How Much Does an App Cost to Build in 2026?

How much does an app cost? Ask three development studios and you will likely get three numbers that look like they describe different projects. Usually they do. The cost to build an app depends far less on the kind of app you have in mind than on how much of it has to exist on day one. This guide covers what the published data says, what actually drives the price, which costs show up after launch, and how to get a quote you can compare against another one.

The short answer

According to Clutch’s mobile app pricing guide, updated in September 2026 from verified client reviews, most app development projects on the platform cost between $10,000 and $49,999. The average is much higher, at $90,780, because a smaller number of large projects pull it up, and Clutch puts the typical timeline at around 11 months. So a tightly scoped first version can sit at the low end of that range, while a product with several user roles, payments and integrations can run well past six figures.

On top of the build, plan for running costs: store accounts, hosting, third-party services and ongoing maintenance, which studios that publish their numbers estimate at 10% to 20% of the initial build every year.

Why app cost estimates are all over the place

Published ranges disagree, even inside a single market. We looked at three Spanish studios that rank for this query in Spain. All three use the same label, “basic app” or “MVP”, for their cheapest tier:

Studio	What it calls a basic app	Published range
Alicante Developers	Informational app, catalogue, contact form	€3,000 to €8,000
NVDigital	Catalogue, user profiles, push notifications	€10,000 to €30,000
Dribba	5 to 15 screens, sign-up, simple backend	€30,000 to €40,000

That is a tenfold gap for the same label, in the same country. All three sell development, so each range also reflects their rates and the clients they want. The gap comes from three places:

Hourly rate. NVDigital publishes €55 to €95 an hour depending on seniority. Clutch puts the typical rate on its platform at $25 to $49 an hour, Spain included. The same 400-hour project lands very differently across that spread.
What “basic” includes. For some, a catalogue and a form. For others, user accounts, a custom backend and an admin panel.
What sits outside the number. Design, testing, store submission and a warranty period are sometimes included and sometimes billed separately.

Comparing the final figure alone tells you almost nothing. Compare the work behind it.

What drives the cost to build an app

These are the drivers that move app development cost the most, roughly in order of impact on a typical business project:

Number of end-to-end workflows. Every journey from start to finish (sign up, book, pay, cancel) has to be designed, built and tested. Twenty informational screens cost less than three screens with real business logic behind them.
Number of user types. A customer app plus a staff dashboard is two products. A marketplace with buyers, sellers and admins is three.
Integrations. Payment providers, a point of sale, an ERP or CRM, a logistics partner. Each one adds build time, failure cases to handle and future maintenance. This is the line item buyers underestimate most.
Platforms. Building native iOS and Android apps separately is close to building the app twice. Cross-platform frameworks such as Flutter or React Native share most of the code, which narrows the gap a lot.
Backend and data. Where users, orders and content live, who can see what, how backups work, and whether data has to be migrated from an old system. Invisible in a mockup, expensive in hours.
Design. Starting from an existing design system is faster than designing every screen from scratch.
AI features. An assistant that answers from your own data, or an agent that takes actions, adds integration and testing work plus a usage cost that grows with volume.

If what you need is closer to internal business software than a consumer app, our custom software development guide explains how those projects are scoped.

Costs that come after launch

The build is a one-off payment. The app is an ongoing expense:

Developer accounts. The Apple Developer Program costs $99 a year, charged in local currency where available. Google Play charges a one-time $25 registration fee.
Hosting and third-party services. Servers, databases, SMS, email and maps all grow with your user base.
Maintenance. New iOS and Android releases break things and libraries age. Alicante Developers estimates 10% to 20% of the initial cost per year; NVDigital puts it at 15% to 20%.
Scope changes. Requests made mid-project. Agree upfront how they are priced and approved.

Do you actually need a native app?

Before asking how much an app costs, ask whether you need an installable app at all. A native app earns its cost when people use it several times a week, rely on push notifications, use the camera or GPS heavily, or need to work offline. If the goal is simply to be reachable on mobile, a well-built website does that for a fraction of the price.

Between a website and an app in both stores there are options that change the budget a lot:

Option	When it fits	What you skip
Custom web app	Internal tools, client portals, dashboards	App stores and separate iOS and Android builds
PWA (installable web app)	Frequent use without advanced device features	Store submission and review
No-code	Testing an idea with a small group of users	Most of the build, in exchange for a hard ceiling later
AI agent on WhatsApp	Customer service, bookings or orders in a channel people already use	Asking customers to download anything

The last one is not hypothetical. For Bela Now we built an AI agent that handles a restaurant’s customers on WhatsApp: it answers questions, takes orders and manages reservations, connected to the point of sale and the payment gateway. Nobody installs an app. At Nubi, an agent like that typically costs €6,000 to €12,000 and takes 2 to 4 months; the breakdown is in WhatsApp AI agent cost and how much an AI agent costs.

If you are weighing a custom build against SaaS or no-code, read custom software vs SaaS vs no-code. And if you need a product interface rather than a marketing site, see product frontend vs landing page.

How to get an app quote you can compare

A serious quote can be rebuilt line by line. Before signing, ask for:

A breakdown by phase with hours. Discovery, design, development, testing and release. A single unexplained figure cannot be compared with anything.
A clear in and out list. Which workflows, roles, integrations and platforms are included.
Code ownership in writing. The code, the repository and the store accounts should be yours.
What happens after launch. Warranty period, bug fixes and who ships updates.
How changes are handled. The hourly rate for extra work and how it gets approved.

To get a useful number back, bring three things: the problem the app solves in one sentence, the features the first version cannot ship without, and who will use it.

How to lower the cost without rebuilding later

The most reliable way to pay less is not hunting for the lowest rate. It is building less at first. A first version that solves one problem end to end gives you real usage data before you fund the rest. In how long it takes to build an MVP we explain why scope matters more than technology for the timeline, and the same is true for the budget.

Other choices that save money: launch on one platform first if your users are concentrated there, use a cross-platform framework unless there is a technical reason not to, and have copy, images and product data ready before work starts. Waiting on content stretches the project, and time is billed.

What usually ends up expensive is the opposite: picking a tool with no headroom for a product that is meant to grow, then rebuilding it from scratch a year later.

FAQ

Can you build an app for under $5,000?

Yes, with no-code tools or a template, and it can be enough to test an idea with a few users. What you will not get at that price is a custom product with its own backend, integrations and room to grow.

How much does it cost to maintain an app each year?

Studios that publish their figures put it at 10% to 20% of the initial build per year, plus hosting and Apple’s annual fee. It is not optional: an unmaintained app eventually breaks with new iOS and Android releases.

Is it cheaper to build for only iOS or only Android?

Yes, if you build native apps. With a cross-platform framework like Flutter or React Native the difference between one and two platforms shrinks a lot, because most of the code is shared.

How long does it take to build an app?

Scope decides it more than technology. The sources we reviewed range from a few weeks for a tightly scoped first version to many months for an app with payments, roles and integrations; Clutch puts the typical project at about 11 months.

Do I need an app or is a website enough?

If users come back daily, need notifications or work offline, an app makes sense. If the goal is to inform, win customers or serve them, a well-built website or an AI agent on WhatsApp usually does the job for much less.

Who owns the code when the project ends?

You should, and it belongs in the contract before work starts. If a vendor hesitates to answer, switching teams later will be expensive.

Next step

Nubi builds custom software, web apps and AI agents for businesses, and you can see what we have shipped in our work. If you are planning an app, tell us what problem it needs to solve and we will help you work out what is worth building now and what can wait.