You’ve received three quotes for your mobile app and the gaps between them make no sense. The first says 60,000 DZD. The second, 250,000 DZD. The third is in euros. Before you pick the cheapest one by reflex, you need to understand what explains those gaps — because a cheap app that doesn’t work always ends up costing more than an app built properly the first time.
The first cost driver is the target platform. An iOS-only or Android-only app generally costs less than one available on both. But building two separate native apps — one in Swift for iOS, one in Kotlin for Android — nearly doubles development time, and therefore cost.
That is why most serious agencies now recommend cross-platform development with Flutter or React Native: a single codebase, deployed to both systems at once, for a cost close to that of a single native app.
A showcase app — one that presents your business without complex interactive features — costs significantly less than a functional app with authentication, a database and business logic. And a complex app with third-party integrations (payments, geolocation, artificial intelligence) costs more still.
The market generally has three tiers:
Showcase or simple catalogue app: a few static screens, no server connection needed
Functional app: user accounts, database, notifications, dashboard
Complex app: multiple integrations, advanced business logic, built to scale
Cost rises with each tier, but not linearly: a complex app can cost several times more than a simple functional one.
Some features have an outsized impact on the budget:
Authentication and user account management
Payment integration (Stripe, CIB, Edahabia, BaridiMob)
Geolocation and maps
Personalised push notifications
AI features (chatbot, recommendations, predictive analytics)
Offline mode with synchronisation
Each of these adds development time, extra testing and often third-party licence costs (payment APIs, cloud services).
Without quoting precise figures, which vary from one agency to another, here are the orders of magnitude seen on the Algerian market for a cross-platform mobile app.
A simple app with a few screens and basic features generally sits at the lower end of the market. An app with authentication, a database and standard business features falls in the mid range. A complex app with multiple integrations, a multi-phase architecture and advanced features requires a substantial investment, usually spread over several development phases.
The best way to find your real budget: describe your project to a serious agency and ask for a detailed quote based on your specific needs, rather than relying on a price displayed without context.
A freelancer may cost less per hour. But for a project that needs to evolve over time — adding features, handling growth, staying secure — a structured agency offers guarantees a solo freelancer can’t always provide: continuity if someone is unavailable, formal technical documentation, and a team covering several skills (development, design, infrastructure) at once.
At TiniTec, every app is built in clear contractual phases, with the scope defined before any development starts and signed addenda for any extension. You know exactly what you’re paying for and what you receive at each stage. See our full approach on our mobile app development page.
For the starting prices of our offers, see our pricing page.
Every app is different. The best way to know the real cost of yours is to tell us about your project directly. Free 30-minute first call, detailed quote within 24 to 48 hours.