Building a mobile app at Squares costs from PLN 20,000 net for a simple scope, PLN 70,000-180,000 net for an app of medium complexity and from PLN 200,000 net for a complex product. The amounts come from the number of working hours multiplied by the rate of PLN 250 net per hour and cover analysis, UX/UI design, development for iOS and Android and publication in the stores. Below are the factors that move the budget, the costs outside the build itself and a sample budget for a first version. The scope of the service is described on the mobile app development page.

What the cost of a mobile app depends on

Platform and technology

An app can be built separately for iOS and Android or from one codebase for both systems. According to Statcounter, in September 2026 Android had 63.75% of mobile traffic in Poland and iOS 36.2%, so in a product for customers, leaving out one platform means giving up a large part of the audience. Two native apps are two codebases to write and maintain. Cross-platform technology, for example Flutter, makes it possible to maintain one codebase. The selection criteria are described in the article on which technology to choose for a mobile app.

Scope of features

The number and complexity of features has the biggest effect on the budget. A dozen or so screens with content and a contact form are a different scale of work from user accounts, payments, notifications and offline operation. Each user role (customer, employee, administrator) adds its own screens and permissions.

UX/UI design

The design covers user flows, wireframes, the look of the screens and their states: loading, error, no data, no network. The cost grows with the number of screens and with whether the product already has a design system, that is, a shared set of components and rules. Saving on design returns as fixes in code, which cost more than a change on a wireframe. The order of this work is shown in the article on the stages of a custom mobile app project.

Integrations and back end

An app rarely works on its own. It needs a server, a database and connections to company systems: payments, CRM, a warehouse system, corporate login. Each integration is a separate item in the quote, and its cost depends on the quality of the documentation and on whether there is someone on the other side who answers questions.

Testing and publication

The app has to be checked on various phone models and system versions and then prepared for publication: descriptions, screenshots, privacy declarations, the review process in the App Store and Google Play. This is from a few to several dozen hours that are easy to forget in a budget. How to give testers a trial version is described in the guide on how mobile app beta testing works.

How much a mobile app costs: ranges for three types

The ranges below are a Squares estimate for an iOS and Android app built from one codebase, calculated at PLN 250 net per hour. They cover analysis, design, development and publication. They do not cover costs after launch.

App type	What it includes	Effort	Net cost
Simple	A few to a dozen or so screens, content, a form, one integration, no extensive back end	80-280 hours	PLN 20,000-70,000
Medium complexity	User accounts, payments or subscriptions, notifications, an admin panel, two to four integrations	280-720 hours	PLN 70,000-180,000
Complex	Many roles, offline work with synchronisation, integrations with company systems, regulatory requirements, for example in medical products	from 800 hours	from PLN 200,000

The boundaries between the types are approximate. Which group a project falls into is decided by the scope of the first version, not by the industry. A complex product can be started with a narrow first version and developed in stages, with a budget decision after each stage.

Costs outside the build itself

Maintenance

After publication the app needs ongoing care: new versions of iOS and Android, library updates, bug fixes, monitoring and backups. At Squares, maintenance under Maintenance and SLA is billed as a fixed monthly fee, from a few hundred zlotys net, depending on the technology, the scope and the guaranteed response time. Developing new features is a separate budget, billed at PLN 250 net per hour.

Servers and external services

Hosting, a database, sending notifications, maps or SMS messages are billed by providers according to usage. With a small number of users this is a minor item, but it grows with traffic, which is why it should have its own line and an owner in the annual budget.

In-app payments

How payments are billed depends on what the app sells. Physical goods and services performed outside the app are handled by a payment provider. For example, Stripe in Poland charges 1.5% + PLN 1.00 per transaction on a standard card from the European Economic Area, 1.6% + PLN 1.00 for BLIK and 1.9% + PLN 1.00 for Przelewy24. Digital content and services sold in the app are subject to the store commissions described below.

User support and promotion

An app for customers generates questions and tickets, so someone has to answer them, and a ticketing tool has its own subscription. Acquiring users is a separate item: campaigns, visibility in the stores, communication to existing customers. These costs depend on the business model more than on the app itself, which is why they cannot honestly be put into a single range.

How much it costs to publish in the App Store and Google Play

The cost of entering the stores is low. What matters are the commissions on digital sales, which changed in both stores in 2026.

Apple App Store: membership of the Apple Developer Program costs USD 99 a year, the same for an individual and for a company. The USD 299 a year applies to the Apple Developer Enterprise Program, a programme for organisations with at least 100 employees that distribute internal apps to their staff outside the App Store.
Google Play: a one-off registration fee of USD 25.

Store	Commission on sales of digital content and services (as of October 2026)
App Store in the European Union	From 1 October 2026, 26% on purchases through Apple In-App Purchase, 20% with an alternative in-app payment provider, 15% with a link to purchase outside the app. The reduced rates are 15%, 10% and 10% respectively. They apply to participants in the App Store Small Business Program and to auto-renewing subscriptions after the first year.
App Store outside the European Union	30% as standard, 15% in the App Store Small Business Program, that is for publishers whose proceeds from all apps did not exceed USD 1 million in the previous calendar year, and for new publishers.
Google Play in the European Economic Area	According to Google’s price list, from 30 June 2026: 10% on auto-renewing subscriptions, 20% on other transactions by users who installed the app after that date, 25% for earlier installations and 10% on the first USD 1 million of revenue a year. A 5% billing fee is added to each rate when the purchase goes through Google Play Billing.
Google Play in other markets	Until the new price list is rolled out globally: 15% on the first USD 1 million of revenue a year, 30% above that amount, 15% on subscriptions.

