What a simple app costs
"Simple" is the most expensive word in a quote, because each side means something different by it. Start with the definition that moves the price bracket.
What a simple app is, technically
It is an app with no end-user accounts and no money moving through it. A menu, a catalogue, a portfolio, a price list, service information, a contact form, maybe a gallery.
The instant sign-in or payment appears, it leaves this category for the one above, because both bring permissions, password recovery, billing states and the question of who sees what.
Why the same app has three prices
An agency. There is a floor of hours that does not shrink: somebody scopes it, somebody designs it, somebody tests it, somebody delivers it. A simple app at an agency costs close to their floor, which is why the proposal looks out of proportion to what you asked for.
A freelancer. Scales down better. It is the route where "simple" genuinely is cheaper, and the risk is still continuity.
A platform. Where a simple app costs almost nothing, because the price is not hours: Fabapp's Free plan builds and publishes on the web with no card, and the R$ 99 a month plan covers what most simple apps need.
What you pay either way
- your own domain, if you want your own address, in the tens of currency units a year;
- a developer account, only for the stores: US$ 25 once with Google, US$ 99 a year with Apple. For a simple app that is the largest recurring line on the list, and almost always the most avoidable;
- your hours, if you build it yourself. They never appear on an invoice and they exist.
The question that saves the most money
Will somebody open this twice a week?
If the answer is no, you do not need a store. An app that opens from a link and installs to the home screen as an icon delivers the same thing to your customer, ships the same day, skips review and has no yearly fee. That covers nearly every menu, catalogue and portfolio.
If the answer is yes, and notifications are part of the product, the store starts to earn its cost. The full test is in native app, PWA or website.
The short version
- a simple app is one with no sign-in and no payments; with either, it changes bracket;
- an agency is where "simple" saves you least, because of the floor of hours;
- a platform is where it costs almost nothing, because the price is not hours;
- the biggest saving is not publishing to the stores when the app does not need them;
- if you intend to grow, check first that you can export the code.