How much does it cost to build an app in the UK?
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Read moreDo you offer ongoing maintenance and updates?
Written by
Contic
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2 minutes
After launch, you choose who runs your product. TotalCare is our after-launch service, at a fixed monthly price. It covers hosting, the app store accounts, third-party services and support, so you can get on with scaling the business.
Or you run it yourself. The code, accounts and hosting are yours at launch either way, so nothing about TotalCare is a lock-in.
Why a live product needs looking after
The build is a one-off cost. Running a product isn’t. Most quotes leave this part out, and most founders meet it the month after launch.
Here’s what keeps happening whether or not anyone is watching:
- Operating systems change. A new iOS or Android version lands, and an app nobody has touched since launch starts to misbehave.
- Dependencies age. The libraries your product uses get security fixes, and some get retired.
- Bills arrive. Hosting, developer accounts, email, maps and AI models all bill separately, often in dollars.
- Accounts expire. Miss an Apple developer renewal and your app can come off the store.
- Things break. A third-party service changes its API, or traffic spikes on a day nobody expected.
None of this is dramatic, but all of it needs someone responsible.
What TotalCare covers
| What it covers | |
|---|---|
| Hosting | Your servers and databases, kept running and paid for |
| App store accounts | Apple and Google developer accounts, renewed and in good standing |
| Third-party services | The services your product depends on, such as email or payments |
| Support | Fixes, security patches and updates to keep the product working |
One fixed monthly price replaces a stack of supplier bills and renewal dates. You don’t chase renewals or wake up to a broken release. The price depends on your product, so we’ll quote it for yours.
TotalCare is about keeping what you have running well. If you want new features or a redesign, see can I come back later for new features or redesigns?
Running it yourself instead
That’s a real option, and we set you up for it either way. The AWS account, the app store listings and the GitHub repository all move into your name. Do I own the code and IP? explains how each transfer works.
If you have your own engineers, or a team you trust, running it yourself can make sense. You’ll need someone to own each item in the list above. How we hand over to them is in do you provide training or handover support?
How to decide
| Run it yourself | TotalCare | |
|---|---|---|
| Who pays the bills | You, supplier by supplier | One fixed monthly price |
| Who watches for problems | Your team | Us |
| Who handles OS and security updates | Your team | We do, all of it |
| What you need in-house | An engineer, or a supplier you trust | Nobody technical |
| Who owns the product | You | You |
The last row is the same either way. TotalCare doesn’t change who owns the code or the accounts.
Our guide to what an app costs to build in the UK lists the running costs in detail. That includes app store fees and commission, if you’d like to see the numbers before you choose.
Before launch, it’s already covered
You don’t need TotalCare during the build. Until launch day, the running costs sit inside the LaunchPad fixed price. TotalCare picks up the morning after.
If you’re weighing up the total cost, how much does a LaunchPad build cost? sets out the tiers. Are there any hidden costs? covers what is and isn’t in the build price.
Thinking about building something?
We design, build and launch digital products at a fixed price, with a money-back guarantee after Discovery. Tell us what you have in mind.