October 20, 2026
Mobile app development cost in India: Android + iOS explained
Why one app on both stores costs ₹1,00,000 to ₹5,00,000, where the budget actually goes, and how to spot the quotes that look cheap but will cost you later.
Everyone wants an app. Few people know what one actually costs. This is the breakdown we show every client who asks "how much?".
1. The honest starting prices
| App type | Build | Timeline |
|---|---|---|
| Simple utility (listing, booking, delivery) | ₹1,00,000 | 8–12 weeks |
| Marketplace with payments and chat | ₹2,00,000 – ₹3,50,000 | 12–16 weeks |
| Full product (users, payments, offline, dashboards) | ₹3,50,000+ | 16–24 weeks |
These are both stores — Android + iOS — from one codebase. Native-only is cheaper on paper and more expensive over time.
2. Where the money goes
- Design (20%) — Figma, prototypes, two revision cycles.
- Development (50%) — screens, backend, API, auth, payments.
- Testing (10%) — real devices, QA, bug fixes.
- Publishing (10%) — Play Store, App Store, Apple Developer, review back-and-forth.
- Project management (10%) — weekly updates, demos, documentation.
3. What inflates a quote
- A "mobile website wrapped in a shell" sold as a real app. It works for 3 months, then crashes on iOS 19.
- Charging per screen instead of per feature. 20 identical screens with different data is one feature.
- Hiding Apple Developer account fees (
₹8,000/year) and Play Console (₹2,000 once) in month 6.
4. Timeline reality check
Nobody ships a quality cross-platform app in two weeks. Here is a realistic schedule for a ₹1.5 lakh app:
- Week 1 — Interviews, wireframes
- Weeks 2–3 — Design, backend scoping
- Weeks 4–9 — Development
- Weeks 10–11 — Testing on real devices
- Week 12 — Store submissions, launch
5. Ongoing costs
- Apple Developer: ₹8,000/year
- Play Console: ₹2,000 once
- Backend hosting: ₹1,500 – ₹5,000/month
- Push notifications, SMS/OTP: ₹500 – ₹3,000/month depending on volume
6. FAQ
Should I build Android first? In India, yes — most of your users are on Android. But if your users are in the Gulf, UK or US, iOS first often pays back faster. Do I own the code? We hand over 100% of the source and the stores stay in your name. Can one person build both apps? With Flutter or React Native, yes — we use one codebase and ship to both stores from it. What if Apple rejects the app? We handle the back-and-forth, included in the price.
Ready to budget your app? Message us on WhatsApp with a sentence about what the app should do. We'll come back with a realistic quote the same day.