How much does an app cost?
You will be pleasantly surprised!
Every app project consists of 3 phases in which costs are incurred.
Requirements management
Elicitation of customer requirements and joint definition of a clearly defined use case. Specification of the technical and design requirements (type and manner depends on the later project procedure) for the realisation of the use case.
Development phase
Implementation of the requirements in the actual “app project”. Either in an agile project with close involvement of the requester in the individual sprints or as an autonomous project with regular “shoulder checks”.
Using the app
Your app is ready and must be published and promoted in the respective App Stores. Now the regular content maintenance and implementation of campaigns to activate customers also starts. Due to further technical development, changed specifications from Apple or Google or for security reasons, technical updates must also be developed and implemented regularly.
In our experience, many clients think about the first two phases of their app project in particular, but forget about the later operating costs (especially since software operation in larger organisations is usually financed from a different budget pot).
So in order to evaluate your app project in an economically sensible way, you typically have to look at the total cost of ownership (TCO) over 3 or 5 years.
This is exactly where the cost advantage of our three business areas (1) app maker, (2) customizing apps and (3) platform apps (formerly THE APP COMPANY) over agencies and system houses becomes apparent.

Solution approaches in comparison
Our customized apps and the platform apps close the gap between an app maker, which cannot map all individual requirements or design wishes due to standardization, and an agency that has to develop all functions from scratch.
An app agency | Platform app | Customising | App maker | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Feature and performance | ||||
Backend app infrastructure | – | yes | yes | yes |
iOS app | yes | yes | yes | yes |
Android app | yes | yes | yes | yes |
Progressive web app (PWA) | yes | yes | yes | yes |
Ready-made modules | – | 30+ | 30+ | 30+ |
Individual design | yes | yes | optional | – |
Individual functions | yes | yes | optional | – |
App CMS | – | yes | yes | yes |
App Store submission | yes | yes | yes | yes |
Cost | ||||
Project costs | €€ | € | € | – |
Platform updates | € | – | – | – |
App hosting | € | € | € | € |
Recommendation | For those who need a custom app but for whom aspects other than long-term cost considerations are relevant | For those who need a complex custom app, but for whom long-term cost considerations are relevant. | For all those who can implement their use case with smaller extensions of the app maker or who would like to develop their app project step by step. | For all those whose requirement can be mapped with standard modules and who rely on a cost-effective self-service solution. |