How much does it cost to develop an app?
4.000 €
Simple app from a freelancer, according to one June 2026 Price Guide
200.000 €+
Enterprise app with an Italian team, according to one September 2026 Price Guide
This is the range of prices published in 2026 by freelancers and agencies in Italy. It is broad because the word “app” covers very different projects.
Explore market price ranges with sources, the factors affecting cost and the cost of maintaining an app after launch. Giallo Studio's prices are agreed after the free audit, as a fixed-price quote.
How much does it cost to develop an app in 2026
According to the lists of Italian agencies a simple app costs between 8,000 and 25,000 euros, an average between 20,000 and 70,000 and a complex from 60,000 to over 200,000. A freelancer starts from about 4,000 euros for a simple app. Maintenance, store accounts and servers are added each year.
- Simple App
- 8,000-25,000 euros: catalogue, contents, forms, basic notifications.
- Media App
- 20,000-70,000 euros: accounts, orders or reservations, payments, management panel.
- Complex App
- 60,000 to over 200,000 euros: chat, real-time maps, marketplace, AI.
- After launch
- Maintenance 15-20% per year, Apple 99 USD per year, Google 25 USD once, server 20-300 euros per month.
Sources: guides to 2026 prices of two Italian agencies (August and July) and a freelancer (June), fixed costs from Apple and Google. The detail is in the chart below.
App Development Cost: Market Bands, Source by Source
Each row is a published price list. Look at the gap between someone using a builder, a freelancer and an agency: it is why two quotes for “the same app” can differ by an order of magnitude.
Builder AI · Do it yourself
Source: Price Guide, July 2026
AI Builder 250-1.500 €First year, all inclusive. Part source: the guide comes from an AI builder.
Freelance
Source: Price Guide, June 2026
simple 4.000-10.000 € · medium 10.000-30.000 € · complex from 30.000 €
Freelance · Simple MVP
Source: Price Guide, July 2026
Simple MVP 5.000-30.000 €
Agency · Simple MVP
Source: Price Guide, July 2026
Simple MVP 15.000-80.000 €
Agency
Source: Price Guide, August 2026
simple 8.000-20.000 € · medium 20.000-60.000 € · complex 60.000-150.000 € · platform from 150.000 €
Agency
Source: Price Guide, July 2026
base 10.000-25.000 € · medium 25.000-70.000 € · high 70.000-200.000 € and beyond
Agency · Italian team
Source: Price Guide, September 2026
MVP 20.000-40.000 € · Business 40.000-80.000 € · enterprise 80.000-200.000 € and beyond
Why prices vary so much
None of the price lists are wrong. They're describing different things with the same word.
"App" doesn't mean anything.
A catalog and marketplace with payments and chat are both called apps. According to one 2026 Price Guide, a simple app, such as a catalogue, takes 2-3 months of work; a complex app with chat and real-time maps takes 6 to 12.
Who makes it, and how.
With an AI builder you pay for the tool and the job you do. A study he develops with programming agents cuts the hours on the repetitive code. An agency with separate teams for design, iOS, Android and testing has higher fixed costs. They are different models, not right and wrong prices.
A codebase or two.
Two native apps want two bases of code, and often two teams. One base only costs less: the numbers are lower.
What's in the quote.
Design, server, administration panel, publication, months of assistance: some quotes include them, others do not. Compare them item by item, not by total.
The integrations.
Connecting to a management system with modern APIs is a job. Connecting to an old one, without API, is a separate project: we talk about it in the page on Tailored Business Apps.
What moves the price: Turn on the functions of your app
How much it costs to have an app developed depends on what it has to do. Turn on the functions of yours: the indicator shows how much complexity grows and to the right appear the cost items that each one carries. The euro comes from the budget, function by function.
Complexity
Simple
The items that come into the quote
App Base
- Screenshot Design
- Servers and DatabasesRecurring
- Publication on the App Store and Google Play
Login and Account
- Password registration, access and recovery
- Account cancellation from the app, requested by Apple
Push Notifications
- Sending with APNs (Apple) and FCM (Google)
- Server deciding who receives what and when
A codebase costs less than two native apps
Two native apps, one in Swift for iPhone and one in Kotlin for Android, are two projects: two code bases, two test cycles, each correction done twice. With a cross-platform approach you write a single base.
Giallo Studio uses a web codebase (Next.js, React, TypeScript), brought to iOS and Android through Capacitor, plus one PWA: three platforms, one codebase. When the web cannot provide a feature, we write a native module, as we did for the in-app purchases in Athleex with StoreKit 2.
If you mainly need a tool for computer use, the better route may be custom software.
Sources: "about 30-50% less" than two native apps according to one June 2026 Price Guide (estimate on Flutter), 30-40% second another guide, published in July 2026. The principle applies to any one-base approach.
