How much does it cost to build an app? From €2,500

For a price for your own situation, request a quote.

How much does it cost to build an app?

A simple app starts at €2,500, excluding VAT. For that you get an app with one purpose, a few screens and a sign-in, built once for both iPhone and Android and published on the App Store and Google Play. If you want more later, you build on step by step and pay only for the part you add.

The price of an app follows from the hours of work. Count on about €100 an hour. AI tools now write much of the code, which makes a simple app far cheaper than it was a few years ago. The design, the testing and the conversations with you are still work for people.

An app in which the members of a gym book a class is an example of a simple app: about 25 hours of work, so €2,500.

What does each part of an app cost?

Almost every app is made of the same parts. Add up what your app needs. This is roughly how many hours each part takes:

Connections vary the most. Modern accounting or calendar software describes clearly how other programs can talk to it, and then a connection stays at the low end. Software that is twenty years old, or that nobody can explain, costs the top of the range or more.

Want to know how many hours your own idea is? Request a quote and describe in a few sentences what the app should do.

A worked example: an app to book classes

A gym wants its members to see the timetable and book a class in an app. An app like that can start small. In the simple version, members sign in, see the timetable, book a class and see their own classes:

25 hours at €100 is €2,500. For that, members can book, and booking is what matters to the gym.

Once the app works, the gym can extend it step by step. Testing and meetings are included in each amount:

Start with the simple version. You then see what members really use before you have anything added, and you never pay for what nobody uses.

Does your idea look like this example? Request a quote and we will work it out for your own app.

What drives the price of an app?

The price follows from the amount of work, and that depends mainly on seven things:

• The number of screens and features, and the number of kinds of users. An app that does one thing well costs much less than the whole idea at once.
• Connections to software you already use, such as your accounts, your web shop or your calendar. Each connection is built and tested, and it takes longer when the other software is old or poorly described.
• Accounts and permissions. An app in which each user may see something different is more work than an app that is the same for everyone.
• Data that already exists. Moving existing data takes hours, because it has to be cleaned and checked.
• The design. A design of your own takes more time than a neat standard layout.
• AI features inside the app. Most of the time goes into testing with real examples, to see how often the feature gives the right answer.
• One app or two. One app for iPhone and Android together costs less than two separate apps. Native or cross-platform explains when two apps are still the better choice.

What does an app cost after launch?

After the build you pay for maintenance, for the server the app runs on (hosting) and for a few accounts:

The amounts from Apple and Google are those of October 2026, as they state them for the Apple Developer Program and the Google Play registration. Hosting grows with the number of users. If the app has an AI feature, the provider of the AI model usually charges each time it is used; set a monthly limit for that.

Maintenance is needed because Apple and Google release a new version of their operating system every year, and every app has to be tested on it and often adjusted. Security updates and small requests come on top. For the gym’s app of €2,500, that is €375 to €500 a year. An app that nobody looks after stops working properly after a few phone updates.

What are the cheaper alternatives?

Not every idea needs an app of its own. There are four alternatives:

• A no-code platform, on which you click an app together yourself. That suits testing an idea or a tool with a few users. You pay a subscription every month and you are tied to the platform: if it raises its price or closes, you have no app of your own. For an app your customers use every day, it is not a good choice.
• A web application instead of an app from the App Store. The review by Apple and Google and the two accounts then fall away, which saves about ten percent of the build cost. Whether that works for you is explained in web app vs website vs mobile app.
• Your existing website as an app. A shortcut on the home screen costs nothing. Turn your website into an app explains the four ways.
• Making an app yourself with AI. In a weekend you have a working demo, and that is a good way to show your idea. Such a demo does not yet keep customer data safe and is not ready for the App Store. Can AI build your app? lists what still has to be added.

A freelancer, an agency or a small studio?

We are a small studio ourselves, so we have an interest here. A freelancer is one person, with short lines and no office or salespeople to pay; if that person falls ill or stops, the work stands still. A large agency has a team and can absorb that, but you also pay for the salespeople and project managers between you and the builder. A small studio has short lines and you talk to the person who builds; the risk is that here, too, the work depends on a few people. Building abroad is cheaper per hour, but the time difference, the language and the handover cost hours again.

The hourly rate is the smallest difference. Three questions matter more. Are you talking to the person who builds the app, or to a salesperson? What happens if that person drops out: is everything written down, so someone else can take over? And are the source code and the accounts in your company’s name?

How do you compare quotes?

Put quotes side by side on these eight points. If one is missing, ask for it:

If two quotes are far apart, put them next to the table of hours. The difference is usually in a connection, an admin screen or the testing, not in the hourly rate.

Do you need an app at all?

Sometimes not. In four situations something else is better:

• A website or web application does the same job. An app is mostly worth it for notifications, the camera and use without an internet connection.
• Software that does what you need already exists. Buying it is then cheaper and faster. Custom software vs off-the-shelf explains how to choose.
• The idea has not been tested. Start with a simple app and see what people do with it.
• You cannot carry the costs after launch. Work them out before you have anything built.

How do you keep the cost down?

Start with a simple app and extend it once you know it works. Make sure one person on your side decides and answers within a few days, because every day of waiting is a day nobody can move on. Collect what already exists beforehand: texts, images and access to the software that has to be connected. And do not ask for every feature at once, because every feature takes hours.

Do not save on three things: the security of data, the maintenance after launch, and owning the source code and the accounts. Saving on those costs more later.

Frequently asked questions

Having an app built by us

If software you can buy does what you need, or a website is enough, you do not need us. If you want an app of your own, we design and build it, from €2,500. Request a quote and describe in a few sentences what the app should do. You receive a quote with the hours, the schedule, the price and an estimate of the monthly costs.