What $15k really buys.

Most founders we talk to pay for the app themselves. For them, $15k is not a starting bid. It is a cap.

So the useful question is not "how much does an app cost". It is "what do I get for this exact number, and what is left out". Here is the honest answer.

Step 1: a plan you can hold, $5k

Every build starts with Prototype to Plan. In 1-2 weeks we freeze the scope, design the key screens and give you a clickable prototype, a fixed price for each milestone and a list of the risks.

It costs $5k, and all of it is credited to the build. If you stop there, you keep a plan that any team can build from.

How the 8 weeks go

Our MVP starts at $15k and takes about 8 weeks. The milestones look like this:

• Weeks 1-2Design
• Weeks 3-4Core flow
• Weeks 5-6Backend and admin
• Weeks 7-8Polish and store release

Every week there is a new build on your phone, so you watch the money turn into something you can tap. With a $15k cap, you choose between that MVP and a lean App Launch: the app, the backend, an admin panel you can talk to through Claude or ChatGPT (MCP), and the release in both stores.

What is in the box

• An iOS and Android app in Flutter, from one codebase.
• Sign-in with email, Apple and Google.
• A backend on your own cloud account.
• An admin panel for users and content.
• Push notifications, analytics and crash reporting.
• The release in the App Store and Google Play.
• A 6-month guarantee: we fix our own bugs.

What $15k does not buy

Being clear here saves you a bad surprise in month two. Payments and subscriptions usually fit around $25k. Integrations with your other systems, chat and other real-time features, and a marketing website usually fit around $35k. Custom animations and 3D come on top.

None of this is off limits. It just means a $15k cap works best with one core flow, done well. Add the rest when your users ask for it.

Three ways to spend $15k

A $15k cap usually goes one of three ways:

• A lean App Launch. The app, the backend, an admin panel with MCP and the store release.
• An MVP. One core flow, a simple backend and a basic admin panel, in both stores. The smallest real first version.
• Prototype to Store. You already built a prototype with AI. We make it store-ready, keeping what works.

Which one fits depends on what you have today and your plan for the first users. Prototype to Plan is where we decide it together.

What you own at the end

The code, the cloud account and the store accounts are yours. If you ever want another team to take over, they start from your repository, not from scratch.

The cloud runs on your own account and usually costs about $0 a month up to a few hundred thousand users, depending on the project. No surprise hosting bill from us.

After the launch

Apps need updates: new iOS and Android versions, new store rules, fixes. For the first 6 months our own bugs are on us. After that, Care keeps the app up to date from $2k a month. Or hand the code to your own developer. It is yours.

How your money is protected

• Fixed price per milestone. Agreed before the milestone starts.
• Your cap stays your cap. If a change would break it, we tell you first, and it only happens if you say yes.
• Stop any time. You pay for the finished milestones.
• A small start. A deposit of half the first month's work, then you pay per milestone.

Why it costs this, not more

We build with AI because it makes us faster. We explore many directions for your key screens in days, AI tests every build, and Codigee experts review every line. That speed is why a real first version fits in about 8 weeks and a five-figure budget.

FishPRO, for example, went from the first talk in April to both stores in June.