Free apps that sell nothing digitally pay no commission. The terms of both stores have changed several times in the last two years, so the rates need to be checked at the source before a revenue model is drawn up.

Costs arising from regulations

GDPR and data protection

An app that processes personal data needs a privacy policy, a consent mechanism, secure data storage and a procedure for deleting data at the user’s request. Part of the work is on the design and code side, part on the lawyer’s side. With health data the requirements are higher and have to be included in the quote from the start, because they affect the architecture.

Accessibility and the European Accessibility Act

Since 28 June 2025 the Act on ensuring that economic operators meet the accessibility requirements of certain products and services (Journal of Laws 2024, item 731) has applied, implementing the European Accessibility Act. It covers, among others, e-commerce, banking, transport and telecommunications services. In an app providing such a service, accessibility is a requirement, not an extra: labels for screen readers, contrast, text scaling, operation without gestures. Planned from the start, it increases the effort on design and testing only slightly. Added to a finished app, it means rebuilding screens.

Language versions

Entering another market means translating the interface and content, testing each language version and adapting to local regulations and payment methods. The cost depends on the volume of text and the number of markets. An app prepared technically for many languages from the first version limits the later effort to translations and testing alone.

How to lower the cost of an app without lowering quality

A scope set before the quote. The most expensive things in a project are features that nobody will use. A Product workshop ends with a written scope of the first version, that is the MVP, on which a quote can be based.
A prototype before code. A clickable app prototype, priced at Squares from PLN 8,000 net, makes it possible to test the idea with users before the budget goes into development.
One codebase for both platforms. Cross-platform technology limits the number of codebases to maintain to one.
Ready-made services instead of your own. Login, payments, notifications and analytics have proven solutions. Writing them from scratch rarely pays off.
Staged delivery. The first version with a narrow scope reaches users earlier, and the next stages are planned on the basis of how they use it.

A sample budget for a medium-sized app

The budget is for the first version of an iOS and Android app built in Flutter, with user accounts, payments and an admin panel. All amounts are net, at PLN 250 per hour.

Item	What it covers	Hours	Net cost
Analysis and scope	Workshop, scope of the first version, schedule	20-32	PLN 5,000-8,000
UX/UI design	User flows, wireframes, design of screens and states	80-160	PLN 20,000-40,000
Development of the first version	App for iOS and Android, back end, integrations, testing	168-504	PLN 42,000-126,000
Publication	Account setup, store materials, review process	8-24	PLN 2,000-6,000
Total to publication		276-720	PLN 69,000-180,000

Costs after launch, outside the build budget:

store accounts: USD 99 a year in the Apple Developer Program and USD 25 one-off in Google Play,
maintenance: a fixed monthly fee, at Squares from a few hundred zlotys net,
servers and external services: by usage, with providers,
development: PLN 250 net per hour or a block of hours,
reserve: 5-10% of the build budget for changes that cannot be foreseen before the start.

Quoting a mobile app at Squares

Development at Squares starts at PLN 20,000 net and is quoted up front for an agreed scope or billed for time worked at PLN 250 net per hour. We build mobile apps in Flutter. The quote starts with a conversation about the features of the first version, and the details are described on the Development service page.

Frequently asked questions

What is the minimum cost of building a simple mobile app?

Development at Squares starts at PLN 20,000 net. That is the cost of a narrow scope: a few screens, content, a form and one integration. A simple app with a dozen or so screens usually falls in the range of PLN 20,000-70,000 net, that is from 80 to 280 hours of work at PLN 250 net.

How much does it cost to maintain a mobile app?

Maintenance has four items: a fixed fee for technical care, the cost of servers and external services, store account fees and a development budget. At Squares, Maintenance and SLA starts at a few hundred zlotys net per month, and the development of new features is billed at PLN 250 net per hour.

Is an iOS app more expensive than an Android one?

The effort is similar. Android requires testing on more device models, and iOS has a higher account fee: USD 99 a year against a one-off USD 25 in Google Play. With cross-platform technology both versions are built from one codebase, so the second platform does not double the cost of building or maintenance.

How long does it take to build a mobile app?

The time follows from the scope. A sample budget for a medium-sized app is 276-720 hours of work, which with a team of several people means from a few weeks to a few months. The deadline is known after the preparation stage, in which the scope, the order of work and the acceptance criteria are set. The app is delivered in stages.

What commission do the App Store and Google Play charge?

The commission applies to sales of digital content and services. In the European Union, from 1 October 2026 Apple charges 26% on payments through Apple In-App Purchase, and smaller publishers 15%. In the European Economic Area, Google Play charges, according to its price list, 10% on subscriptions and 20% on other transactions by new users, plus a 5% billing fee.

How much does it cost to build a mobile app?