How much does it cost to maintain an app

Published on September 23, 2026Updated on October 23, 20266 min read

There is a number repeated in articles on the subject: "maintenance costs this or that percentage of development". The problem is that the percentages vary a lot from one source to another and hardly ever say whether they are monthly or yearly. As an estimate, that is not very useful. It makes more sense to split the cost into three parts, because each behaves differently.

1. Fixed costs of being published

For the app to stay available, there are costs that do not depend on any new development: Apple's developer program is charged yearly, and a Google developer account requires a registration fee. Current prices are on the official pages of both companies and are paid directly to them. Add the domain and any certificates if the product has a web part.

2. Infrastructure, which varies with usage

Servers, databases, file storage, push notifications and email. For an app that is starting out, it is usually a modest cost; in many cases it fits the free or cheap tiers of cloud services. The point to watch is that this bill grows with success: more users, more data, more traffic. It is worth knowing the curve in advance, so you are not caught off guard in the month the product takes off.

3. Recurring work, which is the real cost

This is where most of the cost lies, and it is the part the percentages try to capture. Every year Apple and Google release new versions of their systems, change privacy rules and start requiring apps to be built with newer tools. The libraries the app uses evolve, and some stop being maintained. New devices arrive with different screen proportions. None of this is a feature request: it is the cost of continuing to exist.

• Mandatory platform updates: keeping up with the stores' yearly requirements so the app stays published and updatable.
• Library updates: keeping dependencies current, including for security.
• Bug fixes: what only shows up with real use, on real devices.
• Monitoring: tracking errors and crashes in production, to find them before users complain.
• Small improvements: adjustments requested by users that keep the product alive.

Ways to contract maintenance

• On demand: you call when needed and pay by the hour. Cheap when the app is stable; risky when something urgent happens and nobody has the context loaded.
• Monthly hour package: an agreed monthly volume, used for fixes and small improvements. It gives both sides predictability.
• Improvement cycles: set periods for building new features, separate from corrective maintenance.

How to plan for it in the budget

When hiring development, ask from the start how maintenance will work: who is responsible, in what format and with what response time. Ask the vendor to list what they consider maintenance and what they consider new development, because that boundary is where disputes start. And make sure the code, the keys and the store accounts are in your company's name: that is what lets you change vendors without losing the product.

Keep reading

• App development

  Includes improving apps that are already in production.

• How much does it cost to build an app?

  The cost of the first version.

• Pricing

  Reference prices for hosting and maintenance.