What Does SEK 1 Million Get You in App Development?
SEK 1 million covers a medium-complexity app for both iOS and Android, built with cross-platform technology and its own backend. Typical scope: login, a few core flows, push notifications, payment, and a simple admin interface. The budget covers design, development, testing, and launch – but advanced features like real-time data and heavy integrations often wait for version 2.
SEK 1 million is a common budget level for a first real app project – enough for a well-built product, not enough for everything you might want. Here’s exactly what the budget gets you in 2026: which features fit, how the money breaks down across the project, and what’s smartest to leave for later.
Where the million goes: the phase breakdown
A rule of thumb for a well-run app project is that the money breaks down roughly like this:
| Phase | Share of budget | For SEK 1 million |
|---|---|---|
| Discovery and design | 15–20% | SEK 150,000–200,000 |
| Development | 50–60% | SEK 500,000–600,000 |
| Testing and QA | 10–15% | SEK 100,000–150,000 |
| Launch and buffer | 10–15% | SEK 100,000–150,000 |
The temptation is to trim design and testing to fit in more features. Resist it: an app with fewer, well-built flows always beats one with many half-finished ones.
The breakdown also works as a monitoring tool as the project moves forward. If development starts eating into the testing budget, that’s an early warning sign – and the right response is to trim the scope, not cut quality assurance. An app that launches buggy loses users who rarely come back.
A feature set that fits
Here’s what the scope of a million-kronor app can look like in practice – a medium-complexity app built in React Native for both iOS and Android, with its own backend:
- Accounts and login, ideally with BankID
- Two to four core flows, such as booking, ordering, or tracking
- Push notifications and basic email sending
- Payment through an established payment service
- A simple admin interface for your staff
- Basic usage statistics
Just as important is what doesn’t fit. A million rarely covers both a consumer app and a large internal system in the same project, or more than one heavier integration with a business system – those compete for the same hours as the core flows. But the set above is a fully launchable product that holds up for real users. At Weapp we’ve built consumer apps in this class and beyond – like Sejfa, a digital home insurance product for young adults – and the pattern is the same: the core flows decide, not the length of the feature list.
What typically waits for version 2
Just as important as what fits is what gets deliberately pushed back. Common version 2 candidates:
- Real-time features like live chat or shared live location – expensive to build and to run.
- Business-system integrations beyond the most critical one.
- More languages than Swedish and English.
- Advanced analytics and personalization – these need real user data first.
- Widgets, watch apps, and other platform extras.
Putting them in version 2 isn’t a scoping failure – it’s letting real usage decide where the next million does the most good. A good test for every item on the wish list: would users abandon the app without it in the first three months? If not – version 2.
Worked example: a booking app for SEK 1 million
Say a service company wants an app where customers book times, pay, and get reminders. Discovery and design take six weeks and cost SEK 180,000. Development – accounts, booking flow, payment, notifications, and an admin interface – lands at SEK 550,000 over three to four months. Testing and store launch take SEK 120,000, leaving SEK 150,000 as buffer. If payment turns out to need a trickier integration than expected, the buffer absorbs it – that’s exactly what it’s for, and why new requests aren’t allowed to touch it. If it stays untouched instead, it funds the first two months of further development after launch. Total: a launched product in around five months, with the margins intact.
Getting the most out of the budget
Three things separate million-kronor projects that succeed from the ones that blow the budget: a clearly prioritized feature list where half is marked “can wait,” a buffer that doesn’t get eaten by new ideas along the way, and the decision to launch once the core is done instead of once everything is done. Want a concrete picture of what your idea fits within a million? Get in touch and we’ll run the numbers.
Frequently asked questions
Does SEK 1 million cover both iOS and Android?
Yes, if the app is built with a cross-platform framework like React Native, where most of the code is shared between platforms. Choose two separate native apps instead, and a large part of the million goes to duplicated work, shrinking the scope by a corresponding amount.
How many hours of work does SEK 1 million cover?
At Swedish agency hourly rates of SEK 900–1,400, a million covers roughly 700–1,100 hours. That's enough for four to six months of work for a small team with a developer, a designer, and part-time project management.
What does the app cost after the million is spent?
Expect 15–25 percent of the development cost per year in maintenance and further development, plus hosting at a few thousand kronor a month. For a million-kronor app, that means roughly SEK 150,000–250,000 a year – a line item that belongs in the budget before the project even starts.
What happens if the project looks set to blow the budget?
A well-run project catches it early, not in the final phase. The fix is almost always to reprioritize: move features to version 2 instead of increasing the budget. That's why the buffer and a clearly prioritized feature list need to be in place from the start.
Is it better to start with a smaller MVP than spend the whole million?
Often, yes. An MVP for SEK 500,000–700,000 that meets real users gives you data on what's actually used before the rest gets invested. The risks of building too much too early outweigh the risks of building too little.