How Much Does It Cost to Turn a BigCommerce Site into an App?

Mobile drives the bulk of ecommerce traffic today, with 91% of US adults carrying a smartphone and nearly half of all online visits coming from mobile. Apps take this further by giving brands stronger retention, faster repeat purchases, and engagement tools that mobile sites can’t match.

When BigCommerce merchants decide it’s time for an app, they’re usually weighing three realistic paths:

• Hiring a development agency,
• Building an app in-house, or
• Using a hybrid approach like MobiLoud.

This guide breaks down what each path costs, how long they take, and what the trade-offs mean for your business. 

See how apps impact performance across ecommerce brands in our Ecommerce Mobile App Benchmark Report. 

The Main Approaches to Building a BigCommerce App

Before we look at each approach in detail, here’s a quick comparison of how they stack up in cost, effort, and long-term maintenance.

Option 1: Custom Native Development

Custom native development means hiring an agency to build two apps: 

• One for iOS 
• One for Android

Nothing from your BigCommerce storefront carries over automatically. Product pages, navigation, search, checkout logic, subscriptions, customer accounts, and every custom feature must be rebuilt from scratch and tested across devices.

Upfront Cost: $50,000–$200,000+

Planning, design, development, QA, and app store approvals all add time. The global app development industry is worth $234 billion, and rising labor costs across the sector make timelines slower and budgets heavier. 

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, software developers earn a median salary of $133,080 per year and even general web developers earn around $90,930 per year. Agencies price projects around these salaries, plus project management, design, QA, and overhead. That’s why custom builds rarely start below $50K.

Stores with subscriptions, advanced inventory rules, loyalty programs, or heavier UI requirements land toward the upper end because each component must be re-engineered natively for iOS and Android.

Timeline: 6–12 months

Native builds take time because you’re effectively recreating your ecommerce experience from the ground up. Agencies must design and build:

• iOS and Android codebases
• A new UI for mobile
• API connections to BigCommerce
• Product display logic
• Account and login flows
• Checkout and payment integration
• Push notification systems
• Analytics
• App Store and Play Store requirements

Then you go through QA, device testing, and app store approvals. Small changes to your website do not sync; they must be manually rebuilt in both apps.

Maintenance: 15–20% of build cost per year

Launching the app is only the beginning. Agencies typically charge ongoing maintenance because native apps require continuous updates:

• New iOS and Android releases
• BigCommerce platform changes
• API updates
• Dependency upgrades
• Bug fixes and security patches
• App store compliance changes

Every improvement you make to your website, be it new features, layout changes, promotions, checkout adjustments, must also be recreated inside the app, doubling ongoing work.

Option 2: Build an App In-House

Some brands consider building their mobile app in-house. This gives full control, but it also commits you to hiring and managing a multi-disciplinary engineering team, not to mention maintaining two native codebases indefinitely. 

For most companies, this becomes the most resource-intensive path.

Annual Cost: $300,000–$500,000+

An in-house build typically requires:

• An iOS developer
• An Android developer
• A backend engineer
• A designer
• QA/testing
• Project management

Each role carries a significant salary. As the BLS reports, software developers alone earn a median salary of $133,080 per year. When you combine salaries, benefits, turnover, management time, and overhead, annual costs rise quickly. So internal teams often exceed the $300K–$500K range.

And unlike an agency, these costs repeat every year.

Timeline: 6–12+ months

Internal development rarely moves faster than agency work. Recruiting and onboarding engineers add months before any code is written. After that, the team must design and build everything from scratch:

• Two native codebases (iOS and Android)
• New mobile UI
• BigCommerce API connections
• Product display logic
• Account and checkout flows
• Notifications
• Analytics and reporting
• Testing and device coverage

Competing internal priorities often stretch the timeline further.

Hidden Costs

Running an internal mobile team means taking on ongoing responsibilities that are easy to overlook:

• Supporting two separate codebases
• Keeping the app aligned with your live BigCommerce storefront
• Handling OS updates, API changes, and app store policy shifts
• Continuous QA, bug fixes, and performance work

Developer salaries remain the largest expense, and industry-wide hiring pressure continues to push wages upward, adding long-term financial risk for any brand pursuing a fully in-house approach.

Option 3: MobiLoud (Hybrid Approach)

By the time most BigCommerce brands price out a custom build or the cost of hiring an internal team, the question becomes: “Do we really need to spend $100K+ to get a high-quality mobile app?” This is where MobiLoud takes a different path.

Instead of rebuilding your store from scratch, MobiLoud turns your existing BigCommerce storefront into iOS and Android apps. Your site remains the source of truth. All your pages, logic, checkout flows, and integrations carry straight into the app. We layer in native navigation, push notifications, and an optimized mobile UI on top.

Setup Cost: Low four figures

Our team handles configuration, styling, and app store submission. Because we’re not rebuilding your store or writing new code from scratch, setup stays predictable and far below agency-level pricing.

Ongoing Cost: From $549/month

Hosting, OS updates, bug fixes, and ongoing support are included. There’s no separate maintenance budget or surprise fees, and no risk of being locked into paying full developer salaries just to keep your app running.

Why It Works for BigCommerce

BigCommerce stores rely on custom themes, extensions, and platform features that are difficult for DIY builders to support. A hybrid approach avoids the cost and complexity of custom development while giving you a real app that stays in sync with your website automatically. Update your site once, and the app updates instantly; no duplicated work or separate codebases.

Time to Launch: ~4 weeks

Most brands launch within a month because the heavy lifting is already done on your website. You’re not waiting for design, coding, or months of QA cycles.

Maintenance Included

We take care of OS changes, app-store requirements, compatibility fixes, and ongoing support. You get a high-performance mobile app without adding to your engineering backlog.

Want a step-by-step walkthrough? Follow our BigCommerce app guide to see exactly how to convert your store into native mobile apps.

Final Thoughts

BigCommerce merchants have three realistic ways to build a mobile app, and each comes with very different costs. Custom development offers flexibility but is slow and expensive. In-house teams bring control but require a major ongoing investment.

Without reliable DIY builders, a hybrid approach often becomes the most practical path. MobiLoud lets you launch quickly, keep costs predictable, and maintain full parity with your BigCommerce storefront, all without managing separate codebases.

See how your store will look and feel as an app—get a free preview in minutes.