App development in the UK

What it costs to build an app in the UK, how we work with clients across the country, and why we charge the same wherever you are based.

The App14 team2 min read

We build apps for businesses across the United Kingdom, at one published price, in fourteen days.

Starter App

Launch fast

£3,999£2,999

For small and medium businesses ready to launch their first app.

  • iOS & Android app
  • User login & accounts
  • Push notifications
  • Admin dashboard
  • 14 day delivery
Book this sprint

Advanced App

Built to scale

£6,999£5,999

For advanced apps with complex and heavier customer usage.

  • All starter app features
  • Complex app logic
  • AI and blockchain features
  • Security audits
  • 14 day delivery
Book this sprint

What UK app development normally costs

Useful context before you talk to anyone, because the spread is enormous and mostly reflects how the work is sold rather than what gets built.

Who you hireTypical costTypical timeline
UK agency, simple app£12,000 to £30,00010 to 16 weeks
UK agency, MVP£20,000 to £60,0003 to 4 months
London senior contractor£90 to £120 per hourOngoing
Regional UK freelancer£40 to £85 per hourHighly variable
App14 sprint£2,999 or £5,99914 days
The UK agency average hourly rate is around £122, roughly £1,000 a day. London typically runs 30 to 50 percent above regional rates.

The full breakdown, including what pushes a project past a sprint, is in our guide to app development costs in the UK.

How we work with UK clients

If a supplier's website lists twenty UK cities, it is worth asking which of those they actually have people in. Usually the answer is none, and the pages exist for search engines rather than for you.

More on what working with us remotely actually involves.

One price, wherever you are

There is no London premium and no regional discount. The number on the pricing page is what a business in Truro pays and what a business in Aberdeen pays.

That is unusual enough to be worth stating. Location-based pricing in this market mostly reflects the supplier's rent, not the value of the work.

By city

Local market conditions genuinely differ, mostly in what you would pay locally and which sectors are absorbing the available developers. These cover the ones we get asked about most.

None of these claim a local office, because we do not have one. They cover what the local market costs and where we do and do not fit.

What we build, and for whom

Web and mobile apps, dashboards, marketplaces, booking systems, and internal business tools, built from scratch. We have delivered for logistics operators, retailers, clinics, community organisations, and government teams.

Pick the closest fit: what we build or by industry.

What we will not do

Out of scope, wherever you are

  • Games and heavy real-time systemsThese genuinely need months.
  • Certified clinical or FCA-regulated productsWe do not hold the certifications.
  • Anything on our published no-go listGambling, adult content, predatory lending, and more.

The full list is on who we work with.

Common questions

Do you work with clients across the whole UK?

Yes, and we charge the same price wherever you are. The work is done remotely, which is a large part of why the price sits where it does.

Do you have offices around the UK?

No. We are a small studio registered in London and we work remotely. We would rather say that plainly than list cities we have no presence in.

Does being remote make the project harder?

It has not on the projects we have delivered. A fourteen-day sprint needs four to six hours of your time across the fortnight, and video calls handle that better than travel does.

Is UK app development more expensive than offshore?

Per hour, yes. Per finished project the gap narrows once coordination, timezone delay, and rework are counted. Our fixed price removes the comparison entirely, because you are buying an outcome rather than hours.

Ready to book a sprint?

Tell us what you're trying to build and we'll tell you honestly whether a 14-day sprint is the right way to do it.

Full refund any time before we start work.

About the author

The App14 team · Design and engineering, Appetite Studio

App14 is the 14-day app sprint run by Appetite Studio, a London-registered design and engineering studio. We design, build, and ship production iOS and Android apps in two weeks, at a published fixed price. Everything we write here comes out of work we have actually delivered: the prices are our real prices, the timelines are our real timelines, and the limits are the ones we genuinely hold to.

Our articles are drafted with AI assistance and reviewed by the App14 team before publication. The prices, timelines, delivery record, and client outcomes described are our own.

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