App development cost in India for 2026: what an Android and iOS app costs by feature, from our own price list and dated market rates. Plan your budget.
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Drafted with AI tools; researched, edited and approved by Althameem Ali. Our editorial policy
On this page · 12 sections
- How much does an app cost in India in 2026?
- What drives the price of an app?
- What does a ₹4 lakh first version include?
- Android only, or Android and iOS?
- A native app, a cross-platform app or a web app?
- What does an app cost to run each year?
- How long does it take to build an app?
- What do Kerala and Gulf firms charge?
- How do you get quotes you can compare?
- Frequently asked questions
- What to do next
- Changelog
We build mobile apps, so we have a stake in this answer: every outside figure is linked and dated, and our own prices are on our pricing page.
This guide is for owners who need an app for customers, field staff or their own team and want to know what a fair quote looks like before they ask for one. It splits an app's price into the parts that drive it, opens up what our ₹4 lakh first version includes, and sets the rates Kerala, Indian and Gulf firms publish side by side. Every outside page was read on 9 October 2026.
How much does an app cost in India in 2026?#
Four sets of published numbers, from three Indian firms and our own price list:
Each firm's own published ranges, with each tier named as the firm names it, read on 9 October 2026; our price is before GST. Riolabz also lists a clickable prototype at ₹1.5 to 4 lakh, which is a demo rather than a working app.
Why do the ranges sit so far apart? Mostly the rate, not the screens. Unico Connect says strong Indian agencies bill ₹2,400 to 4,800 an hour; CloudHouse puts Kerala developer rates at ₹1,500 to 5,000 an hour. Our prices start from ₹1 lakh a person-month, the floor of the lean Kerala team rate our custom software cost guide works out from public salary data. Over a 160-hour month that is about ₹625 an hour, which is why the same list of screens can honestly be quoted at a third of an agency's price, or less, by a small Kerala team.
What drives the price of an app?#
Every quote multiplies the person-months the work needs by the cost of one person-month. The person-months come from choices like these:
The pattern in every row is the same: the visible screens are the small part. A login screen and an order form look simple on a phone, but behind them sit the user accounts, the database, the admin dashboard the office works in, the notifications and the testing on real devices.
What does a ₹4 lakh first version include?#
Our starting price is built from about 4 person-months of work at ₹1 lakh each: design, the app, the admin dashboard and its backend, testing, and the launch on both stores. The backend is not written new: every app we now build has its backend on the Xale platform, with its roles, data and automations (reported by our team), so that part of the work is setting it up for your app. For that price it includes:
- One app on Android and iOS from one codebase in Flutter or React Native.
- The core flows you and we agree in the written scope, with login and push notifications.
- An admin dashboard for the office to manage users, orders, bookings or content.
- Testing on real phones, then submission under your company's App Store and Play Store accounts.
- The store accounts in your company's name, and the app's backend in a workspace in your company's name, with your data and your configuration yours to export any time.
A focused first version takes 10 to 16 weeks from signed scope to store launch. In the UAE the same scope starts from AED 20,000, the same figure in QAR or SAR, a fixed price rather than a conversion of the rupee one. Prices are before GST, or VAT where it applies; hosting and the store fees are billed at cost, in your name.
What it leaves out is what most apps add next. Here is what each addition usually takes, from the same effort model:
Our estimates, not quotes: effort in person-months at our floor rate. Larger scopes usually land at ₹1.2 to 1.5 lakh a person-month. Before GST.
Three worked examples from that table:
- A field-sales app. Reps see the day's visits and take orders, offline when the signal drops, and the office sees orders by rep: the first version plus offline mode, and maps for the check-ins, so about ₹6 to 7.5 lakh. The labelled sample screens on our app development page show an app of this kind, with made-up data.
- A booking app for a clinic or salon chain. The first version plus bookings and payments: about ₹5.5 to 6 lakh.
- A delivery app with a driver app and live tracking. The first version, a second app, maps and payments: about ₹7.5 to 9.5 lakh.
