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App development cost calculator
Pick what you're building and get a typical market range for cost and timeline — by features, team region and stage. Every assumption is shown below, so you can check our maths against any proposal you receive.
How we calculate this
Effort is estimated in hours, then priced at a blended hourly rate for the team's region. Every figure is a low–high range, and the low end is always paired with the low end. These are conservative, industry-typical planning ranges for a small agency or studio team — not results from a single survey, and not CodeNicely's prices.
hours = (base build + features + integrations + compliance)
× design factor × (1 + QA & project management) × stage factor
cost = hours × blended hourly rate for the region
weeks = hours ÷ weekly team throughput
| Mobile app (iOS + Android) | 520–900 |
| Web app | 400–750 |
| Mobile + web app | 800–1,350 |
| Two-sided marketplace | 900–1,500 |
| SaaS platform | 700–1,200 |
| Internal tool / back-office | 300–600 |
| AI feature or agent | 300–650 |
| User accounts & login | 40–90 |
| Payments | 60–140 |
| Real-time chat or tracking | 100–220 |
| Admin dashboard | 80–180 |
| AI / LLM features | 120–300 |
| Offline mode | 80–200 |
| Multiple languages | 40–100 |
| Each third-party integration | 30–80 |
| HIPAA | 120–300 |
| SOC 2 readiness | 100–250 |
| PCI DSS | 60–160 |
| GDPR | 40–100 |
| Design: Template / design system | +5–8% |
| Design: Custom design | +15–22% |
| QA & project management | +25–35% |
| MVP (launchable first version) | ×1 |
| Full version 1 | ×1.6–1.9 |
| US / UK / Western Europe | $100–$175 |
| Eastern Europe | $45–$80 |
| Latin America | $40–$75 |
| India | $25–$50 |
| Team throughput | 120–170 delivery hours/week (about 3–5 people) |
| Currency | Fixed approximate conversion rates, for orientation only |
Not included: app-store and hosting fees, third-party licences, paid compliance audits, content, marketing, and ongoing maintenance (commonly planned at 15–20% of the build cost per year).
Frequently asked questions
How much does it cost to build an app?
It depends mostly on scope and where the team is. This calculator multiplies estimated effort (a base build of 520–900 hours for a cross-platform mobile app, plus features) by blended hourly rates that range from $25–$50 in India to $100–$175 in the US, UK and Western Europe. Choose your features above to see a range for your product.
Why is the estimate a range instead of a single number?
Before discovery, nobody knows the exact scope: how edge cases are handled, which integrations misbehave, how quickly feedback comes back. A range that pairs low effort with low rates and high effort with high rates is more honest than a single figure, and it is the shape a good vendor's estimate should take before discovery.
Which features make an app more expensive?
Anything that has to stay correct under failure. In this model, real-time chat or tracking adds 100–220 hours and payments add 60–140 hours, because both need delivery guarantees and careful handling when something fails halfway. Compliance requirements such as HIPAA or SOC 2 readiness add controls, logging and evidence on top.
How much more does a full version 1 cost than an MVP?
This calculator applies a factor of 1.6–1.9× for a full version 1 compared with an MVP, covering the edge cases, polish, reporting and secondary features an MVP deliberately leaves out. Launching an MVP first and letting real usage decide the rest is usually cheaper overall.
Is this a quote from CodeNicely?
No. It shows typical market ranges so you can sanity-check proposals and plan a budget. For a real quote, CodeNicely runs a short discovery and returns a fixed scope with a price — use the "Get a real quote" button with your selections attached.
Go deeper
Our cost and timeline guides break down specific builds line by line, and the partner-selection guides cover how to read the proposals you get back.