A Complete Guide to App Design Cost in 2026

• UI/UX
• January 1, 2026

by Bhumi Goklani

The world of applications is blooming at a rapid rate. With over 3 million apps on Google Play and Apple Store, 35 billion+ times apps are downloaded every quarter. The digits prominently point toward the tremendous growth of apps in today’s digital world. That said, one of the most crucial things that plays a major role in deciding if the app will stand out in the market and have a competitive edge is the app design.

Plus, if you have a brand new idea on app development and want to get started, then the first question would be How much does it cost to design an app, right? Well, the short answer is “it depends, and the long answer is “features, design, and design complexity. In this write-up, we will walk you through everything that you need to know about app design cost.

Expenses are amongst the most heated debates, especially in the context of mobile app development, and to be more specific, the app design costs in particular. With several new trends and technologies to look at, it can be daunting to know how much your next app development will cost. 

In this blog post, we will walk you through all that you need to know about how much it costs to design an app. We will also walk you through the factors affecting the app design cost, tips on how you can cut down on app design cost, and much more.

Though if you are a newbie and need assistance with the entire quotation of app design, well then, a leading provider of mobile app development services can help you. That said, let us now dive into the write-up on how much it costs to design an application.

App design is vital in application development. It is important because it drives user engagement, works on the part of retention, and gives users satisfaction by creating intuitive, visually appealing, and easy-to-use experiences that work in the best possible ways to build brand trust, providing a competitive edge in crowded markets, which ultimately leads to higher conversions and A1 business success.

Well, with millions of downloadable applications available in the market today, the design and how the UI/UX appear play an important role in attracting and retaining users. With several applications available online to download, a well-designed app can act as an anchor that precisely captivates the users and keeps them engaged.

Also Read: UI UX Statistics

How Much Does it Cost to Design an App?

Designing an app in 2026 can cost anywhere from $3,000 to over $30,000, depending on a few important factors. You must be wondering that the bracket of the cost is massive, and there is a huge gap between the lower and the upper cap.

However, understanding what drives these numbers is the key to planning your budget. That said, let us take you through a simple breakdown so that you have an insight into how much it costs to design an app. 

• The basic applications with minimum features and simple design can cost anything between: $3000 – $6000+.
• The moderate applications with more features and screens can cost anything between $7000 – $15000+.
• The complex applications that are rich in features, with AI, custom interactions, or multiple user types, can cost up $80,000 or even more. 

You need to understand that the variations in the cost don’t come out of nowhere; the quotation of the cost entirely depends on the complexity of the app, the design team, and their location.

Breakdown of App Design Cost: From MVP to Complex Mobile App

In 2026, app design costs usually fall between $3,000 and $30,000+. It depends on several aspects and factors, such as scope, complexity, depth of UX research, and the number of iterations you expect. 

This bracket includes simple MVPs on the lower side, and enterprise and multi-module apps going far side. When we bifurcate and think in tiers, i.e., MVP, medium complexity, and complex applications, it makes it easier to design and align your UX goals with the real budget. That said, let us walk you through the breakdown of app design cost, from MVP to complex mobile apps. 

MVP/Simple Mobile App

For a minimum viable product or a simple app, the cost to design an application usually starts around $3000 to $8000 USD This cost can usually differ or increase roughly up to $10,000 to $15,000 USD. This entirely depends on the number of screens and the required polish.

MVP is usually simple, clear, minimalist, and user-focused. While creating a design for MVP, the foremost concern or focus should be a clean but straightforward UI, avoiding heavy animation or complex states.

If you are a business looking forward to validating your idea, MVP, or even considering making an app prototype, which is the most efficient answer to “how much to design an app, without overinvesting before product market fit?

Medium Complexity Mobile App

As the word suggests, a medium complexity mobile app usually includes more user roles, several interconnected modules, and is rich in in-app flows. The design cost for a medium-complexity mobile app typically falls between $15,000–$35,000 USD.

For apps in this category, design costs are influenced by additional UX activities such as detailed user journeys, custom UI libraries, and scalable design systems. These elements help ensure consistency, usability, and a seamless experience as the product grows.

