Capability

Startup App Development

You have an idea for an app and no idea what happens next. That is the normal place to start, and it is the part we do first. As a startup app development company we turn the idea into a written plan with a fixed price and a launch date, then build it. Most first releases go live in about 30 days.

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Price: Fixed upfront
Launch date: In writing
First release: About 30 days
You get: iOS, Android & web

Why own it

Get the idea out of your head and onto a phone.

An idea is worth nothing until somebody can tap it. The first version does not need every feature you have thought of, it needs the one thing people would pay for, working properly, in front of real users while the idea is still yours.

Find out if it works
Real users on a real app tell you more in a fortnight than a year of planning.
Something to show
Investors, partners and first customers respond to a working app, not a deck.
Start earning early
Payments and subscriptions are in the first release, so it can make money from day one.
Room to grow
Built so version two adds to it instead of replacing it.

Hiring a team yourself

Price: Open-ended, paid by the month
Launch date: Moves as the team learns
First release: After months of hiring and building
Before you commit: A salary bill from week one
If the idea changes: You carry the team anyway
After launch: Yours to maintain

Building with Appkodes

Price: Fixed before we start
Launch date: Agreed in writing
First release: Most go live in about 30 days
Before you commit: A costed plan, free, yours to keep
If the idea changes: Scope it again, priced again
After launch: We keep it fixed and current

What you get

What you get on launch day.

Mobile app development for startups comes down to four things, and these are the four a first version actually needs. Pick one to see what goes into it.

App 01 of 03

Your app, on both stores

The app itself, live on the App Store and Google Play under your own company name. One build, both phones, so you are not paying twice.

Sign up and sign inEmail, phone or a Google and Apple button, whichever your users expect.
The one thing it doesThe feature your idea lives or dies on, built properly rather than sketched.
PaymentsCards, wallets or in-app purchase, so it earns from the first week.
Push notificationsThe messages that bring somebody back tomorrow.
Profiles and settingsAccounts, preferences and the boring screens people expect to find.
Works offlineIt behaves on a bad connection instead of showing a spinner.

App 02 of 03

Admin panel

Your side of the app, in a browser. You change what is in it without asking us and without touching code.

Your usersWho signed up, what they did, and who to contact.
Content and pricingEdit what the app shows and what it charges, live.
Payments and refundsWhat came in, what failed, and refunding somebody in two clicks.
Send a messagePush or email your users without a developer.
ReportsSign-ups, active users and revenue, on one screen.
Your teamLogins for the people helping you, each seeing only their part.

App 03 of 03

Web version

The same product in a browser. Plenty of people will try you on a laptop before they give up a slot on their home screen.

The same accountSign in on the web, carry on where the phone left off.
A page that sells itWhat the app is and why to download it, built to be found.
Share links that workA shared link opens the right screen, app installed or not.
Sign-up on the webPeople register before they ever reach a store.
Ready for searchTitles, descriptions and speed set up so Google can read it.
Works on any screenPhone, tablet and desktop from one build.

Open slot · built to order

Numbers from day one

Analytics and crash reporting wired in before launch, because the whole point of a first release is finding out what happens.

Who is using itInstalls, sign-ups and how many come back next week.
Where they stopThe screen people give up on, which is where version two starts.
CrashesWe see a bug before your users think to report it.
What earnsWhich feature people pay for, and which nobody touches.
Where they came fromStore search, a link, a campaign, so you spend on what works.
A monthly readA short report in plain words, not a dashboard to learn.

How it works

From an idea to an app on the store.

Six steps, about thirty days. You are involved in all of them and you own everything at the end.

01
You
Tell us the idea
A call, in plain words. No documents to prepare and nothing to sign.
02
Us
We scope it
We work out what the first version has to do, what it will cost and when it lands. Free, and yours to keep.
03
Both
You see the screens
A clickable version of your app before any code is written, so you change your mind while it is still cheap.
04
Us
We build and test
The app is built and checked screen by screen. A new version reaches your phone every week.
05
Us
It goes on the stores
We prepare the listings, submit to Apple and Google and handle the review.
06
Both
You watch what happens
Real users, real numbers. We fix what breaks and scope version two from what you learn.

Features

What we do before we write any code.

Most of the money wasted on first apps is spent building the wrong thing quickly. These are the steps that stop that, and they come first.

Scoping workshopA working session where the idea becomes a list of screens, a price and a date. Free, and yours whether you go ahead or not.
Feature prioritisationEverything you want, sorted into what the first release needs and what waits. The second list is usually longer, and that is the point.
Clickable prototypeYour screens in your brand, tapped through on a real phone before a line of code exists.
Something to show investorsA working app and real usage numbers beat a slide deck in every room we have watched.
A path to version twoBuilt so the next release adds to what is there. The rewrite is what kills first apps.
Store listings that get foundName, keywords and screenshots written for store search, not left as an afterthought.
Sign-in people trustApple, Google or phone number, set up the way each store expects.
Payments from week oneCards, wallets or in-app purchase, so you find out whether anybody will actually pay.
Analytics before launchThe numbers are wired in first, because a launch you cannot measure teaches you nothing.
Your accounts, your namesApple, Google, Stripe and the servers are all opened in your company's name.

