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How much does it cost to build an iPad app?

This iPad app planning estimate starts at $37,406–$180,994 for an agency build for the preset below. Budget another $3,339–$6,219 a year for the recurring costs shown. Adjust the scope and compare DIY, freelancer, agency, and Superapp costs; these are model estimates, not quotes.

USD · Last updated November 5, 2026

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App platform
Complexity
Custom design
Who builds it?
Features
Yearly running costs view
Custom hosting budget / year
Maintenance hours / year
Other services / year

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What drives the cost?

The preset includes tablet multitasking and document workflows plus accounts / profiles, cms, external integrations, security / audit controls. A tablet-first document workflow with keyboard and split-view testing.

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Public example using the default preset. Get your free estimate above for a breakdown of your selected scope.

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Build optionOne-off laborRecurring budget
DIY builder$0 paid labor; your time excluded$339 + your maintenance time
Freelancer$26,933–$144,056$2,499–$5,019/year
Agency$37,406–$180,994$3,339–$6,219/year
Superapp ProYou build and review the app$639/year illustrative budget

Default preset breakdown and assumptions

Estimated effort
1496–3694 hours
Delivery effort at 30 productive hours/week
49.9–123.1 person-weeks
Global agency hourly range
$25–$49
Global freelancer hourly range
$18–$39
Custom design adjustment
+25% effort (planning assumption)
Hosting / platform
$240/year
Maintenance labor
$3,000–$5,880/year
Additional services
$0/year
Apple membership
$99/year

Hours include implementation and testing, not a delivery guarantee. Website scope starts at 12–140 hours plus 2–5 hours for each additional page. App scope starts at 400–5,000 hours depending on complexity. Selected features add the effort below. Annual domain and hosting budgets are placeholders, not provider quotes.

Selected feature assumptions

Incremental engineering hours used by this calculator.

Selected feature assumptions
FeatureHours
Accounts / profiles40–80
CMS12–30
External integrations60–160
Security / audit controls120–300
Tablet multitasking and document workflows165–385

Tablet multitasking and document workflows

Split views, keyboard shortcuts, pointer input, and multitasking change navigation and state handling. Document workflows need space-aware design rather than stretched phone layouts.

Are Pencil and offline documents included

Advanced drawing, large-file handling, and offline conflict resolution need separate scope. This preset covers tablet workflow adaptation; choose specialist features only when the product needs them.

A cheaper way to start with Superapp

Build a focused version yourself before commissioning a full custom project. Superapp Pro is $25 a month; the subscription covers its plan allowance, while your time, extra usage, integrations, hosting, and specialist work remain part of the budget. A Superapp site is an alternative implementation, not a guarantee of WordPress or Shopify compatibility.

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Sources and methodology

Rates are global marketplace benchmarks, not US-only agency quotes. Freelancer and agency ranges overlap because they describe different samples. WordPress.com Personal and Shopify Basic use annual billing, exclude introductory promotions and taxes, and replace the hosting budget. Feature hours and recurring budgets are our explicit planning assumptions.

Common questions

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