Mobile app development cost calculator. Priced by your scope.
Pick a complexity tier, platforms, backend, integrations and compliance. Get a build range, a timeline and a first-year running cost, with every input's share shown line by line.
On this page
Set your inputs. Watch the range move.
Six groups of inputs, each one a real cost driver. The result updates as you change them, and the breakdown under it shows exactly what each choice added. The figures on first load are for the defaults: a focused MVP built natively for iOS only, which is the 1.0x baseline, with no add-ons, so the build figure is the tier band itself.
your estimate so far $40,000 to $80,000 · 3 to 5 months See the breakdown
build cost
$40,000 to $80,000
timeline
3 to 5 months
year-one running cost
$9,099 to $49,699
first-year total, build plus year one
$49,099 to $129,699
What each input added to the build
- Focused MVP band$40,000 to $80,000
- Native iOS only, 1.0x+$0
Year-one running lines
- Apple Developer Program, one year$99
- Backend hosting at 10,000 to 100,000 monthly users, 12 months$2,400 to $24,000
- Push notifications and analytics, 12 months$600 to $6,000
- Crash reporting, 12 months$0 to $3,600
- Maintenance at 15% to 20% of the build$6,000 to $16,000
A planning range from the inputs above, not a quote. Book a scoping call to turn it into a fixed number.
The method, one sum at a time.
The calculator runs five sums, in this order. The first three tier bands, the hourly rates and the maintenance allowance come from the mobile app development pricing guide our team wrote, which covers what drives the price in the US and how to hire. Where the guide and this page both give a figure for the same item, the calculator uses the guide's.
- Tier band. Your complexity tier sets the starting range. The hardware companion band is this page's own figure, because the guide does not price that case.
- Platform factor. The band is read as the cost of that scope on one native platform, the 1.0x baseline. The low end of the band is multiplied by the low factor and the high end by the high factor. Two native codebases at 1.7x to 1.9x nearly double the band; a Progressive Web App at 0.4x to 0.6x brings it down to 40% to 60% of it. The guide lists platform choice among the things that move a project within its band, so a result with a factor above 1.0x is an upper-bound reading.
- Add-ons. Backend, real-time, motion and compliance items are added once, at their own ranges, and are not multiplied by the platform factor. Integrations are published in hours, so low hours are priced at the low end of the rate you pick and high hours at the high end.
- Schedule. The timeline is the tier's schedule. On a build that ships an iOS app, HealthKit adds 4 to 8 weeks of App Store privacy review. The guide notes that more platforms, complex integrations and compliance can stretch a schedule, but it puts no number on that, so the calculator does not add one.
- First twelve months. Store accounts for the platforms you picked, twelve months of hosting, notifications, analytics and crash reporting sized for 10,000 to 100,000 monthly active users, and maintenance at 15% to 20% of the build.
- A contingency reserve. The guide recommends one for scope changes and integration surprises but gives no percentage.
- Store commission on in-app purchases, 15% to 30% per transaction, because it depends on your revenue.
- SOC 2 audits in the years after the readiness project.
- AI features. Their cost depends on the use case, the data and the usage, and neither source prices them.
- Work beyond the tier you picked. If your app needs more than the tier description says, move up a tier rather than stacking add-ons.
Every figure, and where it comes from.
Guide marks a figure from the pricing guide our team wrote, described above. This page marks a line item this page already published, used only where the guide has no figure for the same thing.
| input | figure used | source |
|---|---|---|
| Focused MVP | $40,000 to $80,000; 3 to 5 months | Guide |
| Mid-complexity business app | $90,000 to $180,000; 5 to 8 months | Guide |
| Advanced or enterprise app | $200,000 to $500,000+; 8 to 18 months | Guide |
| Hardware companion app | $200,000 to $500,000+; 24 to 40 weeks | This page |
| Native iOS only or Android only | 1.0x | This page |
| React Native or Flutter | 1.1x to 1.3x | This page |
| Native iOS and Android | 1.7x to 1.9x | This page |
| Progressive Web App | 0.4x to 0.6x | This page |
| Custom API backend | $25,000 to $80,000 | This page |
| Real-time features (WebSockets or Supabase realtime) | $15,000 to $40,000 | This page |
| Integration hours | Stripe 20 to 40; Apple Pay 30 to 60; Google Pay 30 to 60; Plaid 40 to 80; Shopify Storefront API 60 to 120 | This page |
| Hourly rates for those hours | Junior $35 to $60; mid-level $60 to $100; senior $100 to $160; technical lead $150 to $220 | Guide |
| Custom motion | $8,000 to $30,000 | This page |
| HIPAA | $30,000 to $100,000 | This page |
| PCI-DSS | $15,000 to $40,000 | This page |
| SOC 2 Type II readiness | $40,000 to $120,000, one-time | This page |
| HealthKit privacy review | 4 to 8 weeks | This page |
| Maintenance | 15% to 20% of the build per year | Guide |
The guide's own table gives 3 to 4 months, 5 to 8 months and 9 to 18 months, and its text gives 3 to 5 months, 5 to 8 months and 8 to 12 months or longer. The tier timelines above use the span that covers both.
