On this page
- 01How much does an app cost, and why so different
- 02What the app stores cost
- 03Worked example: the same app, three routes
- 04The DA Logistics driver app as an example
- 05An app for your customers or for your team
- 06What an app keeps costing per year
- 07Mistakes that make an app expensive
- 08What to do this week
App development cost depends on three things: how many tasks the app performs, which platform must run behind it, and the route to your user's phone. A native app for iPhone and Android means two apps, two stores and twice the upkeep, plus 99 dollars a year for Apple and a one-off 25 dollars for Google Play. A web app runs in the browser, works on any phone and sits on the home screen with an icon, with no store in between. For most business apps, where your team or customers submit and follow up on something, the web app is the cheapest route with the least upkeep.
How we build apps for teams on the move: app development. If your software mainly runs on a computer, see web application development. In this guide, amounts are before VAT and hours are priced at an example agency rate of 85 euros; what developers charge per market is in web developer hourly rate.
How much does an app cost, and why so different
Two quotes for "an app" can sit far apart because they describe different things. This is what drives the work:
| Factor | Smaller | Larger |
|---|---|---|
| Tasks | Three tasks: log a fuel stop, request leave, send a receipt | Twenty screens with their own rules |
| Who logs in | One group of staff | Staff, customers and partners, each with their own rights |
| The platform behind it | Already exists, the app talks to it | Must be built too: database, admin, reports |
| The phone itself | Forms and lists | Camera, location, notifications, working offline |
| Languages | One language | Three languages, each with copy and testing |
| Route | One web app | Two native apps, each through a store review |
An app is rarely just an app. Its data has to be stored, checked and followed up somewhere. If that platform does not exist yet, you build it too, and then the platform is often the largest part of the price. What that costs: custom software development cost. For a quick range on your own feature list, try the software development cost calculator.
Two routes to your user's phone
A native app
Separate for iPhone and Android
- Idea and designWhich tasks, for whom, on which screen.
- BuildApp for iOSApp for AndroidTwo codebases, or shared code that still yields two apps.
- ReviewApp StoreGoogle PlayEvery version waits for the store's verdict.
- InstallYour user finds the app in the store and installs it.
- UpdatesThrough review again; your user updates, or not.
- Build
- Building and testing two apps, on two kinds of device.
- Upkeep
- Updating two apps, within the rules of two stores.
A web app
An app in the browser, on any device
- Idea and designWhich tasks, for whom, on which screen.
- BuildOne codebase for every phone and computer.
- ShareYou send a link. No review in between.
- On the home screenYour user adds it in a few taps, with its own icon.
- UpdatesLive for everyone, the next time they open the app.
- Build
- Building and testing one app that adapts to every screen.
- Upkeep
- Updating one app, with no store in between.
The DA Logistics driver app is a web app
- On the drivers' phones, every day
- In Dutch, English or Turkish
- Log in with your name tile and four digits
- Leave, receipts, appointments and reports
Native or web, point by point
- Build
- Native appTwo apps, or shared code with two versions
- Web appOne app for every device
- For your user
- Native appSearch and install in the store
- Web appOpen a link and add it to the home screen
- Updates
- Native appThrough the store review, and the user has to update
- Web appLive for everyone at once
- Camera, location and notifications
- Native appFull access to the phone
- Web appPossible too, with differences per device
- Working offline
- Native appStrong
- Web appPossible, but needs extra work
- Being found
- Native appIn the App Store and Google Play
- Web appThrough your site and a link you share
If your app mainly passes data to your own platform, web is the cheapest route. Native pays off when the app must work deep inside the phone or people must find it in the store.
What the app stores cost
| Item | App Store (Apple) | Google Play | Web app |
|---|---|---|---|
| Developer account | 99 dollars a year | 25 dollars, one-off | 0 |
| Commission on paid apps and in-app purchases | 15% up to 1 million dollars a year for small developers, the standard rate above | 15% on the first million dollars a year, 30% above | 0, your payment provider charges per payment |
| Review | Every new version | Every new version | None |
| Yearly adaptation to new OS versions | Yes | Yes | Rarely, the browser handles it |
For a business app your team uses for free, commission plays no role; for an app that sells subscriptions or purchases it does. In the EU, Apple also offers alternative terms under the Digital Markets Act, with a further reduced commission of 10 percent for small developers and for subscriptions after the first year.
