A Complete Guide To Mobile App Development Costs in Australia

Your app idea reflects how you want to pursue your business in the eyes of your users. In order to draw attention, an application goes through multiple stages, such as deciding the key USPs of your product/service, choosing the right technology partner, and of course— The cost to build your inspired mobile app to stay strong in the competitive market of Australia. 

According to recent findings, one entrepreneur or business owner spends over $20,000, while another invests $300,000, depending on their app requirement and the industry they serve. 

What’s more? The cost bracket is further distributed on feature inclusivity, the development team’s location, ongoing maintenance, and the level of appealing designs you want to implement on your app. 

To save Australian businesses and entrepreneurs from cost-related surprises, it is important to understand these cost factors before diving into development. Whether you’re a startup looking for an MVP or an enterprise investing in a feature-rich solution, knowing where you are investing your money can help you make better financial decisions. 

In this blog, we will break down the key elements that influence mobile app development costs in Australia, explore budget-friendly ways to reduce the cost of development, and help you understand why investing in mobile app development is worthwhile. 

Let’s get started!

Is it Worth Developing a Mobile App in 2025?

Before diving into the details of app development costs in Australia, it’s better to understand whether you should create an app or not. With around 3.3 million apps available on the Google Play Store and 2.2 million apps on the Apple App Store, 2025 is considered the best time to invest. It’s time to understand the important reasons why developing an app now is a smart move:

Thriving Industry

The mobile app industry is estimated to generate $935 billion in revenue in the year 2025. This figure reflects the importance of mobile apps in people’s daily lives. Today, users are highly reliant on mobile apps, whether it’s for shopping, banking, fitness, or education. This statistics has driven the demand for mobile app development company in Australia. 

Increased Convenience

With high technological advances, consumers want instant access to services and products. Mobile apps are considered the best approach to fulfill this demand, offering faster solutions and seamless interaction. Additionally, it is considered the best way to keep user interactions. 

Stay Ahead of Competitors

Imagine if your competitor has an app and you don’t; you are missing out on various factors. Mobile apps are not only used for enhancing customer experience, but they also build brand credibility and loyalty. It is termed as the direct channel to communicate with your clients and audience. 

So, what are you waiting for? Plan to develop an app and make 2025 a year of success for your business. 

Key Factors Affecting Mobile App Development Costs in Australia

The mobile app development process is not just limited to the front end and back end of the application, it involves multiple factors that directly affect the app development cost. Let’s explore the key factors affecting the app development budget:

App Complexity 

The estimated cost of app development is highly dependent on the complexity of the application. A simple app with an integration of basic features will typically cost around $20,000 to $50,000. Simple apps include limited features, minimal backend requirements, and fewer screens. 

While a moderately complex app costs around $50,000 to $150,000. E-commerce and fitness apps are a few examples of such types of applications. These apps have features such as payment gateways, external APIs, and user accounts. 

The cost of developing highly complex apps such as Uber Eats and Instagram exceeds $150,000 due to integrating complex features such as AI-based recommendation, multi-user roles, and real-time tracking. 

Platform Choice

The selection of a platform for Android app development and iOS app development, or both, majorly affects the development cost. Development of a native platform can cost you around $20,000 to $80,000, while a cross-platform app costs between $40,000 to $150,000. 

Cross-platform app development using Flutter or React Native is considered to be expensive in the initial stages of development while reducing the cost in the maintenance and updating stage. Additionally, there is more importance of cross platform development services as a single codebase supports multiple platforms. 

UI/UX Design

The success of an application is highly dependent on a visually appealing platform. A simple design with standard layouts costs around $5,000 and $15,000. A highly customized design with advanced user flows and animations costs between $20,000 to $50,000. 

This factor can not be ignored due to its several benefits, such as enhancing user retention and engagement, making it worth investing in. 

Features and Functionalities

The features of an application directly impact the cost of developing an app. Integration of some basic features such as search functionality, user profiles, and login cost $5,000 to $15,000. 

Advanced features like AI chatbots, augmented reality, or real-time tracking can cost between $20,000 to $100,000 and more. Advanced features are comparatively expensive because each feature requires additional development and testing time, which increases the overall cost. 

