In short: in France, a mobile application developed by a professional team most often costs between €25,000 and €60,000 for an MVP, between €60,000 and €150,000 for a full application, and more than €150,000 for a complex product. You then need to plan for 15 to 20% of the initial budget each year for maintenance.
These ranges are wide because "a mobile application" means nothing in itself. An appointment booking app and a neobank have nothing in common apart from the icon on the home screen. This article details what really makes the price vary, so that you can place your own project.
Price ranges by type of application
| Type of application | Examples | Indicative budget | Timeline |
|---|---|---|---|
| Focused MVP | One core feature, user accounts, simple back office | €25,000 – €60,000 | 2 to 4 months |
| Full application | Payment, notifications, messaging, several user roles | €60,000 – €150,000 | 4 to 8 months |
| Complex application | Real time, connected devices, strong regulatory constraints, on-device AI | €150,000 and more | 8 months and more |
These amounts cover scoping, design, iOS and Android development, the back end, testing and publication on the stores. They assume a senior team based in France or Europe.
What really makes the price vary
The number of screens and user flows
This is the first factor. Each flow (sign-up, payment, content creation, messaging) represents design, development, error cases to handle and tests. A fifteen-screen application costs far less than a sixty-screen one.
The back end
The visible application is only half of the project. Behind it, you need an API, a database, permission management, and often a back office for your team. On a typical project, the back end accounts for 30 to 40% of the budget.
The technology chosen
Developing two native applications (Swift for iOS, Kotlin for Android) amounts to funding two teams. A cross-platform technology such as React Native lets you share most of the code between the two systems, which generally reduces the development budget by 30 to 40%. We compare the options in React Native, Flutter or native.
The level of design
A clean design built from standard components costs little. A bespoke identity with polished animations and a complete design system represents several additional weeks. Both choices are defensible: what matters is deciding consciously.
Integrations
Payment, mapping, video conferencing, electronic signature, connection to your ERP or CRM: each third-party service adds a few days to a few weeks. Integrations with old internal systems are almost always underestimated.
Security and compliance constraints
Health data, financial data, strong authentication, certified hosting: these requirements have a real cost in architecture, testing and documentation.
The typical breakdown of a budget
| Item | Share of the budget |
|---|---|
| Scoping and product design | 5 to 10% |
| UX/UI design | 10 to 15% |
| Application development | 35 to 45% |
| Back end and back office | 25 to 35% |
| Testing, publication and project management | 10 to 15% |
If a quote mentions neither scoping nor testing, those items haven't disappeared: they have been forgotten or will be billed later.
The costs that quotes forget
- Developer accounts. $99 per year for the Apple Developer Program, $25 one time for Google Play.
- Store commissions. Apple and Google take 15 to 30% on in-app purchases and digital subscriptions. Factor this into your business model before development.
- Infrastructure. Hosting, database, sending notifications and emails: from a few tens of euros per month at launch to several thousand as you grow.
- Third-party services. Authentication, payment, mapping, monitoring. Most are free at first and then billed by usage.
- Maintenance. iOS and Android release one major version per year. Without updates, an application degrades within twelve to eighteen months.
- Acquisition. Publishing an application doesn't generate downloads. Plan a separate launch budget.
Three costed examples
A booking application for a network of gyms
User accounts, schedule, booking, online payment, notifications, back office for the managers. Around twenty-five screens, built in React Native. Indicative budget: €45,000 to €70,000, in three to four months.
A peer-to-peer marketplace
Listings with photos, geolocated search, messaging, escrow payment, ratings, moderation. Indicative budget: €90,000 to €140,000, in five to seven months.
An MVP to test an idea
A single user flow, authentication, one third-party integration, no custom back office. Indicative budget: €25,000 to €40,000, in two to three months.
These examples are orders of magnitude intended to help you place a project, not quotes.
How to reduce the budget without lowering quality
- Cut the scope, not the quality. Removing a feature saves money. Botching a feature costs twice as much. See our article MVP or MLP.
- Choose cross-platform. For the vast majority of applications, a single codebase for iOS and Android is the right choice.
- Use existing services. Authentication, payment, notifications: don't rebuild what can be bought.
- Invest in scoping. Two weeks of design work avoid two months of pointless development.
- Launch early. Feedback from the first users makes part of the initial roadmap obsolete. Better to find that out before you've paid for it.
Fixed price, time and materials, or subscription?
A fixed price is reassuring about the amount but makes the scope rigid: every change becomes a contract amendment. Time and materials brings flexibility but transfers the budget risk to the client. The monthly subscription, which we practise at Inprogress with the Launch and Partner offers, fixes the capacity rather than the scope: you know your monthly cost and you freely prioritise what gets delivered.
No model is superior in absolute terms. For a first product whose scope is bound to evolve, flexible models are generally a better fit.
Frequently asked questions
What is the minimum price for a professional mobile application?
In France, it is difficult to go below €20,000 to €25,000 for a custom application developed by an experienced team. Below that, the scope is very limited or the quality is compromised.
Does an iOS and Android application cost twice as much as a single one?
No, provided you use a cross-platform technology such as React Native or Flutter. The extra cost of covering both systems is then in the range of 10 to 20%, compared with nearly 100% for separate native development.
How much does it cost to maintain a mobile application?
Expect 15 to 20% of the initial development budget per year for system updates, fixes and small enhancements. For an €80,000 application, that represents around €12,000 to €16,000 per year.
How long does it take to develop a mobile application?
Two to four months for an MVP, four to eight months for a full application. Review by Apple and Google generally adds a few days before the first publication.
Can you build a mobile application with a no-code tool or an AI?
Yes for a prototype or a simple internal tool. As soon as the application has to handle payments, sensitive data or scaling, the limits appear quickly and a takeover by a development team becomes necessary.
👉 Want an estimate for your project? Discover our mobile application development offering or book a call: you'll leave with a realistic range.