Mobile app development in India costs ₹1,50,000–₹3,50,000 for a simple app, ₹3,50,000–₹8,00,000 for a medium-complexity app and ₹8,00,000–₹20,00,000+ for an enterprise build. This guide breaks the cost down by app type, platform and feature so you can estimate your own project.
Mobile app development cost in India — quick answer
- Simple app (Android or iOS, 5–10 screens): ₹1,50,000–₹3,50,000 | Timeline: 8–12 weeks
- Medium-complexity app (cross-platform, login, payments, dashboard): ₹3,50,000–₹8,00,000 | Timeline: 12–20 weeks
- Enterprise app (multi-role, APIs, admin panel, analytics): ₹8,00,000–₹20,00,000+ | Timeline: 20–36 weeks
- MVP (minimum viable product for investor demo): ₹1,20,000–₹2,50,000 | Timeline: 6–10 weeks
- Ongoing maintenance: ₹15,000–₹40,000/month depending on complexity
How Much Does Mobile App Development Cost in India?
A mobile app in India costs ₹1,50,000–₹3,50,000 for a simple single-platform app, ₹3,50,000–₹8,00,000 for a medium-complexity cross-platform app with API integrations, and ₹8,00,000–₹20,00,000+ for an enterprise app with custom modules and ERP integration. A stripped-back MVP for an investor demo starts at ₹1,20,000.
Those bands are wide because "a mobile app" describes everything from a five-screen catalogue to a multi-tenant platform with live tracking. The final figure comes down to four things: how many screens you need, how many platforms you ship to, how much backend the app requires, and whether you build native or cross-platform. The sections below break each of those down so you can place your own project inside a band rather than guessing.
Last updated: June 2026 — prices and data verified
Cost by App Type
App type is the single best predictor of cost, because it determines how much backend and how many user roles you need. A simple app serves one kind of user. A marketplace serves two and has to keep them in sync in real time. That difference costs more than any amount of visual polish.
| App Type | What It Involves | Typical Cost (India) | Timeline |
|---|---|---|---|
| Simple / utility app | 5–10 screens, basic auth, little or no backend | ₹1,50,000–₹3,50,000 | 8–12 weeks |
| Ecommerce app | Catalogue, cart, checkout, payment gateway, order history | ₹3,50,000–₹8,00,000 | 12–20 weeks |
| Marketplace app | Two-sided — buyer and seller roles, listings, in-app chat, commission logic | ₹8,00,000–₹20,00,000 | 20–36 weeks |
| On-demand app | Live GPS tracking, job dispatch, driver/provider app, real-time status | ₹8,00,000–₹20,00,000 | 20–36 weeks |
| SaaS app | Subscriptions, multi-tenancy, role permissions, analytics dashboard | ₹15,00,000+ | 20–36 weeks |
| Enterprise app | SSO, ERP/CRM integration, custom workflows, audit logging | ₹20,00,000+ | 24 weeks+ |
Marketplace and on-demand apps sit in the same band because they share the same underlying cost drivers — two sets of users, a substantial backend and real-time data moving between them. SaaS apps start higher because multi-tenancy, subscription billing and per-account permissions have to be built into the architecture from the beginning rather than added later.
What Makes an App More or Less Expensive?
Once you know your app type, individual features move the number within the band. These are the additions we are asked about most often, and what each typically adds to a build:
- User authentication (login, register, OTP) — adds ₹15,000–₹30,000
- Payment gateway integration (Razorpay, Stripe) — adds ₹20,000–₹50,000
- Push notifications — adds ₹10,000–₹25,000
- Real-time features (chat, live tracking) — adds ₹50,000–₹1,50,000
- AI/ML features (recommendations, chatbot, OCR) — adds ₹1,00,000+
- Ecommerce features (catalogue, cart, checkout) — adds ₹75,000–₹2,00,000
- Admin dashboard — adds ₹30,000–₹1,00,000
Backend and API development
Most apps need a backend server, database and APIs to function. Backend development using Node.js, Express and MongoDB or PostgreSQL typically adds ₹50,000–₹3,00,000 depending on the number of APIs, data models and third-party integrations required. An app with no backend — a calculator, a converter, an offline reference tool — avoids this entirely, which is why simple apps start so much lower.
UI/UX design quality
Basic UI design is included in most packages. Premium custom UI/UX design — Figma prototyping, custom illustrations, micro-animations — adds ₹25,000–₹1,50,000 depending on scope. This is one of the few line items you can defer: launching with a clean standard interface and investing in custom design after you have usage data is usually the better order.
