MVP vs Prototype

A prototype and an MVP serve different purposes at different stages of the product journey. A prototype is a representation of your idea, it might be a clickable Figma mockup, a static demo, or a rough build used to visualise how something will work. It exists to communicate and explore. An MVP, by contrast, is a real, working product that real users can actually use.

The key difference is that a prototype does not need to work in production. It does not need authentication, a real database, error handling, or scalability. Its job is to make an idea tangible enough to get feedback from stakeholders, investors, or early users who understand they are looking at a simulation.

An MVP goes further. It is built with production-grade code, real infrastructure, and actual functionality. Users can sign up, use the core feature, and generate real data. The feedback you get from an MVP is fundamentally different from prototype feedback, it is based on people actually doing the thing, not just reacting to how it looks.

When to build each: build a prototype if you need to validate a concept quickly or pitch to investors before writing code. Build an MVP when you are ready to validate whether real users will actually use the product and pay for it. Most serious founders need both at different stages, prototype first to align on direction, MVP to prove the market.