How much it costs to build an iPhone and Android app

The cost of an iPhone and Android app depends on four things: what’s behind the screens, whether it’s built as one codebase or two, the store setup, and who owns the accounts and hosting. I don’t publish prices, because no two apps need the same work. I look at your idea or prototype first, then quote.

Below is what moves the cost, from small to large.

What’s behind the screens

The screens are the part people see. Most of the work is behind them:

• Logins, and different roles for different people.
• A database, with backups.
• Payments and subscriptions.
• Notifications on the phone.
• Emails and text messages sent from the app.
• Things that run while nobody has the app open, such as reminders.

The backend is usually the largest part of the job.

One codebase or two

Separate iPhone and Android apps are two apps to build, test and update.

I build one app in React Native with Expo. It runs on iPhone, Android and the web from one codebase, on one backend. Adding the second platform costs little more than the first, and every later change is made once.

The store setup

Phone apps need things a web app doesn’t:

• An Apple developer account and a Google Play developer account.
• Store listings: screenshots, a description and a privacy policy.
• Each store’s review before release, sometimes with a round of fixes.

A prototype lowers the cost

A working prototype, from Lovable, Replit or Bolt or anywhere else, lowers the cost. Working out exactly what an app should do and look like is usually about a third of the effort, and the prototype has done it.

Who hosts it, and whose accounts

I can host and run the app for you, which keeps the cost down. Or I can set it up in your own accounts, which costs significantly more but leaves you fully independent.

From small to large

• iPhone and Android apps for a web app that’s already built as one codebase.
• A new app built from your prototype, hosted on my servers.
• A new app with payments and notifications, set up in your own accounts.

How I quote

I look at the idea or prototype before I quote. Send me a link, or a few lines on what the app does and who will use it. We go through it on a call, then I send the quote.

FAQ

Is an iPhone-only app much cheaper? Not with one codebase. The Android app is the same app, so leaving it out saves little.

What do I pay for after it’s built? The Apple developer account renews every year. Hosting comes on top. Changes and new features after launch are quoted separately.

Can you give me a price without seeing anything? No. Two apps that look alike can need very different work behind the screens.

Can a vibe-coded prototype become the phone app? It becomes the specification, not the code. See turning your Lovable, Replit or Bolt app into an iPhone and Android app.