Complex Mobile App

Complex mobile applications refer to the multi-sided platforms, on-demand marketplaces, or data-heavy enterprise tools. These aspects or features of a complex mobile app can push the cost to design an app well beyond $40,000 USD, and in some of cases even beyond $80,000 USD. This is mostly the case when advanced UX research and micro-interactions are involved. 

For complex mobile apps, design costs are largely influenced by the number of user personas, custom animations, and integration-driven edge cases that designers must address. Investing at this level ensures a robust, research-backed user experience that helps reduce friction, minimize training time, and lower churn in large-scale deployments.

Factors that Influence App Design Cost

When exploring and understanding the dynamics of how much it costs to design an app, it helps to break down the budget well defined and understood cost factors. These factors include industry specifics, the structure of the team, feature set, design customization, platform mix, and even your current product maturity. 

With an in-depth understanding of these inputs will help you to have more productive conversations with the providers and developers for UX budgets for the next 6-12 months. That said, let us look at the factors affecting the mobile app design cost. 

1. Industry Specifics

Industry plays a crucial role when it comes to the cost of app design. The reason behind this is that different industries demand different designs. For instance, FinTech, healthcare, and enterprise SaaS require a more detailed flow, error handling, and data visualization than a simple lifestyle app. 

This increases the app design cost per screen. Most highly regulated industries also tend to involve reviews and documentation from more stakeholders, which then adds onto the UI/UX efforts, and in turn, your total cost to design an application. 

2. Type of your Design Team

The type of design team you choose for UI UX design services is one of the core factors in determining how much it costs to design an app. If you are wondering the whys of it, then you need to know that the hourly or project rates vary widely across freelancers, in-house teams, and specialized agencies. 

Furthermore, freelancers can be a budget-friendly option, but they might struggle with large, multi-platform products. On the other hand, mostly established product studios often tend to charge more, yet again, they tend to bring dedicated researchers, best practices, experiences, processes, UX audit, and UX design strategies. Moving ahead, nearshore or offshore teams can further optimize app design cost if you tend to find partners with strong communication and UX maturity. 

3. Features Complexity

Another aspect that directly tends to shape the cost of an app design is the aspect of feature complexity. Simply put, the more advanced features your app design will have, the higher the app design cost you should expect. 

Mostly, the simple applications cover the design of login, profile, and one or two core actions, whereas complex products add more real-time data, personalizations, payments, or offline modes, all of which tend to expand the design workload.

That said, as a business, before asking, “How much to design an app,” get started by mapping the core features and cutting down “nice-to-have” things from your first design cycle to keep the costs under control.  

4. Type and Location of Your Design Team

The type and location of your design team are one of the crucial factors that help in determining the cost of designing an app. Questions like who will design your app, are you working with an in-house team, a freelancer, or outsourcing your design, where is your design team located, all these questions will help you to determine what the cost of designing your app could be. Let’s look at all these factors one by one to understand the costs better.

• In-house Design Team

With in-house designers, you will have a complete advantage of having the designers, i.e., app UI UX design partners and the team fully focused and integrated into your company’s culture and work. 

Since the in-house members are fully integrated and are in close collaboration with your team, they can quickly and easily catch your brand’s vision and thus develop a design approach accordingly. Yet again, an in-house team can be comparatively costly, as you will have to cover their salaries, benefits, and design software expenses. 

• Outsourced Design Team

Outsourcing your design team gives you ultimate access to a wide spectrum of design expertise. It works in the best possible way to adjust the cost to design an app. The approach of outsourcing a design team is comparatively less costly, as you tend to pay for the design services only, excluding the additional expenses that come along with an in-house designer. 

Furthermore, the outsourced experts possess experience working with various clients and industries, which can help them to bring a brand new and fresh perspective to your project.

• Freelancer Designers

When it comes down to hiring UI/UX designers as freelancers, it can be one of the most viable solutions for businesses that have a tight budget comparatively. Yet again, it is of utmost importance to understand that the freelancers might not offer the same level of commitment as an in-house or outsourced team. 

Another aspect that you need to understand is that managing freelancers for multiple projects can be daunting, time-consuming, and might require more effort.

5. Platform and Design Compatibility

Every platform comes along with its very own set of design guidelines and screen sizes that should be followed, especially for the smooth functionality of the app. In most cases, this involves crafting separate components and screens that might have different variations for different platforms, which slightly tends to increase the design cost. 

