“What does it cost to have an app built?” is the first question everyone asks, and the hardest to answer honestly in one line. The range runs from a few thousand euros to well past six figures, and any studio that names a number before asking what the app has to do is guessing. This article lays out the price the way it is actually built up: by app type, by feature, and by year of keeping it running. For the wider story on types, process and picking a studio, read our complete guide to having an app built, and for the raw numbers behind all our custom work our price guide for custom software. Is this part of a bigger platform? Then start with the guide to building custom software.
What does it cost to have an app built?
Having an app built in 2026 costs roughly €8,000 to €18,000 for a simple MVP, €20,000 to €45,000 for a cross-platform custom app, and €45,000 to €80,000 or more for a complex or fully native app. The price turns on scope, number of platforms and integrations, not on the hourly rate alone.
| App type | Example | Build cost | Lead time |
|---|---|---|---|
| MVP / first version | 1 main flow, login, 1 integration, 1 platform | €8,000 to €18,000 | 3 to 6 weeks |
| Web app / PWA | Runs in the browser, installable to your screen, no app store needed | €10,000 to €35,000 | 4 to 8 weeks |
| Cross-platform custom app | iOS + Android from one codebase, 8-15 screens, 2-4 integrations | €20,000 to €45,000 | 6 to 12 weeks |
| Complex or native app | Separate iOS and Android code, offline use, hardware, real-time or AI layer | €45,000 to €80,000+ | 3 to 5 months |
Pricing verified 2026-07; always request a tailored quote, because scope makes or breaks the figure. These four numbers are the build cost. What comes on top each year in maintenance, hosting and store accounts sits further down this article.
What makes up the price of an app?
A €30,000 quote is not a black hole. It is made of line items you can see, split and steer one by one. Always ask for that breakdown, because a studio that names only a single end figure is hiding either inexperience or a buffer. The indications below are for a cross-platform custom app; they shift with scope.
| Item | What it is | Indication |
|---|---|---|
| Discovery and scope | Scope document, screen list, integrations overview | €1,500 to €3,500 |
| UX and visual design | Wireframes and design for 10 to 15 screens | €3,000 to €8,000 |
| Login, accounts and roles | Authentication and user management | €2,000 to €4,000 |
| Per extra screen | List, detail or form | €600 to €1,500 |
| Integration with a modern API | Stripe, a CRM, your accounting | €1,500 to €3,500 |
| Integration with an older package | Legacy system without a clean API | €4,500 to €8,000 |
| Push notifications and offline | Real-time layer and local storage | €2,000 to €6,000 |
| Testing and store publishing | QA, review, store listing | €2,000 to €4,000 |
What stands out: the desk work at the front (discovery and design) and the back (testing and publishing) together is easily a third of the budget. That is not a luxury. It stops you running into earlier decisions during the build phase, which is the most expensive kind of extra work there is.
Native, cross-platform or web app: what does each choice cost?
This is the decision that moves the most money, before a single line of code exists. Many SMBs assume they need a native app when a web app solves the same problem for half the money. The gap is not only in the build, but above all in the maintenance: with native you effectively pay for two apps.
| Approach | Build cost | Maintenance per year | When it is worth it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Native (iOS + Android separately) | €45,000 to €80,000+ | 15 to 20% | Offline, heavy hardware, consumer app at scale |
| Cross-platform (React Native or Flutter) | €20,000 to €45,000 | 10 to 15% | Most business apps |
| Web app / PWA | €10,000 to €35,000 | 10 to 15% | Dashboard, portal, internal tool |
| No-code (Glide, Softr, FlutterFlow) | €0 to €500 setup + monthly fee | monthly subscription | Validating an idea, internal list |
React Native and Flutter are among the most widely used cross-platform frameworks among developers (Stack Overflow Developer Survey 2025), so you can easily find people to maintain your app later. That trims not just the build price but the lock-in risk too. Torn between an app and a web app? Our comparison of web app vs SaaS vs custom platform helps you choose.
What drives the price of an app up or down?
