How Much Does It Cost to Build an App? AI, Mobile & Web (US & Canada)
October 6, 2026
Short answer: the cost to build an app is the number of hours the project needs multiplied by the team's hourly rate. As a planning range, a clickable prototype takes roughly 60–150 hours, a simple MVP 300–700 hours, a mid-complexity mobile or web app 700–1,800 hours, and a complex or enterprise app 1,800 hours or more. Adding an AI feature to an existing product typically takes 150–600 hours. At $50–$99 USD per hour, a simple MVP lands around $15,000–$70,000 and a mid-complexity app around $35,000–$180,000. Your real number depends on scope, platforms, integrations and compliance.
Key takeaways
- Cost = hours × rate. Scope drives hours; location and seniority drive the rate.
- Scope matters most. User roles, integrations and edge cases add more hours than screens do.
- Cross-platform saves money for most business apps: one React Native or Flutter codebase instead of two native apps.
- AI features add data, evaluation and usage costs, not just development time.
- Budget beyond launch: hosting, maintenance, OS updates and new features continue every year.
- In Canada, eligible R&D work may qualify for SR&ED tax credits, and Québec's Law 25 adds privacy requirements to the scope.
How is app development cost calculated?
Almost every estimate, whether from a freelancer, an agency or an in-house team, comes down to the same formula: estimated hours × hourly rate, plus third-party costs such as hosting, app store fees, paid APIs and AI model usage.
Hours come from scope. A good estimate breaks the app into features and work streams (discovery, design, front end, back end, integrations, testing, project management and launch) and estimates each. Rates depend on where the team is, how senior it is and how it is structured. For reference, our own published rate band on Clutch is $50–$99 USD per hour.
App development cost by project type
The ranges below are planning ranges in hours, converted at $50 and $99 per hour. They are not quotes: use them to size a budget conversation, then get an estimate based on your actual scope.
| Project type | Typical hours | At $50/h | At $99/h |
|---|---|---|---|
| Clickable prototype and product design | 60–150 | $3,000–$7,500 | $5,940–$14,850 |
| Simple MVP (one platform or web, basic back end) | 300–700 | $15,000–$35,000 | $29,700–$69,300 |
| Mid-complexity app (iOS + Android or web app, integrations, admin panel) | 700–1,800 | $35,000–$90,000 | $69,300–$178,200 |
| Complex or enterprise app (many roles, compliance, multiple integrations) | 1,800+ | $90,000+ | $178,200+ |
| AI feature added to an existing product (LLM, search over your data) | 150–600 | $7,500–$30,000 | $14,850–$59,400 |
| AI-first product (custom AI pipelines, evaluation, data work) | 600–2,000 | $30,000–$100,000 | $59,400–$198,000 |
How much does it cost to develop a mobile app?
For mobile apps, the biggest decision is native versus cross-platform. Native apps (Swift for iOS, Kotlin for Android) mean two codebases and roughly two builds of every feature; they make sense when performance or deep platform features are critical. Cross-platform apps (React Native or Flutter) share one codebase across iOS and Android, which usually lowers both the build cost and the cost of every future change.
Other mobile-specific cost drivers: offline mode and real-time sync, push notifications, payments and subscriptions, device features (camera, location, Bluetooth), App Store and Google Play review cycles, and testing on many devices and OS versions.
How much does it cost to build a web app or SaaS product?
A web app avoids app store reviews and runs everywhere from one codebase, so it is often the fastest way to an MVP. Costs rise with authentication and user roles, dashboards and reporting, billing and subscriptions, multi-tenant architecture (one platform serving many customer organizations), integrations with CRMs or ERPs, and performance at scale. For a SaaS product, plan for the admin tools your own team needs to run it, not just the features customers see.
How much does it cost to build an AI app?
AI changes the cost structure in three ways:
- Data work. Connecting, cleaning and structuring the data the AI needs is often a large share of the effort.
- Evaluation. AI output has to be measured against real examples and guarded against wrong answers, which takes iteration that ordinary features don't need.
- Usage costs. Commercial models (such as OpenAI or Anthropic's Claude) charge per use, so running costs grow with your users. Open-source or self-hosted models trade usage fees for hosting and maintenance.
The most cost-effective path is usually to add one well-defined AI feature to an existing product, such as document search, a support assistant or classification, prove its value, then expand.
How much does an MVP cost?
An MVP (minimum viable product) is the smallest version that tests whether users want the product. Its cost depends far more on discipline than on technology: the teams that keep MVPs affordable cut every feature that doesn't test the core idea, choose one platform or a cross-platform stack, and use proven services for authentication, payments and email instead of building them.
What ongoing costs come after launch?
Launch is not the last invoice. Budget every year for hosting and cloud services, third-party API and AI usage fees, app store developer accounts, monitoring and security updates, compatibility updates when iOS and Android release new versions, and the new features your users ask for. Choosing your cloud region and architecture carefully keeps hosting costs predictable as you grow.
What does app development cost in Canada?
The formula is the same in Canada, with a few local factors:
- Tax credits. Work that resolves real technological uncertainty may qualify for SR&ED tax credits, which can offset part of the cost of eligible R&D. Read our guide: Can your software or AI project qualify for SR&ED?
- Privacy compliance. If you operate in Québec, Law 25 adds requirements such as consent for tracking, a privacy policy and data transfer assessments. See our Law 25 website checklist.
- Bilingual apps. Serving Québec usually means building in English and French from the start, which is cheaper than adding French later.
- Currency. If you budget in CAD, convert USD-denominated quotes and usage fees at your planning exchange rate.
How much does it cost to hire an app developer?
You can hire freelancers, build an in-house team, or work with an agency. Freelancers are flexible but you manage the project yourself; an in-house team gives you control but adds salaries, recruiting and benefits; an agency brings a complete team (design, development, QA and project management) for the duration of the project. For US companies, a nearshore team in Canada works the same or overlapping hours. Learn more about nearshore development from Montréal.
How to reduce the cost of building an app
- Start with discovery: a clear scope prevents the most expensive changes.
- Launch an MVP, then build what real users ask for.
- Choose cross-platform unless you need native-only capabilities.
- Use proven services for authentication, payments and notifications.
- Insist on automated tests and code reviews: they cost less than bugs in production.
- Own your code, designs and cloud accounts so you're never locked in.
Frequently asked questions
How much does it cost to develop an app?
It depends on hours × rate. As a planning range, a simple MVP needs about 300–700 hours and a mid-complexity app about 700–1,800 hours. At $50–$99 USD per hour, that's roughly $15,000–$70,000 for a simple MVP and $35,000–$180,000 for a mid-complexity app.
Why is app development so expensive?
Because an app is more than its screens: it needs a back end, integrations, security, testing on many devices, app store releases and ongoing updates. Each user role and integration multiplies the cases that must be designed, built and tested.
Is it cheaper to build one app for iOS and Android?
Usually, yes. A cross-platform framework such as React Native or Flutter shares one codebase across both platforms, which typically lowers both the initial build and future maintenance compared with two native apps.
How much does it cost to add AI to an app?
Adding one well-defined AI feature to an existing product typically takes about 150–600 hours of work, plus ongoing model usage fees that grow with your users.
How long does it take to build an app?
Duration follows the hours: a simple MVP often takes a few months, while mid-complexity and enterprise apps take longer and are usually delivered in phases.
Get an estimate for your app
Algoseed Labs is a software and AI development team in Montréal building AI solutions, mobile apps, web applications and custom software for companies in Canada, the United States and internationally. Every project starts with discovery, and you own the code. Tell us about your project and we'll help you scope it.