Two native apps
- Bases of code
- Two: Swift and Kotlin
- Platforms
- iOS, Android
- Native Functions
- All
- When it makes sense
- Games, heavy graphics, very specific system functions
Cross-platform
- Bases of code
- One: Flutter or React Native
- Platforms
- iOS, Android
- Native Functions
- Almost all, with plugins
- When it makes sense
- App with its own interface on iOS and Android
Web Base + Capacitor
- Bases of code
- One, which is also the web app
- Platforms
- iOS, Android, web (PWA)
- Native Functions
- With plugins, more modules written on purpose
- When it makes sense
- Management and service apps, and who also wants the web version
How much does app maintenance cost?
The development budget is the expense you see. The receipt next door is the one that comes next, every month or every year: no entry is huge, but they all have to be taken into account.
Maintenance is not an option, because every year Apple and Google raise the requirements. In 2026, for example, from 28 April it serves Xcode 26 to publish on the App Store and from August 31 the apps on Google Play must aim to Android 16 (API 36). An app left unmaintained needs to meet current requirements before its next update. For each store's detailed rules, see our pages on iOS app and Android app.
If the app uses AI, API costs are charged per token and depend on usage. We explain how to estimate and control those costs on our page about artificial intelligence app development.
Your app after launch
Recurring costs
Store until the next version of iOS.
App Development Quote: How we get to the number
We first understand what the app needs to do, then price each feature. We do not use a generic price list or bill retrospectively by the day.
Free Audit
Thirty minutes: what the app needs to do, for whom, with what systems.
List of functions
Every function on a line, with what it includes and what it doesn't.
Fixed price
If the list doesn't change, the price doesn't change. If it changes, we rewrite it first.
Test Build
Try the app on your phone with TestFlight and the closed Google Play test.
Publication
With your accounts, which remain yours along with the code.
What to check in any quote
Even if you don't ask us, it's the lines that avoid discussion afterwards.
- The list of functions, one per line, does not "complete app".
- Who posts on the stores and with which account: better yours.
- Whose code it is and where it stands: a repository in your name.
- Whether design, server, and admin panel are included.
- Recurring costs separate from development costs.
- What happens if functions change midway.
Want an inexpensive way to test whether your idea holds up? Start with an MVP
Questions about costs
The short answers, with the sources. The long ones we give them in call.
How much does a simple, medium, or complex app cost?
In the 2026 lists of two Italian agencies a simple app costs 8,000-20,000 euros or 10.000-25.000, an average 20,000-60,000 or 25,000-70,000, a complex 60,000-150,000 or 70,000-200,000 and above. A freelancer starts from about 4,000 euros for a simple app. What matters is what's inside: that's why our quote comes after the audit.
What does the price of an app depend on?
From functions (logins, payments, AI, integrations, offline use), from how many systems you need connected, from how many code bases you need (one or two native apps) and from what the quote includes: design, server, administration panel, publication and assistance. The configurator on this page shows which functions weigh the most.
How much does it cost to maintain an app every year?
As order of magnitude the 15-20% of development cost each year, for updates, fixes and new store requirements. $99 a year is added for theApple Developer Program, the server, which costs 20-300 euros per month, and API consumption if the app uses AI.
How much does it cost to publish an app on the App Store and Google Play?
Apple needs theApple Developer Program, $99 a year (in Italy the amount is shown in euros at the time of registration). For Google thePlay Console account, $25 once. Gli account personali Google creati dopo il 13 novembre 2023 devono fare un test closed with at least 12 testers for 14 days before publishing. Accounts should be registered to you, not to the developer. Accounts, review and testing are explained in the pages on iOS app and on Android app.
What should an app quote include?
The list of functions, one per line; the platforms (iOS, Android, web); design, server and administration panel, if they are needed; who posts on the stores and with which account; whose is the code; the times; what happens if the functions change halfway. And recurring costs kept separate from development costs.
Are there any extra costs besides development?
Yes, and you should know them first: store accounts, servers and databases, consumption of AI API if there are smart functions, maintenance. For push notifications the Google service, Firebase Cloud Messaging, is free: you pay the server who decides who receives what. If you sell digital content, Apple and Google hold a commission that depends on country and turnover (Apple, Google).
Can I start with an MVP to spend less?
Yes, and it is often the right choice: a first version with only the functions that serve to understand if the idea holds, to be put in the hands of real users. How you build and what to keep out is on the page on theMVP for Startups and Ideas.
Why does an AI builder cost so little?
Why you pay for a tool, not a job: second the price guide of an AI builder, therefore a source of part, the first year costs 250-1,500 euros all inclusive. You design, verify and publish them. To validate an idea is fine; when personal data, payments, and real users arrive they serve the things a builder doesn't do on their own, and you find them on the page on the artificial intelligence app development.
Do you make fixed price quotes?
Yes. After the free audit you receive a fixed price quote with the list of functions: if the list does not change, the price does not change. If it changes, we rewrite it before we do it, not after.
Free Audit Fixed Price
Do you want a real number for your app?
Tell us what you need to do. After the free audit you receive a fixed price quote with the list of functions: you know what you pay and why, before you start. We'll get back to you within one business day.