How much does an app cost in the UK?

The short answer

App prices vary more than almost anything else in digital work. Two quotes for the “same” app can be thousands of pounds apart, because the word “app” covers everything from a loyalty card on a phone to a booking system with staff logins, payments and a dashboard.

The easiest way to make sense of it is to sort apps into three levels.

Projects beyond that, such as marketplaces, apps with live video or anything handling medical or financial data, are priced individually and can run well into six figures with larger agencies.

What actually drives the cost

The price of an app comes down to how much has to be designed, built and tested. These are the factors that move it most.

Number of screens

Every screen needs designing, building and testing on different phones. A loyalty app might need six screens; a booking app with accounts, history and settings can easily need fifteen. Counting your screens on paper before you ask for quotes is one of the most useful things you can do.

Accounts and logins

As soon as customers have accounts, you need sign-up, login, password reset, account settings, and somewhere secure to store their data. That adds work and some UK GDPR responsibilities.

Payments

Taking card payments in an app means linking to a payment provider such as Stripe, handling refunds and failed payments, and following the app stores’ rules on what can be sold in-app. Apple and Google take a commission on some kinds of in-app purchase (typically digital goods and subscriptions), so check which rules apply to what you sell.

Admin tools for your team

Customers see the app; your team needs a way to manage it. An admin dashboard for bookings, orders, content or customers is often as much work as the customer-facing app.

Links to your existing systems

Connecting to your till, booking software, accounts package or CRM depends on whether those systems have a good API. A well-documented API makes it straightforward; an older system without one can add a lot.

Native or web

A native app is built for the App Store and Google Play. A web app (often called a progressive web app, or PWA) runs in the phone’s browser but installs to the home screen like an app. Web apps cost less because they are built once and need no store approval, but they have fewer phone features, and some features, such as push notifications on iPhone, have more limits.

Web app or App Store app?

A lot of small businesses assume they need to be in the App Store. Often they do not.

A web app is usually enough if:

• Customers mainly use it to book, order, check a loyalty balance or read information
• You can send people to it from your website, emails and QR codes
• You want to change things without waiting for store approval

An App Store app is worth it if:

• Customers will search the App Store or Google Play to find you
• You need deeper phone features such as background location, Bluetooth or advanced camera use
• Being in the stores matters for credibility in your market

A sensible route is to start with a web app, prove people use it, then move to the stores. Much of the work can carry over, particularly the back end: the database, the admin tools and the links to your other systems usually stay the same, and only the customer-facing screens need rebuilding for iPhone and Android.

There is also a middle option. Cross-platform tools such as React Native and Flutter let one codebase produce both an iPhone and an Android app. For most business apps this is cheaper than building two separate native apps, and the difference is rarely noticeable to customers. It is worth asking any developer which approach they plan to use and why.

The running costs people forget

The build is not the whole cost. Budget for these every year:

• Hosting and back-end services. Servers, databases, email and notification services. Often modest for a small business app, but it grows with users.
• Apple Developer Program. An annual fee (around £79 a year at the time of writing) to keep your app in the App Store.
• Google Play. A one-off registration fee.
• Updates. Apple and Google release new versions of iOS and Android every year, and apps need testing and updating to keep working and stay in the stores.
• Support and small changes. New features, fixes and content changes after launch.

A common rule of thumb is to set aside a percentage of the build cost each year for maintenance. The right figure depends on how much the app changes, so ask any developer for a written estimate of yearly running costs before you sign.

How to keep the cost down

• Write down the one job the app must do. Most first apps try to do too much. Launch with the core feature and add the rest once people are using it.
• Count your screens. A rough sketch of each screen on paper gives developers something concrete to price.
• Use what already exists. Payment providers, booking engines and login services save weeks of custom work.
• Start with a web app if the store is not essential.
• Ask for a fixed price, not an hourly estimate. Hourly quotes have a habit of growing.
• Get the ownership terms in writing. Code, store accounts and servers should be in your name.

Questions to ask before you sign

1. Is this a native app, a web app or a cross-platform app, and why that choice?
2. How many screens does the price include?
3. Is the admin dashboard included?
4. Who submits it to the App Store and Google Play, and is that in the price?
5. What will hosting and maintenance cost each year?
6. Who owns the code and the store accounts?
7. What happens if I want to change developer later?

Our 12 questions to ask a web design agency covers more of the same ground.

Where an app fits with your website

For many businesses, the first step is not an app at all but a better website with online booking or ordering built in. If your customers come back often, such as a café, gym, salon or trade with repeat customers, an app can earn its keep. If they buy once a year, your website will usually do the job for less. It also helps to know how much a website costs so you can compare the two honestly.

If you have an app idea and want a fixed price, see our app development page or send us a short description of what it needs to do. Full packages are on our prices page.