App development cost — what the price of an app depends on

App development cost depends on what the app has to do for your business. The biggest factors are who will use it, whether it runs on phones, in a browser or both, how many roles and screens it has, what it must connect to and what it needs after launch. So only someone who first asks about these things and then shows you a design can estimate the price honestly.

If you are pricing an app, you probably already know where your company loses time — orders arrive by e-mail and phone and get retyped into stock and then into invoices. You will not find specific amounts here, because without knowing your business they would only be a guess.

What does the cost of app development depend on?

An app is made of screens, rules and connections. The more of them there are, and the more ways people use the app, the more work goes into design, build and testing.

Who will use the app

An app for your customers has different needs from a tool for your own staff. Customers need to sign up, log in easily and find their way around without a manual. Because the app handles their personal data, you also have to meet your obligations under GDPR.

An internal tool can look simpler, but it has to fit exactly how your company works — how a job is assigned, who approves an invoice, when goods leave stock.

Phone, web or both

A web app runs in the browser, with nothing to install. A mobile app for iPhone and Android has to be prepared and tested on both kinds of phone and published on the App Store and Google Play. A web app for the office plus an app for people in the field means more work again. Our guide mobile app or web app looks at when each option pays off.

Roles and screens

A role decides what each person can see and do. A customer sees their own orders, a dispatcher sees every job, a technician sees only theirs and management sees the overviews. Each role means more screens, more permissions and more testing.

Our project Pyyno for residential buildings shows this well. A fault is reported from the phone, a technician takes it and the contractor confirms arrival — with a name and time at every step. Different people handle different steps, and roles like these need to be clear before anyone can price an app honestly.

Connections to your other systems

A connection ends the retyping. An order from your online shop appears in stock by itself, and the invoice in your accounting. The price depends on how many systems need connecting and how easy each one is. Some accounting software, stock systems and CRMs connect easily, others take more work, and this can be checked at the start.

Administration

Someone has to update price lists, add users, correct data and look at reports. That happens in the administration area — the part of the app your customers never see, but where your staff spend a lot of time. If a quote does not mention it, ask.

Launch and care afterwards

Costs do not stop on launch day. Data has to be moved over from spreadsheets or an old system, people need preparing for the new way of working, and a mobile app has to be published on the App Store and Google Play. After that come changes based on real use, updates for new iPhone and Android versions, and new features. Plan for these costs from the start.

How do you get an honest estimate?

An honest estimate needs both sides to be talking about the same app. The exact price and timeline depend on scope, so we do not start with a price list but with a meeting and a design proposal.

1. Meeting. We find out where your company loses time and what the new app should deliver.
2. Design. We show you how the app will look and work before anything is built.

Price and timing are then discussed against a concrete design, not a vague idea. Anything that does not suit you can still be changed before the build, and changing a screen in a design is far easier than reworking a finished app. The whole process is described in how an app gets built.

How can you keep app costs under control?

You have the most control over cost when you do not pay for things you do not need yet.

• Start with the part that saves the most. If your staff retype orders from e-mails into stock every day, start there.
• Build in parts. Each new part then builds on experience with the last one, not on guesses made before you started.
• Do not rebuild what already works. Accounting or an online shop you are happy with can often simply be connected to the new app.
• Put the nice-to-haves on hold. Every feature means design, build and testing, so decide what is essential now and what can wait.
• Have one person who makes decisions. When questions wait for answers, the build stands still.
• Check finished parts as they arrive. A misunderstanding caught early is far easier to fix than one found at the end.

What should you prepare before the first meeting?

You do not need a technical specification — just be ready to describe your business and what holds it up today.

• Where you lose time today — retyping orders, searching through e-mails, weekly reports put together by hand.
• Who will use the app — customers, office staff, technicians in the field, management.
• How things work today, step by step — from receiving an order to issuing the invoice.
• Sample documents — an order, a delivery note, an invoice, a price list or the spreadsheet you keep records in.
• The systems you use — accounting, stock, online shop, CRM, Excel spreadsheets.
• What is essential at the start and what can come later.
• Who on your side will make decisions and try out finished parts.
• A rough idea of your budget and of when you need the solution.

What are the red flags in an app development quote?

Quotes are hard to compare because each one describes something different. Watch out for these signs.

• An exact price with no questions asked. Anyone who names a sum before learning who will use the app and what it must connect to is guessing.
• A single sum with no breakdown. You cannot see what it covers — roles, screens, administration, integrations or publishing to the stores.
• No design before the build. You first see the app when it is finished, when changes cost the most.
• Everything delivered at the end. You see nothing finished along the way, so you cannot step in early.
• Silence about life after launch. Nobody says who will handle changes, new iPhone and Android versions or further development.
• Lots of jargon, little benefit. The quote lists technologies but never says what work the app will save you.
• Promises nobody can make. Instant approval on the App Store and Google Play, for example — that is the stores’ decision alone.

If you are choosing a supplier, see also how to choose a software development company.

Frequently asked questions

Can the price be given after the first phone call?

Not the exact price. Price and timing depend on scope, which only becomes clear in the meeting and the design proposal.

Is a web app cheaper than a mobile app?

There is no general answer — it depends on what the app must do and for whom. But every extra platform means extra work, because the web, iPhone and Android each need preparing, testing and looking after.

How we can help

Our app development work starts with a meeting to find out where your company loses time. We then show you a design, so you know exactly what will be built, and we show you finished parts as we go. If you are thinking about an app of your own, book a meeting with us.