An app carries three bills: building, publishing, and maintaining. Apple and Google fees, EEA commissions, 21% VAT, and SDK deadlines.
An app in Spain has three bills, not one: construction, publishing, and mandatory maintenance. Construction depends on the technology (native, hybrid, or PWA). Publishing costs 99 USD per year on Apple and 25 USD once on Google, plus a commission on everything you sell. Maintenance is not optional: Apple and Google set the dates.
You look for how much an app costs and find ranges without sources. We checked the Spanish websites currently ranking for this query on August 27, 2026, and found something worse than an invented range: several provide no figures at all. Yeeply, for instance, says the price 'will vary depending on the technology' and directs you to request a quote. No store commissions, no VAT, no annual maintenance, no accessibility requirements.
This guide does the opposite. Every number you read here includes its source and date, or a dash (—) if we have not measured it yet. We prefer an honest gap over convenient padding.
An app does not have a price: it has three bills
The most expensive miscalculation we see is not choosing the wrong technology. It is budgeting only for the construction.
A live app has three simultaneous bills. The first is building it: design, development, testing, initial publishing. The second is distributing it: developer fees and store commissions on every euro you collect inside. The third is keeping it updated, and you do not decide that: Apple and Google decide it with published deadlines.
The industry standard: The budget closes at delivery. Development is signed, the app is published, and fourteen months later it stops accepting updates because no one accounted for the fact that the minimum SDK changes every year.
Our criteria: The budget lists all three bills before starting. Construction with a fixed price per phase, publishing with the current fees and commissions in writing, and maintenance with the Apple and Google deadlines already on the calendar.
We are clear: if an app budget does not mention the minimum SDK or store commissions, it is not a budget; it is just a figure.
Native, hybrid, or PWA: what you actually get with each
All three build something the user calls an 'app.' All three behave differently as the project grows.
Native
Two codebases: Swift for iOS, Kotlin for Android. Full hardware access the day a feature is released, not six months later. Predictable performance in gestures, long lists, camera, and maps.
The price of that precision is arithmetic: two teams, two testing cycles, two store reviews for every version. If your app relies on gestures—a drawing tool, a reader with annotations, anything with a real-time camera—native is not a luxury, it is the floor.
Hybrid
One codebase, two binaries. Flutter, React Native, and Capacitor are the three families we see in Spanish budgets.
The real savings are not what you are sold. You save on the business layer and the common interface. You do not save on the design of two platforms with different conventions, nor on real-device testing, nor on the native bridges you end up writing for the function your app needs and the framework does not cover.
A detail almost no one tells you: Apple requires a privacy manifest and signature for a specific list of third-party SDKs, and that list includes Flutter, Capacitor, Cordova, and UnityFramework, along with Firebase, Facebook SDKs, Alamofire, or RealmSwift. Choosing hybrid does not exempt you from compliance work: it pulls you into it through the framework's door.
PWA
A website that installs. Manifest, service worker, offline functionality. Since iOS and iPadOS 16.4, a website added to the home screen receives push notifications and a badge on the icon, with two conditions: that the manifest declares display as standalone or fullscreen, and that the subscription is requested in response to a direct user gesture.
The PWA has a hard border, and it is written in Apple's review guidelines. Guideline 4.2 literally says: 'Your app should include features, content, and UI that elevate it beyond a repackaged website.' And 4.2.2 adds: 'Other than catalogs, apps shouldn't primarily be marketing materials, advertisements, web clippings, content aggregators, or a collection of links.'
Translated: you can distribute a PWA via the browser without asking anyone for permission. You cannot wrap it in a container and upload it to the App Store expecting it to pass. Packaging a website is not publishing an app.
| Criteria | Native | Hybrid | PWA |
|---|---|---|---|
| Codebases | 2 | 1 + bridges | 1 |
| Presence in App Store and Play | Yes | Yes | Only if it exceeds guideline 4.2 |
| Push on iOS | Yes | Yes | Yes since iOS 16.4, with home screen installation |
| New hardware access | Launch day | When the framework covers it | Limited to browser APIs |
| Store commission on digital goods | Yes | Yes | No, if you charge outside the store |
| Imposed SDK deadlines | Yes | Yes | No |
| Relative construction cost | — | — | — |
— = data being measured; we will publish it once we have our own sample.