The HIPAA line covers the extra engineering and audit work when an app stores protected health information; how that work looks on patient portals, telehealth and booking apps is set out in our healthcare app work.
The recurring bills, line by line.
None of these sit in a build quote. The calculator's year-one figure adds every line marked yes for the first twelve months after launch.
| item | cost | in the estimate |
|---|---|---|
| Apple Developer Program | $99 a year | Yes, for iOS builds |
| Google Play Console | $25 one-time | Yes, for Android builds |
| Backend hosting (10,000 to 100,000 monthly users) | $200 to $2,000 a month | Yes |
| Push notifications and analytics | $50 to $500 a month | Yes |
| Crash reporting (Sentry or Firebase) | $0 to $300 a month | Yes |
| Maintenance and OS updates | 15% to 20% of the build a year | Yes |
| Store fees on in-app purchases | 15% to 30% per transaction | No, depends on revenue |
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.
Before you trust the range.
How accurate is this estimate?
It is a planning range, not a quote. The tier bands are budgeting ranges, not averages of the whole market, and the add-ons are single-item figures. Two apps that land on the same inputs can still differ once the screens, rules and edge cases are written down.
Use the low end as the floor for a lean version of your scope and the high end as the figure to budget against. If a quote falls far outside the range for the same inputs, ask what it includes or leaves out.
What hourly rate is behind the integration figures?
Integrations are listed in hours: Stripe 20 to 40, Apple Pay 30 to 60, Google Pay 30 to 60, Plaid 40 to 80 and the Shopify Storefront API 60 to 120. The calculator prices those hours at the rate row you pick, from junior at $35 to $60 an hour up to a technical lead at $150 to $220. The default is senior, $100 to $160.
The rate only touches integration hours. The tier bands and the other add-ons are used as published and are not recalculated from a rate.
Why can the estimate come out above the tier band?
Three reasons. A platform factor above 1.0x scales the band up, and two native codebases at 1.7x to 1.9x nearly double it. The guide lists platform choice among the things that move a project within its band, so treat a result with a factor above 1.0x as an upper-bound reading. Add-ons stack on top at their full range and are not netted against work the tier may already include. And the advanced and hardware bands are open at the top, which is why their totals carry a plus sign.
If your tier already covers an item, such as payments in a mid-complexity app or real-time sync in an advanced one, leave that add-on unticked so it is not counted twice.
Why does picking two platforms not lengthen the timeline?
Because there is no published figure to add. The pricing guide gives schedules by tier and says multiple platforms, complex integrations and compliance can extend them, without a number. The only schedule add-on with a figure is Apple's HealthKit privacy review, 4 to 8 weeks, so that is the only one the calculator adds, and only when the build ships an iOS app. Treat the timeline as the tier's baseline and expect it to stretch as scope grows.
What does the calculator leave out?
A contingency reserve, because no percentage is published for it. Store commission on in-app purchases, 15% to 30% per transaction, because it depends on your revenue. SOC 2 audits after the one-time readiness project. AI features, which neither source prices. Hosting is sized for 10,000 to 100,000 monthly active users, so a much smaller or much larger audience moves that line.
How do I turn this range into a firm quote?
Bring the inputs you picked to a 30-minute discovery call: the tier, the platforms, every integration and any compliance need. We come back with a written scope and a fixed-fee quote within two business days, and tell you which tier your build really sits in. Book the call here.
A fixed price. Not a range.
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.
Why work with Digital Heroes
115 people across five studios in New York, Delhi, London, Sydney and Lucknow, shipping ecommerce, web, software and mobile work for founder-led brands. Senior engineers only, no account-manager relay, and the same team from kickoff to launch.
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