Mobile App Cost Calculator
Your Guide to Understanding App Development Pricing in Australia
How every figure in this guide is built
One rate, one adjustment, no multipliers. Our published rate is $140 an hour. Every build carries a named 20% for testing, project management and store submission, so an hour of build work costs $168 all in. Each figure below is just hours × $168. You can redo any of them, and the calculator prints the hours on every option.
App Complexity Tiers
| Complexity | Features | Build hours | Cost (AUD) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Simple | 5-10 screens, basic UI, no backend | 120 | $20,160 |
| Medium | 10-20 screens, custom UI, user auth, API | 200 | $33,600 |
| Complex | 20+ screens, real-time, payments, admin | 340 | $57,120 |
Platform Costs
Not a multiplier. A second platform is 40 extra build hours — platform-specific work, a second store submission, and testing across both device sets — so it adds $6,720 whatever the size of the build.
| Platform | Trade-off | Added hours |
|---|---|---|
| iOS only | Higher user spend, premium market | included in the base |
| Android only | Larger market reach, more devices | included in the base |
| Both, one codebase | Reaches everyone; small per-platform compromises | +40 h (+$6,720) |
Two separate native codebases is a different proposition again: it is close to two builds, and we would quote it as such rather than as a factor on one.
Feature Cost Breakdown
The hours below are the ones printed on the calculator's own options.
| Feature | Hours | Cost (AUD) |
|---|---|---|
| Push notifications | 8 | $1,344 |
| Analytics integration | 8 | $1,344 |
| User registration & login | 12 | $2,016 |
| Social login (Google, Apple) | 12 | $2,016 |
| GPS & maps | 16 | $2,688 |
| Offline mode | 16 | $2,688 |
| Payments / in-app purchases | 20 | $3,360 |
| Third-party API integration | 20 | $3,360 |
| Real-time chat | 24 | $4,032 |
| Admin dashboard | 32 | $5,376 |
One exception worth naming: integrating with a system that publishes no API is the one line nobody can price honestly in advance. It needs a short spike first — a developer proving a read and a write are possible — and we quote that spike on its own so you can stop after it if the answer is bad.
Ongoing Costs to Consider
- App Store Fees: Apple $99/year, Google $25 one-time
- Server Hosting: $50 - $500/month depending on scale
- Maintenance: 15-20% of initial cost annually
- Marketing: Variable, budget $5,000+ for launch
Quick Cost Estimator
Use this formula for a rough estimate: