Quick reference: cost by platform and app type
These are realistic UK market ranges. Scroll down for what drives each number.
| App type / platform | Typical cost range | Timeline |
|---|---|---|
| Simple utility app (single platform) | £20,000 – £45,000 | 10–14 weeks |
| Cross-platform MVP (React Native / Flutter) | £35,000 – £90,000 | 14–20 weeks |
| Consumer app (social, media, on-demand) | £60,000 – £150,000+ | 20–32 weeks |
| Enterprise / B2B app | £50,000 – £130,000+ | 18–30 weeks |
| Marketplace / on-demand platform | £80,000 – £250,000+ | 6–12 months |
| Native iOS only | £25,000 – £80,000 | 12–20 weeks |
| Native Android only | £25,000 – £75,000 | 12–20 weeks |
These numbers assume a senior UK engineering team, a discovery phase, UX design, backend API, testing, and app store submission. If a quote looks significantly lower, check what is and isn’t included.
What drives the cost of a mobile app
1. Native vs cross-platform
This is the first and biggest decision. Building native means writing two separate codebases — Swift/SwiftUI for iOS and Kotlin for Android. You get the best platform-specific performance and access to every OS API, but you’re paying for two teams running in parallel.
Cross-platform frameworks (React Native and Flutter) share a single codebase across both platforms. You reach iOS and Android simultaneously at roughly 55–65% of the cost of dual native. The performance gap between cross-platform and native has narrowed significantly by 2026 — for most business apps, it’s imperceptible to users.
When native makes sense: high-performance real-time apps (AR, intensive graphics, precise hardware access), apps that require deep OS integration unavailable in frameworks, or apps where absolute best-in-class platform experience is a commercial differentiator.
When cross-platform makes sense: most business apps, SaaS companion apps, B2B tools, logistics and field worker apps, and any MVP where speed to market matters.
2. Scope and feature complexity
The biggest cost variable after platform choice. Features that sound simple frequently aren’t:
- User authentication: Basic email + password is 2 days. Add social login, 2FA, biometric login, and invite flows and you’re at 2–3 weeks.
- Real-time features: Live chat, real-time location tracking, or live data feeds require WebSocket infrastructure, state management, and battery optimisation. Add 3–6 weeks.
- Offline-first functionality: Apps that work without internet need local database sync, conflict resolution, and background sync logic. Add 3–5 weeks.
- Media handling: Camera, video recording, image uploads, and media processing pipelines each add 1–3 weeks depending on complexity.
- Maps and location: Basic map display is fast. Geofencing, route optimisation, driver tracking, and ETA calculations add 2–5 weeks.
- In-app purchases: Apple and Google each have their own payment APIs. Integrating subscriptions, one-time purchases, and receipt validation adds 2–4 weeks.
3. UX and design
Mobile UX is harder than web. Users expect native-feeling gestures, smooth transitions, and instant feedback. A well-designed app isn’t just prettier — it directly reduces support volume and churn.
Budget £4,000–£12,000 for a proper UX and UI design phase before development starts. This covers user flows, wireframes, high-fidelity screens, interaction prototypes, and a design system for the development team to build from. Agencies that skip this phase produce apps that work but don’t feel right — and redesigning after build costs significantly more.
4. Backend and API
Almost every app needs a backend. Even “simple” apps need user management, data storage, push notifications, and business logic that can’t live solely on the device.
Backend scope adds £10,000–£60,000 depending on complexity. A simple REST API for a single-feature app is on the low end. A backend with multi-tenancy, real-time sync, complex business logic, third-party integrations, and a web admin dashboard is on the high end. Backend costs are often underquoted because clients don’t realise how much logic lives server-side.
5. Third-party integrations
Each integration is a project within a project. Typical timelines:
- Stripe (payments): +1–2 weeks including in-app purchase flows and webhook handling
- Push notifications (FCM/APNs): +0.5–1 week for basic setup; +2–3 weeks for segmented, scheduled, and rich notifications
- Analytics (Firebase, Mixpanel): +0.5–1 week per platform
- CRM or ERP integrations: +2–4 weeks depending on API quality and data model complexity
- Maps (Google Maps, Mapbox): +1–4 weeks depending on required features
The integration trap: Every third-party service assumes a best-case scenario in their documentation. Real integrations require edge case handling, error states, retry logic, and testing against every environment. Budget 1.5× the documented integration time.
