POC vs MVP vs Prototype: What's the Difference? (And Which Do You Need?)

You're sitting in a meeting. Your executive asks: "Can we build a POC to test this idea?"

Your engineering team nods and starts planning an MVP. Your vendor comes back with a prototype quote. And suddenly, everyone's talking about different things.

Here's the problem: POC, MVP, and Prototype are often used interchangeably — but they're fundamentally different deliverables with different purposes, timelines, and costs.

Getting this wrong wastes time and money. Ask for a POC when you need an MVP? You'll get something that proves feasibility but can't launch to users. Build an MVP when a prototype would do? You've just spent 3× more than necessary.

Let's clear this up once and for all.

POC: Proof of Concept

Purpose: Answer one specific technical question. Can this actually be done?

A POC proves technical feasibility. It's the smallest possible experiment to validate that a specific approach or technology will work.

What a POC Looks Like

• Timeline: 1-2 weeks
• Investment: $3k-$8k
• Audience: Internal technical team
• Fidelity: Bare minimum — often just backend code, no UI
• Code Quality: Throwaway (not production-ready)

When You Need a POC

• Testing integration with a legacy system ("Can we extract data from this 1990s ERP?")
• Validating a new technology ("Will this ML model accurately classify our data?")
• Proving performance at scale ("Can this architecture handle 10,000 concurrent users?")
• De-risking before major investment ("Is real-time video processing technically feasible?")

Example: Your team wants to build an app that uses AI to analyze customer call recordings. Before spending $50k on an MVP, you build a POC: a simple script that processes 100 sample calls and tests the AI accuracy. Cost: $5k. Timeline: 10 days. Result: You now know if the core technology works before committing to full development.

Prototype: User Experience and Flow

Purpose: Show how it will look and feel. Validate the user experience.

A prototype demonstrates the user journey and interface design. It looks real, but doesn't necessarily work under the hood.

What a Prototype Looks Like

• Timeline: 2-4 weeks
• Investment: $8k-$15k
• Audience: Stakeholders, executives, potential users
• Fidelity: High visual fidelity, limited functionality
• Code Quality: Demo-ready (works for presentations, not production)

When You Need a Prototype

• Winning stakeholder buy-in (see our post on winning stakeholder approval with a working prototype)
• Testing UX with users before full development
• Demonstrating the vision to investors or executives
• Aligning cross-functional teams on the user experience
• Securing budget approval for a larger project

Example: Your product team has an idea for an internal dashboard that connects 5 enterprise systems. Before getting budget approval for the full build, you create a 4-week prototype with realistic-looking UI, sample data, and clickable flows. Stakeholders can "use" it in a demo, see the value, and approve the $200k production budget. Cost: $12k. Timeline: 3 weeks.

MVP: Minimum Viable Product

Purpose: Launch to real users and start learning from market feedback.

An MVP is the smallest version of your product that delivers real value to real users. It's production-ready, scalable, and designed to go live.

What an MVP Looks Like

• Timeline: 4-8 weeks
• Investment: $25k-$60k
• Audience: Real users in the market
• Fidelity: Fully functional, production-ready
• Code Quality: Production-grade (secure, tested, maintainable)

When You Need an MVP

• Testing product-market fit with real users
• Launching before your runway ends (see launching your MVP before running out of runway)
• Generating revenue or traction to raise funding
• Replacing manual workflows with a working solution
• Starting customer acquisition and feedback loops

Example: You're a startup with 3 months of runway left. You need a working SaaS product to start acquiring customers and prove traction to investors. You build an MVP in 6 weeks with core features: user auth, payment processing, your main workflow, and basic admin. Users can sign up, pay, and get value. Cost: $35k. Timeline: 6 weeks. Result: Live product with real paying customers.

POC vs Prototype vs MVP: Side-by-Side Comparison

Dimension	POC	Prototype	MVP
Primary Purpose	Prove technical feasibility	Validate user experience	Launch to market
Key Question	"Can we build this?"	"Should we build this?"	"Will users pay for this?"
Audience	Internal technical team	Stakeholders, execs, test users	Real market users
Timeline	1-2 weeks	2-4 weeks	4-8 weeks
Investment	$3k-$8k	$8k-$15k	$25k-$60k
Visual Fidelity	None (backend only)	High (looks real)	Production-ready
Functionality	Core tech only	Demo flows (not full backend)	Fully functional
Code Quality	Throwaway	Demo-ready	Production-grade
When to Use	High technical uncertainty	Need stakeholder approval	Ready to launch and learn

Decision Framework: What Should You Build?

Not sure which approach fits your situation? Use this decision tree:

Start Here: Do you have a specific technical risk?

YES → Is the technology unproven or uncertain?
YES → Build a POC
NO → Continue below

NO → Do you need to secure buy-in or budget approval?
YES → Will stakeholders need to "see it" to approve it?
YES → Build a Prototype
NO → Continue below

NO → Are you ready to launch to real users?
YES → Build an MVP

Still Not Sure?

• If you're primarily answering "Can we?" → POC
• If you're primarily answering "Should we?" → Prototype
• If you're primarily answering "Will they buy?" → MVP

Common Mistakes (And How to Avoid Them)

Mistake 1: Building an MVP When You Need a Prototype

You want to test an idea with stakeholders and secure budget approval. Instead of building a $12k prototype, you commission a $45k MVP with full backend, database, and production infrastructure.

The problem: You've spent 3× more than necessary for something that's only going to be used in internal demos.

Better approach: Build a high-fidelity prototype first. If it gets approved, then invest in the production MVP.

Mistake 2: Skipping the POC When Technical Risk Is High

You're 60% sure your integration with a legacy system will work. You skip the POC and go straight to building the MVP. Four weeks in, you discover the legacy system doesn't support the API calls you need.

The problem: Now you're $30k deep into a project that's fundamentally blocked.

Better approach: Invest $5k in a 2-week POC to de-risk the technical unknowns before committing to full development.

Mistake 3: Treating a Prototype Like an MVP

You build a beautiful prototype, demo it to leadership, and they love it. They say: "Great, let's launch this next week!" But the prototype was never designed for production — it has no security, no error handling, and breaks under real load.

The problem: You've set expectations that the product is ready when it's actually 60% away from launch-ready.

Better approach: Be explicit about what you're building. If it's a prototype, tell stakeholders it's a demo version and outline what's needed to make it production-ready.

The Path Forward: Sequencing Your Builds

In many cases, you'll build more than one. Here's how they sequence:

Path 1: High Technical Risk
POC (2 weeks, $5k) → Prototype (3 weeks, $12k) → MVP (6 weeks, $35k)

Path 2: Need Stakeholder Buy-In First
Prototype (3 weeks, $12k) → MVP (6 weeks, $35k)

Path 3: Ready to Launch
MVP (6 weeks, $35k) → Iterate based on user feedback

Final Thought: Align on Definitions Before You Start

The biggest mistake isn't choosing the wrong deliverable. It's assuming everyone's using the same definition.

Before kicking off any project, align with your stakeholders:

• What are we actually building?
• Who is the audience?
• What does "done" look like?
• What's the purpose — validation, approval, or launch?

Get this right, and you'll save time, money, and a lot of frustration.