How much does mobile app development cost?

App prices on the market vary wildly: from “we'll build it for 100,000” to tens of millions. It's not that some vendors are greedy and others generous — the word “app” covers products whose scope of work differs by a factor of ten or more.

Let's look at how much mobile app development costs in 2026: the complexity levels, how the choice of technology affects the budget, which items make up the estimate, which costs start after publication, and how to save without ending up with a 2.5-star app.

Mobile app cost by complexity level

All figures below are reference benchmarks for cross-platform development for iOS and Android at the same time. We quote an exact price only after working through the specification.

The cost of a mobile app is almost never determined by the number of screens. Two apps with 20 screens each can differ in budget threefold: one has static data, the other has payments, offline sync, roles and real-time exchange with an accounting system.

An example of the complex level from our practice is a transfer booking service: three apps (customer, driver, dispatcher) with a real-time map, dynamic pricing and driver payouts.

What makes up the cost of an app

Break down the estimate of a typical project and it becomes clear why “just build the screens” doesn't work. An approximate budget split:

Note the server side: most apps have a backend and an admin panel, and these are what cheap estimates “forget” most often. Without them the app can neither accept an order nor show an up-to-date catalog.

What drives the price the most

• Number of roles and separate apps (customer, contractor, courier, administrator).
• Payments and subscriptions: one-off payments, in-app subscriptions, payouts to contractors.
• Integrations with 1C, CRM, warehouse, telephony, maps.
• Offline mode with sync — one of the most labor-intensive features.
• Real time: chats, map tracking, live order statuses.
• Hardware: Bluetooth, NFC, AR, background geolocation.

Why a “100,000 app” ends up costing more

A very low estimate almost always means part of the work isn't included: the backend, the admin panel, device testing, publishing or code handover. That work will still be needed — it just gets paid for later, mid-project, and at a higher price. When comparing offers, ask for an estimate broken down by the items in the table above: that way you immediately see what's been cut from the “cheap” option.

iOS and Android app cost: which stack to choose

The cost of an app for iOS and Android depends largely on whether you build one codebase or two separate ones. The options:

For most business tasks — stores, booking services, customer accounts, employee apps — cross-platform development with React Native gives the best value for money. Native code is justified when you need complex graphics, AR, fine-grained Bluetooth work or maximum performance. More on choosing — on the iOS and Android app development page.

Post-release costs people forget to budget for

Launch isn't the end of the budget. Plan recurring costs in advance:

• Developer accounts: Apple Developer Program — $99 a year, Google Play — a one-time $25 registration fee. Register the accounts to your company, not to the contractor.
• App store fees: on digital goods and subscriptions sold via in-app purchases, app stores charge a commission, typically 15–30%. Physical goods and services are paid through regular card acquiring.
• Servers and services: hosting, database, file storage, push notifications, maps, SMS — from a few thousand to hundreds of thousands of rubles a month depending on load.
• Support and updates: new versions of iOS and Android come out every year, and the app has to be adapted. A common rule of thumb is to budget 15–20% of the development cost per year for support and further development.
• Additional stores: for a Russian audience it makes sense to publish in RuStore, and each store has its own review and payment requirements — these are checked during the planning stage.

How to save without losing quality

1. Start with an MVP. One key scenario done well, then development in sprints after launch. How to pick the features — in the article on MVP development.
2. Choose cross-platform unless there are clear reasons for native code. Saving on a second codebase is the biggest item.
3. Use off-the-shelf services for standard tasks: authentication, push, analytics, crash monitoring. Building them from scratch is almost never justified.
4. Postpone secondary roles. At launch the admin panel can be a simple web version, and the courier app can be a PWA.
5. Prepare a specification. The less uncertainty, the smaller the “risk buffer” in the estimate.
6. Don't cut corners on testing and architecture. Those are exactly the cuts that turn into a rewrite six months later.

Timeline: why an app isn't built in a week

A typical timeline for the first version is 8–14 weeks. Besides development, this includes planning and prototyping (1–2 weeks), design of key screens, testing on real devices of different generations, and App Store and Google Play review, which may require fixes and resubmission.

If you need it faster, a sensible strategy is to launch a Telegram Mini App or a website in a few days first, validate demand, and then release the native app as a second stage built on proven scenarios. Reference prices for all formats are on the development pricing page.

What to prepare for an accurate estimate

The difference between “from 400,000 ₽” and an exact figure is the answers to a few questions. The more complete they are, the smaller the uncertainty buffer in the estimate:

1. App goal and success metric: sales, repeat orders, lower load on operators.
2. User roles and separate apps: customers only, or also contractors, couriers, administrators.
3. Key scenarios step by step — from first launch to the target action.
4. Payments: what is sold (physical goods, services, digital content, subscriptions) and through which systems.
5. Integrations: which systems you already have and whether they have an API.
6. Data requirements: personal data, hosting on your own servers, closed network.
7. Design: is there a brand book, mockups, references.
8. Deadline and the reason for it: season, trade show, ad campaign launch.

This list matches the sections of our online questionnaire almost word for word: by filling it in, you get both a structured specification and a preliminary estimate. If you want to dig into the structure in more detail, read the article how to write a development specification.