Ways to earn

Ways your app can earn.

Pick one to start with. The admin panel lets you change it later without a rebuild, which matters because most first ideas about pricing turn out to be wrong.

SubscriptionsA monthly or yearly plan through the App Store and Google Play.
One-off purchasesPay once to unlock a feature, a level or a pack.
CommissionA cut of each booking, sale or job that goes through the app.
Free with a paid tierEveryone gets the basics, the people who need more pay for it.
Listings and adsBusinesses pay to appear, or to appear first.
Paid downloadA price on the store itself. Rare now, but right for some apps.

Example first month

900 installs, two ways to pay

62 subscribers × $4.99 a month: $309.38
140 one-off unlocks × $2.99: $418.60
Apple and Google's cut, 30%: −$218.39
Payment and hosting costs: −$58.40

Yours, in month one$451.19

Small on purpose. The number that matters in month one is how many of the 900 come back in month two. Figures are an example: you set every price.

Who it is for

App development for startups, at any stage.

Tell us where you are and we will tell you what the first release should be. None of these needs you to be technical.

First-time founders
You have the idea and the customers in mind, and you have never built software before.
Built to fit
- Plain-English scoping with no jargon and no homework
- A clickable prototype before you commit to the build
- Someone who explains the store rules rather than quoting them
Founders who have been quoted before
You have three quotes that disagree by a factor of five and none of them says what you get.
Built to fit
- A written scope, line by line, against a fixed price
- The launch date in the same document
- What is not in the first release, said out loud
A business adding an app
You already have customers and they keep asking whether there is an app.
Built to fit
- The app your existing customers are actually asking for
- Links into the systems you already run
- One login across your website and the app
Raising money soon
You need something real in the room before the next conversation.
Built to fit
- A working app on both stores under your own name
- Usage numbers from real people, not projections
- A version two plan you can put a price against
Two founders and no developer
The team is strong on the business and has nobody to write the code.
Built to fit
- An in-house team instead of a technical co-founder hunt
- Code and accounts in your company's name from day one
- Documentation, so a developer you hire later can pick it up
Testing an idea inside a company
A new product needs proving before anybody funds it properly.
Built to fit
- A first release small enough to get approved
- Real usage data to take back to the board
- A clean handover if it moves in-house later

How it works

A price and a date, before you commit anything.

01 · Before we start
Free costed plan
Describe the idea in a call. You get back the scope, a fixed price and a launch date in writing. It is free and it is yours, whether you build with us or take it elsewhere.
02 · Week 1
Screens you can tap
Your app as a clickable prototype, in your brand. Change your mind here, where changing it costs nothing.
03 · Weeks 2 to 4
Build and test
Our team builds it while testers work through every screen. A new version lands on your phone each week, so launch day holds no surprises.
04 · From about day 30
Launch and learn
We publish to both stores and handle the review, then watch the numbers with you and scope version two from what really happened.

Most first releases go live in about 30 days. A bigger first version takes longer, and your costed plan fixes the scope and the exact date.

What goes live first, and what waits.

Your costed plan splits the build into releases with their own prices and dates. The first one is the smallest thing that can honestly be called your app.

About 30 days
First release
- Sign-up and accounts
- The one thing your app is for
- Payments, if it charges
- Admin panel and analytics
- Live on both stores
After you have users
Second release
- The features your numbers argue for
- The screen people gave up on, fixed
- Notifications that bring people back
- Whatever the reviews keep asking for
When you need it
As you grow
- More languages and countries
- Integrations with other services
- Performance work as usage climbs
- A team of your own, if you hire one

Store launch

We publish your apps. It is in the price.

Every build ends with your apps live on the App Store and Google Play. Submission is part of the job, never an extra: we prepare everything, handle the review and fix whatever the stores ask for.

Included in every build

Store listings. Name, description, keywords, screenshots and preview images.
Privacy and compliance. Privacy details, data forms and content ratings each store requires.
Signed release builds. Built, signed and uploaded for iOS and Android.
Review and approval. We answer the reviewers and resubmit if anything is flagged.
Updates after launch. Every new version goes through the same process.

The one cost that is yours

Apple and Google charge for a developer account. It is opened in your company's name, so the apps and their listings always belong to you.

Apple App StoreUS$99 a yearApple Developer Program
Google PlayUS$25 onceGoogle Play Console

Submission, listings and reviewIncluded

Store fees are set by Apple and Google and may change.

Tech

What it is built with.

Ordinary tools your next developer will already know. Your costed plan names exactly what your app uses.

