Get a realistic first estimate of what building an app would cost. Choose the platforms, set the hours for each feature and type the hourly rate you expect to pay. The calculator adds design, testing and project management, then shows a cost range, the number of weeks it would take and what keeping the app running might cost each year.
Cost follows hours, and hours follow scope. A simple app with a few screens, no accounts and no payments can be a small project. Add login, a payment flow, chat or live maps and each one brings its own screens, edge cases, testing and third-party services. That is why a feature list is a better starting point than a single flat price.
Platforms add work in a less obvious way. Building for iPhone and Android separately roughly doubles the screen work, while a shared codebase saves some of it. The extra effort box lets you model either approach: set it near 100 percent for separate apps, or lower for a shared approach.
The biggest unknown is not the hourly rate but the number of hours. Early estimates are often wrong in the same direction: features turn out bigger than they sounded, and changes arrive mid-project. The range and the testing percentage exist to put that uncertainty on the page instead of hiding it in one number.
Compare the estimate with what you need to learn. If the cost is more than you can risk before knowing whether people want the app, reduce the first version to the one or two features that prove the idea, then expand with real feedback. The same hours spent on a smaller scope teach you more.
Hours for each ticked feature are added up and multiplied by the platform factor (1 + extra effort x number of additional platforms). Design is a percentage of that build time, and testing and project management is a percentage of build plus design. Total hours x your hourly rate gives the cost. For example, 100 hours on one platform with 10 percent design and 20 percent testing is 100 + 10 + 22 = 132 hours, and at $50 an hour that is $6,600.
Software estimates are uncertain. The tool applies the spread you choose, 25 percent by default, so a $6,600 estimate becomes a range of about $4,950 to $8,250. Use the high end for budgeting and treat the low end as the best case.
Weeks = total hours / (team size x productive hours per person per week). Total hours of 132 with one person at 30 hours a week is 4.4 weeks. More people shorten the schedule only when the work can be split between them, so a bigger team does not divide the time perfectly.
It is the share of the build cost you expect to spend each year on updates, fixes and small improvements. The default of 18 percent is a common rule of thumb, not a quote. A simple app may need less and an app with payments or many integrations may need more.
No. It is a planning estimate based on hours and rates you control. Actual costs depend on the builder, the scope and changes during the project. It is not professional or financial advice.
Related: Website cost calculator, Builder cost comparison, Freelance rate calculator.
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