A mobile app for business stopped being a privilege of large companies a long time ago. Shops, delivery services, education centres, clinics, taxi services and ordinary small businesses launch their own apps to be closer to customers, accept orders without intermediaries and keep their audience. But from the very first step a question arises that stops many people: how much does it cost and what does the price consist of.
At Qazaqsoft, mobile app development in Kazakhstan starts from 1,500,000 ₸. In this article we explain what “from” means, which factors determine the final cost, how the work goes from idea to publication in the stores and what to include in the budget besides development itself. If you want to quickly understand the order of costs and avoid unpleasant surprises, this article is for you.
What “from 1,500,000 ₸” means
The word “from” in a development price means a lower bound: the cost of an entry-level project with a limited set of features and screens. It is not a fixed rate for any app but a starting point from which the price grows with the complexity of the product. An app with a few basic screens, simple sign-in and clear logic costs closer to the lower bound. A platform with several user roles, online payment, a map, chat and integrations with external systems is noticeably more expensive.
This approach is more honest than announcing a single price for everything. Apps are too different: a catalogue with orders and a marketplace with seller accounts are products of different scale, and they cannot have the same price. That is why the minimum threshold serves as a reference point, and the exact cost is named after discussing the task and drawing up a technical specification. If you need a broader picture of the market, we looked at price benchmarks for websites and mobile apps in a separate article, “How much does website and mobile app development cost”.
What the final cost depends on
The main factor is the set of features. Every screen, user role, personal account, admin panel and separate capability requires design, development and testing. An app that only shows a catalogue and accepts requests and an app with orders, payment, push notifications, history and analytics differ several times over in the amount of work.
Design affects the price too. Using ready-made components and a calm, tidy visual system costs less than developing a custom design with a prototype, illustrations and animation. Integrations matter noticeably: connecting payment systems, a CRM, delivery services, SMS and messengers requires studying documentation, configuration and testing, and each external system adds work and possible points of failure.
The server side is accounted for separately: the database, API, file storage, security and scaling for a growing number of users. If the app needs an admin panel so that you can manage content, orders and users yourself, that is also a separate block of work that is important to plan from the start. Add interface languages, data protection requirements and the need for support, and you get a picture of what the final amount consists of.
Which apps we develop
Mobile apps come in many kinds, and businesses most often arrive with one of the typical tasks:
- an app for an online store or a catalogue with orders;
- a booking and appointment service for clinics, salons and education centres;
- a delivery app;
- platforms for educational projects where courses, tests and personal accounts matter;
- corporate and internal apps for employees connected to a CRM and accounting systems;
- more complex projects — taxi, marketplaces and services with several types of users.
Our blog has detailed breakdowns of many of these areas: how a taxi app works, how a marketplace is built, what is special about an LMS platform for thousands of students, how online payment is connected and how to integrate an app with external services. If your idea resembles one of these scenarios, it will be easier to formulate the task and understand which features are really needed at the start.
One app for iOS and Android: how it works
The classic question: build separate apps for iOS and Android or use shared code. Native development means two separate apps in different languages: it gives maximum capabilities and performance, but requires double the work and costs more. A cross-platform approach, for example with Flutter, lets you reuse a significant part of the code for both platforms at once. This shortens timelines and budget and for most business apps makes no noticeable difference to the user.
The native route is usually chosen for games, complex graphics and projects that need deep access to device capabilities. For typical business scenarios — catalogue, orders, booking, personal account, notifications — cross-platform development is most often a sensible and economical choice. We compared the approaches in detail in our article on Flutter and native development, and if you only need quick mobile access without app stores, consider a PWA.
Development stages: from idea to release
Work starts with analysis: we find out what problem the app solves, who it is for and which features are needed at the start. The result is a technical specification that fixes the set of screens, roles, logic and integrations. This is the most important stage: the clearer the task, the more accurate the estimate and the fewer surprises along the way.
Next comes interface design: screen schemes and an interactive prototype that can be shown to future users so the logic can be corrected before programming begins. Then development starts: the client side, the server side and the admin panel are built in iterations, and at each stage you see a working result and can adjust the direction. Testing on different devices and system versions runs in parallel.