Android only, or Android and iOS?#
Look at who will hold the phone. In September 2026, Android ran 93.97% of India's mobile web traffic and iOS 5.97%, while in the UAE the split was 73.55% and 26.44% (StatCounter for India (opens in a new tab) and the UAE (opens in a new tab), read 9 October 2026).
- An app for your own staff can often be Android only, because you choose the phones.
- An app for customers in India still needs iOS if your buyers skew premium, and an app for UAE customers almost always does.
- One codebase covers both. Zartek, a Kochi firm, says a Flutter app for both platforms costs about 30% more than a single-platform app (Zartek (opens in a new tab)), and Unico Connect puts the saving of cross-platform against two native apps at 30 to 45%. Our first version includes both from the start.
A native app, a cross-platform app or a web app?#
Cross-platform is our default for business apps, because one codebase spares you building, testing and updating two apps. A fully native app earns its cost when a feature needs the operating system itself. A web app, installable as a progressive web app, is cheaper still when the job is mostly screens and forms.
Two systems our team built show the split. ReelsBuddy, a Marketlube company, runs its team on a phone-first web app and a private mobile app on the same ERP (reported by our team; its modules are on our ERP development page). Xale CRM, built by the team behind Marketlube, has an Android app because one feature needs the phone itself: in xale.in's words (opens in a new tab), "The Xale Android app syncs each call from the counsellor's own phone to the right lead with direction, duration and outcome, no per-minute charges, and attaches the phone's own recording." That is a statement about scope, not about what either build cost. Our guide to PWA vs native apps covers what each kind can and can't do in 2026.
What does an app cost to run each year?#
The build is the first bill. These continue for as long as the app is live:
Upkeep is not optional. From 31 August 2026, Google Play requires new apps and updates to target Android 16 (API level 36), and an existing app that doesn't target at least Android 15 stops reaching new users on newer phones (Google (opens in a new tab)). The bar moves every year, so an app nobody updates slowly disappears from the store's reach.
On the 15 to 20% rule, a ₹4 lakh app needs ₹60,000 to 80,000 a year. Our own care plan for software and apps starts from ₹10,000 a month before GST, covering OS updates, bug fixes, monitoring and small improvements; if your own team will look after the app, we train them and give them the documentation.
If the app sells digital goods or subscriptions through the stores' own billing, the stores take a share. Apple's Small Business Program (opens in a new tab) charges 15% to developers with up to 1 million USD in proceeds a year. In India, Google Play (opens in a new tab) charges 15% on the first $1 million of earnings a year for developers in its 15% tier, and 15% on auto-renewing subscriptions.
How long does it take to build an app?#
Published timelines for a first version: 4 to 6 weeks for a simple app at Zartek, 4 to 8 weeks for an MVP at Codingclave (opens in a new tab) and 2 to 3 months for an MVP at Unico Connect. Ours is 10 to 16 weeks from signed scope to store launch, with the admin dashboard, testing on real phones and the store reviews inside it. A typical split:
Start the store accounts in week one, because they have their own queues. Apple asks an organisation for a D-U-N-S Number, someone with authority to sign for the company, a working website and a work email on its domain (Apple (opens in a new tab)). Google makes personal accounts created after 13 November 2023 run a closed test with at least 12 testers for 14 days before an app can go public (Google (opens in a new tab)), so publish under an organisation account in your company's name. Google also says some reviews take up to 7 days, or longer in exceptional cases.
What do Kerala and Gulf firms charge?#
In Kerala, the published floors start low and the add-ons do the work:
- CloudHouse prices a simple app or MVP at ₹2.5 to 8 lakh, and lists add-ons: a payment gateway at ₹30,000 to 1 lakh, maps at ₹20,000 to 60,000, push notifications at ₹20,000 to 50,000 and an ERP or CRM connection at ₹1 to 5 lakh or more.