Third-Party Integrations

Integration of third-party services in your application, such as social media logins, analytical tools, and payment gateways, costs between $2,000 to $10,000. Furthermore, the integration of advanced third-party services such as CRM can exceed up to $30,000. 

Backend Development

Seamless backend development of the application is essential to ensure the smooth functioning of the app. The backend development cost for basic features is around $10,000 to $20,000.

For a complex application, the backend development cost can reach up to $30,000 to $100,000. The back end of the application is considered the engine of the application, so investing here ensures smooth and scalable performance. 

App Testing and Quality Assurance

No one wants to use an app with several bugs. For this reason, investing in testing and QA is considered the right investment. The cost of testing depends on the size and complexity of the application. An app with basic features costs around $10,000, while the cost increases up to $25,000 for complex or cross-platform applications. 

Quality Assurance is a set of factors such as performance testing, security checks, and usability testing to ensure a flawless user experience. 

Recommended Read: How To Select Mobile App Testing Platforms

Location of the Developers

Mobile app development costs highly depend on the location of the developers. Here’s a rough comparison based on different regions:

App Maintenance and Updates

The design and development of an application are not the only factors; ongoing maintenance of the application is also essential, which costs around 15-20% of the initial development cost. 

For example, if your app development cost is $200,000, the annual maintenance cost will be around $30,000 – $35,000. This process involves updating and fixing. 

App Store Deployment

Deployment of an app on the Play Store and App Store also comes with nominal fees. Apple charges $99 per year, while Google charges a one-time fee which is $25. However, the preparation of an app for store optimization also requires an additional hundred dollars. 

App Performance Optimization

This is one of the most crucial stages for the seamless functioning of the application under heavy usage. An app with basic optimization will be around $3,000 to $7,000, while an app with high user traffic cost around $10,000 to $30,000. 

Marketing and Promotion

Marketing plays an important role in the advertisement and the popularity of the brand. Some initial marketing strategies include social media ads, influencer partnerships, and app store optimization. The cost of these marketing strategies is around $5,000 to $50,000. The major aim of effective communication is to reach its target audience, boosting downloads and ROI. 

Additional Factors Affecting Mobile App Development Cost 

While calculating the app development budget, it is simple to focus on the primary expenses like design, development, and testing. However, we have covered some hidden factors that affect the development cost to avoid surprises:

Post-Launch Maintenance 

Almost every business ignores the post-launch maintenance cost, which is crucial to ensure the smooth functioning of the application. This stage covers bug fixes, feature enhancements, and software updates. In this stage, businesses have to spend 15-20% of the initial development cost.

Scalability of the App for Growth

With an expansion of the user base of the application, the app needs to handle increased traffic. Scaling your app involves enhancing server capacity, ensuring database performance, and optimizing the backend. This step requires an additional cost of around $10,000 to $50,000. 

Cloud Hosting Services

Hosting an app or cloud platform or Google Cloud isn’t free. However, its cost varies based on bandwidth, usage, and data storage. For small apps, hosting charges are around $1,000 annually, while hosting costs for large apps are around $10,000.

Legal and Compliance Fees

Compliance and data protection laws such as HIPPA and GDPR can lead to an additional cost. On average, this factor can cost between $5,000 to $20,000. There are no chances of negotiation in this factor cost. 

Software Licensing

If you plan to integrate third-party software or APIs, you have to apply for a license. Licensing cost ranges from $500 to $5,000, but for more advanced software, the cost can even increase. 

Customer Support Audits

If you want to integrate features such as chatbots or human agents to provide customer support, then the infrastructure cost will be around $5,000 to $15,000. 

Security Audits

With advanced technology, security threats have increased, enhancing the need for regular audits to keep an app safe. Annual security audits can cost between $5,000 to $20,000 based on the app’s complexity and size. 

Localization

If you are planning to launch an app in multiple regions, localization costs for translating content, complying with local regulations, and adjusting UX for cultural preferences will cost up to $5,000 to $30,000. 

Key Factors Reducing the Mobile App Development Cost in Australia

Mobile app development costs in Australia can be reduced with strategic decisions and smart planning without sacrificing the quality of the application. 

