8 hidden costs of mobile application development
Mobile apps are taking off in the business world. In fact, a recent survey found that most companies plan on building a mobile app this year, and believe that enterprise mobile app development will outpace desktop application development.
However, with every new field, there’s bound to be some surprises along the way. As more and more businesses jump into mobile app development for the first time, many make a crucial mistake: They go into the process with a limited understanding of the true costs of developing a mobile app. In fact, many falsely believe that development cost starts and ends with the developer.
The truth is, the cost of developing an enterprise mobile app reaches far beyond the actual development. The big question: What unexpected costs should businesses plan for when building mobile apps? What expenses might surprise you during the mobile app development process?

Today, I’d like to outline the mobile app development costs that businesses may not anticipate. Hopefully, this will better prepare your company for mobile app development, and reduce some of the surprises along the way.
However, before we get into these unexpected costs, I want to differentiate between mobile app types. People tend to associate the term “mobile app” with “native app,” but that’s not entirely accurate. It’s important to note that there are three types of mobile apps:
- Native app: An app that’s installed on the device itself and distributed via the platform’s app store/market.
- Mobile web app: Commonly referred to as an “HTML5 app”, these are cross-platform apps that are accessed through the device’s web browser.
- Hybrid app: Built with web technologies and wrapped in a native shell, these apps are a combination of the two previous apps. They look and feel like a native app, but are actually web apps inside of a native wrapper.
I explain the difference between each app type because the following “hidden costs” don’t necessarily apply to each one. To help differentiate, I’ve listed which costs apply to each application type at the end of each point. Sound good? Okay, let’s get started. Here are 8 of the unexpected/hidden costs to watch out for when building mobile apps for your business:
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