Why app quotes vary so wildly, what actually drives the cost, and how to get a number you can trust.
App quotes in New Zealand range from about $15,000 to well past $200,000 for what sounds like the same brief. That spread is not studios guessing. It is that 'an app' describes wildly different things.
Why the range is so wide
A two screen app that displays information from a spreadsheet and an app with user accounts, payments, push notifications and offline sync are separated by an order of magnitude in engineering work. Both get called 'an app' in the first conversation.
| Type | Rough range | What it involves |
|---|---|---|
| Simple utility | $15,000 to $35,000 | A handful of screens, no accounts, no backend of consequence |
| Standard product app | $35,000 to $90,000 | Accounts, a backend, payments or subscriptions, push notifications |
| Complex platform | $90,000 and up | Real time features, offline sync, heavy integrations, multiple user types |
The cost driver people underestimate
It is almost never the screens. It is the backend, and everything that has to be true for the app to work reliably.
- User accounts mean password resets, email verification, session handling, and account deletion.
- Payments mean a payment provider integration, receipts, refunds, failed payment handling, and tax treatment.
- Offline support means conflict resolution when two devices change the same thing.
- Push notifications mean a delivery service, permission handling, and a way to send them.
Both platforms, or start with one?
Building for iOS and Android separately roughly doubles native development. Cross platform frameworks like Flutter or React Native let one codebase serve both, which is why most studios use them for anything that is not performance critical.
If budget is tight, launching on one platform first is a legitimate strategy. In New Zealand, iOS has an unusually high share compared to global averages, so iOS first is often the right call here even though the reverse is true in many markets.
Getting a number you can trust
- Write down what the app must do in the first version, and be ruthless about what is not in it.
- Ask specifically what the backend involves and whether it is included.
- Ask what happens to the price if a feature turns out harder than expected.
- Ask what ongoing costs to expect after launch, including store fees and server costs.
Any studio that gives you a fixed number without asking about the backend has not thought about it, which means you will hear about it later.