You get one number before we start, not an hourly meter. Every build package covers design, development, your app icon and store listings, submission to the App Store and Google Play, and 30 days of post-launch fixes.
I work on client projects about 20 hours a week and take one build at a time, so the timelines here are what actually happens rather than a best case. If I’m booked when you get in touch, I’ll tell you the real start date instead of starting badly.
Simple apps, utilities, Apple Watch apps, companion apps and single-purpose tools.
Subscription and content apps, membership apps, small-business apps.
A paid catalogue of video or content, playing on phones, tablets and the living-room TV, with members and subscriptions behind it.
You built an app — yourself, with a developer, or with an AI tool — and it won't go live. I take it the rest of the way.
Apple and Google ship new OS versions every year and change store rules more often than that. A retainer means someone is already on it. Three-month minimum; unused hours don't roll over; extra hours at $75.
| Plan | Hours / month | Includes | Response | Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Care | 3 | OS and device compatibility updates, store-policy compliance, priority bug fixes | 3 business days | $280/mo |
| Grow | 9 | Care plus one small feature or content update per month | 2 business days | $680/mo |
| Partner | 18 | Grow plus roadmap planning and analytics review | 1 business day | $1,280/mo |
For teams that only need one piece. Ask and I’ll quote it.
| UI/UX design only | Wireframes, high-fidelity screens, a clickable prototype and a developer hand-off kit for your own team | from $2,000 |
| Design review | A walkthrough of your existing app with written, prioritised recommendations | $600 |
| Icon + screenshot kit | App icon in every required size plus store screenshots for both stores | $480 |
| Hourly | Development $75 · design $70 · consulting $100, billed in 15-minute increments | $70–100/hr |
Final quotes depend on scope; the numbers above are where each package starts. Payment is 40% to begin, 30% at design approval, 30% at store submission — Platform builds are billed monthly against milestones instead. You own the source code and design files. Apple Developer ($99/yr) and Google Play ($25) fees are paid by you directly. So are any running services a Platform build needs — video hosting and a content platform, typically $50–300 a month depending on how much you stream — set up in your own accounts, so they're never tangled up with mine.
It's a Platform build when the product is a paid catalogue rather than a single app: members subscribe, content is added continuously without shipping an app update, and the same library has to work on a phone, a tablet and a television. Growth is one app connected to something you already run. Platform is the whole service across every screen, which is why it's built in phases rather than all at once. The clearest example is Cocolime Fitness CLF TV — 200+ workouts, a $24.99 monthly subscription, running on iPhone, iPad, Mac, Vision Pro, Android, Google TV and Android TV. If that shape sounds like what you're describing, it's a Platform build.
Because nobody can honestly price six months of work from a phone call, and a number invented on the spot helps neither of us. Two weeks and $2,000 buys a real technical plan: what gets built, in what order, which parts are risky, what it will actually cost and how long it will take. You keep that document whichever way you go — if you take it to another developer, it still works. It also means that by the time you commit to the build, the fixed price is one I can stand behind.
Because a Platform build doesn't finish at launch the way a single app does. You'll be adding content every week, subscriptions renew and occasionally go wrong, and the same product has to keep working across six or seven platforms that each get a new OS version every year. An unmaintained app on one platform is an inconvenience; an unmaintained subscription service is refund requests. Care starts at $280/month, and most Platform clients are on Grow.
If the app is simple, start with Launch on one platform from $4,000 and add the second for $2,000 — either straight away or once you've seen how the first one does. I build each platform natively rather than shipping one cross-platform codebase to both, but the second build is much faster than the first because every design and product decision is already made. If your app needs accounts, subscriptions or a backend, both platforms are included in Growth from the start, because purchases and sign-in have to be built separately on each store and that isn't an add-on.
One timing note for Android: if it's your first app on a new personal Google Play account, Google requires a closed test with 12 testers for 14 continuous days before you can publish. That's calendar time, not extra cost, but it's worth knowing before you plan a launch date.
One build at a time, plus maintenance clients and short publishing jobs alongside it. I work about 20 hours a week on client projects, which is exactly why the timelines on this page are longer than an agency would quote — they're honest ones rather than what's theoretically possible. It also means the work is done by the person you spoke to, start to finish, and nothing gets handed to a junior when something more interesting comes along. Ask me for the current start date and you'll get a real one.
I build on managed services rather than writing and hosting a server myself — the store handles subscriptions, and content and video sit on established platforms set up in accounts you own and pay for directly. That's a deliberate choice: it's faster to build, it's cheaper to run, there's no bespoke system that only I understand, and if you ever replace me nothing has to be untangled first. If your product genuinely needs a custom backend built from scratch, I'll tell you that during scoping and help you find someone who specialises in it.
Yours, from day one. Apple requires the account holder to be the entity offering the app, and it's what makes you the owner of the app, its reviews and its subscription revenue. Setting up your Apple Developer and Google Play accounts is part of every package; you pay Apple and Google their fees directly.
You add me to your accounts as a team member (App Store Connect calls it "Users and Access", Google Play calls it "Users and Permissions"). I build, test and submit from inside your account without ever needing your password, and you can remove me any time. The code lives in a Git repository you own.
Nothing needs handing over, because it was always yours. Either keep me on a Care plan for updates, or remove my access and carry on. If you hire someone else later, you add them the same way.
Because you should know what an app costs before you say yes. I use an AI-assisted workflow that makes me faster than the hourly benchmarks, and fixed pricing passes that on as a predictable number rather than a surprise invoice. Changes beyond the written scope are quoted as change orders.
I build native: Swift and SwiftUI on Apple platforms, Kotlin and Jetpack Compose on Android. Native is what makes Apple Watch, Apple TV, Vision Pro and Android TV possible, and it's what App Store review is friendliest to. If you have an existing cross-platform codebase, I can still help with design, launch and store issues.
Yes, that's Stuck at the App Store, from $1,500: developer accounts, signing, listings, screenshots, privacy labels, submission and the rejection back-and-forth until it's live.
Often, yes. Tools like Claude, Cursor, Replit and Lovable get people surprisingly far, and then everything stops at code signing, App Store review or Google Play's testing requirements. Send me what you have and I'll tell you honestly whether it can be finished or whether it's faster to rebuild it properly. More on that here.
Send a few sentences about the app, who it's for and roughly when you'd like it live. I reply within one business day with next steps and, if it's a fit, a time for a free 20-minute call.