Articles
How much does it cost to build an app?
The honest answer is "it depends", but it is possible to explain exactly what it depends on. This article lists what changes the price of an app, which costs are fixed and what to ask before signing.
7 min read
Anyone looking up the price of an app finds two extremes: pages promising an app for a few hundred reais and agencies that only answer after an hour-long meeting. Neither helps you decide. What helps is understanding how the cost is structured, because then you can compare proposals and, above all, adjust your own scope to the budget you have.
Why there is no price list
An app is not an off-the-shelf product, it is a project. Two apps with the same number of screens can cost very different amounts if one of them needs to work offline, sync when the connection returns and integrate with the company's ERP. The effort lies in the rules and the integrations, not in the number of screens, which is why any fixed price list is either too expensive for the simple project or turns into change requests on the complex one.
What really changes the price
- Is there a back end? If an API already works, the app uses what exists. If not, someone has to build the server, the database and the admin area, which can easily double the project.
- How many user profiles? An app with one kind of user is one project. With customer, operator and administrator, every screen gets variations, permissions and tests.
- Which integrations? Payments, invoicing, maps, social login, ERP, CRM. Each integration brings documentation, a test environment and a vendor on the other side that you do not control.
- Does it work offline? Storing data on the device and syncing later is one of the most expensive parts of an app, and one of the most common in field operations.
- Does it need device features? Camera, barcode scanning, background GPS, biometrics, Bluetooth. Some are simple; others require platform-specific native code.
- Who does the design? A project that arrives with a ready prototype moves faster than one that has to design everything during development.
- What is the deadline? A short deadline does not make code get written faster: it raises the cost, because it requires more people in parallel or hours outside the normal pace.
Costs that are not development
Part of the budget does not go to the people writing code, and it is good to know that upfront. Publishing on the App Store requires the Apple Developer Program, charged yearly; publishing on Google Play requires a one-time registration fee per developer account. Current prices are on the official Apple and Google pages, and you pay them directly. The account should be in your company's name.
Then there is infrastructure: servers, databases, push notifications, transactional email and file storage. For a young app this is usually small and grows with usage, but it is a monthly cost, not a one-time expense.
How to spend less without ruining the project
- Cut scope, not quality. The first version must solve a whole problem for one kind of user, not half a problem for three.
- Postpone what is still a hypothesis. A feature nobody asked for is the most expensive part of a project, because it costs twice: to build and to maintain.
- Use one codebase for Android and iOS when the app allows it. That is the case for most business and service apps.
- Use ready-made services for what is not your differentiator: authentication, notifications, payments. Building from scratch what already exists is money with no return.
- Start with the flow that brings in revenue or cuts costs. It pays for the next stages.
How to ask for quotes you can compare
Send the same text to every vendor and ask for answers in the same structure. Describe who will use the app, what that person needs to be able to do, what already exists (system, API, prototype, visual identity) and the desired timeline. Ask the proposal to state explicitly what is included, what is not, who owns the code, who publishes to the stores and what happens after delivery.
And in your case?
AC Alcateia works with a trimmed scope. The first conversation, free of charge, is for understanding the problem. Then the technical assessment, a paid step (R$ 250), defines the smallest first version that already solves something real and brings an initial estimate. The proposal comes in writing, with what is included. If your case is better solved by a ready-made product, you will hear that in the conversation.
Frequently asked questions
Can an app be built on a small budget?
It depends on what you call an app. A small budget usually fits a well-trimmed first version that solves a single flow, backed by ready-made services for authentication and notifications. What does not fit is a complete product with several areas, integrations and access profiles. Trimming the scope is the only honest lever.
App or website: which is cheaper?
In most cases a website or web system is cheaper, because it is a single codebase, it does not go through store review and it updates instantly. An app is justified when you need device features, offline use, push notifications or a place on the home screen of people who use it every day.
Why do quotes for the same project vary so much?
Almost always because they quote different scopes. One includes the back end, another assumes it exists; one includes publishing and follow-up, another delivers the code and stops. That is why it is worth asking for the list of what is included and what was left out.
Keep reading
- App development
How an app project works from start to finish.
- How much does it cost to maintain an app
The cost that shows up after launch.
- React Native or native development?
The technology decision that most affects the budget.
Request a quote
Want to apply this to your project?
Tell us what the app needs to do. The first conversation is free.