In short: building an app costs between €15,000 for an MVP with 1 or 2 features and €200,000 or more for a platform app with several roles and integrations in 2026. A standard business app with accounts, push and payments costs €35,000 to €75,000 excl. VAT. After launch, budget 15 to 20% of the build cost per year for maintenance.
Price table: MVP, business app or platform app
The price of an app depends on the number of features, the number of platforms and how much has to happen behind the scenes. These are the ranges we see from experienced makers in the Netherlands in 2026, excluding VAT.
| Type of app | What is included | Guide price 2026 (excl. VAT) | Hours | Timeline |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| MVP | 1–2 core features, login, cross-platform, simple backend | €15,000 – 35,000 | 200 – 400 | 6 – 10 weeks |
| Standard business app | Accounts, push, payments, admin panel, 1–2 integrations, iOS and Android | €35,000 – 75,000 | 400 – 900 | 8 – 16 weeks |
| Platform app | Several roles, offline mode, native modules (camera, NFC, Bluetooth), several integrations, scalable backend | €75,000 – 200,000+ | 900 – 2,500 | 4 – 9 months |
| PWA (web app on the home screen) | Runs in the browser, installable, push on Android and iOS, no store | €8,000 – 25,000 | 100 – 300 | 4 – 8 weeks |
Hourly rates for senior app developers in the Netherlands sit between €90 and €130 in 2026. Offshore is cheaper per hour but in practice often costs more hours and more of your time.
Native, cross-platform or PWA: what is the difference?
Native (Swift for iOS, Kotlin for Android) gives the best performance and access to every device feature, but means 2 codebases. Expect 60 to 80% higher costs than 1 cross-platform codebase.
Cross-platform with Flutter or React Native (with Expo) covers well over 90% of business apps in 2026. One codebase, 1 team, a native feel, and most native modules are available as plugins. This is our default choice for SMEs and startups.
PWA is a web app you add to the home screen. Cheapest, no app store needed, updated instantly. Push works on Android and, since iOS 16.4, on iPhone once the app is installed. Downsides: no visibility in the stores and limited access to hardware such as Bluetooth and NFC on iOS. When a PWA is enough is covered in PWA vs native app.
Where the money goes
In practice an app budget splits like this:
- Discovery and UX (10 to 15%). What the app must do, for whom, and what can be left out. The cheapest hours of the project and the ones that save the most.
- UI design (10%). Screens, components, icons and the states everyone forgets: empty, loading, error, offline.
- App frontend (30 to 35%). The screens the user sees, navigation, forms, animations.
- Backend and API (20 to 25%). Accounts, database, notifications, payments, admin panel. An app without a backend barely exists.
- Integrations (5 to 15%). Membership systems, accounting, CRM, scheduling, payment provider.
- Testing and QA (10%). On real devices, on bad networks, with real data.
- App stores (2 to 5%). Accounts, screenshots, privacy texts, the review process and the first rejection.
The stores themselves: Apple Developer Program €99 per year, Google Play €25 once. If you sell digital services inside the app, Apple charges 15% commission through the Small Business Program (up to 1 million dollars in revenue) and 30% above that; Google applies comparable rates. Physical products and services delivered outside the app are exempt. A Google Play account for an organization requires business verification with a D-U-N-S number, so arrange that in week 1.
Running costs: maintenance, OS updates and hosting
An app is never finished. Budget 15 to 20% of the build cost per year:
- OS updates. Every fall brings new versions of iOS and Android with new requirements for privacy, permissions and SDKs. An app that does not keep up is pulled from the store within 2 years.
- Libraries and security. Flutter, React Native and their plugins ship updates monthly.
- Hosting and services. Backend €50 to €500 per month, push through Firebase free, monitoring (Sentry) and analytics (PostHog) €0 to €100.
- Store fees and certificates. Annual renewals, new screenshots with every major release.
- Small improvements. The 5 things users ask for in the first month.
For a €40,000 business app that means €500 to €700 per month. See maintenance and SLA for what a maintenance contract covers.
