Estimate sheet · rates read 2 Oct 2026
App Development Cost Calculator (2026)
Choose the platform, features and who builds it. The estimate updates as you go, itemised by workstream, with the source of every rate printed underneath. No email, no sales call.
Start from an example
Estimate
iOS + Android, one cross-platform codebase
Likely build cost
$65,000
Range $37,000 to $117,000
| Design | 139 h | $10,000 |
| App development | 415 h | $31,000 |
| Backend and integrations | 131 h | $9,800 |
| Testing (QA) | 109 h | $8,100 |
| Project management | 79 h | $5,900 |
| Total | 873 h | $65,000 |
- Timeline, 3 people
- 9 weeks (about 2 months)
- Blended rate
- $74.50/hr
- First-year running cost
- $29,000384 upkeep hours ($29,000) + Apple Developer Program $99/yr + Google Play $25 once. Hosting and paid services not included.
Based on
Rates: Clutch Software Development Pricing Guide (updated 21 Sep 2026), United States band of $50 - $99 per hour. Mid is the band midpoint. Read 2 Oct 2026.
Hours: this site's published assumptions, not survey data. Range is 0.85x hours at the low rate to 1.35x hours at the high rate. Methodology · Sources
Planning estimate, not a quote. A real quote depends on a written scope; use this to check one.
How the estimate works
- Hours. A base for the app's size, plus hours for each feature you tick, multiplied for the platforms you need. Backend hours depend on whether you use a managed backend, an existing API or a custom build. These are our published assumptions, not survey data.
- Overheads. Design is a share of app hours set by the design depth you pick. Testing adds 20% of build hours and project management 10% of everything else.
- Rates. Each workstream is priced at the rate for the team you choose. Every rate option names its publisher and the date we read it. See all the rates side by side.
- Range and time. The range runs from 0.85x hours at the low rate to 1.35x hours at the high rate. Timeline assumes 32 productive hours per person per week.
Six example apps, priced three ways
The same examples as the buttons above the calculator, run through the same formula. Click a name to load it and change anything.
| Scenario | Hours | US agency | Latin America | US in-house |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Simple utility appOne platform, a handful of screens, analytics, no accounts. | 206 h | $15,000$8,800 to $28,000 | $11,000$8,100 to $17,000 | $18,000$12,000 to $31,000 |
| Booking app for a local businessiOS and Android from one codebase, accounts, booking, payments, maps. | 1,132 h | $84,000$48,000 to $151,000 | $60,000$45,000 to $92,000 | $97,000$63,000 to $170,000 |
| Subscription content appCross-platform, in-app subscriptions, media, offline reading, custom backend. | 1,444 h | $108,000$61,000 to $193,000 | $77,000$57,000 to $117,000 | $124,000$81,000 to $217,000 |
| Two-sided marketplace MVPCross-platform, listings, search, chat, payments and an admin dashboard. | 1,786 h | $133,000$76,000 to $239,000 | $95,000$71,000 to $145,000 | $154,000$100,000 to $268,000 |
| Internal web dashboardBrowser-based tool on an API you already run, with logins and search. | 538 h | $40,000$23,000 to $72,000 | $29,000$21,000 to $44,000 | $47,000$30,000 to $81,000 |
| Social app, two native codebasesNative iOS and Android, feed, chat, media, maps, languages, admin. | 3,301 h | $246,000$140,000 to $441,000 | $176,000$130,000 to $267,000 | $283,000$184,000 to $495,000 |
The rates behind the calculator
Published sources disagree, so the calculator lets you choose rather than averaging them into one number. The gap between them is the gap between hiring an employee, hiring a US firm and hiring offshore.
| Who builds it | Published band | Source |
|---|---|---|
| US in-house developer, employer cost | $72.26/hr to $118.11/hr | BLS OEWS May 2025 (25th to 75th percentile) and BLS ECEC June 2026 |
| US development company | $50 to $99/hr | Clutch Software Development Pricing Guide, Sep 2026 |
| App development company, Clutch average | $25 to $49/hr | Clutch App Development Pricing Guide, Sep 2026 |
| Latin America, junior to senior | $33 to $75/hr | Accelerance, Nov 2025 (2026 guide) |
| Europe, junior to senior | $31 to $76/hr | Accelerance, Nov 2025 (2026 guide) |
| Asia, junior to senior | $24 to $41/hr | Accelerance, Nov 2025 (2026 guide) |
For a sense of what real projects have cost, Clutch reports that the average cost of app development projects on its platform is $90,780.11, that mobile app projects usually take about 11 months, and that most projects reviewed there fall between $10,000 and $49,999. Those are averages of reviewed projects, not a price for yours.
Questions
How accurate is this app development cost calculator?+
It is as accurate as its two inputs. The hourly rates come from named sources read on 2 October 2026 (BLS wage data, Clutch pricing guides and the Accelerance 2026 rate survey). The hours are this site's own planning assumptions, published line by line on the methodology page, so you can see exactly where you disagree. Treat the result as a way to check a quote, not as a quote.
Why do you not ask for my email?+
Because this site does not sell development work and has nothing to follow up on. The estimate appears as you change the inputs, and the link to your estimate is the page address, which you can copy and share.
Where do the hourly rates come from?+
Each option under Who builds it names its source. The US in-house option uses BLS May 2025 wages for software developers, designers, QA testers and project managers, grossed up by the 70.0% wage share of employer costs in BLS ECEC June 2026. The agency options use Clutch's September 2026 pricing guides. The outsourcing regions use the Accelerance 2026 junior and senior bands.
Why is the range so wide?+
Two things widen it. Published rate bands are wide (Clutch lists US development companies at $50 to $99 an hour), and hours for an unscoped app are uncertain, so the low end uses 0.85 times our hours at the bottom of the rate band and the high end uses 1.35 times our hours at the top. Narrow the range by writing down a scope and getting a quote against it.
Does a bigger team make the app cheaper?+
No. In this calculator team size only changes the timeline, because the same hours are spread across more people. In practice more people also adds coordination time, which the 10% project management line is meant to cover for typical team sizes.
What does it cost to publish an app in the stores?+
Apple states that the Apple Developer Program annual fee is 99 USD. Google Play charges a US$25 one-time registration fee. Both are added to the first-year running cost when you choose a platform that ships to that store.