How Much Does It Cost to Build An App in 2025

The matter of positive ROI is something that’s discussed extensively before and after any development project launch. Why, at this stage, potential revenue is a matter of long-term strategic planning, costs to build an app can be calculated more precisely. So, what can the price of creating your app possibly be? 

In this blog post, I’ll share how much does it cost to make an app, based on its complexity, industry, type, and other cost-forming factors. Besides, I’ll provide how costs are actually distributed by development project phases and explore all the hidden expenses you may face throughout a project. 

Average Mobile App Cost Estimate

So, let’s figure out actual mobile app development costs based on three app types categorized by their complexity. 

#1 Simple apps

These are mostly smaller-sized applications that don’t have an API-driven integration of a third party. They intended to perform some simple, local tasks that don’t require data exchange with external software and have limited functionality overall. Simple apps are created with simple UI, often with the reuse of publicly available elements. 

Examples of simple apps: Currency calculators, planning apps, note-taking apps, to-do lists, stopwatch and timer apps, flashlight apps, basic weather apps, unit converters, basic fitness trackers, mood tracker apps.

Average timeline: 1-4 months

Average cost: $10,000-$50,000

Development success stories from my experience:

• Cameo. Cameo is a video editing application by DashDevs that allows to process videos via mobile devices easily. At its core, it’s a relatively simple solution that operates on users’ devices only without innovative functionality, integration, or internet connection needed. However, the DashDevs team entered the project after it had already been released, which probably cost the customer around the estimated simple app development price. 
• Thrasio. An e-commerce Amazon aggregator that provides deep analytics to customers. Thrasio, developed by the DashDevs team has a single integration with the Amazon platform respectively. Besides, it leverages a custom, yet simple UI/UX design. The app is informative in its nature and it has a narrow scope of functionalities, limited mostly to data analytics. Thrasio also leverages automation in data analytics, minimizing the number of user interactions needed. 

#2 Medium-complexity apps

It’s safe to claim that most of the everyday apps belong to the medium app complexity category. Such solutions typically offer more functionality than simple apps. Still, they are neither innovative nor utilize lots of hardware features that devices support. Normally, medium-complexity apps have a limited number of 3rd-party integrations driven via APIs. It’s often that medium apps have a diverse range of advanced and basic features and offer authorization options. They feature more complex UI design with animations. Medium-complexity apps don’t usually belong to the niche where certifications or licenses are required beyond partnership licenses in the case of 3rd-party integrations. 

Examples of medium-complexity apps: E-commerce apps, web marketplaces, food delivery apps, social media apps, event booking apps, multi-language content apps, fitness apps with workout plans, news aggregation apps, music streaming apps with basic playlists, appointment scheduling apps.

Average timeline: 4-9 months

Average cost: $50,000-$160,000

Development success stories from my experience: 

• Rila Estate. Rila Estate is a mobile real estate platform created by DashDevs. It’s probably on the expensive end of medium-complexity apps as it employs AI-powered functionalities and lots of custom features. Still, it’s more of an informative app with no complex regulatory compliance, which makes it fit the medium category. 
• Vidby Call Translator. This is an AI-driven solution for real-life translation of audio calls via Google Meet or Zoom developed by the DashDevs team. Vidby also leverages AI technology. Despite being a rather innovative solution with lots of integrations, Vidby doesn’t have customer UI/UX elements and screens, as it’s more of a plugin than an app. And, once again, no regulatory compliance presents difficulty here. 

#3 Complex apps

Once the scope of functionalities, integrations, certifications, and custom elements goes beyond a certain threshold, a project moves to a complex app category. Such solutions often feature real-time functionalities, like analytics or transaction processing. They are usually localized into several languages and have a suite of complex third-party integrations, IoT-driven functionalities, and AI support. Besides, some complex apps may even include AR/VR-driven features and most of such software solutions have enhanced, compared to medium-complexity app security options. 

Examples of complex apps: Super apps, global apps with localization, enterprise apps for business management, neobanking platforms, IoT-enabled apps, AI-powered personal assistants, AR/VR-enabled apps, healthcare platforms with telemedicine, logistics and fleet management apps, real-time trading and investment apps. 

Average timeline: 9+ months

Average cost: $160,000+

Development success stories from my experience: 

• Fintech Core by DashDevs. This white-label solution for neobanks is exactly such a complex application. It has extensive functionality and custom design and encompasses a variety of integrations. Moreover, it has its own banking API. 
• Tarabut. Tarabut is MENA’s first regulated open banking platform. With innovative developments and complex regulatory compliance, this solution by DashDevs also fits the complex app category. 