The table already tells you something uncomfortable: the PWA is the only one of the three that does not tie you to a third-party calendar. It is also the only one that does not appear in the store if it provides nothing more than the website.
We develop this comparison with a price differential in euros in our decision satellite, and we measure the real savings of Flutter versus native in our own. Both links are at the end.
The line items of an app budget, one by one
An honest app budget reads like a list of decisions, not a grand total.
| Line item | Share of the budget |
|---|---|
| Discovery and definition | — |
| Product design and interface system | — |
| Client development (iOS, Android or web) | — |
| Backend, API and admin panel | — |
| Real-device testing and debugging | — |
| Publishing, store listings and compliance | — |
— = data being measured; we will publish it once we have our own sample.
This breakdown is intentionally empty. We will publish the percentages when we have enough projects measured with the same method, with their n and date ranges visible. We do not fill this with industry averages because the industry average has no source either.
What we can give you today is the arithmetic to audit any budget you receive. A reasoned estimate, marked as such: at 65 euros per hour—a standard rate for a Spanish studio of this size for product roles—a 400-hour scope is 26,000 euros plus VAT. If a quote gives you 26,000 euros and doesn't tell you how many hours or at what rate, you cannot verify anything. If they give you the hours, you can discuss the scope.
Our rates are public and include VAT. A brand, showcase, or corporate website starts from 3,000 €. A website with interactive experiences and automations—the tier where the first version of such a product usually falls—starts from 4,500 €. Full branding with proprietary CRM, AI, sales funnels, nurturing, and automations starts from 9,000 €. The sector advertises excluding VAT and the bill arrives 21% higher; we state the final number. No surprise hours and no surprise VAT. Our floor is 3,000 €: the tiers below that figure you see in comparisons are market offerings, not Aura offers.
The four questions that cut an app budget in half, or double it, are always the same. How many platforms. Whether there is an own backend or it relies on existing services. Whether there are user accounts and with which providers. Whether there are in-app payments. Each of those four answers moves more money than the choice of framework.
How long it takes: the calendar includes waits that do not depend on you
App timelines have two parts: how long it takes to build and how long it takes to be allowed to publish.
The second part is surprising. If you open a personal developer account on Google Play created after November 13, 2023, before requesting production access you must run a closed test with at least 12 testers registered continuously for at least 14 days. Afterward, Google reviews the request, usually in seven days or less.
That is fourteen calendar days that exist even if your app is finished. And they are twelve real people you have to recruit. That requirement does not appear in any budget we have read.
We work in eight-week phases for digital products. The first publishable version of an app usually takes several. Our brand and web projects run from six to twelve weeks; an app is measured in phases, not loose weeks.
| # | Phase | What we do | Deliverables |
|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | Listen | We start by asking, not proposing. | User interviews · Inventory of what you already have · Agreed-upon brief |
| 02 | Define | We agree on what winning means before moving a pixel. | Scope of the first version · Platforms · Measurable success criteria |
| 03 | Map | We draw journeys before screens. | Flow map · Error states · Data model |
| 04 | Design | A system, not a collection of screens. | Grid · Typographic rhythm · Components per platform |
| 05 | Build | Continuous integration from the first commit, not the last week. | CI/CD · Signed builds · Real-device testing |
| 06 | Launch and support | Launch is a checklist, not a leap of faith. | Closed test · Store listings · 30 days of support included |
Publishing costs money before you collect a single euro
Here are the verifiable figures, and they are the ones missing from almost all Spanish guides.
