The build cost line by line, one codebase against two, the store fees most budgets miss, and the yearly maintenance bill that decides whether the app is still working in two years.
A mobile app for iOS and Android costs $40,000 to $95,000 to build in 2026 with a senior team billing $60 to $90 an hour, if it's built once in a cross-platform codebase and needs its own backend. At US agency rates of $120 to $250 an hour the same app is $85,000 to $200,000. Two separate native apps add 30% to 50% on top. Then the stores take their cut, and the app costs 15% to 25% of the build price every year to keep working. Here is where each of those numbers comes from.
The short answer, line by line
Our estimates from the apps we've shipped, not an industry average. The screens row moves the most; the store and maintenance rows are the ones people forget.
| Line | Hours | At $75 an hour |
|---|---|---|
| Define and design the screens | 60 to 120 | $4,500 to $9,000 |
| App screens and flows, one codebase | 200 to 450 | $15,000 to $33,750 |
| Backend API and admin | 120 to 300 | $9,000 to $22,500 |
| Accounts, push, deep links, offline basics | 60 to 120 | $4,500 to $9,000 |
| Payments | 30 to 80 | $2,250 to $6,000 |
| Store accounts, release pipeline, review | 30 to 60 | $2,250 to $4,500 |
| Testing on real devices, both platforms | 60 to 120 | $4,500 to $9,000 |
| Total | 560 to 1,250 | $42,000 to $93,750 |
If you already have a web product with an API, the backend row mostly disappears and the app is $30,000 to $70,000 at the same rate.
One codebase or two
This is the first decision and the biggest lever. React Native and Flutter both build iOS and Android from one codebase, one team and one test cycle. Published comparisons for 2026 put the saving at 30% to 40% against two native apps; on our own projects it's closer to half, because the drift between two separate teams costs more than the code.
We default to React Native and write native modules only where the platform genuinely demands it: heavy camera work, Bluetooth hardware, background location. Those pieces get bridged in. Everything else is shared.
When is two native codebases right? Games, anything that lives on the GPU, and products where a 30-millisecond difference in scroll feel is the product. For a booking, loyalty, field or staff app it isn't.
The store fees nobody reads
- Apple Developer Program: $99 a year. Google Play: $25, once.
- Commission on paid apps, subscriptions and digital purchases: 30% standard on both stores. Apple's Small Business Program cuts it to 15% for developers under $1 million a year in proceeds, and you have to enrol, it isn't automatic. Google charges 15% on the first $1 million and 15% on subscriptions from day one.
- Physical goods and services are the exception. A booking, a storage unit, a delivery or a service appointment can be paid inside the app with Stripe at 2.9% plus 30 cents, because the stores only claim a cut on digital content. Most business apps sit on this side of the line, and it's worth checking before you budget 30% away.
Getting onto the stores
Budget the store process as a line, not an afterthought. Apple's review took 24 to 48 hours for years; in 2026 new apps are running 2 to 5 days with spikes past a week. Google Play is usually hours to a day.
Two rules catch first-time publishers:
- Google Play personal developer accounts created after 13 November 2023 must run a closed test with at least 12 testers opted in for 14 consecutive days before they're allowed to publish. Organisation accounts are exempt, so register as your company, not as a person.
- Apple rejects builds for metadata, permission wording and sign-in options far more often than for the app itself. If you offer Google or Facebook login you must offer Sign in with Apple too. A rejection costs a week. We've been through review enough times to avoid most of them, and any studio you hire should be able to say the same.
The backend and the monthly bill
Most apps are a thin client on a server. The server costs what a web app's server costs: Laravel Forge from $12 a month plus a $24 to $48 machine, a managed database at about $53 when you need one, Sentry at $26 for crash and error reporting. Push notifications through Firebase Cloud Messaging are free with no volume limit. If you use Expo to build and ship a React Native app, the free tier covers 15 iOS and 15 Android builds a month, the Starter plan is $19, and Production is $199. Call it $100 to $300 a month before you have users.
