---
title: "Mobile app development cost"
description: "Mobile app cost with goodtogrid: price bands for iOS and Android, from a first release to a connected product, plus store fees and upkeep after launch."
canonical: "https://goodtogrid.com/cost/mobile-app"
updated: "2026-10-02"
---

# Mobile app development cost

> Mobile app cost with goodtogrid: price bands for iOS and Android, from a first release to a connected product, plus store fees and upkeep after launch.

URL: https://goodtogrid.com/cost/mobile-app · Cost guide · Published: 2026-10-02 · Updated: 2026-10-02 · By goodtogrid studio

An app's budget is set early, by whether it needs both phones, a backend of its own, and features like offline or live updates. These are the bands we quote in.

- **Services:** UI/UX Design · Mobile Development
- **Range:** $5k to $50k+
- **Backed by:** 3 case studies · 3 concepts
- **Updated:** 2026-10-02

## Price bands

- **First release: $5k–$20k** (6–10 weeks). One cross-platform codebase, a handful of core screens, sign-in and one main job done well. Enough to put in front of real users and learn.
- **Connected product: $20k–$35k** (3–5 months). Its own backend, live data, push notifications, and a desk or admin view on the web, like the queue screen in the Clinic Queue App concept.
- **Platform: $35k–$50k+** (5–8 months+). Payments or a partner bank, offline sync, several user roles and the testing that money and personal data call for.

_Ranges in US dollars, before tax. A written quote follows the brief and the first call._

## What moves the price

- **One codebase or two.** Cross-platform builds each feature once for iOS and Android. Native means two codebases and close to twice the build.
- **Live and offline.** A screen that updates live, or a map that works without signal, needs sync, caching and careful edge cases.
- **The backend.** An app that only reads content is light. One that stores user data, sends push and talks to a partner system needs a server built and run alongside it.
- **Partners.** A bank, an e-wallet or a booking provider sets its own rules, review steps and timelines, and those land on the plan.
- **Store review.** Apple and Google review every release. Health, money and login flows get the closest look, so we plan time for it.

## What’s included

- Research sessions and written scope
- Flows, interface design and a design system
- Prototypes on a real phone
- The app for iOS and Android, and its backend when needed
- Store listing and release support
- Code in a repository you own

## After launch

- **Store accounts.** Apple charges a yearly developer fee and Google a one-time one. Both sit in your name.
- **Hosting and push.** The backend, database and notification service, usually a monthly cost that grows with users.
- **OS updates.** New iOS and Android versions arrive every year. Expect a round of checks and fixes for each.

## How we price an app

The first question is what the app has to do that a website can't. If the answer is little, we'll suggest a web app and a smaller budget.

When it does need to be an app, we price the first release around the one job people open it for, and keep a written list of what comes after.

## Related work

_Studio concepts: designed and built by the studio to show the approach, not client work._

- **[Clinic Queue App](https://goodtogrid.com/work/clinic-queue-app)** — Patient booking and a live queue for a clinic network. _Studio concept · Health · iOS · Android · 2026_
- **[Travel Planner](https://goodtogrid.com/work/travel-planner)** — Trip itineraries, bookings and offline maps. _Studio concept · Travel · iOS · Android · 2025_
- **[Savings Wallet](https://goodtogrid.com/work/savings-wallet)** — Goal-based savings and bill reminders. _Studio concept · Fintech · iOS · Android · 2025_

## Read next

- [Native vs cross-platform apps](https://goodtogrid.com/compare/native-vs-cross-platform) (Comparison) — Native or cross-platform for an iOS and Android app, side by side, with a verdict.
- [React Native development](https://goodtogrid.com/technology/react-native) (Technology) — One codebase for iOS and Android, and when we'd choose native instead.
- [Mobile app development](https://goodtogrid.com/services/mobile-app-development) (Service) — iOS and Android apps, from a prototype on a real phone to the store.

[Start a project](https://goodtogrid.com/start-new-project?service=uiux,mobile#brief) · [All cost guides](https://goodtogrid.com/cost)