A comparison of apps of different complexity by average mobile app development cost is provided in the image below: Note. In the comparison, I assume that apps at each complexity level are developed by a full team with all the necessary expertise and experience. Apps have an average functionality and are developed using a standard tech stack. Even so, based on many factors listed below, the project quote may vary, so it’s necessary to research how much does it cost to make an app additionally. 

App Development Cost Influential Factors

Throughout my career, I’ve been consistently involved in direct communication with customers, including project quote negotiation sessions. Nearly every session touches upon the justification of application development cost. With this section, I aimed to share some common cost-forming factors and explain how they may potentially affect the cost of an abstract project. 

#1 App Platform

The platform refers to the operating system or environment the app is designed to run on. As a digital ecosystem or framework, an app platform is designed to support the creation, deployment, and management of applications. It provides developers with tools, services, and resources to build apps without worrying about the underlying infrastructure.

In mobile development, the following combinations are possible:

• Native development of an Android application
• Native development of an iOS application
• Native development of both Android and iOS applications
• Cross-platform development

Now, let’s get down to estimating how exactly a particular platform choice can affect how much does it cost to develop an app. 

Example: Let’s base calculations on an abstract, medium-complexity app. Provided that the development of two native applications, one for the Android and one for the iOS platform, is estimated to cost $100,000, the development of only one native application, either Android or iOS, may cost about $65,000. That’s because when developing two native applications, we can reuse some code and design and generally have already established processes, communication, and management. 

At the same time, provided that the application development cost in the case of two native apps is equal to $100,000, creating one cross-platform app would likely cost about $80,000-$100,000. That’s because cross-platform development is generally more complex. So, despite, once again, the reuse of code and not even having two project management processes running simultaneously, you may end up paying nearly the same cost, depending on the framework and the scope of functionalities. 

Note. Some cross-platform frameworks can happen to be more or less cost-effective. Examples are Flutter being, probably the most efficient, and Cordova-based frameworks being the least efficient. Besides, it’s worth noting that some native app features may be difficult to implement in cross-platform development, while some features involving device hardware can’t be implemented at all. 

Approximate costs based on app development platform or app type are summarized in the image below: 

#2 Size of Development Team and Timelines

I stick to the opinion that every project can have an optimal team composition, covering all necessary roles without unnecessary overhead. From this point of view, not having key development resources available is bad, but having more team members than necessary is not good either. However, sometimes customers decide to sacrifice the optimal team composition to, for example, accelerate development. How, in this case, such a decision would affect a mobile development project cost and timeline?

Let’s assume that we already have an optimal development team size and want to add more developers so they can, for example, develop features faster. It’s possible. However, adding developers to an already optimal team would result in reduced overall efficiency. That’s the catch? In simple words:

Increasing team size 2x and increasing respectively budget 2x does not result in a 2x shorter project timeline. 

The formula to calculate an approximate reduction in the project timeline is provided in the image below:

The formula utilizes the law of diminishing returns, which basically reveals the actual added value. In our scenario, added value is the decreased project timeline.

Example: Let’s consider the efficiency factor equal to 0.0695. The initial project timeline is 6 months, and the initial budget is 100,000. If we increase the budget to 130,000, then, based on the formula, the new timeline will be 5 months instead of 6 months.

Note: Efficiency factor (k) is hard to estimate. I recommend staying in the range of 0.6-0.8 for this value. However, in the best-case scenario, you may even end up having better efficiency and, therefore, a better extra expenses to reduced development timeline ratio. 

In my experience, we had a, let’s say, $100,000 project we had to complete within 6 months. When we were asked to reduce the development timeline, we managed to complete the project within 4 months only. The end project costs were $120,000. That would not be possible based on the formula, because k would be higher than 1, but that’s something that indeed happened. Possibly, that’s because additional developers had experience with similar projects they utilized here or because they also were from DashDevs, leading to streamlined communication and collaboration. There might be other positive factors involved as well. Besides, the project’s costs include other expense categories, such as developers’ rates, which affect the calculations.

#3 App Category

Let’s take several app categories by industry and find out how niches may affect final app development cost, taking health and fintech applications as a reference, with a default $100,000 in investments needed:

• Health and fitness application: $100,000
• Travel and hospitality application: $80,000
• Media application: $130,000
• E-commerce application: $80,000
• Fintech application: $200,000-$300,000

Such a drastic difference between, for example, a travel app and a fintech app, is because, above everything, fintech apps can hardly be medium-complexity or simple apps. Consider the number of integrations needed, license costs, security aspects, scalability, etc. Altogether, that’s exactly what makes a difference in mobile app development costs by their target industry. 

