Guide for companies
How much it costs to develop an app
Updated August 2026
“It depends” is the true but useless answer. The useful one is that app costs move within fairly predictable ranges, and what moves a project from one range to another is a handful of precise choices — not the imagination of whoever writes the quote. This guide puts down the price ranges an Italian company can expect from a freelance developer, what pushes them up, and where you can save without regretting it.
The price ranges
Indicative prices for development by an Italian freelancer or small team. A structured software house typically costs 50–100% more for the same scope, in exchange for continuity and structure.
Simple app
€5,000 – €15,000
Few screens, no accounts or a simple login, content from a single system. One platform or cross-platform technology.
Examples: Product catalogue, showcase app with booking, field data collection for technicians.
Medium app
€15,000 – €40,000
User accounts, push notifications, payments or ERP integration, an admin panel. This is where most serious business apps land.
Examples: Customer app with orders and history, internal app connected to the ERP, bookings with payment.
Complex app
€40,000 – €100,000+
Multiple user types, real-time features, several integrations, security or regulatory requirements, high volumes. Here the biggest cost is not writing code: it is designing well.
Examples: Two-sided marketplaces, fintech, apps talking to hardware or IoT, platforms with thousands of active users.
If a quote sits far below its range, you have almost never found a bargain: usually whoever wrote it understood a smaller project than yours.
What actually drives the price up
Four choices move the quote more than everything else combined.
Backend and user accounts
An app that displays content costs half of one that manages users, data and permissions. The “server behind the app” is often more work than the app itself.
Integrations with your systems
Connecting to your ERP, CRM or accounting is valuable but costly: it depends on how open and documented those systems are. A modern ERP with APIs integrates in days; a closed one from the 2000s takes weeks.
Native iOS + Android vs cross-platform
Two separate native apps cost nearly double a cross-platform one. For most business apps cross-platform is indistinguishable and halves the bill.
Custom design
A polished interface built on standard components costs little. A fully bespoke design with animations and its own identity can add 20–30% to the total.
How to spend less (well)
The wrong way to save is picking the lowest quote. These are the right ways.
- Start from the smallest version that solves the problem: “nice to have” features can wait for version two, when you know what users actually use.
- Choose cross-platform unless you have special needs (heavy graphics, specific hardware): for a business app the difference is invisible, the saving is not.
- Use existing components and services for login, payments and notifications instead of having them built from scratch: they cost a few euros a month and remove weeks of work.
- Write the request properly before asking for quotes: vague descriptions produce inflated quotes, because whoever prices it covers themselves against the uncertainty.
- Compare several offers on the same written scope: the single most effective money-saver, because it makes prices genuinely comparable.
The costs after launch
A published app is not the end of the spending. Budget these items from day one so they never arrive as surprises.
Maintenance
Operating systems and libraries change every year: an abandoned app stops working on its own. Budget 15–20% of the initial cost per year.
Servers and services
Hosting, database, notifications, email delivery: from tens to a few hundred euros a month depending on volumes.
Developer accounts
Apple charges $99 a year, Google $25 once. Small items, but mandatory.
Evolutions
If the app works, you will want to add to it. That is a good sign — but agree from the start who will build them and at what rate.
Frequently asked questions
How much does a simple app cost for my company?
From an Italian freelancer, roughly €5,000–15,000 for a few screens without complex user management. Below that threshold you are usually buying an adapted template or a misunderstood project.
Native or cross-platform?
For the vast majority of business apps, cross-platform: one codebase for iOS and Android, nearly half the cost, differences invisible to the user. Native makes sense for games, heavy graphics or deep hardware integration.
How long does an app take to build?
A simple app: 1–2 months. A medium one: 3–5 months. A complex one: 6 months and up. If a quote promises a medium app “in three weeks”, it is the estimate that is wrong, not everyone else that is slow.
Do I own the app’s code?
You should, and it must be in the contract before work starts: code ownership and repository access. It is the clause that lets you change supplier without starting over.
How do I get comparable quotes?
Write one clear description — problem, users, essential features, systems to integrate, budget range — and submit it identically to several developers. On Araknet you post it once, anonymously, and receive up to 10 offers on the same scope.
See also: What software development costs: all the ranges · How to find freelance developers.
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