Those two fees are the small part. The large part is the commission on what you sell inside the app.
App Store
The standard commission is 30%. With the App Store Small Business Program, it drops to 15% if your net revenue for the previous calendar year did not exceed 1,000,000 USD across all your associated developer accounts. If you exceed one million during the current year, the standard rate applies to future sales.
In the European Union, and therefore in Spain, there is a different regime derived from the Digital Markets Act. According to Apple's page on the DMA, the Alternative Terms for apps in the EU set a base commission of 10% or 17% on digital goods and services, plus an additional 3% if you use the App Store payment processor. Added to that was the Core Technology Fee, 0.50 euros per first annual install and only above the million first installs per year, and since June 26, 2025, there is the Core Technology Commission, a 5% on digital sales you promote within the app via external links.
There is a contradiction here that is worth saying out loud, because none of the ranking pages mention it. The Small Business Program page describes 10% as an additional reduced fee for subscriptions starting in the second year under alternative terms. The DMA page describes 10% as a base commission for most developers. They are two different descriptions of the same number in two documents from the same manufacturer.
Apple's conditions for the EU are the most unstable part of this article. Apple's own page announced the transition from the Core Technology Fee toward a single model based on the Core Technology Commission starting January 1, 2026, with details pending publication. Verified 08-27-2026 at developer.apple.com/support/dma-and-apps-in-the-eu. Before signing a business model that depends on these percentages, check the page on the date of your contract.
Google Play
Outside the European Economic Area, the classic structure remains 15% on the first million USD of annual developer revenue and 30% above that, with a flat 15% for auto-renewing subscriptions.
In the EEA—Spain included—, the UK, and the United States, another structure has been in effect since June 30, 2026, distinguishing between new and existing installs:
| Transaction Type | Standard Fee | With Qualified Programs |
|---|---|---|
| Auto-renewing subscriptions | 10% + 5% billing fee | 10% + 5% |
| Other transactions, new installs | 20% + 5% | 15% + 5% |
| Other transactions, existing installs | 25% + 5% | 20%, or 15% with external web links |
Google Play commission structure for the EEA in effect since June 30, 2026, consulted in article 112622 of the Google Play Help on 08-27-2026. It is recent and keeps moving. If your revenue model lives on subscriptions, recalculate using the table from the day of signing, not from this article.
What does not pay commission
A nuance that changes entire projects: store commission taxes digital goods and services consumed within the app. If you sell a physical product, an in-person service, or a reservation that is provided outside the mobile, you charge with your own gateway. With Stripe in Spain that is 1.5% + 0.25 euros per transaction with a standard EEA card, 2.8% + 0.25 euros with a premium card, 3.15% + 0.25 euros with an international card, and an additional 2% if there is currency conversion.
The difference between 1.5% and 30% is not an optimization: it is the business model. Decide what you are selling before you decide how you build it, not the other way around.
And VAT: in Spain the general rate is 21%, and it is what applies to the development services a studio bills you. If an app budget does not explicitly say 'plus VAT,' you still do not know what it costs.
Maintaining an app is not an option: it is a calendar with dates
A website you do not touch for two years continues to work. An app you do not touch for two years can no longer be updated. That is the structural difference, and it is what sinks budgets.
These are the dates published and verified on August 27, 2026:
- January 31, 2026: respond to the updated age rating questionnaire for each app in App Store Connect to avoid interrupting submissions
- April 28, 2026: apps uploaded to App Store Connect must be compiled with Xcode 26 and the SDK for iOS 26, iPadOS 26, tvOS 26, visionOS 26, or watchOS 26
- August 31, 2026: new apps and updates on Google Play must target Android 16, API 36, with an extension requestable until November 1, 2026
- Existing apps on Google Play: must target at least Android 15, API 35, to remain available for new users on devices with higher versions
- February 1, 2027: without support for 16 KB memory pages, you will not be able to publish app updates with NDK libraries targeting Android 15 or higher
Two of those five dates have already passed when you read this. The August 2026 one just passed. The February 2027 one arrives in five months.
