App cost
How much does it cost to build an app in 2026?
A simple business app costs roughly $6,000 to $15,000 to build in 2026. A standard app with user accounts, payments and an admin dashboard runs $15,000 to $45,000. Anything with real-time features, native mobile builds for both platforms, or integration into existing business systems starts around $45,000 and climbs from there. The single biggest cost driver is not the number of screens - it is the number of separate systems the app has to talk to, because each one is an unknown until it is connected.
What each tier actually buys
- $6,000-$15,000: one clear job done well. A booking form, a quoting tool, a stock or job tracker. Web-based so it works on a phone without an app store, one type of user, one place the data lives.
- $15,000-$45,000: several user types, logins and permissions, online payments, an admin side for your staff, reporting you can act on. This is where most small business software lands.
- $45,000 and up: native iOS and Android builds, live updates between users, offline working, or integration with accounting, CRM or warehouse systems you already run.
The four things that move the number
- Integrations. Connecting to a system someone else controls is the only part of a build that can double in size after it starts, because you cannot see inside it until you try.
- Native versus web. Building for iOS and Android natively is close to two builds, plus two store review processes that can hold a release for days.
- Who logs in. One user type is simple. Customers, staff and admins each seeing different things is three products sharing a database.
- How wrong it can afford to be. Software handling money, health records or safety data needs a level of testing and audit trail that ordinary software does not.
Why we can quote below agency rates
- Most of an agency's quote is time spent building the same foundations again: accounts, permissions, billing, admin screens, deployment. We generate that layer from a written brief with AKTEng Web App Studio and spend the paid hours on the part that is actually yours.
- That is also why we will tell you when your problem does not need custom software at all. A configured off-the-shelf tool that costs $40 a month beats a $20,000 build that does the same thing.
Common questions
- What is the cheapest realistic app?
- Around $6,000 for a genuinely useful single-purpose web app. Below that you are buying a template someone has filled in, which is fine if a template solves your problem - but say so out loud rather than calling it a custom build.
- How long does it take?
- A simple app is typically six to ten weeks from signed brief to live. Standard builds run three to five months. The slowest part is almost never the code; it is waiting for decisions, content and access to other systems.
- Do I pay it all up front?
- No. The normal shape is a deposit to start and the balance on delivery, with larger builds split across milestones you can see working.