Why do US agencies quote $100,000 for an app?+
Because it's hours multiplied by a US rate, and both numbers are large. A medium app is 800–1,500 hours; at $150 an hour that's $120,000–$225,000 before anyone has been unreasonable. It isn't a scam — it's what a US team costs. The reason our number differs is the cost base, not the scope.
How can an MVP be $1,049 when agencies quote fifty times that?+
Two reasons, and scope is the bigger one. First, our engineers are in India, so the same hours cost a fraction. Second, an MVP at $1,049 is a defined thing — up to 10 screens, auth, a backend and both store submissions — not an open-ended product with a discovery phase. Bigger ideas cost more with us too, and we'll tell you on the first call which one yours is rather than after you've committed.
React Native or native — how much does it actually save?+
Roughly half, because you build once instead of twice. React Native is the right choice for the large majority of business apps, and it's what apps you use every day are built on. Native Swift or Kotlin genuinely wins when you need heavy device features — advanced camera processing, AR, Bluetooth hardware, serious background work. We'll tell you which case you're in, including when the answer is the more expensive one.
What should an MVP actually include?+
The one loop that proves people want it, and nothing else. If it's a booking app, that's: sign up, find a slot, book it, get a confirmation. Not profiles, referrals, loyalty points, chat and a social feed. Everything you add before launch is a guess you're paying full price for — build it after real users have told you it matters.
How long does it take?+
6–10 weeks for an MVP, 3–5 months for a full product. Timeline scales with scope, not with money — adding people to a late software project famously makes it later. The largest delays we see are almost never engineering; they're waiting on content, decisions and third-party access.
Do I own the code?+
With us, entirely — code, repository, backend, store listings, every login, handed over at the end. Ask this of anyone you're considering. A surprising number of app 'builders' retain the code and licence it back to you, and you'll only discover it when you try to leave.
What does ongoing maintenance really cost?+
Ours is $249 a month and cancellable any month. The industry rule of thumb is 15–20% of the original build cost per year, which on a US $100,000 app is $15,000–$20,000 a year. This is the line most first-time founders leave out of the model entirely.
Can I start with a web app instead?+
Often yes, and often you should. If you don't need push notifications, offline use or camera access, a responsive web app costs less, ships faster and skips app-store review altogether — that's the $1,249 route rather than the $1,049 one. We'd rather sell you the cheaper correct thing than the more expensive wrong one.
