An app is never finished
Apple and Google raise the minimum every app update has to meet, year after year. Someone has to keep your app current, or it stops being able to ship fixes.
Sources: Apple Developer, Play Console Help
Before you build an app
Does our business need its own app, or should we use one off the shelf?
Not always. Your own app is worth considering when customers or staff would use it often, when it needs the phone itself (camera, location, notifications or working offline), or when it has to connect to the systems you run on. If an existing product already does the job, buy that instead. If you decide to build and don't have requirements and designs yet, start with Discovery, from $16,000: you get written requirements, approved designs and a fixed price for the build, which starts from $35,000.
For established businesses deciding whether to build an app for customers or staff.Discovery is from $16,000; builds from $35,000.
Who this is for
This is for you if
- Your customers or staff do the same task often, and today it runs on paper, email, spreadsheets or several tools.
- You have tried an off-the-shelf product and it doesn't fit how your business works.
- You have the budget to build and keep an app, and need to decide what it should be.
This is not for you if
- You need a standalone website with no app behind it.
- You need an app for less than $35,000, or a product that already exists does what you need.
- You already have requirements and designs: go straight to "We need an app for our customers or our crews. What will it cost?"
What to weigh before you build
Does my business need a mobile app? What to weigh first
Each sourced fact links to the company that set the rule. The cards marked General information come from how business apps are used, not from a published figure.
The accounts should be yours
A business publishes under an organization account, which needs a free D-U-N-S number. Apple charges 99 USD a year; Google Play charges US$25 once.
Sources: Apple Developer, Play Console Help
A staff app doesn't need a public listing
Google lets a business publish a private app through managed Google Play, so only people in your organization can find and install it.
Source: Play Console Help
Some businesses decide against one
A 300-location restaurant chain phased out its app and points program, saying the ongoing costs outweighed the return it saw.
Source: Nation's Restaurant News
When off-the-shelf fits
Your process is common in your industry, a product already does most of it, and the per-person price stays reasonable as you grow.
General information
When your own app is worth it
The app is part of how you serve customers or run crews, it has to connect your own systems, or the workarounds already cost you more than building would.
General information
What to do first
Write down what the app must do, and for whom.
Customers or staff, which task, and how often. Use your own words, not features.
Look for an existing product first.
If one does most of it, try it with a few real users before deciding.
Add up what the workaround costs you today.
Subscriptions, admin hours, mistakes and double entry.
Decide who keeps the app current after launch.
Both stores raise their requirements every year.
Set up the store accounts in your company's name before any code.
A D-U-N-S number, then Apple and Google Play organization accounts.
If you build and have no requirements or designs yet, start with Discovery.
It turns the idea into designs you approve and a fixed build price.
What it costs
Discovery starts from $16,000.
Discovery is optional and paid on its own: written requirements, designs you approve, and a fixed price for the build. Skip it if you already have requirements and designs. Builds start from $35,000 for one codebase, and maintenance after launch starts at $10,000 a month with a three-month minimum. Prices are for remote work. On-site work is quoted separately and priced higher.
How a build worksWhat you get from Discovery
Written requirements
What the app does, for whom, and what it connects to, agreed before design starts.
Designs you approve
Every screen designed and approved before any code is written.
A fixed build price
Quoted against the approved designs, so anything added later is visibly extra.
Accounts in your name
A checklist for the App Store, Google Play and signing keys, set up under your company.
Common questions
Does my business need a mobile app?
Not always. An app makes sense when people use it often, when it needs the phone's camera, location, notifications or offline access, or when it connects your own systems. For occasional visits, a good website is usually enough.
Should we buy or build custom software?
Buy when a product already fits a common process at a reasonable price. Build when the app is part of how your business works differently, or when the workarounds cost more than building would.
Can't our website do this instead?
Often, for customers who visit now and then. An app earns its place when people return every day, work in the field without a signal, or need the phone's hardware.
Is Discovery credited toward the build?
No. Discovery, from $16,000, is a separate stage paid on its own. If you already have requirements and designs, you skip it and go straight to the build.
What does it cost to keep an app after launch?
The store fees are small. The real cost is keeping up with Apple's and Google's yearly changes and fixing what breaks. Our maintenance starts at $10,000 a month with a three-month minimum.
Tell us what is going on with your app.
A short note is enough. We reply with whether we can help and what the first step costs.