Bilt

A prototype can cost almost nothing, while a launch-ready agency build often starts around $30,000. Complex enterprise apps can run well above $150,000.

Those figures describe different build routes, scopes, and amounts of human work.

Agency quotes cover planning, design, development, testing, and project management, often over several months. Each role adds billable hours before the app reaches a store.

AI app builders can cut the starting cost, but a monthly subscription is not the whole budget:

Preparing store listings and meeting Apple and Google requirements
Building and testing payments, authentication, and other core flows
Paying for maintenance, infrastructure, updates, and support after launch

Use the ranges below to choose a build route, identify the costs outside the quote, and set a first-year budget you can defend.

TL;DR

Your total depends on what you are building, who builds it, which platforms it supports, and what it costs to launch and run.

Limited freelancer-supported builds can start in the lower five figures. Launch-ready agency work often starts around $30,000, while complex enterprise projects can exceed $150,000.
An AI-native self-serve route can start free. A first year with Bilt, both store accounts, basic launch extras, and contingency is roughly $815 to $1,525.
Timelines scale with scope: 2 to 4 months for a basic utility app, 4 to 7 months for chat or geolocation apps, and 8 to 12+ months for AI-heavy products.
Connections to a CRM, payment provider, inventory system, or existing database add setup and testing work.
Store requirements, usage-based services, and privacy work sit outside many build quotes. GDPR can apply when an app handles personal data from people in the EU.

The app-cost formula

Use this formula: labor + tools and infrastructure + store fees + launch assets + contingency + first-year maintenance.

Count each item once. If a quote already includes design, QA, or deployment, do not add that work again as a separate cost.

Build hours: Include planning, design, development, QA, and release work that is not already bundled into a fixed quote.
Rates: Multiply each contributor’s hours by their rate. Seniority, location, and whether you hire a freelancer or firm all change the result.
Non-labor costs: Add infrastructure, developer accounts, store assets, and any paid third-party services not covered by the build quote.
Post-launch upkeep: Add the first year of maintenance, support, security work, and usage-based services.

For example, a $30,000 build plus $124 in store accounts, $1,000 in launch assets, a $3,000 contingency, and $4,500 in first-year upkeep totals $38,624.

Choose your build route

Your build route sets the cost, pace, and amount of work you must manage. It also affects publishing support and code ownership.

Start with your launch deadline, then decide who will own testing and store submission. Those two answers usually narrow the route faster than comparing headline prices.

Compare the work included, not only the price. Authentication, real-device testing, deployment, and future updates are common gaps between a cheap first build and a launch-ready app.

Agency or dev shop: One high project fee covers a managed team. You should own the developer accounts, while the agency manages setup, signing, uploads, and submission inside them.
Freelancers: Medium to high project fees, often split between design and development. You manage the project, and any unassigned launch work lands on you.
No-code builder: A monthly subscription can suit standard workflows. Check each platform’s logic limits, code ownership, native output, and publishing terms before committing.
AI app builder: A subscription can produce an installable first build quickly. Bilt generates native iOS and Android apps from plain English and automates technical submission work.
In-house team: Payroll makes this the highest ongoing-cost route. Your team owns architecture, deployment, maintenance, and every update after launch.

Native output is only one filter; AI mobile builder choices also differ on publishing support and code ownership.

Every route still needs developer accounts. The Apple Developer Program costs $99/year, and Google Play Console registration costs $25 once.

Classify your app’s scope

Scope is the amount of logic, data, and real-world behavior your app must support. A focused utility and an organization-wide system sit at opposite ends.

Scope helps set the timeline, but the route sets the price. The same app can cost very different amounts through a self-serve builder, freelancer, or agency.

Simple or MVP: One main job, a handful of screens, standard UI, and few integrations. A traditional build often takes 2 to 4 months.
Mid-scope: User accounts, live data, or third-party connections add more states to build and test. A traditional build often takes 4 to 7 months.
Complex: Multiple user roles, moderation, payments, messaging, offline behavior, or custom device features create more edge cases. AI-heavy builds can take 8 to 12 months or longer.
Enterprise: Deep integrations, custom internal workflows, security reviews, and compliance demands drive the work. Traditional budgets can run roughly $150,000 to $500,000+.

Scope rises when you add user roles, outside systems, or permissions that change what each person can see and do. A marketplace, for example, needs customer, seller, and admin workflows.

