How much does an app cost to build in Australia?

Less than the horror stories and more than the ads, and the honest driver is scope: the screens are the visible half, and the backend, accounts, data sync and store review process are the half most quotes quietly omit. You get a fixed written quote covering all of it before anything starts, and if a website would serve you better for a fraction of the price, the quote says that instead.

Do we need iOS and Android, or one of them?

In Australia the market splits roughly down the middle, so a business app usually needs both. Built cross-platform from one codebase you pay for the app once, not twice, and fixes land on both stores at the same time.

Do we actually need an app, or would a website do?

Ask whether you need what only an installed app gets you: offline use, camera and GPS in workflows, push notifications, a home-screen icon your staff open daily. If not, a fast mobile web app does the job with no store approvals and no update lag, and I build those too, so the recommendation is not a sales pitch.

Who owns the app and the store accounts?

You do. Apple and Google developer accounts get created in your business's name, the code lives in your repository, and the backend runs in your cloud accounts. If we part ways, you keep everything and any competent developer can continue.

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Mobile apps

An app, if you actually need one.

Half the business "apps" people ask for should be fast mobile websites, and anyone selling apps for a living will not tell you that. When you genuinely need the real thing, offline, camera, GPS, push, I build iOS and Android from one codebase, backend included, with the store accounts in your name.

Describe the app See the finished thing App or website?

Live proof

The phone works. Tap it.

A finished field app running on the screen. Open jobs, add notes, mark them done, watch the counts update. Beside it, the straight answer on whether an app is what you need at all.

live demoA working phone app

This working build runs in your browser and needs scripts enabled. Everything on the page describes what it does; turn them on to use it.

One codebase, both stores, your accounts, backend included. And a straight answer first, because a beautiful app nobody opens is my failure, not yours.

The work

Built once, shipped twice.

Business and field apps

The jobs where an app earns its keep: crews capturing photos and signatures on site with no reception, bookings and job lists that live on the home screen, stock counts with the camera as the scanner. Designed around how the work actually happens, which is the analyst half of me asking the questions first.

One codebase, both stores

React Native, the same TypeScript and React foundation as my web work, so iOS and Android come from a single codebase: you pay for the app once, and every fix lands on both platforms together. Apple and Google review shepherded through, in your accounts.

The half most quotes omit

An app is a front end to a backend: the API, the accounts, the data sync, the admin screen someone in the office needs. That half sinks more app projects than the screens ever do, and it is my home ground; the custom software page shows a complete, public, compilable example.

Rescues and revivals

The app an agency built two years ago that nobody can update, or the AI-built one that almost works. Same discipline as every rescue: secure your accounts, read what is there, say plainly what finishing takes.

The honest fork

App or website? The test is short.

You need an installed app when the job needs what only an installed app gets: working offline, the camera and GPS inside a workflow, push notifications, an icon staff tap every morning. If your list is "customers can find us, read about us and book us", a fast mobile website does that with no store approvals, no update lag and a smaller invoice, and I will quote you that instead. I build both, so the recommendation costs me nothing and saves you plenty.

The website route Ask which fits

Fair questions

Before you ask.

How much does an app cost?

The honest driver is scope: the screens are the visible half, and the backend, accounts, data sync and store review are the half most quotes quietly omit. You get a fixed written quote covering all of it before anything starts, and if a website would serve you better for a fraction of the price, the quote says that instead.

iOS, Android, or both?

In Australia the market splits roughly down the middle, so a business app usually needs both. From one codebase you pay for the app once, not twice, and fixes reach both stores at the same time.

Can you turn our website into an app?

Often the right move is the modest one: a web app your customers can add to their home screen, no stores involved. Where a real store presence matters, the same TypeScript foundation carries across. Either way it starts with why you want it there, not with the technology.

Who owns the store accounts and the code?

You do. Developer accounts in your business's name, code in your repository, backend in your cloud accounts. If we part ways you keep everything, and any competent developer can continue.