An app has to earn its place on someone's phone.
People install very few apps and delete most of them. So the first conversation is whether you need one at all — and if you do, what it has to do that a good mobile website can't.
The question isn't whether we can build it. It's whether anyone will keep it installed.
Create Me's AI agent
Talk to Keira
Hey, I'm Keira.
Speak naturally — or type instead. Keira will work out what you need and give you straight answers.
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- Natural conversationNo forms. Just talk.
- Honest answersIndicative pricing. No guesses.
- Your privacyYour conversation stays private.
Keira is Create Me’s AI agent, not a person. She gives indicative pricing, never a quote, and she’ll say so when she doesn’t know something.
What this actually is
An app makes sense when you need what the phone gives you: notifications people act on, offline use, the camera, location, hardware, or a genuinely repeated daily habit. If none of those apply, a fast mobile website is usually the better commercial decision and we will say so.
Where an app is right, we design for both platforms, build the backend behind it, handle store submission and the review process, and plan for the versions after launch — because an app is a product with a lifecycle, not a delivery.
What an app project includes
What an app project includes, beyond the screens.
Applications
- iOS
- Android
- Cross-platform builds
- Native builds where justified
Behind it
- Backend
- APIs
- Authentication
- Admin systems
In use
- Push notifications
- Payments
- Analytics
- App Store and Play submission
Cross-platform or native
Cross-platform or native is a cost and capability decision, not a matter of taste. Here's how we actually decide.
| Consideration | Cross-platform | Native |
|---|---|---|
| Two platforms, one codebase | Yes — one build serves iOS and Android | No — two codebases, roughly twice the work |
| Standard app features | Handled well: accounts, lists, forms, payments, notifications | Handled well, at higher cost |
| Heavy device features | Workable, sometimes with friction — AR, background processing, complex camera work | The right choice when these are the product |
| Performance-critical graphics | Adequate for most apps | Better, and noticeably so at the extremes |
| Long-term maintenance | One codebase to update when the OS changes | Two, every time |
For most business apps, cross-platform is the correct commercial decision. Native earns its cost when the device itself is the product — heavy graphics, deep hardware access, or performance a user would actually notice.
Minimum meaningful release
~3 months
Below that you are not building an app, you are building a demo. Anything with accounts, a backend and store approval realistically needs that long at minimum.
Payment
30% advance
Apps: 30% advance. The remaining structure is customised. All figures are exclusive of 5% UAE VAT.
Why there's no price range on this page
We publish indicative ranges for everything else on this site. We don't for apps, because the honest range is so wide it would tell you nothing — the same brief can be three months or eighteen depending on platforms, backend, integrations and what the app is expected to do offline.
What we can tell you now: a meaningful first release is realistically around three months minimum, and apps are 30% in advance with the rest structured around the build. A short call gets you a real number instead of a range you'd have to ignore.
How it runs
The stages.
Typical timeframe12–24 weeks for a first release, depending on scope and platforms.
- 01
Qualify
Does this need to be an app? We answer that before quoting.
- 02
Define
Core journeys, platforms, backend requirements and the v1 boundary.
- 03
Design
Full interface design for both platforms, with real states and edge cases.
- 04
Build
App and backend developed together, in visible stages.
- 05
Test
Device testing, beta distribution, fixes.
- 06
Submit & launch
Store listings, review, release.
- 07
Support
OS updates, fixes, and the next release.
Indicative investment
Scoped, not listed.
No indicative range is published for apps. The honest one would be too wide to use.
Indicative investment
A published range so you can plan and sanity-check a budget. It is not a commitment, and it is not what you’ll be invoiced.
Formal quotation
A written scope, deliverables, timeframe and a fixed number — issued after a conversation about what you actually need. That is the figure that counts.
App projects are scoped individually — the range depends entirely on platforms, features and backend. The approved commercial term is a 30% advance, with the rest structured around the build.
We’d rather give you a real number after ten minutes on the phone than a range so wide you’d have to ignore it.
All figures are exclusive of 5% UAE VAT.
Apps: 30% advance. The remaining structure is customised.
What people tell us
- “Our customers ask for an app but we're not sure why.”
- “Our field team is working on paper.”
- “We need to reach people after they leave the website.”
- “We have a platform and the mobile experience is poor.”
Who it’s for
- Businesses with a service customers use repeatedly
- Operations teams who need field or offline tools
- Products where notifications, location or camera are core
- Companies with a web platform that now needs a mobile counterpart
Questions
Asked often.
Do I actually need an app?
Often not. If your customers would use it a handful of times a year, a fast mobile website usually serves them better and costs a fraction. We'd rather tell you that than sell you an app.
iOS and Android, or one first?
Depends on your audience and budget. Launching on one platform first is a legitimate way to test demand before committing to both.
What does an app cost?
App projects are scoped individually — it depends entirely on platforms, features and backend, so we don't publish ranges we'd have to walk back. The commercial term is a 30% advance, with the rest structured around the build. A short call gets you a real number.
What about after launch?
Apps need maintenance — OS updates alone force changes. We agree a support arrangement rather than leaving you with an app that stops working in eighteen months.
Often paired with
Next step
Talk to a person.It’s faster than typing.
We'd rather talk to you than trade emails. Ten minutes on the phone usually settles what three days of messages can't.
The flow
Keira → Phone conversation → Quote → Contract + invoice → Payment → Project
No forms
A name and a number is enough to start. Everything else comes out in the conversation.
Where we work
Dubai first, then the UAE and the GCC. International projects where the fit is right.