A mobile app can be one of the best investments an ecommerce brand makes. Your best customers get a faster way back to your store, and you get a direct line to their lock screen.
But the thing that gives most stores pause is the price tag. Quotes are all over the place, and the general perception is that apps cost six figures, minimum - and that’s before you take into account the operating costs.
We’ve been building mobile apps since 2013, and we see the real numbers every week, from brands comparing quotes for a custom build to brands switching from one. In this guide, we’ll break down what it costs to build a mobile app for your ecommerce brand, the cost differences between different approaches, and how to maximize the ROI potential of your brand’s app.
The Short Answer: What an Ecommerce App Costs in 2026
For an established brand, a custom ecommerce app typically costs $150,000 to $1M+ to build. Simpler apps can start around $15,000, depending on how much it does, who builds it and where they’re based. After launch, maintenance, updates and new features keep costing money every year the app is live.
The average app development project on Clutch costs $90,780 and takes about 11 months. The most common budget bracket is $10,000 to $49,999, which tells you how many projects are small apps, not full ecommerce builds.
On the other hand, there are cheaper ways to build a legitimate mobile app. No-code app builders start from just around $100 (sometimes less), though the typical cost for an established ecommerce brand is likely to be between $599-$999 per month.
MobiLoud, our service that helps you build a custom native app for your brand, powered by your existing web code, starts at $799 per month (with the ideal plans for higher-end brands starting at $1,499 per month).
Here’s how the costs compare:
| Custom development | No-code App Builder | MobiLoud | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Build cost | $15,000 for a simple app; $150,000 to $1M+ for an established brand | Varies by builder | Included in the plan |
| Ongoing cost | Roughly 15-20% of the build cost, per year (on the low end) | Under $100 to several thousand dollars per month | Starting from $799 per month |
| Time to launch | ~3 to 12 months | A few weeks | 2 to 4 weeks |
| Who maintains it | Your developers or agency | Your team | MobiLoud |
If $15,000 to $1M+ seems like a crazy range, that’s because it is. Not all apps require the same amount of work, and a very basic app can’t be compared to an app for an enterprise ecommerce brand. We’ll break down costs by different levels of complexity below.
Ecommerce App Development Cost by Complexity
Most agencies price ecommerce apps in three tiers. The ranges below span the 2026 price guides published by Cubix and ZealousWeb, two development agencies, and Clutch’s project data.
| App type | Typical cost | Typical timeline |
|---|---|---|
| Basic | $15,000 to $50,000 | 3 to 5 months |
| Mid-level | $50,000 to $150,000 | 5 to 8 months |
| Enterprise | $150,000 to $1M+ | 9 to 12 months or more |
Sources: Cubix (prices in pounds, timelines), ZealousWeb, Clutch. Every agency scopes tiers differently, so treat these as ranges to check quotes against, not prices.
Basic ecommerce app ($15,000 to $50,000)
A basic app covers the essentials: a product catalog, search, a cart, one payment method, customer accounts and push notifications. ZealousWeb prices this tier at $25,000 to $45,000, and Cubix at £15,000 to £50,000.
It suits a small catalog with simple requirements. For an established store, a basic app usually leaves out too much of what the website already does, like reviews, loyalty, subscriptions and promotions.
Mid-level ecommerce app ($50,000 to $150,000)
This is where most established brands land. On top of the basics, a mid-level app adds advanced search and filters, several payment methods, reviews, order tracking, wishlists, multiple currencies or languages, and integrations with your loyalty and marketing tools.
ZealousWeb prices a growth-stage app at $45,000 to $90,000, and Cubix puts a mid-market app at £50,000 to £150,000, built in 5 to 8 months.
Enterprise ecommerce app ($150,000 to $1M+)
Enterprise apps add personalization, multiple stores or markets, and deep integrations with ERP, inventory and order management systems. Cubix prices them at £150,000 to £350,000 or more, with builds of 9 to 12 months or longer.
The quotes can go higher still. GSF Car Parts, a UK parts retailer with around 140,000 products on a headless Adobe Commerce store, was quoted around £500,000 for a custom native build, before the cost of running it.
They launched their app with MobiLoud instead, in under three months, and reached 19,000 downloads in its first 30 days.