How AI development is pushing prices down in 2026
AI-assisted programming is the norm in 2026. Boilerplate, data models, tests, glue code and store listings take 30 to 50% fewer hours than 2 years ago. What does not get faster: understanding what your users need, design, architecture decisions, integrations with systems whose documentation is wrong, and testing on real devices.
Net, we see projects come in 20 to 35% cheaper for the same quality. Be careful with 'AI builds your app in a week' offers: they deliver a demo, not an app that passes review, handles data safely and still works a year from now. At RABZI a senior makes the decisions and AI accelerates the execution; you see the difference in month 2, not in the first demo.
Worked example: a customer app with login and push
A gym with 1,200 members wants an app for the class schedule, booking classes, viewing the membership and push notifications for changes. Membership administration in Virtuagym, payments through Mollie. The quote:
- Discovery Sprint: goals, user flows, priorities, technical choices: €2,950
- UX and UI design, 25 screens including empty and error states: €5,500
- Flutter app for iOS and Android: login, schedule, booking, profile, push: €14,500
- Backend and API with admin panel and notifications: €8,500
- Membership system and payment provider integration: €4,500
- Testing on 20 devices, store publication, privacy texts: €2,500
Total €38,450 excl. VAT, live in 12 weeks. Ongoing: hosting €120, maintenance €249, store fees €8, roughly €380 per month.
RABZI estimate: a mobile app from RABZI starts at €15,000 excl. VAT (MVP with 1 or 2 features), from €35,000 for Growth (accounts, push, payments, admin panel) and from €75,000 for Flagship (native modules, offline, several integrations). Timeline 8 to 16 weeks at a fixed price. Unsure about scope? Start with a €2,950 Discovery Sprint, credited against the build within 60 days. See mobile apps or the pricing.
Mistakes that blow up budgets
- No MVP scope. Wanting everything in version 1. Start with the 2 features people open the app for.
- Skipping discovery. Every week of design you skip costs 3 weeks of build.
- Building native twice when cross-platform covers everything you need.
- Forgetting the backend. 'It is just an app' ends in a server, accounts and an admin panel nobody budgeted.
- Changing the design mid-build. Every new screen halfway through costs double.
- Ignoring store rules. Mandatory account deletion, privacy labels, review guidelines. A rejection costs 1 to 3 weeks.
- No maintenance budget. An app without an update budget is unusable in 18 months.
- Choosing on hourly rate. €60 per hour at 800 hours is more expensive than €110 at 350 hours.
If the app is the core of a new company, also read how we work with startups and scale-ups and what a web application costs when the browser is enough.
Frequently asked questions
How much does a simple app cost? An MVP with 1 or 2 features, login and a simple backend costs €15,000 to €35,000 excl. VAT from an experienced maker in 2026. A PWA without a store listing starts around €8,000. Below €10,000 you usually get a template app or a demo without a backend.
What does an app cost per month after launch? Budget 15 to 20% of the build cost per year: for a €40,000 app that is €500 to €700 per month for OS updates, security, hosting, monitoring and small improvements. Store fees are €99 per year at Apple and €25 once at Google.
Can I get an app built for €5,000? Only as a template app or a PWA with 1 feature and no accounts. €5,000 buys about 45 hours of work; that covers a Discovery Sprint and a clickable prototype you can test with investors or customers, not a published app.
How long does it take to build an app? An MVP takes 6 to 10 weeks, a standard business app 8 to 16 weeks, a platform app 4 to 9 months. Add 1 to 3 weeks for store review. The biggest delays are unclear scope and integrations with poorly documented systems.
Conclusion
In 2026 an app costs €15,000 to €35,000 for an MVP, €35,000 to €75,000 for a full business app and more for a platform. Go cross-platform unless you have a hard reason for native, budget maintenance from day 1 and start with the smallest version that delivers value. Want to know what your app would cost? Book an intro call and you will have an estimate with a fixed price and schedule within 2 business days.