# Mobile app development cost: what a business app really costs to build and run

> What a business app costs: the build, Apple's $99 a year, Google Play's US$25, the store commission and the server. And why an app on your website's backend costs less.

By Salaheddine Elfatimi, Full Stack Developer in Marrakech. Published 23 October 2026. Updated 23 October 2026.
Canonical: https://salaheddine-elfatimi.com/blog/mobile-app-development-cost

## Key takeaways

- Mobile app development cost has two parts: the build, set by the screens and what your website already does, and the yearly running costs.
- Apple's developer program costs $99 a year and Google Play a US$25 one-time fee; organizations also need a D-U-N-S number for Apple.
- Apple and Google take 15% on digital sales for small developers; Apple's rules send physical goods and services sold in an app to your own payment provider.
- An app built on the same backend as your website reuses accounts, prices and payments, so you pay for new screens, not a second system.

Mobile app development cost has two parts: building the app once, and running it every year. Building depends on the screens and on what your website already does. Running starts with Apple's $99 a year, Google Play's US$25 one-time fee, and a store commission on digital sales. The cheapest app is usually the one built on the backend your website already has.

![A business app on the same backend as the website: the website, the iPhone app and the Android app share one system for accounts, content and payments.](https://salaheddine-elfatimi.com/uploads/2026/10/cover-c4be4423.webp)

## How much does it cost to build a mobile app?

Search "mobile app development cost" and the numbers jump around. [Kellton's 2026 guide](https://www.kellton.com/kellton-tech-blog/mobile-app-development-costs), for example, puts mobile app development costs anywhere from $5,000 to $500,000 and more. That range is honest: "an app" can mean three screens that show a timetable, or a bank.

So the useful question isn't "how much is an app?" but "which screens, and what's behind them?". Here is what moves the price, module by module, roughly from the lightest to the heaviest:

- **Showing what you already have:** your courses, products, services or appointments, read from your website's system. The lightest part when that system exists.
- **Accounts and sign-in:** light when customers keep the account they have on your website, heavier when the app needs its own.
- **Notifications:** a reminder before a class, a message when an order ships.
- **Payments in the app:** the part with the most rules, because Apple and Google have their own (more below).
- **Offline use, audio, video or AI:** each one is a module in itself.
- **A backend built from zero:** if there's no website or platform behind the app yet, this is often the biggest line of all.

On my side, a mobile app is [priced on quote](https://salaheddine-elfatimi.com/services/mobile-apps): it depends on the screens and on what your website or platform already provides. For an e-learning platform, a focused first version starts from about $1,000 and the mobile app is one of the modules priced separately, as I explain in [what an e-learning platform costs](https://salaheddine-elfatimi.com/blog/e-learning-platform-cost).

## What does an app cost every year after launch?

The build is the part of the mobile app development cost everyone expects. The yearly bills are the ones that surprise people, usually on the day the app is "finished" and someone asks: "So, how do we put it on the App Store?"

- **Apple Developer Program: $99 a year.** [Apple's program page](https://developer.apple.com/programs/) lists it as a "$99 annual membership", needed to distribute apps on the App Store.
- **Google Play: US$25, once.** [Play Console Help](https://support.google.com/googleplay/android-developer/answer/6112435) says there is "a US$25 one-time registration fee", paid by credit or debit card (prepaid cards aren't accepted).
- **Paperwork, free but slow.** To publish under your company's name, [Apple asks organizations](https://developer.apple.com/support/enrollment/) for a legal entity, a D-U-N-S number, a work email on your domain and a working website. Apple says D-U-N-S numbers are free in most places. Start early.
- **Builds.** With Expo, the tool I use for React Native apps, the [free plan](https://expo.dev/pricing) costs $0 a month and includes 15 Android and 15 iOS builds and submitting to the app stores. Paid plans start at $19 a month, plus usage.
- **The server.** If the app runs on your website's backend, it's the server you already pay for. A separate backend means a second server bill.
- **Updates.** New iOS and Android versions come out every year, and the store rules change too. Budget a little time for the app to keep up.

For a rule of thumb from the agency side, the same Kellton guide budgets yearly maintenance at 15–25% of the original development cost. It's their estimate, not a law of physics, but it's a fair reminder that an app is a subscription you pay to yourself.

![The running side of mobile app development cost: the store accounts, the store commission on digital sales, and the server, builds and updates.](https://salaheddine-elfatimi.com/uploads/2026/10/costs-1359d349.webp)

## How much do Apple and Google take from each sale?

It depends on what you sell, and this is where many business apps save more than they expect.

| Store | Rate | Source |
| --- | --- | --- |
| App Store, Small Business Program | 15% on paid apps and in-app purchases, for developers under 1 million USD in proceeds a year (you must enroll) | Apple Small Business Program |
| App Store, auto-renewing subscriptions | You receive 70% in a subscriber's first year, then 85%; 85% from the start in the Small Business Program | Apple subscriptions page |
| Google Play, most markets (Morocco included) | 15% on the first $1M a year in the 15% tier, 30% above; 15% on auto-renewing subscriptions | Play Console Help, Service fees |
| Google Play, US, UK, EEA, Australia, Japan | A new structure since 2026 (for example 10% + a 5% billing fee on subscriptions) | Play Console Help, Service fees |

Now the good news for most business owners. Apple's [App Review Guidelines](https://developer.apple.com/app-store/review/guidelines/) say that if your app sells "physical goods or services that will be consumed outside of the app", you must use other payment methods, such as Apple Pay or a card. A clinic appointment, a pair of shoes, a table at your restaurant: no App Store commission, just your payment provider's fee.

