"How much is an app?" is a bit like "how much is a building?" A garden office and a block of flats are both buildings. So the first honest thing any developer can tell you is a range, and then help you work out where in that range your idea actually sits.

Here are realistic UK figures for 2026, then the things that decide where you land.

The short answer

Broadly, for a native mobile app built properly by a UK team:

  • Simple app, roughly £8,000 to £20,000. One platform, a handful of screens, no user accounts, data mostly held on the phone or pulled from a single source. Think a well made tool, guide, or single-purpose utility.
  • Standard app, roughly £20,000 to £60,000. User accounts and login, a backend and database, payments or subscriptions, push notifications, a few integrations. This is where most genuinely useful business apps sit.
  • Complex app, £60,000 and up. Multiple user types, real-time features, heavy integrations, both iOS and Android, ongoing product work rather than a one-off build.

Those are build figures. The number that catches people out is not the build, it is everything after it, which we come to below.

A cheap app that nobody can use costs more than a considered one that does a single job brilliantly.

What actually drives the cost

One platform or two

iOS and Android are two different builds under the hood. Doing both roughly increases the work, and the testing, and the ongoing maintenance. A lot of businesses are better starting on one platform where their customers actually are, proving the idea, then adding the second. Building both from day one because it feels more complete is one of the commonest ways to double a budget for no early return.

Does it need accounts and a backend

An app that works entirely on the phone is far cheaper than one that needs logins, a server, a database and an admin side to manage it all. The moment users have accounts, you also inherit password resets, data protection, and a place for that data to live and be backed up. It is worth it when the app genuinely needs it, and pure cost when it does not. Our own beach conditions app, Strandline, deliberately does most of its work on the phone with no account at all, which keeps it fast, private and cheaper to run.

Payments, subscriptions and integrations

Taking payments, running subscriptions, or wiring the app into other systems (your website, your CRM, a booking tool, an accounts package) all add real work. Each integration is a moving part someone else controls, so it needs building and then maintaining as those services change.

Design and polish

The gap between "it works" and "it feels good to use" is real design time, and it is usually the difference between an app people keep on their phone and one they delete in a week. It is not the place to cut if the app matters to your business.

The costs people forget

The build is the headline. These are the numbers that decide the true cost of owning an app:

  • Apple Developer Program: around £79 a year to publish on the App Store. Google Play is a one-off fee.
  • Ongoing maintenance: Apple and Google release new operating systems every year, and an app that is not maintained will eventually break or be removed. Budget for updates, not just the build.
  • Backend hosting: if the app has a server and database, that has a monthly cost that scales with use.
  • Support and small changes: the requests that arrive once real people are using it. This is a good sign, but it is not free.

A fair way to think about it: a serious app is not a purchase, it is a small ongoing product. Price it that way and there are no nasty surprises in year two.

Do you even need an app?

This is the most valuable question and the one a good studio will ask you first. A modern website works on every phone, needs no download, and costs a fraction of a native app. For a lot of businesses, a sharp mobile-friendly website is the right answer, and an app would sit unused. We wrote a separate guide on this exact decision: website, app or CRM, what does your business need first.

An app earns its place when people use it often, when it needs to work offline, when it uses the phone itself (camera, location, notifications, Apple Wallet), or when it is a product in its own right. If that is not you yet, spend the money where it pays back sooner.

How we price apps at Pixel and Shovel

We build native iOS apps for a fixed price agreed up front, so you know the number before we start, not after. We keep it lean by using modern tooling and by being honest about what you need on day one versus later. And because we build and run our own apps, from Strandline to Stamp, our Apple Wallet loyalty platform, we are pricing from experience rather than guesswork.

Where it gets interesting is when the app is not a standalone thing. If it shares one system with your website and your CRM, you are not paying three times for three disconnected products. You build once and everything talks to everything, which is usually better value and a far better experience for your customers.

If you have an idea and want an honest read on whether it is worth building, and roughly what it would cost, tell us what you are thinking. We will give you a straight answer either way.