What reduces cost
- Building cross-platform instead of two native apps — saves 30–40%
- Cutting launch scope to 5–8 screens and adding features after real usage data
- Using proven third-party services (Firebase auth, Razorpay, Mapbox) rather than building equivalents
- Having content, branding and legal pages ready before development starts — waiting on these is the most common source of delay
App store submission
Google Play Store requires a one-time $25 developer account fee. Apple App Store requires $99/year. At Nevatrix, we handle app store submission and approval as part of the development package at no extra charge.
Android vs iOS vs Cross-Platform
Platform choice affects cost more than almost any other decision, because it determines whether you are paying for one codebase or two. Building a native Android app and a native iOS app means writing, testing and maintaining the same features twice.
| Approach | Relative Cost | Best For | Trade-off |
|---|---|---|---|
| Android only (Kotlin) | Baseline | Reaching the widest Indian audience — Android holds the large majority of the market here | No iOS users at launch |
| iOS only (Swift) | Similar to Android alone | Audiences skewed to higher-income urban users; apps monetising through in-app purchases | Much smaller reach in India |
| Both, built natively | 40–50% more than cross-platform | Apps needing heavy AR/VR, real-time graphics or deep hardware access | Two codebases to build and maintain |
| Cross-platform (React Native / Flutter) | 30–40% less than two native builds | Most business apps — one codebase ships to both stores | Not ideal for graphics-intensive or hardware-heavy apps |
For most businesses in India, cross-platform is the sensible default. You reach both stores from one codebase, and the cases where native is genuinely required — augmented reality, real-time graphics, heavy camera processing — are narrow and usually obvious from the brief.
React Native or Flutter?
- React Native (by Meta): best if your team already knows JavaScript or React, or the app extends an existing React web product. Large plugin ecosystem.
- Flutter (by Google): best for pixel-perfect custom UI and smoother animations. Uses the Dart language.
- Cost and timeline between the two are broadly comparable — the deciding factor is usually your team's existing skills and how custom the interface needs to be.
The Mobile App Development Process
Knowing the stages helps you see where cost accumulates and where you can control it. Most of the budget is committed during development, but most of the cost is decided during discovery — the scope you agree at the start is what you pay to build.
- 1Discovery — goals, target users, competitor apps and the business case. This is where scope is set, and where cutting features is cheapest.
- 2Requirements — a written specification of screens, user roles, integrations and acceptance criteria. Ambiguity here is the most common cause of budget overrun.
- 3UX/UI design — wireframes first, then visual design and a clickable prototype. You approve how the app looks and flows before code is written.
- 4Development — frontend, backend, database and third-party integrations, usually delivered in fortnightly builds you can install and try.
- 5Testing — functional testing, device and OS-version coverage, performance under poor network conditions, and security checks.
- 6Deployment — store listings, screenshots, privacy policy, age rating and submission. Allow 1–2 weeks for Apple and Google review, and budget for a rejection round.
- 7Maintenance — the ongoing phase covered in the next section.
If you want to arrive at the requirements stage with the scope already tight, our guide to writing a mobile app PRD walks through the document that makes the rest of the process predictable.
Ongoing Maintenance
App maintenance is the cost most first-time app owners underestimate. Unlike a website, an app cannot be left alone — Apple and Google release OS versions annually, and an app that has not been updated will eventually break or be delisted. Budget ₹15,000–₹40,000 per month depending on complexity.
- OS compatibility — updating for each new Android and iOS release so the app keeps working
- Bug fixes and crash monitoring — issues that only surface on real devices in real conditions
- Security and dependency patches — third-party libraries need updating as vulnerabilities are disclosed
- Server, hosting and API costs — these scale with your user count, separate from development
- Store fees — Apple's $99/year developer account renewal
- Feature updates — improvements based on what users actually do once the app is live
If your app collects personal data from users in India, maintenance also covers keeping it compliant as the Digital Personal Data Protection Act's requirements are enforced — consent flows, data retention and deletion requests.
How to Keep Your App Project on Budget
- 1Define your core features: list the 5–8 screens your app must have at launch. Remove everything else — this becomes your MVP scope.
- 2Choose your platform: cross-platform unless you have a specific reason not to.
- 3Set your budget and timeline: use the cost bands above as your anchor, then add roughly 20% for revisions and app store submission cycles.
- 4Select your development partner: evaluate on live apps in the stores rather than mockups, on communication speed, and on a written post-launch support policy.
- 5Plan your backend before development starts: retrofitting user accounts or data storage later means rebuilding work you have already paid for.
- 6Prepare for store submission early: privacy policy, age rating, screenshots and a working test account are all required, and all take longer than expected.
Nevatrix builds Android and iOS apps using React Native and Flutter, and has delivered apps for startups and businesses across India, the USA and Canada. If you would like your own project estimated against the bands in this guide, we will scope it and quote itemised — no obligation.