Note: Take into consideration that there are no two identical apps, and more complex travel and hospitality applications can easily be equal in expenses to a lower-end media application. The estimations are approximate and reflect the personal observations I obtained here at DashDevs, rather than rigid calculations.

#4 Features Included

In the section above we have already touched upon features as a cost-forming aspect that vary from app to app-based, among others, on the niche. So, we should elaborate on it. 

Let’s, for example, compare the scope of minimal features a travel and hospitality app, like a booking platform, should have against such a scope of a fintech application, like neobank:

Minimal scope of features in a booking application:

1. Search and filtering
2. Booking system
3. User profiles
4. Property listings
5. Push notifications

Minimal scope of feature in a neobank:

1. Account onboarding and KYC
2. Real-time balance and transaction tracking
3. Payment processing
4. Fraud detection and prevention
5. Regulatory compliance
6. Security protocols
7. Notifications and alerts
8. API integrations
9. Customer support integration

As you can observe, the difference is vast. At the same time, fully-fledged apps may have multiple levels of app complexity beyond what’s provided as an example. That is an absolutely crucial cost-forming factor, which is vital to understand to have an insight into how to create an app. 

#5 Design & Animation

For a better insight into how UI/UX design services translate into a mobile application development cost, let’s compare a basic app’s design scope and cost to a high-end app’s design scope and cost:

Minimal design 

• Static screens with standard UI elements
• No custom illustrations or animations
• Suitable for a simple app, such as a booking platform
• Approximate design cost: $5,000 - $10,000

Advanced design & animation

• Fully customized UI with branded illustrations
• Dynamic animations for onboarding, transitions, and interactions
• Responsive design for multiple devices
• Suitable for a complex app, such as a neobank
• Approximate design cost: $20,000 - $40,000

Hopefully, now you are able to estimate your approximate app development mobile project cost and how to make an app in general and are better prepared for price negotiation. 

#6 Outsourcing vs Outstaffing Collaboration Model

It’s safe to claim that outsourcing, i.e., when you delegate an entire project, and outstaffing, i.e., when you acquire developers to work on your project as your team, are both absolutely viable collaboration models. 

I recommend exploring how in-house development compares to the outstaffing model and outsourcing model in corresponding blog posts by DashDevs, so you understand the intricacies here better.

Below I provide a scope of scenarios that should indicate whether one or another model is a better choice. 

Outsourcing is more cost-effective when:

• Your in-house team lacks the required expertise.
• You don’t have an in-house team.
• Budget predictability is your priority.
• You work on short-term projects that require quick delivery.
• You want to focus on core business tasks while delegating the rest.
• Your project is fairly simple and can benefit from streamlined development.

Outstaffing is more cost-effective when:

• You have an in-house team but need external expertise or additional resources.
• You work on long-term projects that require continuous team scalability.
• You prefer to maintain direct control over the development process.
• Your project is related to sensitive areas like cybersecurity, and you want more restricted data access. 
• Your project is complex and can benefit from having a dedicated development team. 

What’s actually useful to note here is that choosing the wrong collaboration model adds up to the costs of a project. 

Example: If, as mentioned above, you have a flexible business model and are not willing to manage an outstaffed team of developers, doing so may result in up to 30% extra costs. That’s because of the efficiency you will lose at the project start and the expenses you will bear to start managing additional staff. So, if the project, once again, requires an investment of $100,000, choosing the wrong collaboration model may result in as much as $130,000 in expenses at the end of the day.

Application Development Cost Distribution

From my experience, allocation of funds depending on the project stage is an essential part of strategic project planning. A proper insight into distribution allows for better control over current and planned expenses and minimizes the risks of not having enough funds to finalize an app.

Check the approximate distribution of funds allocated for an app development project based on respective process stages in the infographics below: Here I can reveal that development, being the most time- and resource-intensive step, is accountable for almost half of the entire project’s expenses. It means that if anything happened to be wrong here, it would be the most costly failure. QA is normally calculated as a part of development, which would bring us to a total of 60%. However, for the easiness of splitting a project into steps, we decided to calculate it separately. 

At the same time, Business Analysis (BA) is easily one of the most overlooked steps, and many business owners tend to cut costs by minimizing the scope and depth of analysis. I advise against doing so as, from my experience, underresearched product development is nearly always a bad investment. Besides, even provided that a product idea is great, a lack of BA can result in considerable business risks related to other app development stages. 

