Five complexity tiers with real market ranges. iOS vs Android. React Native vs Flutter vs native. Plus the four hidden cost drivers that move the bill 4x.
A clean mobile app MVP with 5-10 screens on one platform costs around $25,000 to $50,000 from a competent agency. A complex native iOS + Android app with real-time features, payments, and a custom backend routinely runs $120,000 to $250,000.
Enterprise apps with ERP integration, multi-role access, and analytics push past $400,000. The cost is driven by feature complexity and platform count, not by which framework you pick.
Numbers are market ranges across US + UK + India agencies in 2026. Cheaper offshore quotes exist; quality varies. Above $250K, the senior engineering bench matters more than the hourly rate.
| tier | scope | timeline | market range |
|---|---|---|---|
| Simple MVP | 5-10 screens, single platform, Firebase backend | 8-12 weeks | $25K-$50K |
| Cross-platform mid | React Native / Flutter, 15-25 screens, custom backend | 12-20 weeks | $50K-$120K |
| Complex native | Native iOS + Android, payments, real-time, push | 20-32 weeks | $120K-$250K |
| Enterprise | Multi-role, ERP / CRM, analytics, admin dashboard | 26-40 weeks | $250K-$500K |
| Hardware companion | BLE / OTA / HealthKit / device pairing | 24-40 weeks | $200K-$500K+ |
Source: combined market data from Clutch app-developer rate cards, Upwork senior-tier rates, and our 2024-2026 scoped engagements.
| approach | cost vs single-platform native | best for |
|---|---|---|
| Native iOS only (Swift) | 1.0x baseline | iOS-first audiences (US consumer, fitness, fintech) |
| Native Android only (Kotlin) | 1.0x baseline | Android-first markets (India, SEA, LATAM, hardware) |
| Native iOS + Android (both) | 1.7-1.9x | Performance-critical apps, hardware integration, gaming |
| React Native (one team, both stores) | 1.1-1.3x | Content + commerce, Web team reuse, fast iteration |
| Flutter (one team, both stores) | 1.1-1.3x | Brand-first design control, custom UI, motion-heavy |
| Progressive Web App (PWA) | 0.4-0.6x | Content apps, no app-store install required |
Cross-platform is 30-40% cheaper than dual-native because one team ships both stores. The trade is platform-API depth: HealthKit, ARKit, BLE, deep iOS / Android integrations work better natively. See our native vs hybrid breakdown for the full decision tree.
Firebase + 3 Cloud Functions = $5K-$15K of backend work. Custom Node.js / Python API with database modeling, auth, role permissions = $25K-$80K. Real-time (chat, presence, sync) via WebSockets or Supabase realtime adds another $15K-$40K.
Stripe payments: 20-40 hours. Apple Pay + Google Pay: 30-60 hours each. Plaid bank links: 40-80 hours. Shopify Storefront API: 60-120 hours. Each non-trivial integration adds $4K-$25K.
Stock UI components: 40-80 design hours. Custom design system with brand-specific motion: 120-300 hours. Lottie animations, custom transitions, and micro-interactions add $8K-$30K. Matching the visual quality of the top 10% of App Store apps takes a design and motion budget that doubles cheaper builds.
HIPAA-compliant health app: $30K-$100K of additional engineering + audit. PCI-DSS payments: $15K-$40K. SOC 2 Type II readiness: $40K-$120K (one-time) plus annual audits. HealthKit + Apple's privacy review adds 4-8 weeks of submission cycles.
| item | cost |
|---|---|
| Apple Developer Program | $99/year |
| Google Play Console | $25 one-time |
| Backend hosting (10K-100K MAU) | $200-$2,000/mo |
| Push notifications + analytics | $50-$500/mo |
| Crash reporting (Sentry / Firebase) | $0-$300/mo |
| Maintenance / iteration retainer | $3K-$15K/mo (typical) |
| App Store fees (in-app purchases) | 15-30% per transaction |
Year-one stack typically adds $4,000-$25,000 on top of the build. Apps that ship and then sit broken are the most expensive outcome. Budget the maintenance retainer from day one.
Per the Epic v. Apple ruling of April 30, 2025 and the Ninth Circuit's April 29, 2026 order, Apple charges 0% commission on external purchase links in US apps. That is down from the old 27% work-around fee, as reported by MacRumors.
If your monetization can route buyers to a web checkout, you avoid the 15-30% in-app-purchase cut and pay only the ~3% payment-processing fee. The district court is still setting what fee, if any, Apple may reinstate. Treat it as a live advantage, not a permanent one.
A basic mobile app MVP costs $25,000 to $50,000 from a senior-led agency. That covers 5-10 screens, a single platform (iOS or Android), a Firebase or Supabase backend, basic authentication, and one or two integrations.
Cheaper offshore quotes ($8K-$15K) exist, but they typically use junior teams. The resulting app often needs a full rebuild within 12 months. Budget 8-12 weeks for the MVP build plus 4-6 weeks of post-launch iteration.
Build cost is roughly equal. Both ecosystems have mature SDKs and pricing parity for senior engineers. The real differences are testing and design. iOS is cheaper to test: 3-5 device configurations cover 90% of users, while Android needs 8-15 for the same coverage.
Android UI patterns (Material Design 3) and iOS UI patterns (Human Interface Guidelines) require separate design review, even for cross-platform builds. Pick by audience. US consumer is iOS-heavy; emerging markets and hardware integrations are Android-heavy.
Cross-platform frameworks are 30-40% cheaper than dual-native development because one team ships both app stores. A React Native build that would cost $200K as iOS-only plus $200K as Android-only ($400K total) usually lands at $230K-$280K.
The trade is depth. HealthKit, BLE, ARKit, complex animations, and deep platform integrations work better natively. Most content and commerce apps run beautifully on React Native or Flutter. See our React Native and Flutter development service pages.
Enterprise mobile apps typically run $250,000 to $500,000. The drivers: multi-role permissioning, ERP / CRM integration (Salesforce, SAP, Microsoft Dynamics), an admin web dashboard, single sign-on (SAML / OIDC), and offline mode with conflict resolution.
Add SOC 2 Type II readiness ($40K-$120K) for B2B SaaS apps. Healthcare apps add HIPAA compliance ($30K-$100K). Financial apps add PCI-DSS audit. Enterprise builds typically take 26-40 weeks of senior engineering effort.
Three reasons. First, scope: cheap quotes often skip backend work, design polish, real testing, and post-launch support. Second, team seniority: junior offshore engineers ($10-$25/hr) can deliver a working build but ship 3-5x more bugs than senior teams ($80-$200/hr). The rework costs more than the difference.
Third, code ownership: cheap quotes sometimes leave you on the developer's Apple ID, or use closed builders that cannot be exported. The cheapest quote is rarely the lowest total cost. The right benchmark: senior teams ship faster and ship code you can maintain.
Budget 15-25% of the original build cost per year for ongoing maintenance and iteration. A $100K app should reserve $15K-$25K/year for OS updates (iOS 18, 19, 20 each require code changes), API deprecations, app-store policy compliance, security patches, and incremental feature work.
Apps that skip maintenance break inside 18 months. Apple deprecates APIs, Google tightens privacy rules, and third-party SDKs go end-of-life. Our mobile app development service includes a 6-month post-launch warranty plus an optional retainer.
30-minute discovery call. Written scope and fixed-fee quote within two business days. We will tell you which complexity tier fits your build and which platform mix to start with.
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