How much does app development cost in India?
What an app costs in India: MVP or full product, cross-platform or native, what moves the price, how long it takes and what it costs after launch.
Freelancer, agency or in-house team?
Pick a freelancer for a small app with a clear brief, an agency when one team should handle design, mobile, backend and store release, and your own team when the app is the product you’ll change for years. Each costs more than its fee, in management time, skill gaps or continuity.
One freelancer can build a contained app, such as a booking app with a few screens, when you already know what it should do. Ask who covers the parts one person can’t, and who fixes the app if the freelancer moves on to other work.
An agency puts design, mobile development, backend and store release in one team, with a single contact who runs the schedule. You pay for that team’s time and project management, and spend less of your own time coordinating people.
Hiring developers makes sense when the app is your product and will change every week. Beyond salaries, count the months it takes to hire, the hours someone senior spends managing the team, and the skills a small team may lack, such as backend, design or store release. If a developer leaves, what they know about the code can leave with them.
Does cross-platform or native change the price?
Yes. One cross-platform codebase in React Native or Flutter runs on both iOS and Android, so for most apps it is faster to build and cheaper to maintain than two native apps. Native apps, written in Swift for iOS and Kotlin for Android, cost more because each platform is built separately.
Native is worth the extra cost when the app leans hard on the device or needs maximum performance, for example heavy graphics, complex use of device features, or each platform’s newest features on the day they ship.
We recommend the platform during scoping, once we know what the app has to do.
What makes an app cost more?
Scope sets the price. Every extra screen, flow, platform or integration adds design, build and testing time, and the work behind the app can take as much time as the screens users see. A small app for one store, using an API you already have, sits at the low end.
| Driver | Lower cost | Higher cost |
|---|---|---|
| Screens and flows | A few screens and one main flow, such as sign up, browse and book. | Many screens and flows, such as onboarding, profiles, payments, chat and settings, each designed, built and tested. |
| Platforms | One store, the App Store or Google Play. | Both stores, from one cross-platform codebase or two native apps. |
| Backend and admin panel | An existing API the app can use as it is, and no admin panel. | A new backend with user accounts and roles, and an admin panel where your team manages content, orders or users. |
| Integrations | None, or one, such as maps. | Payments, maps and your CRM, each connected and tested. |
| Real-time features and offline use | Content that loads while the phone is online. | Live chat, tracking or instant updates, and data that syncs when the phone reconnects. |
| Design depth | Standard platform components in your brand colours and type. | A custom interface for every screen, with UX research and prototypes before the build. |
How long does an app take to build?
An MVP takes about four weeks, from a scope workshop to test builds or a store release. A full product gets its timeline after research and scoping, because its length depends on the drivers above. Store review comes at the end, and late feedback moves the date by the same amount.
Between the workshop and release, an MVP’s four weeks go on the core screens and flows, built as one cross-platform app. A full product starts with research and a roadmap, then moves through UX and UI design and the backend, API and admin panel, and ends with store release and analytics.
Apple and Google review every app before it goes live, and either can come back with questions or ask for changes. We prepare the listings, screenshots and privacy details, submit the builds and answer reviewer questions until the app is live, so leave room for review before any launch date you announce.
Name one person on your side who can sign off each round of feedback.
What does an app cost after launch?
After launch you pay Apple US$99 a year for the Apple Developer Program and Google a one-time US$25 Google Play registration fee. Backend hosting is set up in your name and paid to the provider directly. A maintenance retainer of ₹20,000–₹75,000 a month covers OS updates, fixes and new features.
The store accounts are yours. Apple lists its fee in local currency when you enrol.
Hosting covers the servers, database and file storage behind the app. Its price depends on the provider, the plan and how many people use the app.
Apple and Google release new versions of iOS and Android every year. An app nobody updates can break on them or fall behind what the stores require.
What does a typical app cost?
In India, an app MVP costs ₹2,00,000–₹6,00,000 and a full app ₹8,00,000–₹30,00,000. These are fixed fees, excluding GST, set once the scope is agreed. Half is invoiced when you accept the proposal and the balance on delivery. Store fees, hosting and maintenance come on top.
Where you land within a range depends on the drivers in the table above.
Anything outside the agreed scope is a change request, quoted before work starts.
If your product is an AI tool that can start on the web, look at our production AI MVP in 30 days, from $1,000.
To see what each level includes and how we work, start with our app design and development services.
Want us to put this to work for you?
App design and development services →More buyer guides.
Our AI MVP is one core workflow on the web. An app MVP adds iOS and Android builds and store review on top of the backend, so it takes more work.
It depends on the state of the code. Our audit shows whether fixing, migrating or rebuilding costs least, and we quote for the option you choose.
You do. Repositories, App Store and Google Play accounts and backend hosting are set up in your name, and the work we do for you is yours once paid in full.
Yes. UAE businesses are quoted in AED once the scope is agreed.
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