Those separate workflows create separate rules, screens, and test cases.

Before pricing a first release, use the mobile MVP process to choose one testable journey and defer everything else.

What increases app cost fastest?

Cost rises fastest when a feature adds logic, data states, permissions, integrations, or another path to test.

Feature complexity. A feature may add screens, but logic branches and edge cases usually create more work than the interface itself.
Backend integrations and live data. Each connection needs setup, error handling, and testing. Poorly matched external data can create substantial rework.
Platform coverage. Separate native codebases can approach a second implementation and maintenance cycle. Cross-platform development reduces that duplication.
Custom work. Bespoke design adds frontend and QA time. Native-device features, security requirements, and compliance work can cost more than visual customization.

How the budget breaks down by phase

A build budget usually covers discovery, design, development, QA, and launch. The shares must add up to 100%, while maintenance sits outside the initial build.

For a planning model, use 10% discovery, 15% design, 55% development, 15% QA, and 5% launch. This is an illustration, not a universal quote.

On a $30,000 build, that means $3,000 for discovery, $4,500 for design, $16,500 for development, $4,500 for QA, and $1,500 for launch.

Discovery and planning (10%): Requirements, user flows, scope, and early technical decisions.
Design (15%): Screen layouts, interaction details, and reusable interface patterns.
QA and testing (15%): Core-flow checks, device testing, edge cases, and release fixes.
Deployment and launch (5%): Store assets, account setup, builds, and submission.

The split changes when the project adds more technical risk:

App complexity and feature count
Team region and hourly rates
Native builds versus cross-platform
How many outside systems you connect

Project management should be included inside these phase budgets or shown as a separate line. Do not add it on top unless the quote says it is excluded.

What you’ll pay after launch

After launch, plan for maintenance, hosting, updates, security, and support. A common planning range is 10% to 25% of the original build cost each year.

That budget covers predictable upkeep. Usage-driven services need a separate buffer because they rise with customer activity.

Start with the recurring work you can plan for:

Hosting and server costs
Bug fixes reported by real users
Operating system updates each time Apple or Google ships one
Security patching
Performance work as your data grows

Then budget for variable usage costs:

Infrastructure fees from services such as Firebase or Supabase, which can rise with storage, sign-ins, database requests, and API calls
Third-party fees for payments, email, SMS, analytics, or crash reporting

Community and marketplace apps may also need customer-support and moderation time. Treat both as operating costs, even when no software invoice appears.

How to choose the right path for your app

Choose the route that fits your deadline, technical risk, budget, and ability to maintain the app after launch.

Put the deadline first. A short runway favors a route you can test and submit yourself; a complex or regulated app calls for more technical ownership and budget.

Use these defaults to narrow the choice:

Choose an agency for complex, regulated, or heavily integrated work when you have a large budget and want a managed team.
Choose a freelancer for a tightly scoped build when you can manage requirements, feedback, and launch tasks yourself.
Choose traditional no-code builders for standard workflows that stay within the platform’s logic, design, ownership, and publishing limits.
Choose an AI-native mobile builder when you want native output, fast self-serve iteration, and less manual deployment work.
Choose an in-house team when the app is a core long-term product that needs continuous engineering and you can support recurring payroll.
Whatever route you choose, keep control of the store accounts and business decisions. Confirm who handles testing, submission, bug fixes, and updates before signing.

A fast first build saves money only when the same route can carry the app through testing, submission, and the updates you expect after launch.

Who Bilt fits best

Bilt fits founders, small businesses, and web-app owners who need a native iOS and Android app without hiring a full development team.

Describe the app in plain English, and Bilt builds the interface, core features, and backend connections. You can refine it through conversation instead of managing separate design and coding handoffs.

After the first build, you request changes through prompts and check each update in a native preview.

Bilt is worth considering in four situations:

First-time builders: Describe the idea, test a working first build, and refine it without learning Swift, Kotlin, or React Native.
Budget-conscious founders: Start free with 3M monthly tokens. Professional is $25/month, or $250 for a year with annual billing, and includes 10M monthly tokens.
Web-app owners and teams: Bring an existing web app or Figma design into the process, then test the native result before release.
Business owners: Build a companion app for loyalty, support, subscriptions, or a new mobile product while keeping the store accounts and code under your control.

