The honest answer to "how much does an app cost" is "it depends", but that answer helps nobody. This article gives real ranges, explains what shapes the price, and lists the costs people usually remember only after launch.
Price ranges in 2026
| App type | Example | Timeline | Approximate cost |
|---|
| Simple app | catalogue, booking, news | 6–8 weeks | 1,500,000 – 3,000,000 AMD (about $4,000–8,000) |
| Medium complexity | orders, payments, user account, notifications | 8–14 weeks | 3,000,000 – 7,000,000 AMD (about $8,000–18,000) |
| Complex system | several roles, real-time data, integrations | 3–6 months | from 7,000,000 AMD (from about $18,000) |
The figures cover iOS and Android together (Flutter or React Native), design, the backend and publishing to the stores.
Five factors that set the price
1. The number of features, not screens. Five screens with payments and notifications cost more than fifteen screens of plain text. Before asking for a quote, list what the user must be able to do, not what they should see.
2. Native or cross-platform. With Flutter or React Native one codebase runs on both iPhone and Android, usually 30–40% cheaper than two separate native apps. Native (Swift, Kotlin) is justified when the app must squeeze everything out of the device: heavy graphics, complex camera work.
3. The backend. An app that stores data and has users needs a server, a database and an admin panel. This is often 30–50% of the project cost, and it is exactly what gets forgotten when quotes are compared.
4. Integrations. Payment systems (Idram, ArCa, Stripe), maps, SMS, accounting, CRM: each is separate work, and some carry a monthly fee to a third party.
5. The amount of design. Design from ready-made components is fast; unique design is more expensive, but it is what makes the app stand out from competitors.
Costs that are not counted
- Developer accounts. Apple $99 per year, Google Play $25 once. The accounts should be in your name, not the company's.
- Server. $10–50 per month for a typical app.
- Updates. iOS and Android release a new version every year and the stores change their requirements. An app that has not been updated for a year can be removed from the store or stop working on new phones.
- Maintenance. Bug fixes, backups, monitoring: usually 10–20% of the build cost per year.
How to get an exact price
Write 10–20 sentences: who the user is, what they do in the app, what the admin needs to see. With that description any serious company will give you a price and a timeline in 2–3 days. At CodeOrigins the estimate is free, and the price and deadline we give are fixed in writing and do not change; you pay after accepting the result.
Send your description through the contact page or read more about mobile app development.