What does an internal business app cost? More than building it.
You pay for the build once, for running and changing the app as long as it lives. Over the years those decide the total, yet quotes mostly show the build.
Market figures come from public price lists and articles, each with its source.
Updated 22 October 2026
for most custom software projects on Clutch. The average is $132,480.
for an internal tool or MVP from a Czech developer, 2–3 months. Long-term operation and development not included.
of the original price a year for maintaining a mobile app, says a Czech studio.
What is the price of an app made of?
Everyone compares the build. The other five parts show up on invoices after launch, or when someone leaves.
Building it
The only part every quote includes. Integrations without a usable API, unclear rules, many roles and high availability drive it up most.
Infrastructure
Small amounts for internal apps. Whoever holds the account holds the app.
Sign-in and permissions
Company accounts and roles are in the build only if someone asks. Access needs looking after as long as the app lives.
Operations and monitoring
Outages, library updates, security patches. Usually missing from quotes, yet it decides whether the app works in two years.
Changes
“An app nobody touches for a year goes out of date.” Every change costs money and time, and someone should review it before it goes live.
The author leaving
Someone new has to learn the app. Cheaper when the code is in the company's repository, most expensive when it isn't yours.
Source for 01 and 05: LE ARTIST, 2026 ↗
What does each route cost?
Published prices for four common routes. CZK figures come from Czech suppliers. Read the ranges as a scale, not a quote.
| Route | Building it | Every month | What makes it grow | Usually not in the price |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Custom build by an agency or freelancer | Building it Most projects on Clutch: $10,000–49,999, average $132,480. Clutch, 2026 ↗ | Every month Hosting, domain and monitoring for a smaller app: “low hundreds to thousands of crowns a month.” LE ARTIST, 2026 ↗ | What makes it grow Every change, usually by the hour. Maintenance of a mobile app: 10–20 % of the original price a year. Webfusion, 2026 ↗ | Usually not in the price Operations and further development, as one Czech price list says outright. Jakub Dostál, 2025 ↗ |
| Low-code or no-code platform | Building it Your people's time, or a paid platform partner. | Every month Power Apps Premium: $20 per user, paid yearly. Microsoft ↗ | What makes it grow Mostly users; with some, data or apps. | Usually not in the price Code you can take with you: if the platform raises prices or ends, the app goes with it. Logic the tool doesn't support. |
| Off-the-shelf software (SaaS) | Building it None. Setup, data import, training. | Every month A licence per user. For example, a Czech CRM costs CZK 449–1,199 per user a month, excluding VAT. RAYNET, price list from 15 Jan 2026 ↗ | What makes it grow Users, and higher plans for more features. | Usually not in the price Changes beyond the settings. The process adapts to the tool. |
| Building it yourselves with AI | Building it Your person's time plus a tool subscription, for example Cursor at $20 a month for one person. Cursor ↗ | Every month A Lovable app in production: $91–131 a month including hosting, a Supabase database and extra credits. The estimate leaves out the builder's time. Fuzen, 2026 ↗ | What makes it grow Credits and your person's time. | Usually not in the price Company sign-in, change review, backups and someone who answers for the app. A code audit is sold separately: $1,500–3,000 for an audit and $4,500–8,000 for fixing the findings ProductionReady ↗, in Czechia CZK 5,999–29,999 once or CZK 24,999 a month VibeAudit ↗. |
VAT is stated only where the source states it. Clutch covers custom software in general, not only internal apps. Checked on 28 September 2026, sources below.
Why do operating cost estimates differ so much?
One studio quotes “single thousands of crowns a year” for maintaining a mid-sized app Pixelmate ↗, another managed operations from CZK 25,000 a month Etyka Digital ↗. The first is hosting and the odd fix, the second a team that answers for the app with contractual response times. Compare what's in a quote, not the number.
What should you ask before you sign?
Ask any supplier, us included. If the answer is “we'll sort that out later”, count it as a cost.
- 01
What's in the build price, and what isn't?
- 02
What does running it cost monthly, and what's included?
- 03
Whose account and card do the servers run on?
- 04
Do we pay per user?
- 05
What does a small change cost, and how long does it take?
- 06
Who owns the code and data, and do we get them without negotiating?
- 07
How do people sign in, and who removes access when they leave?
- 08
Who reviews a change before it goes live?
- 09
What if the person or company that built it leaves?
- 10
How can the price change over time?
Where do the six parts end up with us?