What Drives the Cost of an Ecommerce App?
Three things decide where your app lands in those ranges: what it has to do, which platforms it runs on, and who builds it.
Features and integrations
Every feature adds development time, and every integration adds another system to keep in step. A store’s app rarely needs features its website doesn’t have. The work is in rebuilding what the website already does, from search and checkout to loyalty, subscriptions and reviews, for a second storefront.
The more third-party tools your store relies on, the more of them need an app version, or a custom integration.
iOS, Android or both
Almost every store needs both. Building natively, in Swift for iOS and Kotlin for Android, means two codebases. Cross-platform frameworks like React Native and Flutter share one codebase across both, which cuts the build work, though each platform still needs its own testing and releases.
Who builds it, and where
Developer rates vary widely by region. Here’s what outsourcing firms charge per hour in 2026, according to Accelerance, which tracks rates across more than 100 firms:
| Region | Junior developer | Senior developer |
|---|---|---|
| Asia | $24 to $31 an hour | $31 to $41 an hour |
| Central and Eastern Europe | $31 to $39 an hour | $64 to $76 an hour |
| Latin America | $33 to $45 an hour | $60 to $75 an hour |
Rates fell in all three regions over the past year, by 4.4% in Central and Eastern Europe, 7.1% in Latin America and nearly 8% in Asia.
Hiring in-house in the US costs more. The median software developer earned $135,980 in May 2025, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, about $65 an hour before benefits and overhead. A native app needs at least one developer for each platform, for as long as the app is live.
Lower rates can make a build cheaper, but they don’t change the amount of work. Offshore projects often need more detailed specifications, more project management and more testing from your side.
The Costs That Come After Launch
The build is the cost that gets quoted. What brands most often miss is that an app is never finished, and the running costs keep coming every year it’s live.
Maintenance and updates
Every year brings bug fixes, security patches, operating system updates and the developer time to test and release them.
Agencies’ estimates for this vary widely, and the real figure often runs higher than the quote. Tekrevol puts the first year after launch at 30% to 50% of the build cost, while early issues are fixed, and Chop Dawg puts older or poorly built apps at 30% to 40% a year.
Apple and Google’s yearly requirements
Both app stores raise their technical requirements on a schedule, and apps that don’t keep up can’t ship updates.
Since April 28, 2026, Apple has only accepted apps built with Xcode 26 and the iOS 26 SDK. It has raised that minimum every April for the past three years. Since August 31, 2026, Google Play has required new apps and updates to target Android 16.
Budget for this work every year, on both platforms. It’s part of maintenance, but it comes with a deadline, and it lands whether or not you had other plans for your developers that quarter.
Hosting, services and new features
A custom app runs on more than its own code. Depending on how it’s built, that can include a backend and APIs, search, push notification and analytics services, and the app versions of your marketing tools. Most of these bill monthly, and many charge more as your audience grows.
Then there are new features. Customers expect the app to keep improving, and every campaign, page or integration you add to your website has to be built a second time for a custom app. Over the life of an app, these running costs can add up to more than the build itself.
App store fees
The Apple Developer Program costs $99 a year, and a Google Play developer account costs a one-time $25. These apply however you build your app.
Neither store takes a commission on physical products. Apple’s App Review Guidelines require apps that sell physical goods to use payment methods other than in-app purchase, such as Apple Pay or card payments, so your checkout works as it does on your website.
Total Cost of Ownership: Custom Build vs MobiLoud
Because the costs keep coming, compare options on total cost of ownership over at least three years, not on the launch price.
Here’s what a mid-level custom app built for $100,000 could cost over its first three years, against MobiLoud:
| Cost | Custom app ($100,000 build) | MobiLoud |
|---|---|---|
| Build | $100,000 | Included |
| Maintenance and OS updates, three years | $45,000 to $90,000 | Included |
| App store publishing and releases | Your developers’ time | Included |
| Subscription | None | From $799 per month, or from $1,499 per month for more established brands |
| Apple and Google developer accounts, three years | $322 | $322 |
| Three-year total | $145,000 to $190,000 | From $29,086 |
The custom app’s total leaves out new features, hosting and third-party services. MobiLoud’s plans include a set number of monthly active users, and push notifications run through your own OneSignal account. See pricing for what each plan includes.