- Riolabz sets ₹6 to 10 lakh as the floor for a market-ready app and sees founders start with a cross-platform MVP at ₹8 to 20 lakh.
- Zartek says a tightly scoped MVP with 3 to 5 core features on one platform can come in at ₹3 to 5 lakh, and adds ₹50,000 to 2 lakh for each integration.
In the Gulf, Codingclave's Dubai price page, from a firm that says it is based in India, lists an MVP at AED 12,000 to 25,000 with 5 to 10 screens on iOS and Android, a standard app at AED 25,000 to 50,000 and a complex one at AED 50,000 to 150,000 or more, with payment integration at AED 3,000 to 8,000. Our first version starts from AED 20,000 in the UAE, before VAT, and includes the admin dashboard.
How do you get quotes you can compare?#
Put every quote in the same shape before you compare totals:
- Write the first version down as the jobs each kind of user must get done, and mark what can wait for version two.
- Ask for person-months and the rate, not just a total. Two equal totals can hide very different effort.
- Ask what the admin dashboard does, because that's where the office will live.
- Ask whose accounts: the store accounts should be in your company's name, and so should the code repository and the cloud account where the app's code is written for you. On a platform, ask how your data and your configuration export.
- Ask for the yearly running cost in writing: store fees, hosting, upkeep, and who handles Android's yearly target update.
- Open apps they've built on your own phone, and ask what their part was.
Our custom software cost guide shows how person-months turn into a quote, and the same method works for any app.
Frequently asked questions#
How much does a simple app cost in India?#
Published guides from Indian firms put a simple app or MVP at ₹2.5 to 8 lakh (CloudHouse, a Kerala firm, September 2026), a tightly scoped single-platform MVP at ₹3 to 5 lakh (Zartek) and a lean MVP on one platform at ₹6 to 18 lakh (Riolabz, March 2026). The spread comes mostly from hourly rates and from how much sits behind the screens.
How much does an app cost to run each year?#
Most Indian guides budget 15 to 20% of the build a year for upkeep, plus hosting (₹2,000 to 8,000 a month for a small app, in CloudHouse's guide), Apple's developer fee of 99 USD a year and Google's one-time $25. Usage fees for SMS, maps and other services come on top.
Is a web app cheaper than a mobile app?#
Usually, because one web app serves every phone and computer, updates without a store review and pays no store fees. It can't reach some device features, such as the call log, which is why some apps still need a native build.
How long does an app take to build?#
Published timelines for a first version run from 4 to 6 weeks for a simple app to 2 to 3 months for an MVP, and longer for larger apps. Store accounts add their own steps: Apple verifies organisations by their D-U-N-S Number, and new personal Google Play accounts must run a 14-day closed test first.
Do I need both Android and iOS?#
It depends on who holds the phone. In September 2026, iOS ran 5.97% of India's mobile web traffic and 26.44% of the UAE's (StatCounter). An app for your own staff can often be Android only; an app for customers, especially in the Gulf, usually needs both, and one cross-platform codebase covers both.
What to do next#
Write down who will use the app, the three jobs it must do first, and what can wait. Then compare the effort table above with any quote you hold. When you want a written scope and price, our pricing page has every starting price, and you can talk through your app's first version with Althameem Ali in a one-hour consultation.
Changelog#
- 2026-10-12: The quoted line about the Xale Android app now links the xale.in page it comes from. What you hold changed with how we now build: every app's backend is a workspace on the Xale platform in your company's name (reported by our team), with your data and your configuration yours to export any time, and the store accounts stay in your company's name. So the first version no longer lists the source code or a cloud account, the ₹4 lakh section says the backend is set up on the platform and not written new, the care plan line says we train your team and give them the documentation if they will look after the app, and the quote checklist asks for the code repository only where an app's code is written for you. No price or week count changed.
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Written by
Co-founder, Marketlube
Althameem Ali researched, edited and approved this post. Marketlube is a growth partner in Calicut building brands, websites, CRMs and campaigns for businesses across Kerala, India and the Gulf.
