What does it actually cost to build an app?

We've written before about how long an app actually takes to build. The sequel question follows roughly four seconds later: and what's that going to cost me?

Same deal as last time — the real answer is "it depends" — but "it depends" is only annoying when nobody tells you what it depends on. So let's do that.

The short, unsatisfying version

A focused, well-built MVP from a UK agency generally lands somewhere between £30k and £80k. Something bigger — custom backends, a few hairy integrations, a proper design system — climbs comfortably into six figures.

That's a wide range, and we won't pretend otherwise. The width is the honest part. Anyone who quotes you a precise number before they understand what you're building is guessing, and you'll pay for that guess one way or another.

Where the money actually goes

An app budget isn't one big lump. It's roughly four of them:

• Design — working out what the thing is, then what it looks and feels like. Usually 15–25% of the total.
• The build — the big one. Frontend, backend, and the unglamorous plumbing in between. Most of your budget lives here.
• Integration & QA — payments, notifications, analytics, and the testing that stops launch day becoming a horror film.
• Project management — the bit that keeps the other three talking to each other. Small line, enormous effect on whether the project goes well.

Notice what's not on that list: a magic "make it cheaper" lever. There isn't one. There's only scope.

What moves the number

The most expensive feature is the one nobody actually needed — and you tend to find that out only after it's built.

A few things reliably push a budget up:

• Scope. Every screen, every "ooh, can it also…", every edge case. It adds up, and faster than people expect.
• Custom vs. proven. Bespoke earns its keep where it's genuinely your product. Paying to reinvent a login screen is just setting money on fire, politely.
• Integrations. Talking to someone else's system is rarely as tidy as their documentation suggests.
• Indecision. A stalled project still costs money to keep warm. Slow decisions are a line item — just an invisible one.

Spending it well

Cheaper isn't the goal. Spent well is the goal. Those are very different things.

Be honest about your first version — the smaller it is, the sooner it's out there earning, learning, or raising. Put the money where your product is genuinely different, and lean on proven patterns for everything else. And budget a little contingency: every project meets a surprise, and the ones that planned for it barely flinch.

The cheapest app in the world is worthless if it isn't built properly. The most expensive one is worthless if it ships six months late. Somewhere in between sits a number that fits your idea — and a good agency will tell you what it is before you've signed anything.

So — what'll it cost?

The genuinely useful answer needs about twenty minutes and a proper conversation about what you're trying to build. Tell us about your project and we'll give you a real range — itemised, honest, and entirely free of the word "synergy".