How much does it cost to build an app in the UK?

App development cost in the UK: the short answer

Published UK ranges are wide because they describe very different apps. Dotsquares' basic tier is one platform with simple functions; its intermediate tier adds a custom interface, integrated APIs and a backend server. Geeks (London, June 2026) prices by complexity: £20,000–£65,000 for a simple app or MVP, £65,000–£160,000 for mid-complexity and £160,000–£400,000+ for complex or enterprise apps. Emerline (March 2026) starts higher still, at £40,000–£90,000 for a lean MVP.

At the other end, Magora publishes a real example: a conference app for iOS and Android with a content management system at £24,900 for the first release. The gap isn't a contradiction. It's the difference between a tightly scoped first version and a full product with payments, integrations, several roles and enterprise security. Before comparing figures, check they describe the same thing.

All these sources are agencies that sell app development, so use them as an order of magnitude. For a business app, the part you see on the phone is only part of the work: in Purrweb's UK cost breakdown by stage, the backend is the largest single item, ahead of the front end.

These are third-party market figures, not SocketStack prices. For EU quotes: £1 ≈ €1.20, and for fees listed in dollars US$1 ≈ £0.74 (ECB reference rates, 4 November 2026).

Native, cross-platform or web app: what it does to the price

Technology changes the price more than almost any other decision. There are three routes:

• Native apps (Swift for iPhone, Kotlin for Android): two codebases, two sets of tests, two release cycles. Worth it for heavy use of device features or very high performance.
• Cross-platform apps (Flutter, React Native): one codebase for iOS and Android. For most business apps (job sheets, inspections, trade ordering) it's the sensible default, because you build and maintain one app instead of two. UK contract rates for Flutter sit close to native ones: a median of £494 a day, against £400 for iOS and £450 for Android developers (IT Jobs Watch, six months to early November 2026). The saving comes from building once, not from a cheaper rate.
• Web apps and PWAs: run in the browser and can be added to the home screen. The cheapest route if you don't need deep phone features, reliable offline work or a store listing.

What drives the cost of a business app

• Backend and admin panel. Where data is stored, who manages users and how the office sees what's happening in the field. An app without them is only half a product.
• Working offline. An engineer filling in a job sheet in a basement with no signal, syncing later, needs conflict handling. It adds cost, but for field apps it's usually essential. See offline-first apps.
• Integrations. With your ERP, CRM, job management or accounting software. Syncing orders with Sage is a very different job from showing a map.
• Device features. Camera, customer signature on screen, GPS, barcode scanning, push notifications. Each adds development and testing across phone models.
• Design. SourceCodeStudio quotes £4,000–£10,000 of UI design for internal software and an extra £15,000–£35,000 when it faces customers. A staff app can keep design lean; an app your trade customers use can't.
• AI features. Emerline prices a basic AI assistant or chatbot as an add-on of £5,000–£15,000, and predictive machine learning at £20,000–£50,000+. Model usage is billed on top; we work it out in the cost of implementing AI in a business.
• Roles and permissions. Engineer, supervisor, office, customer: each sees only what's theirs.
• Security and compliance. Higher if you handle sensitive customer, payment or health data.

App development cost by type of app

Bands published by UK agencies in 2026. Where sources disagree, both appear. A dash means the source gives no timescale.

• Where business apps would usually land: a job sheet or inspection app with photos, signature and an office panel tends to fit the MVP or production rows. Add offline sync and writing back to your ERP, and it moves towards the internal business tool row.
• Customer apps: if your trade customers will order or track deliveries from their phones, a customer app usually needs the same backend as your web portal. Reusing it saves money.

Developer day rates for app projects

Rates explain why the same brief gets very different quotes. These are the medians from UK contract vacancies, as published by IT Jobs Watch for the six months to early November 2026:

• Agency rates: Emerline publishes £90–£150 an hour for London onshore teams, £55–£85 for hybrid teams and £25–£60 offshore. Geeks gives £500–£800 a day for a senior UK developer.
• Quick sum: an app that needs 80 developer-days at the £525 median comes to £42,000 before design, testing and project management. That's why it's worth asking for a breakdown of days by block: app, backend, admin panel, integrations.

How much does it cost to run and maintain an app?

An app isn't finished on launch day. New iOS and Android versions arrive every year, store requirements change and real use uncovers bugs. These are the recurring costs the market publishes:

• Maintenance: 15–20% of the build cost a year (Dotsquares, Geeks); 15–25% (Emerline). On a £40,000 app, that's £6,000–£8,000 a year at 15–20%.
• Infrastructure: Emerline puts it at £2,400–£12,000+ a year, depending on users and data.
• Third-party and AI APIs: £1,000–£5,000+ a year, according to Emerline. Maps, notifications, SMS and AI models are billed by usage.
• Apple Developer Program: US$99 a year, or the local price Apple shows at enrolment in the UK. Organisations need a D-U-N-S number to enrol, which Apple says is free in most countries.
• Google Play: a one-off registration fee of US$25 (≈ £19).
• Store commissions: only if you charge for the app or sell digital content inside it. Apple's Small Business Program charges 15% for developers under US$1 million in annual proceeds. A free app for your staff or trade customers doesn't pay them.

Ask for the Apple and Google Play accounts, the domain and the servers to be in your company's name. If they're in the supplier's name, changing team later gets much harder.

How to compare app development quotes: checklist

• Backend and admin panel: included, or only the phone app?
• Platforms: iOS, Android, web, and with which technology.
• Offline: if your team works on site, on the road or underground, ask for it in writing.
• Integrations: which are included and which are quoted separately.
• Store publishing: who submits the app, and whose name the accounts are in.
• Testing: what's tested and on which devices.
• Demos: how often you'll see the app working on your own phone before final delivery.
• Maintenance: cost and scope, including OS updates, fixes and small improvements.
• Code ownership: repository in your company's name and copyright assigned in writing.
• Pricing model: fixed price or estimated days. We compare both in fixed price vs time and materials.

Common mistakes when commissioning an app

• Thinking the app is just what's on the phone. The backend and the office side are often half the work.
• Finding out late that there's no signal. Adding offline mode to a finished app costs far more than designing for it from the start.
• Choosing native by default. For a business app, one cross-platform codebase is usually enough and cheaper to maintain.
• Not budgeting for maintenance. Without updates, an app starts to break within one or two OS cycles.
• Building an app when a web app would do. If you don't need the camera, offline work or notifications, a web application may be enough. See how much custom software costs.
• Commissioning what you could subscribe to. There are plenty of off-the-shelf job sheet and clocking-in apps. If one fits your process, use it.

How SocketStack works

We start with a free 30-minute call about who will use the app, where and with which systems; if it's worth building, you get one fixed price per project, a working demo every two weeks on your own phone, and the code and store accounts in your company's name. The detail is in how we work.