The ongoing cost nobody budgets for
An app is not a website. A website you can leave alone for two years. An app has a clock on it.
- iOS and Android ship major versions every September and October. Something breaks, or a deprecated API stops working, most years.
- Apple distribution certificates and provisioning profiles expire. Miss one and you can't ship a fix.
- Store policies change. Google's tester rule above didn't exist three years ago. A policy change can pull an app from the store until it complies.
- React Native and Flutter move fast. Staying two major versions behind eventually means a rewrite of the build pipeline.
Published maintenance figures for 2026 cluster at 15% to 25% of the build cost per year, and the first year runs higher, sometimes a third, because that's when the bugs real users find get fixed. On a $60,000 app that's $9,000 to $15,000 a year. Budget it up front, or the app quietly stops updating, then stops opening.
Where the money goes wrong
- Two native apps in version one. The cost above, plus two teams drifting apart.
- A website in a wrapper. It's cheap and users can tell in the first ten seconds. Native navigation, gestures and offline behaviour are what make an app feel like one.
- No reason to open it twice. An app without notifications, rewards or something that changes is a bookmark. The retention loop is a design problem, and it has to be solved before the code, not after launch.
- No owner after launch. See the section above. Most dead apps died of neglect, not bugs.
What the rate does to the total
Rates published by agencies and contractors this year: $120 to $250 an hour for senior developers in the US, $90 to $180 in the UK, $45 to $90 in Eastern Europe, $30 to $65 in South Asia. Multiply the table above by yours. Then ask the cheaper option one question: how many apps do you have live on both stores today, and can I download one? An app that's in the store, under a real company's name, is the only portfolio that counts.
A worked example
An illustrative build so you can see the arithmetic: a loyalty and booking app for a group of clinics, with an existing web booking system. Design 80 hours, app screens 260, backend changes 90 (the API mostly exists), accounts and push 70, payments through Stripe 40, store setup and release 40, device testing 80. That's 660 hours: $49,500 at $75 an hour, on both stores in about eleven weeks including review, running at about $150 a month with a maintenance budget of $8,000 to $12,000 for year one. Built as two native apps the same scope would have landed around $70,000, and the second platform would have shipped two months later.
If you want this table filled in for your app, see how we build and ship iOS and Android apps and book a 30-minute call. You'll leave with a scope and a fixed price. And if the app is the first version of a bigger product, our MVP process keeps the first release small enough to ship in 6 to 12 weeks.
Questions people ask before they budget an app
How much does a simple mobile app cost?
If a web product and its API already exist, a cross-platform app with a handful of screens is $30,000 to $70,000 at $60 to $90 an hour. Starting from nothing, with a backend to build, $40,000 to $95,000. US agency rates roughly double both.
How much does it cost to put an app on the App Store and Google Play?
$99 a year for Apple's developer programme and $25 once for Google Play. Both take 30% of digital sales, or 15% for smaller developers (Apple's Small Business Program needs enrolment). Payments for physical goods and services can go through Stripe at 2.9% plus 30 cents instead.
How long does it take to build an app?
Six to twelve weeks for a usable first version from one codebase, plus about a week for store review. Expect a build on your own phone from week three. Two separate native apps add two to three months for the second platform.
Do I need both iOS and Android?
Almost always, and from one codebase it costs little extra to ship both. Check your customers first: a field tool for a workforce on company Android devices can skip iOS, a consumer app in the UK or US cannot skip iPhone.
Can I avoid Apple's 30% commission?
For digital content and subscriptions, only by qualifying for the 15% Small Business Program under $1 million a year. For physical goods and services (bookings, rentals, deliveries, appointments) the commission doesn't apply and you can take card payments in the app through Stripe.
What does an app cost to maintain each year?
15% to 25% of the build cost, higher in the first year. That covers the September OS updates, expiring certificates, store policy changes, framework upgrades and the bugs real users find. Hosting and services add $100 to $300 a month.
