How much does a mobile app cost?

Screen count and the complexity of user flows — a simple app with five screens is cheaper than one with complex flows through dozens of connected screens.

Backend infrastructure: the database, the API connecting the app to the server, the roles and permissions system — everything that makes the app actually "work" behind the pretty interface.

Device features the app uses: camera, GPS location, in-app payments, offline work with later synchronisation — each of these features adds development and testing.

The number of target platforms: iOS, Android, or both — developing for both platforms through React Native is usually significantly cheaper than two separate native projects, as explained in the earlier article on technology choice.

The admin panel: if someone in the company needs to manage the app's content or users, that is a separate development part often underestimated in initial estimates.

Focus on one key flow solving one real, concrete user problem — don't try to immediately include every feature you ever imagined the app could have.

Add the other features after you have your first real users and their feedback — that significantly reduces both cost and risk, because you build what is actually demanded, not what you assumed would be.

This approach (known as MVP — minimum viable product) means the first version costs less, reaches the market faster, and teaches you what users really want before you invest in additional, more expensive features.