A mobile app is usually the biggest item in a company's digital budget — and the biggest unknown. You have probably seen offers reading "an app from €1,150" next to quotes running into hundreds of thousands. Both can be true, because "an app" means everything and nothing. Let's break the app development cost down into its parts.
Euro amounts converted at the NBP mid-market rate of 14 September 2026 (€1 = 4.3391 zł) and rounded. We invoice in PLN.
What are you actually buying?
A mobile app consists of at least three elements: the app on the phone (what the user sees), the backend (server, database, logic — invisible, yet usually half the cost) and an admin panel where you manage content and users. On top of that comes publication on the App Store and Google Play, with all their requirements.
Cross-platform or native?
In 2026, for most businesses the answer is cross-platform (React Native or Flutter). One codebase runs on iOS and Android, which cuts build and maintenance costs by 30–40% compared with two separate native apps. Native Swift/Kotlin is chosen today mainly for games, apps that make heavy use of hardware (camera, sensors, AR) and products with extreme performance requirements.
Mobile app development cost in Poland: the price ranges
At market rates (ours: €46/h for development, €35/h net for design) it looks like this:
140–360 hours: the key feature, a simple backend, publication in the stores. The goal: validate the idea with real users.
User accounts, payments, push notifications, admin panel, analytics.
Multiple modules, integrations with external systems, advanced logic, high scale.
What to keep in mind when budgeting
- Maintenance costs 15–25% of the build cost per year — system updates, fixes, minor development. An app left unattended "breaks" after every major iOS/Android update.
- Developer accounts: Apple 99 USD/year, Google 25 USD one-off.
- Server: from a few tens to a few hundred euros a month, depending on the number of users.
How to reduce the cost of the first version
Start with an MVP. Pick the one feature users will genuinely come for and build it properly. Leave the "nice to have" list for version 2.0 — a working product will pay for it. This is not a compromise on quality, but the strategy behind practically every well-known app.