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Cross-Platform App in New Zealand
One codebase, both app stores. For most business apps this is now the default, and the money saved goes into the app being good rather than being written twice.
$60k+
Typical project value
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What people usually mean by cross-platform app
The old trade-off — cheaper but worse — is largely gone. React Native and Flutter produce apps most users cannot distinguish from native. What remains is a narrower set of cases where native genuinely wins, and it is worth knowing whether yours is one.
An app around a system you already have
Your customers or staff get a phone version of something that exists. The backend is there, so the app is the work.
An app and the system behind it
Both built together. Roughly double, because the API, admin and data model are a project of their own.
Replacing two apps with one
Separate iOS and Android codebases folded into one, usually to stop paying to build every feature twice.
What it costs
Indicative ranges from projects posted here. Use them to sense-check a quote, not to budget precisely.
Straightforward app
Accounts, a handful of screens, notifications, against an existing API.
$40k – $80k
Substantial app
Offline use, payments, maps, camera, background sync, both stores.
$80k – $180k
App and platform
The backend built alongside, with an admin system and integrations.
$180k+
Questions worth asking a provider
·Does this need to work with no signal? What happens to data entered offline?
·Who owns the App Store and Play accounts — us or you?
·What does it cost each year to keep it in the stores as iOS and Android change?
·Which parts, if any, will still need native code?
·How do we release an update, and how long does review take?
Common questions
How much does a cross-platform app cost in New Zealand?
A straightforward app against an existing API is $40,000 to $80,000. Substantial apps with offline use, payments or hardware features are $80,000 to $180,000. If the backend has to be built too, expect $180,000 and up.
Is cross-platform worse than native?
For most business apps, no — users cannot tell. Native still wins for heavy graphics, intensive camera or sensor work, and apps that must adopt brand-new OS features on release day. If none of those describe your app, one codebase is the sensible default.
React Native or Flutter?
Both are mature and either is a defensible choice. React Native shares skills with web development, so it is easier to hire for in New Zealand. Flutter is more consistent across platforms. Care more about the team's experience than the framework.
What does it cost to keep an app alive?
Budget 15 to 25 percent of the build annually. Apple and Google change requirements every year, and an app that is not updated eventually stops being accepted — or stops working. This is the cost most quotes leave out.
Who owns the store accounts?
You should, always, registered to your company. Apps published under a developer's account are painful to recover if the relationship ends. Insist on this before the build starts.
Related: iPhone / iOS App · Android App · React Native App · Flutter App · Mobile App Redesign · Mobile Backend / API
Cross-Platform App projects open right now
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The old objection has mostly gone
Cross-platform used to mean cheaper and visibly worse. That has not been true for several years. Apps built with React Native or Flutter are shipping to millions of users, and people cannot tell.
Native still wins in a narrow band: heavy graphics, intensive camera or sensor work, and apps that must support a brand-new operating system feature the week it launches. If your app is forms, lists, notifications and a camera used normally, one codebase is the sensible default and the saving is real.
Offline is the question that changes the price
Ask yourself where the app gets used. Rural New Zealand, basements, plant rooms, worksites — all places where an app that waits for the network is an app that gets deleted.
Offline capability roughly doubles the complexity, because reconnecting means resolving changes that happened in two places. It has to be decided at the start; retrofitting it is close to a rewrite. Say it in your brief either way, because it is the single biggest driver of the number you get back.
The store is a permanent relationship
Publishing is not the end. Apple and Google change their requirements every year, and an app that is not maintained will eventually be rejected at update time or stop working on new devices.
Budget 15 to 25 percent of the build annually. And make sure the App Store and Play accounts are registered to your company from day one — recovering an app published under someone else's developer account is a slow, unpleasant process, and it always happens at the worst time.
Does it need to be an app at all?
Worth asking honestly. If the answer is "so people can use it on their phone", a well-built mobile website is cheaper, needs no store approval, and updates instantly.
An app earns its cost when you need push notifications, offline use, camera or location working properly in the background, or a place on the home screen that people return to. If none of those apply, the money is better spent elsewhere, and a good developer will say so.
Comparing quotes
- Offline. Have they shipped one, and how do conflicts resolve?
- Store accounts in your name.
- Annual cost to stay published.
- Backend. Included or assumed to exist?
- An app still in the stores that they built two years ago.
Describe who uses the app, where they are when they use it, and what it has to do. Five developers will tell you what that costs — and whether you need an app at all.
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