Native vs React Native vs Flutter: real cost comparison
| Approach | Relative cost | Best for |
|---|---|---|
| Native iOS only (Swift) | Baseline | iPhone-first, hardware-intensive apps |
| Native Android only (Kotlin) | Baseline | Android-first, enterprise/B2B with Android fleets |
| Native iOS + Android (dual) | 1.8–2.2× baseline | Apps where platform-perfect experience is core to the product |
| React Native (cross-platform) | 1.1–1.3× baseline | Most B2C and B2B apps, JS/React teams, large component ecosystems |
| Flutter (cross-platform) | 1.1–1.3× baseline | Pixel-perfect UI, smooth animations, consistent design across platforms |
| PWA (Progressive Web App) | 0.5–0.7× baseline | Content, reference, or internal tools where native store distribution isn’t needed |
The decision between React Native and Flutter is less about cost and more about your team. Both deliver cross-platform coverage at similar price points. React Native benefits from a larger UK contractor pool. Flutter produces more consistent animations and typically performs better for graphics-heavy UIs.
Cost by app type
Simple utility app (£20,000–£45,000)
What this covers:
- Single-purpose function (booking, scheduling, tracking, reference tool)
- One primary user role, basic authentication
- 4–6 main screens
- Simple backend with REST API
- Push notifications
- App Store and Google Play submission
Examples: a field worker inspection app, a simple appointment booking app, an internal company directory, a basic loyalty card app. Below £20,000 for a professional build is extremely difficult to achieve without significant scope cuts or offshore development.
Cross-platform MVP (£35,000–£90,000)
The most common engagement for UK businesses. A React Native or Flutter app covering the core user journey across iOS and Android, with backend, design, and submission included. The range is wide because feature density varies significantly — a 6-screen utility MVP versus a 20-screen app with real-time sync, payments, and user profiles are both “MVPs”.
The sweet spot for well-scoped UK cross-platform MVPs is £45,000–£70,000. Below £35,000 typically means a very limited feature set or a short timeline only achievable with an experienced team who can move fast.
Consumer app with social features (£60,000–£150,000+)
What this covers:
- User profiles, following, feeds, activity streams
- Real-time messaging or notifications
- Content creation and media handling
- Discovery and search functionality
- Moderation tools
- Analytics and growth tooling
Consumer apps are expensive because they have to work perfectly for everyone, handle scale from day one, and compete with polished incumbents that have had years of iteration. A consumer app that feels rough won’t retain users. Budget for multiple rounds of UX testing and iteration.
Enterprise / B2B app (£50,000–£130,000+)
What this covers:
- Role-based access (field workers, managers, admins)
- Offline-first with background sync
- Integration with existing ERP, CRM, or internal systems
- Audit trails, compliance logging
- Custom reporting and dashboards
- MDM (Mobile Device Management) compatibility if required
Enterprise apps are often cheaper than consumer apps in UX scope, but integrations and compliance requirements add significantly to the backend cost. If you need NHS Digital or ISO 27001 compliance, budget an additional £10,000–£25,000 for security architecture and documentation.
Marketplace or on-demand platform (£80,000–£250,000+)
Apps that match supply and demand — ride-hailing, food delivery, freelance platforms, service marketplaces. The complexity comes from managing two user types simultaneously (provider and consumer), real-time matching logic, payment flows with split disbursement, and the operational tooling required to manage a two-sided marketplace.
For platforms where the app is the business, don’t try to build everything at once. A focused MVP covering the core matching and payment flow is the right starting point. Plan for significant post-launch iteration budget.
UK mobile developer rates in 2026
| Role | Day rate |
|---|---|
| UK freelancer — junior iOS/Android (0–2 yrs) | £300 – £450/day |
| UK freelancer — mid-level (3–5 yrs) | £450 – £650/day |
| UK freelancer — senior iOS/Android (6+ yrs) | £650 – £950/day |
| Senior React Native / Flutter engineer | £550 – £850/day |
| UK boutique mobile agency | £550 – £850/day per dev |
| London specialist mobile agency | £800 – £1,200/day per dev |
| Eastern Europe / nearshore senior | £350 – £550/day |
Agency rates are blended and include project management, QA, and overhead. A “9 developers” agency may bill at a lower day rate per person but achieve the same outcome as a 3-person senior team that moves faster. Team composition quality matters more than headcount.