Deployment may require the involvement of additional tech specialists, including DevOps. Depending on platforms, marketplaces, etc., where the product is to be released, preparation for deployment and its execution can be more or less resource-intensive. Usually, no more than 5-7% of the entire development cost. 

Design is probably the most flexible expense category, with development being second in that regard. The choice of design approaches and custom elements vastly affects the cost. Remember, the most essential part is creating the UI/UX design guidelines for a product. Cutting expenses on this aspect is strongly not recommended. 

Finally, project management is typically regarded as the least resource-consuming activity. However, if carried out inappropriately, it may result in significant additional expenses overall, so I advise paying close attention to this aspect regardless of its priority from the monetary point of view. 

You may be interested in examining the entire fintech app development process step-by-step, which is detailed in another blog post by a DashDevs expert. 

Hidden Factors Affecting Mobile App Development Costs

Aside from the mentioned factors forming an app development cost, there are several categories of hidden app development costs. They are either additional expenses that may be hard to estimate beforehand or costs associated with addressing one or another issue in web, desktop, or mobile app development. 

The DashDevs team thoroughly accesses all hidden development costs in the discovery phase. We aim to minimize uncertainty for our customers and provide a quote with a cost breakdown that is as accurate as possible. 

Now, let’s review all hidden app development costs you may face:

#1 Creating, maintaining, and scaling infrastructure 

Infrastructure costs encompass server hosting, databases, APIs, and cloud services. These expenses often scale with user growth and feature complexity, leading to higher app development costs over time. For instance, cloud service providers like AWS or Google Cloud offer scalable solutions, but costs can escalate rapidly if user demands or data processing requirements increase. Computing costs alone can escalate from $0.0058 an hour to $3 an hour with AWS, or $0.01 an hour to $3.79 an hour with Google Cloud respectively. 

#2 Technical support and maintenance

Post-release IT support is rarely included in an estimated app development project quote, and it’s regarded as an optional service. However, it’s worth accounting for maintaining and updating the app, which typically comprises about 10-20% of the initial mobile app development cost annually. 

#3 Licenses

Licenses for certifications, compliance standards like PCI DSS, or third-party software add costs to mobile app development. Establishing PCI DSS compliance alone may cost between $5,000 and $20,000 for a small organization and starting from $50,000 for a large enterprise. Ensuring compliance early in development avoids even more costly revisions later and helps avoid non-compliance fees that can range from $10 per month to $100,000 per month in case of card brand fines and security breaches. 

You may be interested in exploring compliance in the MENA region additionally to obtain extra insights into licensing and associated challenges. 

#4 App publishing fees

Publishing apps on platforms like Google Play or the App Store involves fees. For example, Google charges a flat $25 fee for registering a software product and a 15-30% service fee for each sale. Another example is Apple’s $99 annual developer program cost, without which developing a platform-compliant app is hardly possible. 

#5 Third-party integration fees

Using third-party APIs for payments, maps, or analytics is nearly obligatory in modern app development since they power up most of the must-have features. Still, it’s worth accounting for that many third-party providers charge flat, subscription, and usage-based fees. For example,  Google Maps platform charges $7 per 1,000 user requests. Stripe charges 2.9% + $0.3 per successful transaction. 

#6 App security

Ensuring robust app security, including encryption, authentication, and vulnerability testing, requires additional development resources. Basically, the need to include stronger security measures and update them over time is what may add up to additional costs during and after the active development phase. 

#7 Changes in the scope of requirements

Last but not least, among the hidden factors affecting web and mobile app development costs, are unanticipated changes in the project scope during the active app development phase. It’s safe to claim that any change directly results in replanning, reestimation, and development from scratch or maybe even redevelopment with cutting out the previously completed work included. Surely, it drastically increases the total application development cost.

Note. Among all the factors mentioned, changes in the scope of project requirements are the most significant, aside from potential non-compliance issues that may even result in project termination. When it comes to web or mobile development cost optimization, drafting initial requirements clearly and maintaining effective project management are top priorities and are often the client’s rather than the provider’s responsibility. 

Final Take

By now, you should have a better understanding how much does it cost to develop an app. In summary, in 2025, app development costs hinge on factors like an app’s complexity, platform, industry, and feature scope. Simple apps cost $10,000-$50,000, medium apps $50,000-$160,000, and complex apps $160,000+. Additional costs include design, infrastructure, maintenance, and licensing. 

Should you need a more accurate estimate of app development costs, consider sending a corresponding request to a trusted software development agency. As such, here at DashDevs, we can provide you with an accurate app development project quote and execute the development end-to-end. With more than 14 years of experience and over 500 projects under our belt, we can ensure both high-end and cost-effective product delivery. 

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