Mobile App Development Cost in 2026: Real Ranges by Scope
What a mobile app costs to build in 2026 by route: store fees, no-code, one engineer, or a custom build at $15K to $50K. Dated table and what moves the number.
Jul 4, 2025
Mobile App Development Cost in 2026: Real Ranges by Scope
Short answer: a mobile app built by a senior team costs $15,000 to $50,000 for a launched first version on iOS and Android: one core flow, accounts, one or two integrations, a backend in your own cloud, both stores. Apps with payments, offline data, several integrations or more than one user type run $50,000 to $100,000. After launch, $5,000 to $10,000 per month keeps it shipping if you do not have engineers. Those are KUMO's published bands. The fixed fees and platform prices below were read from the vendors' own pages on 29 September 2026.
For a range on your own idea, the AI development cost calculator takes about a minute.
Mobile app cost in 2026, by route
| Route | What you get | Cost | Source, checked 29 Sep 2026 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fees every app pays | Apple Developer Program; build and update tooling | Apple: $99 per year, 30% commission on digital sales (15% in the Small Business Program). Expo EAS: Free, $19 or $199 per month plus usage | developer.apple.com/programs; expo.dev/pricing |
| No-code app builder, built by you | A web and native mobile app on the platform's terms | Bubble: Starter $59, Growth $209, Team $549 per month, billed annually, plus your time | bubble.io/pricing |
| AI coding tool, built by you | A prototype in days; production readiness depends on a review before real users | Subscription plus a paid review | See the readiness review linked below |
| One US employee engineer | One developer, no design, QA or backend cover | Median software developer wage $135,980 per year before benefits and recruiting | US Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Outlook Handbook, May 2025 wage |
| First production version, senior team (KUMO Starter Build) | One core flow, accounts, one or two integrations, designed screens, both stores, your backend, code yours from day one | $15,000 to $50,000, typically 2 to 3 months | KUMO published band |
| Multi-system or regulated app (KUMO) | Payments, offline sync, several integrations, several user types, audit and compliance | $50,000 to $100,000 | KUMO published band |
| Ongoing engineering after launch (KUMO) | Features, OS upgrades, store compliance, monitoring | $5,000 to $10,000 per month | KUMO published band |
Why "how much does an app cost" has no single answer
The same feature list can cost three times more or less depending on six things. Ask any quote which of them it has assumed.
1. One codebase or two. A cross-platform build (React Native, Flutter) covers iOS and Android from one codebase and is where most business apps should start. Two native codebases roughly double the front-end work and are justified by heavy graphics, deep hardware use or a very large existing team. React Native vs Flutter vs native cost compares them on the same scope.
2. Offline. An app that must work without signal and sync later needs local storage, conflict handling and tests for every failure order. It is the largest single jump inside a band.
3. The backend. Accounts, data, notifications and integrations live on a server. A quote without a backend line is not a whole quote, and the backend should run in your cloud account, not the agency's.
4. Who logs in. Customers, staff and administrators with different permissions multiply screens and tests.
5. Payments and regulated data. In-app purchases follow store rules and commission; card payments follow the processor; health, financial or children's data brings storage and consent rules.
6. Design. Apps compete on the store listing. Customer-facing apps need designed screens; internal tools can be plainer.
Three quotes for the same app
- $10,000 to $18,000: template screens, one user type, online only, hosted on the agency's backend. Fine for a validation build; ask what it costs to take the code and backend into your own accounts later.
- $35,000 to $45,000: the brief as written, designed, with your own backend, two integrations, both stores and a handover. Where most first versions land.
- $100,000 and up: the full roadmap as one project. Sometimes right; usually two phases with real users between them is cheaper and better.
Compare quotes on what is in writing: scope in and out, ownership of code and store accounts, the backend and where it runs, timeline with milestones, and the price of a change. How to compare software proposals has the checklist; what to build first in your MVP helps cut the brief to a first version.
What the Starter band buys at KUMO
A KUMO Starter Build ($15,000 to $50,000) is a launched first version, not a prototype: one core flow end to end, accounts and roles for one or two user types, one or two integrations, designed screens, a backend deployed into your own cloud account, submission to both stores under your developer accounts, and a handover another engineer can continue from. Two to three months is typical. Code and accounts are yours from day one.
KUMO builds mobile products in React Native; Klickie and Kaft are examples. How the engagement works is on web and mobile development. If you are a founder without a technical partner, the technical co-founder alternative explains how a fixed-scope build compares with giving up equity.
Costs after launch
Budget from month one for the store and tooling fees, backend hosting (tens to low hundreds of dollars a month at Starter scale), third-party services (maps, push, analytics, payments), and engineering time for OS releases, store requirement changes and customer requests. Without engineers of your own that is the $5,000 to $10,000 per month band, or a smaller retainer once the app is stable. Software maintenance cost in year one breaks it down.
How to get a real number in a week
- One page: who uses the app, the one flow that must work on day one, offline or not, the systems it talks to, and what is out of version one.
- Run it through the cost calculator.
- Send the same page to two or three teams and ask for scope, ownership, backend, timeline and the price of a change, in writing.
- Prefer the quote that answers all five, even if it is not the lowest.
To have that page scoped with you, book a free 30-minute call with an engineer.
FAQ
How much does it cost to make an app in 2026? $15,000 to $50,000 for a launched first version on both stores with a senior team; $50,000 to $100,000 with payments, offline data, several integrations or several user types; $5,000 to $10,000 per month afterwards without your own engineers. A no-code build costs from $59 per month plus your time.
How much does it cost to publish an app? The Apple Developer Program is $99 per year with a 30% commission on digital sales (15% in the Small Business Program), read 29 September 2026. Build tooling such as Expo EAS runs from free to $199 per month plus usage.
How much does app maintenance cost per year? For a Starter-scale app without in-house engineers, plan on $5,000 to $10,000 per month of engineering when the app is actively growing, or a smaller retainer once stable, plus hosting and third-party services.
Is it cheaper to build an app yourself? In cash, yes: a no-code platform or an AI coding tool costs a subscription. The cost is your time and the platform's limits, and a paid production review before customers use it.
How long does it take to build a mobile app? Two to three months for a Starter Build from scoped brief to both stores. Offline sync, payments and multiple user types extend it.
Last verified 29 September 2026. Apple, Expo and Bubble prices read from their own pages that day; the software developer median wage from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics. KUMO bands are KUMO's published prices.