The commission applies to digital things unlocked in the app: an online course, a premium subscription, extra lessons. If that's your business, plan for it. Apple's multiplatform rule lets customers use in the app what they bought on your website, as long as those items are also available as in-app purchases. If you're on a course platform's branded app, I compared those costs in [the LearnWorlds mobile app post](https://salaheddine-elfatimi.com/blog/learnworlds-mobile-app-cost).

## Why build the app on the same backend as your website?

Picture a school with a website and a separate app built by someone else. A student pays on the website, opens the app, and the app says she hasn't paid. Because, as far as the app knows, she hasn't. Now someone at the school copies payments from one system to the other, by hand, every Monday.

When the app uses the same backend as the website, there's only one truth:

- **One account per customer.** They sign in to the app with the same email and password as on the website.
- **Prices and rules written once.** Change a price or a schedule in your back office, and the website and both apps show it.
- **One server to pay for and keep safe.** Not a second one that only the app uses.
- **Less to build.** The backend already handles accounts, content and payments, so the app is mostly new screens on top.

![Adding an app with its own backend means two systems to keep in sync; on the website's backend, the app adds screens to the same data.](https://salaheddine-elfatimi.com/uploads/2026/10/compare-da631d59.webp)

This is also why I advise building one API from day one, even for a website: when the app comes later, the expensive part is already done, and the mobile app development cost comes down to the new screens. That's the idea behind my [mobile apps service](https://salaheddine-elfatimi.com/services/mobile-apps): one React Native (Expo) codebase for both stores, on the same server as your website.

## A real example: Polypro Academy

[Polypro Academy](https://polypro-academy.com/en) is a self-paced language-learning platform I built: a placement test, structured courses and AI conversation practice, on the web in English, French and Arabic, plus iOS and Android apps. The website is made with Next.js; the apps with Expo and React Native. Web and apps share one backend (Bun, Elysia, PostgreSQL), so a learner, their lessons and their progress are the same everywhere.

![The live Polypro Academy site, with its request for beta access to the iOS and Android apps.](https://salaheddine-elfatimi.com/uploads/2026/10/proof-56f93e92.webp)

One honest detail: the apps are in beta today. The home page invites learners to "request beta access for iOS & Android", and the [FAQ](https://polypro-academy.com/en/faq) reminds them that the web app is fully responsive, so lessons, quizzes and the AI features already work in a phone browser.

## Do you need an app, or a website that works well on phones?

An app nobody downloads is a very expensive icon. Before taking on any mobile app development cost, check whether a fast website your customers can open on their phone already does the job. It often does, and Polypro's FAQ is a good example of saying so plainly.

An app starts to earn its cost when customers come back often:

- **Daily or weekly use:** a lesson every day, a class every week, a regular order.
- **Notifications that matter:** "your class starts in 15 minutes", not "we miss you".
- **Things a browser does badly:** offline lessons, the camera, recording your voice.

If your customers visit twice a year, keep the website fast and spend the money elsewhere.

## How to keep the mobile app development cost down

1. **Put the backend first.** If your website runs on a system with an API, the app reuses it. If it doesn't, plan that before the app.
2. **Build one codebase for both stores.** React Native with Expo serves iPhone and Android from the same code.
3. **Start with the screens people use every week.** The settings page with 40 options can wait.
4. **Sell physical services outside the store's billing.** Appointments and products don't pay the App Store commission.
5. **Open the store accounts early.** The D-U-N-S number and the identity checks take longer than the fees suggest.

If you're hiring from abroad, I explain how working with a developer in Morocco goes, from cost to time zone, in [hire a web developer in Morocco](https://salaheddine-elfatimi.com/blog/hire-web-developer-morocco).

## Planning an app for your school, clinic or shop?

Tell me what your customers should do on their phones, and send me your website's link. I'll tell you what can be reused, what the app needs, and the yearly costs before any work starts: [ask for a quote here](https://salaheddine-elfatimi.com/#contact). You can also see how I build [iOS and Android apps on the same system as your website](https://salaheddine-elfatimi.com/services/mobile-apps), and [the platforms I've delivered](https://salaheddine-elfatimi.com/#projects).

## Frequently asked questions

### How much does it cost to build a mobile app?

It depends on the screens and on what's behind them. Agency guides publish ranges from about $5,000 to over $500,000. An app on the backend your website already has costs much less than one that needs its own backend built from zero.

### How much are the Apple and Google developer fees?

The Apple Developer Program is $99 a year. Google Play has a US$25 one-time registration fee. Both are paid by you, in your own accounts, so the app stays yours.

### Do Apple and Google take a commission on sales in my app?

On digital goods and subscriptions, yes: 15% for most small developers who join Apple's Small Business Program or Google's 15% tier. On the App Store, physical products and services used outside the app, like appointments or deliveries, must use your own payment method instead.

### Can my app use the same accounts as my website?

Yes, when the app is built on the same backend as your website. Customers sign in with the same account, and prices, content and payments are stored once for the website and both apps.