"How much for an app?" is the question we get most, and the honest answer is "between ₹40,000 and ₹40 lakh" — which helps nobody. So here's the detailed version: what the ranges are in 2026, what moves the number, and where people waste money.
The ranges (India, 2026)
| What you're buying | Includes | Typical range | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| Clickable prototype | Designed screens in Figma you can tap through. No code. | ₹15,000 – ₹60,000 | 1–3 weeks |
| Single-feature MVP | One core flow, Android only, simple back-end, no payments | ₹1 – 3 lakh | 4–8 weeks |
| Launch-ready v1 | Android + iOS, accounts, payments, notifications, admin panel | ₹4 – 12 lakh | 8–14 weeks |
| Multi-app platform | Customer + partner/rider + admin apps, integrations, analytics | ₹12 – 40 lakh | 3–6 months |
| Enterprise system | Complex workflows, legacy integration, compliance, migration | ₹40 lakh+ | 6+ months |
These assume a professional studio with designers, engineers and QA. A solo freelancer may quote 40–60% less; the trade-off is usually design quality, testing and what happens when they get a full-time job halfway through.
What actually drives the price
1. Number of screens and flows
Not "features" — flows. "Booking" sounds like one feature but might be eight screens: choose service, pick date, pick slot, enter details, pay, confirm, reschedule, cancel. A good scoping session counts these honestly.
2. Platforms
Android only is cheapest. Android + iOS with Flutter adds roughly 15–25% (one codebase, two sets of testing and store submissions). Two separate native apps roughly doubles development.
3. User types
Every extra kind of user — customer, vendor, delivery partner, admin — is another app or portal with its own screens, permissions and testing.
4. Integrations
Payments (Razorpay/UPI), maps, SMS/WhatsApp, video calls, Tally or an existing ERP, government APIs. Each is days of work and, sometimes, months of waiting for third-party approvals.
5. Offline and low-connectivity support
Essential for field staff, farmers and rural users; it adds meaningful complexity to sync logic. Budget for it if your users won't always have signal.
6. Design quality
A design system with real usability testing costs more up front and saves multiples later in support and rebuilds.
The costs nobody mentions in the quote
- Store accounts: Google Play one-time ~₹2,000; Apple Developer ~₹8,500 per year.
- Cloud hosting: ₹1,500 – ₹15,000 per month for a small-to-medium app; more with heavy media or traffic.
- SMS / WhatsApp / maps / AI API usage: pay-per-use; budget a few thousand rupees a month early on.
- Maintenance: OS updates, library updates, security patches, small fixes. Budget 15–20% of the build cost per year.
- Your own time: testing, content, decisions. Real but rarely counted.
How to spend less without building junk
- Start with a prototype. ₹30,000 of Figma catches ₹3 lakh of wrong assumptions.
- Cut to one flow for v1. Read our guide on starting with no money.
- Use Flutter for both platforms from one codebase. See Flutter vs React Native.
- Use proven building blocks — auth, payments and chat don't need to be reinvented. Our platforms exist for this reason.
- Phase it. Pay for what ships. Let phase 1 earn or attract funding for phase 2.
- Get a fixed price. For well-scoped work, a turnkey fixed price moves the risk of overruns to the studio.
Where to go from here
Write your one-sentence problem, list your user types and the one flow that matters most, and send it to us. We'll come back with an honest range, not a fantasy — and if you're a student or first-time founder, ask about Dream Builder pricing.
Have an idea?
Let's turn it into something real.
From a napkin sketch to a launched product — businesses, students and first-time founders welcome.
