Cost guide
How Much Does a Mobile App MVP Cost?
Mobile adds three costs that web does not: two platforms, store review, and a release cycle you cannot hotfix your way out of. Knowing which of those you actually need decides your budget.
Free 15-minute fit check · no equity · no retainer
Short answer
A mobile-first web MVP fits the fixed $3,500 14-day sprint. A packaged cross-platform app with store submission is a larger scope, because store assets, review cycles and device testing sit on top of the same product build.
- $3,500
- fixed price
- 14 days
- to launch
- 100%
- code ownership
- No equity
- ever taken
- No retainer
- no hourly billing
01
Mobile web or native: decide this before you budget
| Route | Best when | Cost and speed impact |
|---|---|---|
| Mobile web app | You are testing demand, and users arrive from links, ads or sales | Fastest and cheapest; fits a single sprint; instant updates |
| Installable web app | You want a home-screen icon and basic offline behaviour | Small addition to a web build; no store review |
| Cross-platform native | You need push, camera, background location or store presence | Adds store setup, review cycles and device testing |
The most expensive mobile decision is committing to native distribution before you know anyone wants the product. Store presence is a distribution strategy, not a validation strategy.
02
What drives mobile MVP cost
- Number of platforms you insist on at launch
- Device permissions: camera, location, notifications, background activity
- Offline behaviour and data synchronisation
- Store assets, screenshots, privacy declarations and review responses
- Accounts, payments and whether in-app purchase rules apply to you
03
What reduces mobile MVP cost
- Launching mobile web first and packaging later once retention is proven
- One user role and one core flow instead of a full app surface
- Using platform-standard UI patterns rather than bespoke animation
- Deferring push notifications until you know what is worth notifying about
- Testing on the two or three devices your actual users have
04
What we build in a 14-day sprint
A production-ready mobile-first product with accounts, your core workflow, a responsive interface built for touch, and deployment on your own infrastructure with the code transferred to you.
If your idea genuinely requires native distribution on day one, we will tell you at the blueprint stage and scope it honestly rather than squeezing it into 14 days.
Questions
Straight answers.
Do I need native apps to validate a mobile idea?
Usually not. Unless you need camera-heavy workflows, push notifications as the core mechanic, offline use or app-store distribution itself, an installable mobile web app validates the same hypothesis in a fraction of the time and cost.
How long does app store review take?
Review is outside anyone's control and sits after the build. Plan for it as a separate window on top of development, and never book a launch event against a first submission date.
Is one codebase for iOS and Android cheaper?
Yes, materially — a single cross-platform codebase avoids building and maintaining the same product twice. The trade-off appears only in heavily device-specific features, which early MVPs rarely need.
What ongoing costs does a mobile app have?
Developer program fees for each store, plus your normal hosting and services. Store fees are annual and small relative to the build, but they are permanent and easy to forget when budgeting.
Next step
Find out if your idea fits in 14 days.
Tell us what you want to build. We reply within one business day with a straight yes, no, or here is what we would cut.