Where Bilt is a weaker fit

Bilt handles app building and technical submission work. You still need to decide what to build, test the app with real people, complete store disclosures, and meet any legal or industry-specific requirements.

Skip the agency path: build and publish with Bilt

An agency is a managed route, but you still spend time on briefs, reviews, and decisions. The cost question is whether that management and specialist work is worth the project fee for your app’s scope.

Compare proposals line by line. Check whether each one includes design, testing, store submission, and post-launch fixes, because some cover development only.

Bilt lets you move from a plain-English description to store submission in one self-serve workflow.

The workflow has five steps:

Describe the app in plain English. Bilt turns that description into a working version with UI, core features, and backend integrations like authentication, database, and storage.
Refine it in conversation. Ask for a new screen, a different flow, or a color change, and the update lands in a real-time live preview instead of a code editor.
Test the core flows. Check authentication, payments, navigation, and error states in a native preview and on real devices before release.
Submit to both stores. Bilt generates builds and handles signing, certificates, provisioning profiles, and uploads. Apple and Google still run separate listings, requirements, submissions, and reviews.
Keep shipping updates yourself. Bilt generates React Native code that you own and can export, so a developer can continue development later.

Your developer accounts and generated React Native code stay under your control, so you are not locked into an agency for every future update.

You pay the store-account fees directly, whichever build route you choose.

Describe the app, test its core flows on a real device, and check the store requirements. Then start building free, no credit card needed.

Want to compare usage and support levels first? See all plans.

Common questions

Does building for iOS, Android, or both affect the cost?

Yes. Separate native iOS and Android codebases usually cost more than one platform or a shared cross-platform codebase.

Building both platforms separately can approach twice the implementation and maintenance work because it creates:

two codebases to write
two testing cycles to run
two maintenance streams to keep alive

A shared cross-platform codebase cuts much of that duplication, although each platform still needs its own testing and store setup.

Bilt generates iOS and Android apps from one conversation, using native components and platform-appropriate behavior for each.

Bilt automates much of the build, signing, and upload work. Apple and Google still require separate accounts, listings, submissions, and reviews.

Can I build an app for free?

You can build and test an app for free within a plan’s usage allowance. Publishing and larger-scale use usually add platform and store costs.

Free to build: Bilt includes 3M monthly tokens, roughly 12 to 30 prompts depending on complexity, plus authentication, database, and storage.
Free to test: Use the native preview and check the build on a real iOS or Android device before paying to publish.
Paid to publish: Professional is $25/month, or $250 annually. Apple costs $99/year, Google Play costs $25 once, and each store has its own requirements.

What hidden costs should I watch for?

Watch for infrastructure, store accounts, maintenance, compliance, and third-party services that sit outside the initial build quote.

Four cost categories are easy to overlook:

Hosting and backend services often sit outside the initial design and build quote.
Store accounts renew on different schedules: Apple charges annually, while Google Play charges once.
Every app update can require maintenance, analytics checks, or API changes. Usage-based charges rise with API calls and database volume.
Privacy, security, and industry-specific rules can add legal review, disclosures, testing, and ongoing maintenance.

Third-party SDKs can add maintenance and security work after the initial build, especially when their APIs change.

Apps handling personal data from people in the EU may need GDPR review, even outside health or finance. The European Data Protection Board’s guide explains the core duties.

Need more tokens before the next monthly reset? Bilt offers optional one-time top-ups of $15, $30, or $60, and purchased tokens remain available for 30 days.

What’s a realistic budget for building an MVP as a first-time founder?

For a Bilt-built V1 on both stores, plan on roughly $815 to $1,525 for the first year before taxes. This is not a universal MVP price.

That covers a launch-ready V1, not just a tester build. Freelancer support can move the budget into lower five figures, while agency-built V1s often start around $30,000.

Build platform: Professional costs $250 for a year with annual billing, which saves two months versus paying $25 each month.
Store accounts: Budget $99 for Apple and $25 for Google Play when launching on both stores.
First-year extras: Allow $400 to $1,000 for design assets, testing, and occasional light contractor help.
Contingency: Add 10% to 15% of the extras budget, or $40 to $150. The total is $814 to $1,524, rounded to $815 to $1,525.

A comparable launch-ready agency V1 often starts around $30,000. The gap reflects a different build route and amount of human labor, not the cost of the same service.