Define Your Core Features (MVP Approach)

While developing an application, ensure that to follow the Minimum Viable Product Approach instead of investing in a fully functional and feature-rich application. This approach says that first, consider adding core functionalities in your application and keep the advanced features for future updates. This approach allows developers to launch an app earlier, raise funding, reduce development costs, and iterate it based on user feedback. 

Define Clear Requirements

Be sure to clearly define the requirements, features, and functionality in the early phase of mobile app development. Prior understanding of these factors ensures prevention of scope creep and reduces unnecessary expenses. By planning, you will be able to build a successful application within an estimated timeframe and budget.  

Agile Development Practices

The adoption of agile development methodologies, with their incremental and iterative approach, can help manage development more efficiently. Timely project feedback loops, flexible adjustments, and regular updates keep the project on track and reduce the need for costly work.  

Cross-Platform Development

Instead of developing a native application for iOS and Android, you must leverage cross-platform development. This approach significantly reduces costs, conserves resources, and saves time by allowing you to build a single application that works seamlessly on multiple platforms. 

Apply for R&D Tax Incentive

The R&D tax incentive approach in Australia can reduce the cost associated with innovative app development. This approach makes businesses eligible for financial rebates related to expenditure on development and research, allowing businesses to invest in the adoption of more innovative technologies and innovative features without financial strains. 

Outsource App Development

Choosing the best mobile app development companies in Melbourne, Australia, is an integral part that influences the timeline, product quality, and even budget. So, instead of relying on an in-house development team, you can plan to hire and outsource a dedicated development team that provides good quality apps at a minimum cost.

Recommended Read: How to Choose a Mobile App Development Company?

Top Real-World Examples of Development Costs Across Different Industries

To better understand the custom software development cost in Australia, here we have listed the top companies with features and costs across all the major industries. This section provides valuable insights to entrepreneurs for planning their budget for app development: 

Food Delivery App like Uber Eats

Uber Eats is one of the largest food delivery apps with a strong presence in over 50+ countries. It offers convenient food delivery services to customers through its app. Uber Eats app development in collaboration with DianApps resulted in a 20% increase in the customer base. Business of Apps report highlights that it has around 95 million active users. 

Estimated Development Cost: $60,000 – $150,000

Key Features: Menu browsing, order customization, real-time tracking, promotional offers, payment integration, and customer reviews. 

Healthcare App like Doctor on Demand 

Doctor on Demand is a famous healthcare app that allows healthcare professionals to interact via video calls and chat. Looking to build a healthcare app, be sure to get in touch with an experienced healthcare app development company. 

Cost Estimation: $30,000 – $240,000

Key Features: Secure Messaging, Consultations, on-demand appointments, preventive care, and mental health concerns. 

Finance App Like Edfundo

Edfundo is the first financial education app for kids that facilitates tools for budgeting, allowances, and savings. It integrates educational content with practical financial management tools to promote responsible financial behavior among children.

Estimated Development Cost: $40,000 – $100,000

Key Features: Expense Tracking, Financial Education Content, Bank Account Synchronization, Saving Goals, Budget Creation

E-learning App like Duolingo

Duolingo is a famous e-learning platform that makes language learning a fun process by gamifying the lessons for the users. If you are an e-learning company and want to build an app like Duolingo, connect with a top custom software development company.

Estimated Development Cost: $25,000 – $40,000

Key Features: Real-time notifications, interactive learning materials, user-friendly interface, social learning features, and cloud-based content delivery. 

Final Words

Mobile applications have become a necessary tool for modern businesses, transforming the way you connect with your target audience and bringing value to your business. Apps must be developed using cutting-edge technologies such as ML, Artificial Intelligence, Blockchain, AR/VR, etc. 

Based on the number of features and functionalities required by the businesses in their application, the cost of app development seems quite expensive, especially for startups and small businesses. However, this is considered a one-time investment that gives multiple benefits in the long term. 

What’s more interesting is getting accurate cost estimation and quality assurance from a lending iOS and Android app development company. This is where the name of DianApps, a leading software development firm, comes in. Get in touch with us and take your business to the next level.