How Much Does App Development Cost in the UK?
Published UK data puts a simple app or MVP at about £10,000 to £25,000 at the low end, with most quotes between £15,000 and £40,000. Price rises with the number of screens, user accounts, payments, integrations and whether you build for iOS and Android. Budget too for app store fees, hosting for the back end, and updates after launch.
App development quotes in the UK vary more than almost any other digital service. A booking app for one salon and a marketplace with payments, chat and two kinds of user are both “an app”, but one can cost several times the other.
This guide sets out the published UK price bands, what drives a quote up, the costs that come after launch, and how to keep a first version within budget. Every figure links to its source. None of them is a Hostlyx price.
What apps cost to build in the UK
| What you are building | Typical UK price | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Simple app or MVP, low end | £10,000 to £25,000 | Magora |
| Most simple app quotes | £15,000 to £40,000 | Softomate |
These figures come from UK development companies that publish pricing guides, so treat them as indicative. Apps with complex back ends, many user roles or heavy integration work sit well above these bands.
For context, Indian developers publish much lower figures for comparable scope: about ₹50,000 to ₹2 lakh for a simple app and ₹5 to 15 lakh for a mid-range one (Zartek). Our guide to outsourcing development to India sets out the trade-offs honestly.
What drives the cost of an app
Number of screens and user journeys
Each screen needs design, building and testing. Ten screens with simple forms take far less time than ten screens with maps, live data and custom animation.
User accounts and roles
Sign-up, sign-in, password reset and profiles are a project in themselves. Two kinds of user, such as customers and staff, or buyers and sellers, roughly doubles the number of journeys to design.
Payments
Taking money in an app means payment provider integration, receipts, refunds and, for digital goods, the app stores’ own purchase systems and commission rules.
Back end and admin panel
Most apps need a server, a database and an admin area where your team manages content, users and orders. This is often a large part of the cost, and it is easy to leave out of an early estimate.
Integrations
Connecting to booking systems, CRMs, accounting software, maps or hardware adds time, especially if the other system’s API is poorly documented.
iOS, Android or both
Building two separate native apps costs more than one cross-platform app. Cross-platform frameworks such as Flutter and React Native share one codebase across both stores.
Design
A design based on standard platform components is quicker than a fully custom visual design with bespoke illustrations and motion.
Native, cross-platform or web app
The type of app you build affects cost as much as the features do.
| Native (Swift for iOS, Kotlin for Android) | Cross-platform (Flutter, React Native) | Web app (runs in the browser) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Codebases | Two | One | One |
| App store listing | Yes | Yes | No |
| Device features | Full access | Most, through plugins | Limited |
| Push notifications | Yes | Yes | Limited on some devices |
| Store fees and review | Yes | Yes | None |
| Relative build cost | Highest | Lower | Usually lowest |
For most small business apps, cross-platform is the practical middle ground. A web app is worth considering first if you need to prove demand before paying for store apps.
How an app project is usually staged
Breaking a project into stages lets you check progress and spend in steps rather than all at once.
- Discovery. Agree the users, journeys, features and what is out of scope. The output is a written specification.
- Design. Wireframes, then visual designs for each screen, approved before building starts.
- Build. The app, back end and admin panel, delivered in working increments you can test on your phone.
- Testing. Real devices, edge cases, and a small group of real users if possible.
- Store submission. Listings, screenshots, privacy details and review by Apple and Google.
- Support. Fixes, monitoring and the first round of improvements once real users arrive.
Ask for a price and a sign-off point at each stage. If the relationship is not working after discovery or design, you can stop with something useful in hand.
Costs after launch
The build is the start. Plan for these running costs from day one.
| Cost | What it is | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Apple Developer Program | US$99 a year | Apple |
| Google Play Console | US$25 one-time registration fee | Google Play Console Help |
| App Store commission | 15% on paid apps and in-app purchases for Small Business Program members with up to US$1 million in annual proceeds | Apple Small Business Program |
| Back-end hosting | Servers, database and file storage, priced by usage | Your hosting or cloud provider |
| Maintenance | Fixes, operating system updates, security patches | Your developer |
Apple and Google release new operating system versions regularly, and apps need updating to keep working well and to meet store requirements. Ask any developer how they price ongoing maintenance before you sign the build contract.
How to keep a first version affordable
The surest way to control cost is to build less, then add features once real users show you what they need.
- Write down the one job the app must do well. Everything else is a candidate for version two.
- List the user journeys, not features: “a customer books a slot and pays a deposit” is clearer than “booking module”.
- Choose cross-platform unless you have a specific reason for native.
- Use proven services for sign-in, payments, notifications and email rather than building them.
- Keep the admin panel simple at first.
- Consider a web app if your users are mostly at a desk, or if you need to test demand. See our web development services.
- Agree a fixed price for a fixed scope, with milestones and a clear change process.
- Make sure you own the code and the store accounts. The Apple and Google developer accounts should be in your company’s name.
Questions to ask an app developer
- Will you build native or cross-platform, and why for this project?
- What does the quote include: design, back end, admin panel, testing, store submission?
- Who owns the source code, and when does ownership pass to us?
- How do you handle personal data, and will you sign a UK GDPR processor contract?
- What happens after launch, and how is maintenance priced?
- Can we see apps you have published and speak to the client?
How Hostlyx builds apps
Hostlyx is a Zorixo Services company. Our delivery team is in Bengaluru, India, and UK customers are invoiced in GBP by Zorixo Ventures Ltd, a UK company, through Stripe. We build mobile apps and web apps, and can host the back end and run the marketing website alongside. Our UK app developers page explains how a project runs.
If you have an idea or a written brief, send it to us. We will reply with a fixed written quote in GBP that sets out the scope, the platforms, what happens after launch, and who owns what.