How much does an app cost? Three examples, priced

"How much does an app cost?" has no single answer, because "an app" can be three screens or thirty. What we can do is show you how we price one. Below are three made-up apps of the kind people ask us about. For each, you will see which of our packages it fits, what would push it into the next one, and what it costs to run once it is live.

The prices come from our pricing page. You see them in rupees if you are in India and in US dollars everywhere else. They are starting prices for a written scope. The exact price is in the plan you approve.

Example 1: a booking app for one salon

What it does. Customers pick a service, a stylist and a time, and get a confirmation and a reminder. The owner sees the day's bookings on a phone.

Which package. This is one main job for one type of user, the customer, with a simple screen for the owner. It fits the Lean MVP, which starts at from ₹15,000 in India · from $2,500 outside India. The full range is ₹15,000 – ₹30,000 in India · $2,500 – $5,000 outside India.

What would push it up. Deposits paid at booking, a separate login for each stylist, or several branches. Each of those adds a type of user or a connection to a payment provider. With two or three of them, the app moves into the Business App package: ₹40,000 – ₹2,00,000 in India · $3,000 – $10,000 outside India.

Example 2: a delivery app for a small distributor

What it does. Drivers see their jobs for the day in order, mark each one done with a photo, and the office watches progress on one screen.

Which package. Two types of user, drivers and the office, plus an admin screen and photo proof. That is the Business App: ₹40,000 – ₹2,00,000 in India · $3,000 – $10,000 outside India.

What would push it up. Live tracking on a map, routes planned automatically, customers getting a tracking link, or connecting to an existing order system. Live features and several connections are what the Growth App package is for: ₹3,00,000 – ₹10,00,000+ in India · $10,000 – $25,000+ outside India. Larger apps like this are built and priced in stages, so you can stop after any stage.

Example 3: an app someone else built, now broken

What it does. It already exists. It crashes on new phones, the last update was rejected, and the previous developer does not reply.

Which package. Start with the Existing App Audit and Recovery: ₹5,000 – ₹10,000 in India · $250 – $600 outside India. You get a written health check that says what exists, what is at risk and what to fix first. It also covers help moving the store accounts, keys and hosting into your company's name, where they can be moved.

What comes next. The fixes are priced after the report, in stages. Once the app is stable, the Ongoing Maintenance package keeps it working as phones and store rules change: ₹5,000 – ₹10,000 per month in India · $250 – $750 per month outside India.

What it costs to run

The package price is for building the app. Running it has its own costs, paid by you to the providers, in accounts in your company's name:

• Store accounts. Google Play charges a one-time US$25 fee for a developer account. The Apple Developer Program costs US$99 a year, and Apple says prices vary by region.
• Hosting and the backend. The servers and records that run the app. A small app often costs little; the bill grows with the number of people using it. We estimate it in the plan and set spending alerts.
• Messages, maps and payments. Text messages, email sending, maps and payment providers charge for what you use.
• Maintenance. Phones and store rules change every year. Either your own team keeps up, or a maintenance agreement does.

Ask for these as separate lines in any proposal, from us or anyone else. A quote that does not mention them has not removed them. It has just not told you.

How to get your own number

Write one paragraph: who uses the app, the one job it must do, and anything it must connect to. Send it to us and an engineer replies within one business day.

For the questions that move any app's price, with us or without us, read what decides the cost of a mobile app.