Six dials push the figure up or down in nearly every quote: the number of screens, the platform choice, the number of integrations, the depth of the design, the weight of the backend, and the scale the app must carry. It is not the studio’s brand name that sets the price, but where these six sit. Turn one and the figure moves.
- Number of screens and features. An app with 6 screens costs about a third of an app with 20 screens and several roles.
- Platform choice. Web only is cheapest. iOS and Android via cross-platform is the middle ground. Two separate native apps is most expensive.
- Integrations. One link to a modern API costs €1,500 to €3,500. A link to an older package without a clean API climbs to €4,500 to €8,000.
- Design and UX. A polished, bespoke design with animation costs more than a plain standard design. Worth it for consumer apps, rarely for internal tools.
- Backend and real-time. Login and data storage are standard. Live updates, chat, offline use or heavy calculation logic add up fast.
- Maintenance and scale. An app that has to carry ten thousand users demands different choices than an app for your own team of twenty.
Want to dig into the choice between off-the-shelf and building your own? Read no-code vs custom, because that call often sets the whole bottom of your budget.
What does an app cost per year after launch?
Budget 10 to 20 percent of the build price per year for maintenance and small further development. On top comes a cost web platforms do not have: the moment Apple or Google ships a new OS version, your app must update along to stay compatible and secure. Skip it and the store may pull it.
A worked example makes it concrete. Say you build a cross-platform business app for €25,000. Here is what the cost looks like over 24 months.
| Cost item | Year 1 | Year 2 | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| One-time build cost | €25,000 | €0 | Discovery, design, build, testing, handover |
| Hosting and database | €600 | €900 | Grows with usage |
| Apple and Google accounts | €120 | €120 | €99 per year + 25 dollars one-time |
| Maintenance and OS updates | €3,000 | €4,000 | About 12 to 16 percent of the build price |
| Further development | €2,000 | €3,000 | New features based on real usage |
| Total | €30,720 | €8,020 | 24-month TCO: €38,740 |
The build cost here is about 80 percent of the total in year one and nearly everything in year two. Anyone steering on the build quote alone misses roughly a fifth of the picture. For the full method behind these numbers, everything is broken out in our price guide for custom software.
What does it cost to publish on the App Store and Google Play?
Publishing itself costs little. An Apple Developer account costs 99 euros per year, a Google Play account a one-time 25 dollars and nothing after that. That is under 125 euros combined for the right to sit in both stores. The real work is not in those accounts but in the review, the privacy policy and a clean store listing around them.
What people underestimate is the rest around it: a privacy policy, Apple’s review that usually clears within one to a few days, and setting up your store listing properly with screenshots and copy. Go for a web app or PWA and you skip the app stores entirely. No account, no review, no annual renewal, online straight away.
How do you keep an app’s cost down?
You keep the cost down by trimming scope, not quality. Start with a tightly scoped MVP, pick cross-platform or a web app over two native apps, limit your integrations, and ask for a fixed price on a clear scope. Those four choices together easily take out half your starting budget. Below is the order that saves the most.
- Start with an MVP. Build the one flow that truly counts and test it with real users, rather than everything at once. That is how our MVP approach works, and it saves half your starting budget.
- Pick cross-platform or web over native. Two separate native apps are rarely the investment worth making for a business app.
- Limit your integrations. Every link costs money, older packages especially. On day one, connect only what you genuinely need.
- Ask for a fixed price on a clear scope. Then the price risk sits with the studio, not with you.
- Demand code ownership. So you can always switch later and never pay ransom. Read why in code ownership and vendor lock-in.
- Pick a studio with short lines. Talk straight to the builders and no budget vanishes into translation layers. What else to check is in software studio vs freelance developer.
How do you actually get started?
Start small and sharp. A discovery of one to two weeks costs €1,500 to €3,500 and produces a scope document you can use to compare any quote on an equal footing. That document is your insurance against apples-to-pears comparisons and against hidden extras later. What that looks like in practice, you can see in our Mastone case.
Book a free intake call. In thirty minutes we look at your idea, give an honest price indication, and tell you which type of app fits your goal and budget. With or without working together, you walk away with a clear picture.
