Hidden costs in app development you should know about
The most common hidden costs in app development are developer accounts, third-party SDK licenses, the app stores' commission of 15-30 percent of revenue, test devices, and release management time. No single item is large alone, but together they add tens of thousands of kronor a year on top of the quote. Require the quote to list them explicitly.
A development quote almost always covers the development itself – but around an app there’s a range of costs that rarely make it onto the page. None of them is a scandal on its own; the problem is that they show up one at a time after the budget is already locked. Here’s the checklist of line items, what they typically cost, and how to get them into the quote from the start.
Why they’re not in the quote
The agency quotes what it can control: hours and deliverables. Costs owned by you – accounts, licenses, commissions – fall outside, often with a line of fine print about “third-party costs apply.” That’s not dishonest, but it means two quotes can look alike even though the total cost over a couple of years differs substantially. Your job as the buyer is to force the full picture into view before you compare.
The checklist: the line items that get added
| Item | Typical cost | How it's priced |
|---|---|---|
| Apple Developer Program | USD 99/year | Annual fee per organization, required for the App Store |
| Google Play Console | USD 25 | One-time fee per account |
| Certificates and signing | SEK 0–5,000/year | Often free, but handling and renewal takes hours |
| Third-party SDKs | SEK 0–5,000/month | Free tier first, then volume- or monthly licensing |
| Store commission | 15–30% of revenue | Share of all digital purchases in the app |
| Test devices | SEK 5,000–15,000/each | One-time purchase, replaced every three to four years |
| Release management | A few hours per release | Billed hourly or included in a maintenance agreement |
Beyond the table, there’s hosting for servers and services, which is its own monthly line item, plus ongoing maintenance – these are usually mentioned in the quote but worth getting a number attached to.
Two more items deserve a line in the calculation. Domains and certificates for the app’s backend cost only a few hundred kronor a year, but someone has to own and renew them, and that should be you. And if the app handles personal data, you need data processing agreements with every service vendor and a privacy policy that holds up; the hours for that work rarely appear in the development quote.
Store commission: the biggest hidden line item
If the app sells anything digital – subscriptions, premium features, virtual goods – Apple and Google take 15-30 percent of every krona. Smaller companies often qualify for the lower tier, larger ones pay more. This isn’t a detail: a subscription service turning over SEK 100,000 a month leaves SEK 15,000-30,000 with the stores. The commission should therefore go into the business case as soon as you set the price to the customer, not get discovered in the first year-end close. Both stores also have programs with lower commission for smaller companies, so check which tier you qualify for, since the gap between 15 and 30 percent is big enough to affect the whole pricing model.
A worked example: how the app got SEK 60,000 more expensive per year
Say you order a membership app for SEK 800,000. After launch, you add: developer accounts and certificate handling at about SEK 3,000 a year, a map SDK and an analytics tool totaling SEK 2,000 a month, two test devices for SEK 20,000 in year one, and four releases at five hours each at SEK 1,200 an hour. Total: around SEK 50,000-60,000 in year one, without a single new feature being built. Fully manageable if it’s in the calculation, painful if it arrives as a surprise.
Wording to require in the quote
Ask the agency to add three things to the quote, in black and white:
- “All recurring third-party costs are listed with an estimated monthly amount.” That forces every SDK, service, and account onto the table.
- “Developer accounts and certificates are registered in the buyer’s name.” You should own the keys to your own app.
- “Release management and store administration are priced separately or included in a maintenance agreement.” Then you know what every new version costs to ship.
Consider adding a fourth line: that the quote should state which services have free tiers and roughly where they run out. That’s typically where the monthly costs quietly kick in, not at launch, but six months later once the app has grown.
A serious agency answers all four without blinking – at Weapp we see it as a natural part of a transparent setup. If you’d like help reviewing a quote you’ve already received, feel free to get in touch.
Frequently asked questions
What do Apple's and Google's developer accounts cost?
The Apple Developer Program costs USD 99 per year and is required as long as the app is listed in the App Store. Google Play charges a one-time fee of USD 25. The accounts should be in your company's name, not the agency's, or you'll be stuck the day you switch vendors.
Can you avoid the app stores' commission?
For digital purchases inside the app, the stores typically take 15-30 percent, a lower share for smaller companies, higher for larger ones. If you sell physical goods or services performed outside the app, such as e-commerce or bookings, you can charge through your own payment solution without commission.
What is a third-party SDK, and why does it cost money?
An SDK is a ready-made building block from another vendor, for example for maps, analytics, chat, or payments. Many are free up to a certain volume and then priced per use or as a monthly license. The cost lands with you, not the agency, and keeps ticking after launch.
Do we need to buy our own test devices?
The agency tests on its own devices during development, but you should have at least one current iPhone and a common Android model for your own acceptance testing. Budget SEK 5,000-15,000 per device. It sounds trivial, but it's a common small hole in the budget.
Who pays for publishing new versions of the app?
Every release takes a few hours of work: building, signing, writing release notes, submitting, and handling the review. If the app is under a maintenance agreement, it's often included, otherwise it's billed hourly. Ask explicitly how release management is billed.