How much does app development cost in the UK?

It's usually the first question anyone with an app idea actually wants answered. In the UK in 2026, a simple MVP typically costs £15,000 to £40,000, a mid-range app £40,000 to £100,000, and a complex or enterprise build £100,000 to £250,000 or more. Those ranges are wide because scope is doing almost all of the work; the rest of this page explains what pushes a project toward one end or the other.

Pictured: Miboko, a health-tech MVP we scoped and delivered to a real budget, from first idea through to a working app.

The short answer

These are the ranges we've seen hold true across real projects, not numbers pulled from a rate card:

Simple MVP: £15,000-£40,000, typically 6-12 weeks
Mid-range app: £40,000-£100,000, typically 3-6 months
Complex or enterprise app: £100,000-£250,000+, typically 6-12+ months

The biggest delays we see come from unclear requirements at the start and slow feedback loops mid-project, not the build itself. A clear brief and quick turnarounds on decisions can easily save weeks either way.

What actually drives the cost

Feature complexity moves the number more than anything else. A handful of screens with one core feature and a login is a different job entirely to something running real-time messaging, payment processing and a proper admin dashboard behind it, and every feature you add pulls extra time from design, development and testing, not just the build itself.

Feature complexity, and how many moving parts sit behind the core idea
Platform choice: native iOS and Android, or one <a href='/react-native-app-development-company' title='React Native App Development'>React Native</a> codebase covering both
Backend requirements: a straightforward API and database, or something with real-time sync and heavier integrations
Design and UX: a considered, tested interface takes longer to get right than a functional one
Third-party integrations: payments, mapping, social login, push notifications and analytics all add build and testing time

What a typical MVP includes

An MVP isn't a stripped-down demo. It's the smallest version of your product that delivers real value to users and lets you test the actual idea, not everything you can imagine it becoming; see our startup & MVP development page for how we scope that conversation.

User registration & authentication
The core feature set, the one thing the app is actually built to do
A basic admin panel
Push notifications
Analytics tracking

Where the budget goes

Roughly, here's how a typical app project splits across its phases:

Discovery & planning: 5-10%
UI/UX design: 15-20%
Frontend development: 25-30%
Backend development: 25-30%
Testing & QA: 10-15%
Deployment & launch: 5%

That doesn't stop at launch either. Budget roughly 15-20% of the build cost annually for hosting, monitoring, OS updates and the bug fixes and small improvements that come from real users actually using the thing. For a build with heavier custom backend needs, our bespoke software development page covers what that looks like once an app grows past MVP stage.

Common questions

Why is the range so wide?

Because scope is the single biggest driver. A simple MVP with one core feature and a handful of screens is a different job entirely to a platform with real-time messaging, payments and a full admin system behind it. We'd rather scope your app properly and give you a number that holds than quote low to get the conversation started.

Is React Native cheaper than building native iOS and Android separately?

Usually, yes. One React Native codebase covering both platforms typically costs less than maintaining two separate native builds, since you're not duplicating the same feature twice. We'll still recommend native when a project genuinely needs it, deep hardware integration and platform-specific performance being the usual reasons.

What does that budget actually include?

For a typical MVP: user registration and authentication, the core feature the app is built around, a basic admin panel, push notifications and analytics tracking. Extra platforms, complex integrations or a bigger admin system move a project up toward the mid-range figure.

Does the cost stop once the app launches?

No, and we'd rather say that upfront than let it be a surprise later. Budget around 15-20% of the build cost annually for hosting, monitoring and the fixes and small improvements that follow once real users start using it.

Will you give us a proper quote before we commit to anything?

Yes, always. We'll scope your app properly, tell you honestly which of these ranges it falls into and why, and give you a fixed figure rather than a vague day rate.