In a few rare cases, if you tend to design each element separately for several platforms, it is still quite fast and therefore might not increase or affect the cost factor at all. 

Furthermore, if you tend to choose cross-platform development, then the design will indeed be unified. Again, beyond the aspect of platform-specific design, you should pay closer attention to the device compatibility.

It goes without saying that users tend to access the applications on different devices, and that said, your app design must be responsive and should be able to adapt to different screen sizes. 

How to Estimate App Design Cost?

To get a genuine insight into how to make an estimate of app design cost, you will have to integrate a structured estimation method with a clear understanding of the scope and team rates. Most of the UI/UX experts highly recommend breaking the work of app design into different phases. 

These phases are: research, wireframes, visual design, prototyping, and testing. Then, the next step is to estimate hours for each before applying a blended hourly rate to arrive at your projected app design cost.

Moreover, the approach also works on the part of whether you tend to handle everything internally or collaborate with an external mobile app development service for end-to-end execution. 

Self-Guided Way: Estimating Project Scope and Using a Formula

Here, you can get started by defining the scope and requirements of your app in as much detail as possible. Ensure that you consider the complexity of the features, the number of screens, desired animation, and any other specific design elements you plan to integrate or implement in your app’s design. 

Simply put, the more detailed and comprehensive the project brief you have, the more accurate your cost estimate will be. Moving ahead, to calculate a rough estimate of your design, you can make use of the following formula:

App Design Cost = Hourly Rate * Number of Design Hours

Streamlined Way: Requesting Quotes from App Design Agencies

Here, you can consider reaching out to a reputable outsourcing agency or freelancers and request quotations for your app design. By understanding and analyzing your project’s complexity, scope, and unique requirements, the industry professionals will be able to provide you with a breakdown of the app design costs. With the help of this approach, you will get a real-world estimate from the industry leaders who know the design industry inside out. 

Tips on How to Cut App Design Cost

If the factor of cost is acting like a hassle in your dream app design to come to reality, then these tips on how to cut app design cost for your next web or mobile app development can be a game-changer. 

Though there are several techniques and moves that you can choose to cut down the cost factor, like smart teams trimming scope, choosing the most efficient tech, and collaboration models.

Furthermore, if you are disciplined about priorities, you can reduce your app design cost now while still keeping room for refinement in the near future. 

Tip 1: Prioritize Important Features

One of the best and fastest ways to cut down on the cost of app design is to prioritize the most essential features and cut the non-essential flaws from the first version. First, you can pay attention to the things that are vital to your value proposition. 

You can consider adopting an MVP approach that entails designing and developing bthe are minimum features that are required to meet the users’ immediate needs. With that, you can bring the product to the market a bit faster with a lower initial design cost.

Tip 2: Choose Cross-platform Development

If you are someone looking forward to creating a mobile app for multiple platforms, a cross-platform development approach can be the ideal fit for your UI/UX design process. This approach can be a smart cost-saving move for the app design. With cross-platform development, you can easily write the code once and deploy it on iOS and Android. 

With minimal notifications, you will be able to build a single set of designs that works seamlessly on both platforms. That said, a single code base not only cuts down the cost of mobile app design but also helps in streamlining the time to market.

Tip 3: Outsource your App Design

Another vital tip that can help you to cut down on your mobile app design is to outsource your project completely. For instance, if you are looking for MVP development services and want to cut down on cost, consider to hire UI UX designers on an outsourced basis from leading providers of mobile app development solutions like MindInventory, as it’ll be a win-win situation to bring high-quality expertise, including designers, to your industry. 

Outsourcing from MindInventory comes along with competitive pricing, established workflows, and expertise in designing a wide range of applications.

Conclusion

Understanding what it takes to design a mobile app from A-Z is daunting, but this guide is all that you will require to get a hold of how to get an estimate of the cost and how much it costs to design an application.

That said, whether you are a start-up or a enterprise level business, and are looking forward to getting help with user-centered design, MindInventory is your one-stop solution. With industry leaders and A1 expertise in designing the app at the most competitive rates, our experts can help you with the best.

You’d need partners who understand your vision, work with you every step of the way, and are 100% committed to your success, and this is precisely where we can help you with our years of industry experience. To get started, speak to our experts and get started with your app design today.

FAQs About Mobile App Design