By stage
App development cost UK services: discovery, MVP and full build
Updated
An app built by a UK studio is usually bought in stages: a paid discovery first, then an MVP from £7,000 at the studios that publish one, then the full build. The day rate underneath it all is a median £387.50 for UK mobile developers on contract adverts.
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Discovery
Foresight Mobile's App Gameplan "gives you a costed plan for your app in four weeks for £3,500, credited against your first development sprint".
Source: Foresight Mobile: how much does it cost to build an app
Rocking Tech's "Platform Discovery Sprint runs £4,500 plus VAT, takes three weeks", with the fee credited against the build.
Source: Rocking Tech: what custom MVP development actually costs in the UK
MVP and full build
Published entry prices for an MVP or first build run £7,000 to £25,000, median £10,000, across 5 UK studios.
Source: UK app development price index: every row, with its source
The day rate behind the quote
At the median contract rate of £387.50 a day, 40 developer days, a small MVP's worth of work by many studios' own estimates, comes to £15,500. That is our arithmetic on the advert medians, not a quote.
Source: UK app developer day rates: every row, with its source
- Ask what the discovery fee buys and whether it is credited against the build.
- Ask for a fixed price for the MVP once scope is written down.
- Ask what one more feature costs after launch, by the day or by the sprint.
- Add VAT where a studio quotes plus VAT: the standard rate is 20%.