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App Development Cost Calculator

"How much does an app cost?" is one of the hardest questions to get a straight answer to — most agencies won't quote until you've had three meetings. Choose what you're building below and get an honest cost range and timeline instantly, based on real 2026 UK agency day rates. Free, no signup.

What are you building?

Pick the closest. You can refine with the features below.
Two native builds cost roughly 60% more than one shared codebase.
London day rates run 30–50% above the rest of the UK.

Estimated cost

Design and build
£0 – £0
Realistic timeline
0 weeks
Developer days
0
Yearly upkeep after launch
£0 – £0
Day rate assumed
£0

Ranges are honest, not evasive — the spread is real uncertainty about scope. A fixed-price quote comes after one short discovery call.

Get a fixed-price quote How we build apps

How this estimate is worked out

Agencies quote in developer days multiplied by a day rate, so that's exactly what this does — no hidden model. Your app type sets a baseline number of days, your platform choice scales it (two native codebases is close to two builds; one cross-platform codebase is not), design level adjusts it again, and each feature you tick adds its own range of days on top.

(base days × platform × design + feature days) × UK day rate = cost range

The day rates come from published 2026 UK market data: roughly £350–£550 a day outside London and £600–£900 in London for mid-to-senior agency work. The resulting totals line up with the price bands UK agencies publish — about £10k–£30k for a simple app or MVP, £30k–£80k for a standard business app, and £80k–£300k or more for a complex platform.

Two honest caveats. First, this is design and build only — it excludes hosting, app store fees, third-party subscriptions, and maintenance, which typically runs 15–25% of the build cost every year for a live app. That's shown separately above. Second, no calculator can price a project it hasn't seen; treat the range as a budgeting sanity check, not a quote. If the number matters, have the conversation.

Reading this because you're weighing up whether to build at all? Our guide to what an app really costs in the UK covers what drives the number, and custom software vs off-the-shelf is worth reading before you commit to building anything.

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// frequently asked

App Costs — Questions & Answers

As a 2026 guide: £10,000–£30,000 for a simple app or MVP covering one core workflow, £30,000–£80,000 for a standard business app with accounts, a backend and a couple of integrations, and £80,000–£300,000 or more for a complex platform with heavy integrations, regulated data or real-time features. The calculator on this page turns those bands into a number for your specific feature list.
Because anyone quoting a single number before seeing your requirements is guessing. The spread between the low and high figure is genuine uncertainty about scope, edge cases and design detail. A proper fixed-price quote comes after a discovery conversation — that is the point at which the range collapses to one number.
Three things dominate: how many separate codebases you need (native iOS plus native Android is close to two builds), how much backend and integration work sits behind the screens, and how much of the detail is genuinely custom rather than standard. Design polish and compliance requirements matter too, but they are usually a smaller share than people expect.
Usually, yes. One React Native or Flutter codebase serving both iOS and Android typically costs 35–45% less than two separate native builds, and most business apps will never notice the difference. Native still wins when you need heavy graphics, deep OS integration, or the very best possible performance.
It covers design and build. It excludes ongoing running costs — hosting, app store fees, third-party subscriptions — and maintenance, which for a live app typically runs 15–25% of the original build cost per year. Budget for that from day one: an app is not a one-off purchase.
Yes, and we usually recommend it. Ship a genuinely useful first version covering your single most important workflow, put it in front of real users, then invest in the next phase based on what they actually do. It de-risks the spend and almost always produces a better product than building everything up front.
Yes — London day rates typically run 30–50% above the rest of the UK for equivalent seniority. The calculator lets you switch between the two so you can see the difference. Higher rates are not automatically worse value, but it is worth knowing before you shortlist.

Want a real quote instead of a range?

Tell us what you're building and we'll come back with a fixed-price quote — usually within 24 hours, and always before any work starts.

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