Hidden costs no one mentions in the initial quote
Apple and Google registration fees
Small but often forgotten. Apple Developer Program costs £79/year (in the UK). Google Play is a one-time £18 registration. If you’re distributing as a business you need an organisation account, which requires a D-U-N-S number and takes 1–2 weeks to set up. Factor this into your go-live timeline.
Backend hosting
Your app needs servers. A typical early-stage app on AWS or GCP costs £200–£500/month. As you scale, infrastructure costs grow — 10,000 daily active users typically means £800–£2,000/month in infrastructure. Apps with real-time features or heavy media processing cost more. Build this into your monthly operating budget from day one.
Push notification services
Firebase Cloud Messaging (FCM) is free but limited for advanced use cases. Platforms like OneSignal, Braze, or Airship that enable segmentation, A/B testing, and rich notifications cost £100–£800/month depending on your user base and feature requirements. Not included in most development quotes.
OS update maintenance
Apple and Google release major OS updates annually. React Native, Flutter, Swift, and Kotlin codebases all require updates to maintain compatibility. Budget 15–20% of your initial build cost annually for ongoing maintenance, security patches, and OS compatibility updates. An unmaintained app becomes unusable within 2–3 years.
App Store Optimisation (ASO)
Submitting to the App Store doesn’t mean people will find your app. ASO — keyword research, screenshot design, description copywriting, and review management — is a separate ongoing cost that most development agencies don’t include. Budget £1,500–£5,000 for initial ASO setup and £300–£800/month ongoing if organic discovery matters to your growth strategy.
The launch-and-disappear problem: Many agencies deliver an app, submit it to the stores, and their involvement ends. The most expensive period in an app’s life is often months two to six post-launch, when user feedback arrives, edge case bugs surface, and the first OS update breaks something. Plan a post-launch support arrangement before you sign the build contract.
Should you build a web app first?
For most UK businesses, the honest answer is yes — unless your product genuinely requires native device capabilities (camera, GPS, offline, push notifications) from day one.
A responsive web app validates your product, generates revenue, and gives you real user data to inform mobile UX decisions at a fraction of the cost. Building mobile after web validation typically produces a better app because you know what features users actually use.
When native mobile is the right first choice: field service apps where offline-first is essential, apps where push notifications are core to the value proposition, consumer apps targeting an audience who primarily live on their phones, or apps where camera and GPS are central to the primary workflow.
Red flags in mobile app quotes
Question the quote if it:
How to get an accurate quote
- Define the three core user journeys. Not a feature list — the three things a user needs to do for the app to be useful. This is the scope of your MVP.
- Specify what the app needs to connect to. Existing API, third-party payment processor, CRM, IoT device, or internal database. Every integration doubles the answer to “how complex is this?”
- Clarify platform priority. iOS first, Android first, or cross-platform. Your target audience and existing user data should drive this, not personal preference.
- Ask for a discovery sprint first. Any serious mobile agency will want 1–2 weeks of paid discovery before committing to a fixed price. This surfaces assumptions, de-risks the quote, and produces documentation the build team can actually work from.
- Ask who builds it. Request the profiles of the specific engineers and designers who will work on your project, not a generic team bio page.
Summary
Mobile app development in the UK in 2026 costs £20,000–£45,000 for a simple single-platform utility app, £35,000–£90,000 for a cross-platform MVP, and £80,000–£250,000+ for a marketplace or feature-rich consumer app. Cross-platform (React Native or Flutter) is the right choice for the majority of UK businesses — it covers both platforms at roughly 60% of dual-native cost with minimal user-facing trade-off.
The most important factors for controlling cost are platform choice, ruthless MVP scoping, a proper discovery phase, and budgeting for post-launch maintenance from the outset. The agencies that quote the lowest are often excluding the backend, the design, and everything that happens after the app goes live.
