We built a mobile app in 2020: Quoted price, real costs, and lessons learned

We paid 60,000 TL for an app with a similar scope back in fall 2020. Over the first 18 months, that grew by the annual Apple developer account fee, 1,200 TL a month for the cloud server, plus 28,000 TL paid to the agency for two major version updates. Our total spend climbed by almost half the initial cost—if you don't budget for maintenance, you're definitely gonna get burned.

People often overlook the technical side of things. Open-source libraries in hybrid frameworks get outdated over time. When Google and Apple update store policies, you're forced to bump up the target SDK version. That sometimes requires rebuilding every single plugin from scratch; maintenance isn't just about keeping the server online.

Honestly building a native or hybrid mobile app just for internal company workflows or dealers is usually a waste of money. A solid responsive web dashboard or a PWA would get the exact same job done at a tenth of the cost. Dealing with app store approvals and constantly keeping up with version updates seriously drains the resources of SMBs.

we went through the exact same thing. even just opening the store accounts took weeks with all the company paperwork and duns numbers. I mean nobody tells you this stuff upfront, and then youre left in shock as the bill keeps ballooning. unfortunately agencies never mention these parts while making the pitch.

A clear piece of advice for anyone just starting out: Make sure your contract includes at least a six-month free warranty and bug-fixing clause. Get it in writing that upon delivery, all source code, developer accounts, and app store ownership will be transferred entirely to your company, otherwise you will end up completely locked in with that agency.

We're also considering a similar catalog app for our business. Can't these store accounts be opened under an individual's name or do you have to apply as a registered company with a tax registration certificate? Can't we just use a personal account to keep costs down?

If your app is currently stable you can negotiate a monthly retainer with the agency for a fixed ticket and bug quota instead of paying hourly. That way, you avoid surprise invoices and can accurately forecast your monthly cash outflow.

App software is a living organism; it's not like buying a property and putting it up for rent. If you don't budget for it and keep feeding it regularly, it will crash with the very first OS update six months down the line.

If you're going this route, sort this out first. The harder it is to reverse a decision, the slower you should make it.

i'd appreciate it if you shared the outcome.

Just a heads-up. Everything goes well for the first three months; problems arise in the fourth.

If you get three different answers on a topic, the question was asked wrong. If I were you I'd go this route.

Let me summarize what's been said so far. like just because everyone does it doesn't mean it's right.

If you have questions write them; I'll answer as best I can.

My questions are cleared up, thanks. If it's your first time start small; scaling comes later.

If I were you, I'd go this route.

I didn't know that.

We got stuck at the same point for a while. The first thing to break as you grow is communication, not the numbers.

If you have questions, write them; I'll answer as best I can.

i agree. when we decide without measuring, we always end up in the same place.

three different vieews emerged, they all complement each other but btw pausing growth to breathe is also a strategy nobody says that.

the biggest time-waster for us was not knowing who had the final say and of course it varies if your situation is different.

I'll try it.