How much does it cost to build a mobile app in India?

Nobody likes the answer "it depends", so this guide explains exactly what it depends on. By the end you should be able to look at any quote and see what you are paying for, and to write a requirement that gets you a fixed number instead of a range.

What an app quote is actually made of

Almost all of the cost of an app is people's time. A quote is an estimate of engineering, design and testing hours, multiplied by whoever is doing the work. That is why the same feature list can come back at very different prices: a five-person agency with a project manager and a sales team is pricing in all of those salaries, a single engineer is pricing in one.

The fixed costs that nobody can waive are small and worth knowing precisely:

• Apple Developer Program: 99 USD per membership year, paid to Apple, needed to publish on the App Store.
• Google Play developer account: a one-time 25 USD registration fee.
• Testing before launch on Play: a new personal Google Play account must run a closed test with at least 12 testers opted in continuously for 14 days before it can apply for production access. That is calendar time to plan for, not money.
• A D-U-N-S number if you enrol with Apple as a company rather than an individual. Apple explains how to get one free; it can take a couple of weeks.

Everything beyond that is the build itself.

The five things that move the price

1. How many platforms, and how they are built

An iOS app and an Android app written separately in Swift and Kotlin are two codebases, two sets of bugs and two developers. Written once in React Native, one codebase ships to both stores. For a business app without heavy 3D or hardware work, this roughly halves the engineering and is the first thing to ask any vendor about.

2. The number of screens and what each one does

A screen that shows a list is cheap. A screen with a form, validation, offline saving and image upload is not. Count the screens, then ask which ones are "show" and which are "do". The "do" screens are where the hours go.

3. Whether the app needs a backend

An app that only displays information can be nearly backend-free. An app with user accounts, bookings, payments, chat or anything two people share needs a server, a database, authentication and an admin panel. Serverless AWS (Lambda, DynamoDB, Cognito) keeps the running cost near zero at low traffic, but the build effort is real and often equals the app itself.

4. Third-party integrations

Payments, maps, SMS and WhatsApp notifications, push notifications, analytics, a CRM. Each one is a few days of work and a permanent dependency that can change its API. Integrations are the most common reason a "simple" app doubles in scope.

5. Design depth

Adapting a clean, standard interface is fast. An original visual design with animation and brand illustration is a separate design project. Both are legitimate; they are different budgets, and a quote should say which one it includes.

What it costs to run after launch

• Store fees: Apple charges a reduced 15% commission on paid apps and in-app purchases for developers earning up to 1 million USD a year through its Small Business Program. Google Play charges 15% on the first 1 million USD of annual revenue outside the EEA, UK and US. If your app is free and sells nothing inside it, neither fee applies.
• Hosting: a serverless backend on AWS costs almost nothing until you have real traffic. AWS Amplify hosting's free allowance, for example, covers 1,000 build minutes, 5 GB stored and 15 GB served per month before any charge.
• Maintenance: iOS and Android each ship a major release every year, and both stores periodically require apps to target newer SDK versions. Budget for a few days of engineering a year just to stay current.

How to get a real number instead of a range

Write down, in plain language, the screens and what each one does, who logs in, what has to be stored, what must connect to something else, and whether you need iOS, Android or both. Send that. At UgeWorks that requirement gets a free 30-minute call and a fixed written quote within 24 hours. A vendor who quotes without asking these questions is guessing, and the guess will be revised later at your expense.

Questions people ask

Sources

1. Apple Developer Program enrollment — 99 USD per membership year
2. Google Play Console registration fee — US$25 one-time registration fee
3. Google Play closed testing requirements for new personal accounts — 12 testers, 14 consecutive days
4. Apple D-U-N-S number support
5. App Store Small Business Program — 15% commission under 1 million USD
6. Google Play service fees — 15% on the first 1 million USD
7. AWS Amplify pricing — free tier allowances