You get the amount in an offer after the scoping call, before anything starts. Then it doesn't move.
- Building it
- Your person, developer or agency. With a takeover or kickstart, the first app is in the one-off setup, with the platform in your cloud account, AI rules and a short training.
- Infrastructure
- The account is in your company's name and you pay the cloud provider directly by usage: usually Zerops, AWS on request. The estimate is in the offer.
- Sign-in and permissions
- The platform handles them: company accounts over OIDC, roles per app.
- Operations and monitoring
- A monthly plan by number of apps and deploy frequency, never per user or by hours. It starts once the app is in production.
- Changes
- Your people can make them, even through their own Claude or ChatGPT. Our review of each is in the plan; changes we make are agreed separately.
- The author leaving
- The code is in your company's repository. A colleague, another developer or we can carry on.
AI runs through your own plan with the provider; we're happy to help you pick one. Nothing is trained on your data.
How the pricing works →When does another route come out cheaper?
- Off-the-shelf software, when your process is the usual one. A licence then beats anything of your own.
- Low-code, for simple forms and tables in one department, if the app may stay on that platform.
- A custom build, for one large, long system, when the supplier's operations suit you.
- A spreadsheet, when a few people use it and nothing is on fire.
- A one-off audit, when you run the app yourselves and need one version checked.
When isn't Fabrika for you?
- Nobody on your side will build or commission apps. Fabrika pays off when they keep coming.
- The app is a public service for thousands of customers with payments and open sign-up. Fabrika is for company apps.
- Your IT requires Azure, your own servers or SAML-only sign-in. Apps run on Zerops (AWS on request), sign-in goes through OIDC.
- The app lives in Bubble or a similar builder without code export. We can only rebuild it, not take it over.
What people ask about the price of an app
How much does custom app development cost?
Most projects on Clutch fall between $10,000 and $49,999, average $132,480. In Czechia, an MVP starts at CZK 80,000, a production app at CZK 180,000, and an internal tool comes to CZK 300,000–600,000. Sources are in the table above.
What does it cost to run an app after launch?
From hundreds of crowns a month for hosting to tens of thousands for a team with contractual response times. Ask what's covered: monitoring, updates, security patches, outages, small changes.
Isn't off-the-shelf software cheaper?
If one fits, usually yes. Watch per-user licences grow with every colleague; some platforms, like Tabidoo, charge a flat fee instead. Fabrika is for processes off-the-shelf software doesn't cover and apps your people build anyway.
Is an MVP worth it, or should we go straight for the full version?
Start with the smallest version people will really use and add what they ask for. In a kickstart, a small app takes a day or two and a bigger one the week (examples). The first version tells you more about the real price than any estimate.
“We're 90 percent done.” What will the rest cost?
Often almost the full price: one developer writes that such a client “pays practically almost 100 % of the price, as if they'd had it done from scratch” (Lupa.cz, 25 Aug 2026). The missing 10 % is usually sign-in, permissions, deployment and operations, which Fabrika already has, so a takeover means small changes, not a rebuild. How a takeover works.
Start with half an hour on what you have.
Bring the quotes on your desk, or the app someone has already built. After the call you get an offer.
Sources
- Clutch: Software development pricing, updated 21 Sep 2026 ↗
- LE ARTIST: Kolik stojí vývoj aplikace na míru? Ceník 2026, 17 Jul 2026 ↗
- Jakub Dostál: Kolik stojí vývoj webové aplikace v roce 2026, 3 Dec 2025 ↗
- Webfusion: Kolik stojí vývoj mobilní aplikace v roce 2026, 14 Aug 2026 ↗
- Etyka Digital: Správa aplikací a SLA podpora ↗
- Pixelmate: Kolik stojí vývoj a tvorba aplikace? ↗
- Microsoft: Power Apps pricing ↗
- Retool: Pricing ↗
- Tabidoo: Ceník ↗
- RAYNET CRM: Ceník, valid from 15 Jan 2026 ↗
- Cursor: Pricing ↗
- Fuzen: Lovable pricing explained, 27 Jul 2026 ↗
- ProductionReady: audit and hardening prices ↗
- VibeAudit: Security Scan, Full Audit, Continuous Audit ↗
- Lupa.cz: discussion under “Máme hotových 90 procent”, 25 Aug 2026 ↗
Prices quoted as published. Pages without a date carry only the check date, 28 September 2026. Found an outdated figure? Let us know.