How much does it cost to build a mobile app?
App cost is mostly team-weeks. The six things that decide how many weeks your app needs — and how to get a number you can trust.
Every agency answer to this question starts with "it depends", and it does — but not on mysterious things. An app's cost is almost entirely team size × weeks. Once you know what drives the number of weeks, you can predict the cost yourself and spot a quote that doesn't add up.
The six things that decide the weeks
- User roles. A customer-only app is one product. Customer + provider + admin is three products that share a backend. Roles are the single biggest multiplier.
- Platforms. One cross-platform codebase (React Native or Flutter) covers iOS and Android. Two native apps roughly double the front-end work.
- Integrations. Payments, maps, calendars, health data, hardware or an old internal system each add design, build and testing time.
- Real-time and offline. Chat, live tracking and offline sync need more engineering than ordinary screens.
- Design depth. A proven UI kit in your colours is quick. A fully custom, animated interface takes weeks more.
- Backend. Reusing an existing API is cheaper than building the backend, admin panel and analytics from scratch.
Typical shapes
As a rough guide from typical projects: a focused first version with one main user type, sign-up, a core flow, payments and an admin panel is usually a few months for a small senior team. A two-sided marketplace or an app with live tracking and offline mode takes noticeably longer. Use the app planner to see where your idea lands.
What should be in the quote
- A list of screens and features, not just a total.
- Who is on the team and for how long.
- What is not included — store submission, backend, analytics, post-launch support.
- How changes are priced once work starts.
A quote that is one number with no scope behind it is not a quote, it is a guess.
How to spend less without getting less
- Launch with one user role and one platform-agnostic codebase.
- Prototype first — changing a Figma screen costs minutes, changing shipped code costs days.
- Use proven services (Stripe, Firebase, Mapbox) instead of building your own.
- Decide the success metric up front so you can stop building what doesn't move it.
Want a written range for your app? Tell us what you're building — a product lead replies within one business day.
Planning something like this?
Tell us what you're building. A product lead replies within one business day with questions and a first take.
Get a free consultationThe product planning checklist
42 questions to answer before you hire a team or write a line of code.
Get the checklistGet the next article by email
One practical email a month. No spam, unsubscribe any time.