The work ends with publication in the App Store and Google Play: preparing the app listing, screenshots and privacy policy and passing store review. The whole path from idea to release is described in detail in our article “Mobile app: development stages”.
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Specifics of projects for Kazakhstan
The Kazakhstan market has its own specifics that are worth considering from the very beginning. An app for a local audience most often has to work in Kazakh and Russian, and sometimes in English too, and the interface must be designed so that texts of different lengths do not break the layout. Payment habits are specific as well: users expect familiar methods such as Kaspi Pay and bank cards, and connecting payment systems is best planned in advance because the provider’s business verification takes time.
Work with personal data must also be taken into account: the app collects names, phone numbers, addresses and sometimes geolocation, so a privacy policy, user consent and secure storage of information are needed, as we wrote in our article on the personal data law. For apps with maps and delivery it is important to check how accurately the services cover your city or district. And, of course, you need to think through how you will attract the first users: an app that does not reach its audience will not bring in customers on its own.
What is not included in the development cost
Development is only part of the budget, and it is more honest to name the rest in advance. Publication in the stores is paid to their owners: the Apple Developer Program costs 99 US dollars a year, and Google Play registration is a one-time fee of 25 US dollars. The fees are set by the companies themselves, so check them on the official pages before planning.
Servers and cloud infrastructure, a domain for a supporting website and paid services are billed separately: SMS, push notifications, maps and payment systems with their commissions. After launch you need technical support and updates: the app must be adapted to new versions of iOS and Android, bugs fixed, security monitored and features developed based on user feedback. Marketing and promotion and the preparation of content and photos are also not part of development. We recommend budgeting for support and promotion right away, otherwise even a good app risks going unnoticed.
How to get an exact estimate
For us to name a specific cost and timeline, we need a description of the task. Tell us what your business does, what problem the app should solve and who will use it. Describe which features are mandatory for the first version and which can wait, whether an admin panel is needed, which systems must be connected, whether iOS and Android are needed at the same time and in which languages the interface must work. Attach examples of apps you like, if you have any.
It is fine if you do not have a ready technical specification yet: at the start an idea and answers to the main questions are enough, and we will prepare the detailed documentation together with you. You can submit a request on qazaqsoft.kz: after a discussion we will prepare an estimate and propose the best option for your budget. How to prepare a brief and specification is described in more detail in our articles on the technical specification and MVP.
How not to overpay
The most reliable way to control the budget is to start with an MVP, a minimal version with the most necessary features. This way you reach the market faster, test demand and improve the product based on real data rather than guesses. Features that seem important but have not been tested on users are better postponed to the next stage.
Good preparation helps too: a clear brief, ready materials (logo, photos, texts), prompt approvals and no constant changes to requirements in the middle of the work. Every rework of what has already been written costs more than the right decision at the start. At the same time, do not save on security, quality of work on real devices and support: the money saved on these usually comes back as lost customers and urgent fixes.
Common mistakes of clients
The most common mistake is trying to fit all ideas into the first version at once. This inflates the budget and timeline, while the real needs of users remain unknown until the app is launched. The second mistake is choosing a contractor only by the lowest price without checking what exactly it includes: design, admin panel, testing, integrations and support.
Clients often forget about post-launch costs: publication, servers, updates and promotion, and an already working product is left without development. Another problem is registering developer accounts and access under the contractor rather than the company, which makes changing contractors harder. Finally, many do not set measurable goals: without knowing which indicators matter, it is impossible to assess whether the app pays off.
Checklist before ordering
- It is clear what task the app solves and who it is created for.
- The minimum set of features for the first version is defined.
- You have chosen whether iOS and Android are needed at the same time and in which languages the interface must work.
- You have decided whether an admin panel is needed and what data it manages.
- Systems for integration are listed: payment, CRM, delivery, SMS.
- Materials are prepared: logo, texts, photos, examples of apps you like.
- Costs for store publication, servers and paid services are budgeted.
- Support terms after launch are agreed.
- Developer accounts and access are registered to the company.
- The indicators by which the result will be judged are defined.