What does it cost to build an app?
What drives the price of an app, where the line between a web app and a native iOS app runs, what keeps costing after launch, and what to have ready first.
By Daniel Aideborn · Published 21 September 2026 · 4 min read
Short answer: the price follows how much the app has to do for the user, not how many screens it has. An app that shows information costs a fraction of one where people sign in, keep records of their own, and set something off inside your business.
Below is what actually drives the price, where the line between a web app and a native app runs, which costs continue after launch, and what to have ready before you ask anyone for a figure.
What the price depends on
- Accounts and roles. Sign-in, password resets, and who is allowed to see what. That is not a screen; it is the ground everything else stands on.
- Data. What is stored, where it is stored, how it is backed up, and how you correct a record that has gone wrong.
- Flows with exceptions. The normal case is rarely the problem. The cost sits in what happens when a payment is cancelled, when the network drops midway, when two people edit the same thing.
- Integrations. Every system the app talks to is its own set of failures to handle, and its own supplier who can change their mind.
- Platform. Web, iOS, or both. Each platform is its own build and its own release, even when they show the same thing.
- Administration. Somebody on your side has to be able to correct, add and remove without calling a developer.
That is why two quotes for "an app" can differ wildly without either being wrong. They contain different amounts of work. Compare what the number covers, not the number.
Web app or native iOS app?
A web app opens in the browser and works on every device. A native iOS app is installed from the App Store and really reaches the phone: notifications, camera, location, offline use, Face ID.
| The question | Points to a web app | Points to a native app |
|---|---|---|
| Who uses it? | Customers arriving through a link | People who use it every day |
| Are notifications or offline needed? | No | Yes |
| How often will it change? | Often — you release when you like | Rarely — every release is reviewed |
| Is there budget for two platforms? | No, one is enough | Yes, or iOS alone to begin with |
A common and cheap way round it is to start with the web app, let it prove the flow works, and build the native app once there are users who genuinely want it on their phone. If you are unsure whether you need an app at all, When is a website enough, and when do you need a web app? takes the levels one at a time.
What costs money after launch
- Running it. An app with accounts and data has a database, which costs something every month, unlike a static website.
- The App Store. A developer account with Apple carries a yearly fee, and every update goes through review before it reaches users.
- The operating systems move. iOS and the browsers ship new versions every year. An app nobody touches breaks slowly.
- Changes. New flows, new fields, new rules. Over three years that is where most of the cost lands, not in the first build.
The exact amounts depend on the providers you choose, so I quote no figures for them here. What the separate pieces are, and who should own them, is in Domain, hosting and business email.
What Liovall charges
A product build is the one for an app or software of your own: discovery, architecture and the build, TestFlight and App Store submission for iOS, and analytics and an admin view from day one. The automation sprint is listed beside it for comparison — it solves one workflow, not a product.
- Automation sprint From 45 000SEK
- Product build From 145 000SEK
- Web service to iOS app From 39 900 SEKexcl. VAT
All prices exclude VAT. Larger software products (SaaS), web applications and iOS apps are quoted individually. See prices
It is a from-price because the scope differs a great deal between products. You get a fixed price in writing after the call, before anything is built.
What to have ready before you ask for a price
- What a user should be able to do in the app, in one sentence.
- The three most common cases, and the two most awkward ones.
- Which systems the app needs to talk to, and whether you have access to them.
- Whether anything is paid for in the app, and if so by whom and how often.
- Who on your side owns the product and can answer questions while it is built.
Five questions that make two quotes comparable
- Who owns the source code, and where does it live?
- In whose name are the App Store account, the database and the domain?
- What is included after launch, and for how long?
- What does a change cost once the app is built?
- What happens to the app if the person who built it becomes unavailable?
The same questions work whoever you ask. If you want me to look at your case, the services are on the home page and the contact box is at the bottom of it — describe the flow in your own words; no technical specification required.