Worked example: the same app, three routes
An installation company with twenty technicians wants an app to fill in job sheets, add photos and have the customer sign, linked to an existing office platform. We count hours at an example rate of 85 euros an hour, inside the Belgian agency range of 50 to 150 euros. The hours are an example, not a quote.
| Part | Web app | Shared code (React Native or Flutter) | Two separate native apps |
|---|---|---|---|
| Screen design | 30 hours | 35 hours | 45 hours |
| Building the app | 120 hours | 160 hours | 260 hours |
| Integration with the platform | 40 hours | 40 hours | 50 hours |
| Testing on devices | 20 hours | 35 hours | 50 hours |
| Publishing in the stores | 0 hours | 10 hours | 15 hours |
| Hours | 210 | 280 | 420 |
| Build price at 85 euros an hour | 17,850 euros | 23,800 euros | 35,700 euros |
| Yearly after: stores and OS updates | hosting | 99 dollars Apple plus 2 to 4 days of updates | 99 dollars Apple plus 4 to 6 days of updates |
The web app costs half of two native apps, and the gap grows every year through upkeep. Native only wins when the app must do something a web app cannot do well, or when customers must find it in the store. If the platform behind it does not exist yet, that comes on top of every column. Comparing teams across Europe for the build? See nearshore software development and best countries to outsource software development.
The DA Logistics driver app as an example
For DA Logistics we built a platform for fuel, planning and fleet, with an app for the drivers. That app is a web app. A driver opens it on his own phone, picks Dutch, English or Turkish, and logs in with a tap on his name tile and four digits. No password to remember, no app to find in a store.
In the app he handles leave, receipts, appointments and reports about his truck, down to an accident. Everything lands straight in the right queue at the office, without retyping. When a feature is added, every driver has it the next time he opens the app. Around thirty drivers use it every day.
An app for your customers or for your team
An app for your own team has a fixed group of users, whom you show once how to add it to their home screen. A web app almost always does the job there. An app for your customers has to sell itself: people search for it in the store, expect it to feel smooth and delete it fast if it does not. There a native app can be worth the money, or a web app that works straight from your site, without installation. A client portal is often the best of both: your customer logs in through your site, on any device, and sees their own file.
What an app keeps costing per year
| Item per year | Web app | Native app for iOS and Android |
|---|---|---|
| Hosting the platform | Yes, usage-based | Yes, usage-based |
| Developer accounts | None | 99 dollars Apple; Google paid once |
| Adapting to new iOS and Android versions | Rarely | Every year, for both |
| New features | Built once, live for everyone | Twice, or shared code, plus review |
| Security and backups | Yes | Yes |
A rule of thumb from practice: budget 15 to 20 percent of the build price a year for upkeep and small additions. Not a law, but a budget that will not surprise you.
Mistakes that make an app expensive
- An app without a platformIf you only have the app built, you discover later that the data is not followed up anywhere.
- Native because it sounds more professionalFor an internal app you pay double for no extra value.
- Everything in version oneStart with the three tasks that recur most, and grow on what your users ask; see replace Excel with software.
- No plan for working offlineTechnicians in a basement or drivers on the motorway: say it up front, it changes the build.
- Forgetting the usersHave two or three people who will use the app daily test the design.
What to do this week
- Write down the three tasks the app must do most often, and who does them.
- Say whether the app needs the platform behind it, or talks to existing software.
- Decide whether your users are your team or your customers.
- Fill in our software requirements template and ask for a price based on it.
The DA Logistics platform
- fuel stops logged in the platform, as of 3 August 2026
- 1,182
- trips planned on the board, as of the same date
- 668
- tests across 117 files guard the code
- 1,396
- emails sent from the platform in 30 days
- 185
Questions about app development cost
How much does it cost to develop an app?
It depends on the route and the scope. In our example a job-sheet web app costs about 18,000 euros and the same app as two native apps about 36,000 euros, at an example rate of 85 euros an hour and without the platform behind it. Ask for a price based on your tasks.
How much does an iOS and Android app cost?
More than a web app, because you build, test and maintain two apps in two stores. Shared code with React Native or Flutter saves part of it, but you still ship two versions, each with its own review. Apple adds 99 dollars a year.
Is a web app cheaper than a native app?
Usually, for the build and the upkeep: one codebase, no review, updates live for everyone. Native is the better choice when the app must work deep inside the phone or be found in the stores.
How much does an app cost per month to maintain?
After the build you pay hosting for the platform, upkeep and the features you ask for. As a rule of thumb, budget 15 to 20 percent of the build price a year. Native apps add yearly adaptations to new iOS and Android versions.
What do Apple and Google charge?
Apple charges 99 dollars a year for a developer account, Google a one-off 25 dollars. On paid apps and in-app purchases they take 15 percent up to a million dollars of revenue a year; Google 30 percent above that.
Can a web app send push notifications?
Yes. Android has supported it for years, and since iOS 16.4 an iPhone does too, once the user has added the web app to the home screen. For a team app that is enough; an app that has to reach strangers through notifications is better off native.