Web & AppJune 2, 2026 · 7 min
How much does it cost to build a mobile app in 2026?
VGVasu Gupta · Founder, Quickomate
The short answer
A simple mobile app MVP typically costs $15k to $40k, a standard product $40k to $100k, and a complex app with custom backends and integrations $100k and up. The biggest cost drivers are scope, whether you build for one platform or both, and how much custom backend you need.
"How much does an app cost" has the same honest answer as every build question: it depends on scope. Here are the real ranges.
The ranges
- Simple MVP (one core flow, clean UI): roughly $15k to $40k.
- Standard product (accounts, a few features, integrations): $40k to $100k.
- Complex app (custom backend, real-time, scale): $100k and up.
What moves the number
- One platform vs both: cross-platform tools (React Native, Flutter) can cover iOS and Android from one codebase and save a lot.
- Backend complexity: a simple app is cheap; real-time, payments, and heavy data are not.
- Design polish and the number of distinct screens.
How to spend less without regret
Build a tight v1 on a cross-platform stack, ship the one flow that matters, and expand from real usage. And make sure you own the code, a cheap build you can't maintain or move is the most expensive outcome there is.
Scope sets the price. A focused cross-platform MVP gets you to market for a fraction of a full custom build.
Want this for your team?
A free 30-min call. We map one of your workflows live.