the users and the first scope | A brief, user stories and a budget range | Days |
| Inception | The team, the design direction and the riskiest question | Scope, main flow, clickable prototype, technical plan, priced backlog | 1 week as a discovery sprint |
| Iteration | What goes into each Sprint | Working software at every Sprint Review | A first version in 2-4 weeks |
| Testing | What “done” means and what blocks a release | Tested Increments and a release checklist | Inside every Sprint |
| Release | When and where to launch | The product live, store approval, monitoring | Days, plus store review |
| Review | What to change next | A reordered backlog for the next loop | Every Sprint and after launch |
You decide what problem the product solves, for whom, and what the first version must do. The output is a short brief and a list of user stories in order of importance. Keep the first scope narrow: one main job for one kind of user. This is also where you need a first budget range, before you talk to anyone about a contract.
Here the team forms, the design direction is set and the riskiest technical question gets tested. We sell this phase on its own as a discovery sprint: a fixed $3,000 for one week. You get a written scope, the main user flow, up to 6 main screens for one platform in a clickable Figma prototype, a technical plan, a one-day test of the riskiest technical question where there is one, and a backlog with hours and a fixed price for the build. The $3,000 counts toward the MVP if you build with us, and the files are yours either way. Our post on the discovery phase covers it day by day.
This is the build, and it runs in Sprints of one month or less. Each Sprint starts with planning, ends with a review of working software and a retrospective, and has a 15-minute check every day. Our MVP development typically costs $5,000-15,000 and takes 2-4 weeks for a narrow first release. For a market comparison: across 95 agencies, the median published MVP starting price is $13,234 and the median promised timeline is 6 to 12 weeks (Rocketech MVP Price Index 2026, H2 edition). Those are published prices, not what agencies charge after scoping.
If the team uses Scrum, read our Scrum fundamentals for founders before the first Sprint.
In agile, testing isn’t a phase that waits for the end. Every item has to meet the Definition of Done before it counts, and the Scrum Guide is strict about it: work that doesn’t meet the Definition of Done can’t be released or even shown at the Sprint Review. A final round still happens before a launch:
AI coding tools make this phase more important, not less. The 2025 DORA report, based on nearly 5,000 technology professionals, found a positive link between AI adoption and delivery throughput, while AI adoption “does continue to have a negative relationship with software delivery stability.” Faster code needs the same checks before it reaches users.
The release phase covers deployment, app store review, monitoring and the support plan. Store review can take time: on Traza, an Australian marketplace app, App Store review could take one to two weeks, so we sent the app to review early instead of polishing it until the last day. It was approved on both stores.
If you sell software in the EU, plan for security reporting from the first release. Under the Cyber Resilience Act, manufacturers have had to report actively exploited vulnerabilities since 11 September 2026, and the Act’s main obligations apply from 11 December 2027. The Act also requires manufacturers to handle vulnerabilities during the lifecycle of their products. In practice that means your release phase needs a named person who receives vulnerability reports and a way to ship a security fix fast. This is general information, not legal advice.
Review happens at two levels. At the end of every Sprint, the Sprint Review shows working software to you and your stakeholders, and the backlog changes based on what you saw. After launch, real users take over that role: their behaviour and feedback reorder the backlog, and the loop starts again. Retirement, when a product or feature is switched off on purpose, also belongs here.
The six phases don’t run once. A typical path looks like this, using our Subflare project, an AI lead scoring product for B2B teams:
Small batches keep each loop cheap. DORA’s AI Capabilities Model from September 2025 names working in small batches as one of seven capabilities that amplify the benefits of AI, because it “reduces friction for development teams.” For how the agile lifecycle compares with waterfall and other models, see our comparison of software development methodologies.
The concept phase needs a number before anything else exists. Our project estimate turns your brief into user stories. You confirm what is in scope, and every hour in the budget traces back to a story you kept. We check the hours the model suggests against what our team actually books on finished projects, then multiply by our published rate of $39-55 an hour.
Here is an example run of our estimate’s math with sample inputs: a mobile payments app built on a licensed payment provider, with a KYC vendor and a back-office panel. The work items are assumptions. Only the arithmetic is ours.
| Lifecycle phase | Work in the sample | Hours |
|---|---|---|
| Concept and inception | Onboarding and KYC flows, wireframes | 22 |
| Inception | UI kit and key screens | 22 |
| Iteration | Mobile app (onboarding, balance, transfers) and back-office panel | 74 |
| Iteration | Accounts and ledger API; security, audit log and limits | 72 |
| Iteration | Payment provider and KYC vendor | 28 |
| Testing | Test plan, regression and security checks | 32 |
| Release | App store and production release | 10 |
| Total | 260 hours, a budget of $8,700-18,000, about 4 weeks |
It’s a planning range, not a fixed quote. You can estimate your MVP’s cost and timeline for your own idea in about four minutes.
A common way to name them is concept, inception, iteration, testing, release and review. In agile they repeat in short loops: each Sprint plans, builds, tests and reviews a small piece, and the product is released early and improved after launch.
It depends on scope. With us, a discovery sprint for the inception phase takes one week, and a narrow first version takes 2-4 weeks. Across 95 agencies in the Rocketech MVP Price Index 2026, the median promised MVP timeline is 6 to 12 weeks.
Testing happens inside every Sprint: an item counts only when it meets the Definition of Done, which usually includes tests. A final round of system and acceptance testing still happens before a public release.
If you sell software with digital elements in the EU, the Cyber Resilience Act has required manufacturers to report actively exploited vulnerabilities since 11 September 2026, with the main obligations applying from 11 December 2027. Plan who receives vulnerability reports and how you ship fixes.
Waterfall runs each phase once, in order, and shows working software near the end. Agile repeats the phases in short loops, so you see working software every few weeks and can change priorities between loops.
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