A custom agency will usually quote $150,000 or more for the kind of app an established store needs, before it’s spent anything on running it. MobiLoud starts from $799 per month, and from $1,499 per month for more established brands that want custom app layouts and ongoing design work, with the build, publishing and maintenance included. Larger brands with several stores or markets get a custom quote.
”A custom app build for our Salesforce Commerce Cloud setup would have been prohibitively expensive. MobiLoud was the only realistic option.”
Why MobiLoud costs less to own
MobiLoud transforms your website into a custom native app, powered by the same code as your website. The app inherits your products, search, checkout, reviews, loyalty program and subscriptions from the store you already run, and we design its native interface, with push notifications and the native features your brand needs.
That’s what removes most of the running costs. There’s no second storefront to rebuild or keep in step: a new collection, landing page or integration on your website is ready for the app too. Our team handles the app’s updates and releases through every new version of iOS and Android, including deadlines like Xcode 26 and Android 16.
John Varvatos launched its app in weeks, and its app customers bring in 10 times more revenue per user than its mobile web shoppers.
What about app builders and AI?
Ecommerce app builders cost from under $100 to several thousand dollars per month. Most are built for Shopify, and for a store with a standard setup they’re often the quickest and cheapest way to launch. The app runs on the builder’s templates, so the tools your store uses only carry over where the builder supports them, and your team manages the app alongside your website.
AI app builders can generate a working prototype from a written description. A store app with real revenue running through it still needs a secure checkout, reliable accounts and yearly updates, so the developer time to finish and maintain it is the real cost.
How to Get a Return on Your Ecommerce App
An app’s cost only matters next to what it earns. The return starts with how efficiently you build the app, and grows with how well you turn it into a channel your best customers use.
Build it efficiently
The build decides how long the app takes to pay back. A $150,000 custom app has to earn back its build and running costs before it turns a profit, and it earns nothing until launch day, often most of a year after you sign the contract.
If you’re building custom, these choices make the biggest difference:
- Start with what your customers use most. Launch with browsing, search, checkout, accounts and push notifications, and add features based on what app customers actually do.
- Build on your existing backend. Connect the app to your ecommerce platform’s APIs rather than building new systems for it.
- Ask for a three-year quote. Get every agency to price maintenance, OS updates and releases alongside the build, so you compare what you’ll really pay.
- Don’t build a second storefront. The biggest long-term cost is keeping an app in step with a website that keeps changing. Building the app from your website removes it.
A MobiLoud app is built from your website and launches in 2 to 4 weeks, so it starts earning within weeks, at a fraction of the cost.
Grow your app audience
An app earns from the customers who install it, so the first months after launch are about installs. Promote it where your existing customers already see you, through smart banners on your mobile site, your email list and offers that only app customers get.
Make it a revenue channel
Apps earn most from repeat customers, the shoppers who come back every season or every week. In our Ecommerce Mobile App Benchmark Report, app shoppers converted at 1.7 to 3 times the rate of mobile web shoppers, and brought in 3.5 to 7 times more revenue per user.
App customers’ lifetime value was 2.8 to 5 times that of web-only customers, and brands with apps often see 10% to 30% of their online revenue come through them.
Much of that comes from push notifications, which reach customers on their lock screen at no cost per message, for new drops, back-in-stock alerts and abandoned carts.
When not to build an app yet
An app isn’t the right first step for every store. If your mobile website is slow or hard to buy from, fix that first: it’s where every new customer arrives.
And if most of your customers only ever buy once, an app has fewer people to bring back. Put your budget into acquisition and your website, and revisit an app once you have a base of returning customers.
The Right Budget for Your Ecommerce App
A custom ecommerce app in 2026 costs five or six figures to build, plus running costs every year it’s live, and takes most of a year to launch. For brands that need an app to do far more than their store does, with a mobile team to support it, that can still be worth it.
For most established brands, an app’s job is to bring repeat customers back to the store they already have. MobiLoud does that with a custom native app powered by your website, launched in 2 to 4 weeks, with our team handling the build, publishing and maintenance. It costs from $799 per month, and from $1,499 per month for more established brands, against the $150,000 to $1M+ a custom build costs an established brand.
