"How much will my app cost?" is the first question every founder asks, and most agencies dodge it. Here are the honest ranges we see in the Indian market in 2026, and more importantly, what makes a project land at the top or bottom of them.
The ranges
A simple app — a few screens, standard login, one core workflow, no custom backend logic — typically runs ₹2–5 lakh. A business app with user accounts, payments, an admin dashboard and API integrations sits around ₹5–15 lakh. Marketplace apps, fintech products and anything with real-time features or AI typically starts at ₹15 lakh and climbs with complexity. Ongoing maintenance usually adds 15–20% of the build cost per year.
What actually moves the price
Screens are cheap; logic is expensive. Payment processing, offline support, real-time sync, third-party integrations and role-based permissions each add engineering weight that isn't visible in a design mockup. The second big driver is polish: an app that merely works costs far less than one that feels effortless, and the difference is weeks of refinement.
Native, cross-platform, or web?
For most businesses, one cross-platform codebase (React Native or Flutter) delivers both iOS and Android at roughly 60% of the cost of building each natively. Fully native still wins for games and hardware-heavy apps. And sometimes the right answer is a progressive web app at a fraction of the price — a good agency will tell you when that's true, even though it means a smaller invoice.
Questions that protect you
Ask what is included in the quote: design, testing, deployment, store submission, post-launch fixes? Ask who owns the code and the accounts — the answer must be you. Ask for a fixed-price proposal after a scoping call, not a rate card. And ask to speak to a past client; a confident agency will connect you within a day.
Dovic builds web and mobile applications for clients in India and abroad, with fixed proposals and no surprise line items. If you have an idea and want a real number, book a free call — we'll scope it honestly.