The app

Flutter
Swift
Kotlin
React Native

Behind it

Python
FastAPI
PostgreSQL
Firebase

Payments

Stripe
Razorpay
PayPal
In-app purchase

Runs on

AWS
Google Cloud
Your own accounts

Price

What sets the price.

There is no price list, because no two ideas are the same size. Your fixed price comes from the scope in your costed plan, and these are the things that move it.

Get your fixed price

How big the first version is
The number of screens, and how much each one has to do.
One phone or two
iOS, Android, or both from a single build.
Whether it takes money
Payments, subscriptions and in-app purchase each add work.
Outside services
Maps, messaging, delivery or anything else it has to talk to.
Design depth
A clean standard look, or a fully custom one.
Where it launches
Languages, currencies and the store rules of each market.

Why the date holds

We have built a lot of first apps.

Your app is designed and built new for your idea. What we bring is eighteen years of watching first releases succeed and fail, so we already know which features people swear they need and never use, where Apple's review tends to bite, and what a first version has to do before anybody will pay for it. None of that is learned on your budget, which is why the scope, the price and the date can be fixed.

See the apps we build

After launch

After launch, we stay.

The first thirty days after a launch teach you more than the thirty before it. Somebody has to be there for them.

Store updates
Apple and Google change their rules more often than they change their phones, and an app that ignores a year of that stops being accepted. We test yours against each new version of iOS and Android, update what needs it and resubmit, so nothing breaks on the morning your users update.
Fixes
You tell us once and we take it from there. Every issue is logged, fixed, tested and released, and you always know where it stands. Anything that stops people signing up or paying jumps the queue.
Watching the numbers
We watch crashes, sign-ups and payments with you in the first weeks, when the data is thin and a single broken screen is easy to miss. What we find shapes version two rather than sitting in a dashboard nobody opens.
New features
Version two is scoped, priced and dated in writing exactly like the first, so there is never an open-ended bill. Most founders bring a shorter list than they expected, because the users answered some of it for them.
Your accounts stay yours
Apple, Google, the payment gateway and the servers are opened in your company's name from the start. If you ever leave, nothing has to be transferred or argued about, because none of it was ever in ours.
Handover
The app is yours and so is everything needed to run it. Your team gets the code, the accounts and written documentation, so a developer you hire next year can pick it up without calling us first.

Clients

What our clients say.

Questions

Asked before most builds.

Not here? The costed plan answers the rest, for your app.

Your idea stays yours. We can sign an NDA before you share the details, and you hear from us within 24 hours.

I have an app idea. Where do I start?

With a conversation, not a document. Tell us what the app should do and who it is for, in plain words, and we turn that into a written scope with a fixed price and a launch date. It costs nothing, there is nothing to sign, and the plan is yours to keep even if you build it somewhere else.

How do I develop an app idea?

Start by deciding the one thing it has to do. Almost every first app we see is three apps wearing a coat, and the version that launches in 30 days is the one that does a single job properly. We work that out with you in the scoping session, then build that and leave the rest for version two.

Do I need to be technical?

No, and most of the founders we build for are not. You bring the idea and the knowledge of your customers. We handle the code, the stores, the servers and the rules, and explain anything you want explained without making you sit through it.

How much does it cost to build a startup app?

It depends on how big the first version is, whether it takes payments and how many outside services it talks to. You get a fixed price in a free costed plan before any work begins, and it does not move unless you change the scope.

How long before it is on the App Store?

Most first releases go live in about 30 days. A bigger first version takes longer, and your costed plan fixes the scope and the exact date before we start. Apple's review usually takes a day or two on top, and we handle it.

Do you publish the app for me?

Yes, and it is in the price. We prepare the listings, submit to Apple and Google and answer the reviewers. The only cost that is yours is the store developer accounts, opened in your company's name so the app always belongs to you.

Who owns the app and the code?

You do. The code, the designs, the store listings and the accounts are all yours and all in your company's name. You can take the whole thing to another developer whenever you want, and nothing needs transferring because none of it was ever ours.

What if I want to change something halfway through?

Small changes happen and we absorb them. Anything that changes the scope gets re-scoped, re-priced and re-dated in writing before we carry on, so the number you are working to is always one you agreed to.

What happens if nobody uses it?

Then you have found that out in about 30 days for a known price, which is the entire point of launching small. The analytics show where people stopped, and that usually says whether the idea needs a different audience, a different price or a different first screen.

Can you build it as a no-code app instead?

Not with us. We build custom, because that is what survives the day your app needs something the tool cannot do. No-code is genuinely the right answer for a simple internal tool or a booking form you want live this week, and if that is what you need you will be better served elsewhere. Where the line falls is set out on our MVP development page.

Related services

Next step

Your first release could be live
next month.

Tell us about the app you want to build. We send back a costed plan with a fixed price and a launch date, free and yours to keep.

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