That calendar has a direct budgetary consequence: there is a minimum annual maintenance that does not depend on whether you want new features. You must recompile, revalidate dependencies, check privacy manifests of third-party SDKs, and pass review again. We are still measuring our own cost for that minimum: we will publish it once we have our own sample.
We include 30 days of support after launch and deliver code, source files, and documentation. The second matters more than the first: you can take the project and have another team meet those dates without us. We deliver so your team can continue, not so it depends on us.
What Spanish law mandates you to include
Three blocks, and none are optional.
Accessibility. Directive (EU) 2019/882, the European Accessibility Act, was transposed in Spain through Law 11/2023 of May 8. Its effective application was set for June 28, 2025, already passed. Chapter V, Article 16, regulates the exceptional and duly justified cases in which compliance with the requirements can be exempted. If your app provides access to e-commerce, it falls within the scope of the rule. Check the exact scope for your case before assuming you are exempt: the exception is exceptional, not general.
Data and accounts. If you ask for consent for identifiers or analytics, it is requested as on the web: informed, granular, and revocable. And there is a specific store obligation often discovered during review, not during design. Apple's guideline 5.1.1(v) says: 'If your app supports account creation, you must also offer account deletion within the app.' Delete the account from inside the app, not via email. The same guideline adds that if your app does not have significant account-based features, you must allow it to be used without registration.
Price and invoicing. 21% VAT on your services and on those of the studio that builds it for you. If you sell subscriptions inside the app, the store acts as an intermediary, and that changes your tax treatment and reporting obligations. Talk to your advisor before choosing the billing model, not after publishing.
Legal block verified 08-27-2026 against the consolidated text of Law 11/2023 in the BOE, App Store Review Guidelines, and the Tax Agency. This is not legal advice. If your app handles health data, minors' data, or payments, you need specific legal review, and we will tell you that before starting.
The number that decides: total cost at 36 months
An app compares poorly in year one and well in year three.
In year one you pay for construction, fees, and publishing. In years two and three you pay for mandatory maintenance, infrastructure, and the accumulated commission on everything you have sold inside. That last addend is the one that silently eats up margins.
Arithmetic you can redo yourself, marked as an estimate: if you invoice 100,000 euros per year in in-app subscriptions and you are in the 10% + 5% billing commission bracket of Google Play for the EEA, that is 15,000 euros per year in commission, 45,000 in three years. That number, in many projects, exceeds the entire construction cost. Commission is not a store detail: it is the largest line item of the triennium.
| Line item | Amount | Source or criterion |
|---|---|---|
| Construction of the first version | from 4,500 € with VAT | Aura's public rate for web and product with interactive experiences and automations; the exact number is closed by phase before starting |
| Developer fees (3 years) | — | 99 USD annual for Apple plus 25 USD one-time for Google, verified 08-27-2026 |
| Infrastructure and third-party services | — | — |
| Mandatory SDK and platform maintenance | — | — |
| Store commission on in-app income | — | Depends on your model: check the tables above with the date of your contract |
| Functional evolution | — | — |
— = data being measured; we will publish it once we have our own sample.
We have a total cost calculator at 36 months for web projects. The logic is the same, and the link is at the end.
How we work with this
Fixed price per phase, agreed upon before starting. No surprise hours.
Eight-week phases for digital products. First 30-minute call at no cost. Response in less than 24 business hours. Upon completion, code, source files, and documentation are delivered, and 30 days of support remain included. We accept a limited number of projects per year, and that is why we can tell you no.
The industry standard: Budgeting the entire app at once with a round number, starting to program in week one, and discovering during the store review that the account deletion and the 14-day closed test were missing.
Our criteria: Agree on what winning means during the definition phase, close the scope of the first version, and put the store review and its requirements on the calendar from day one as just another task, with a date.
If after the first call we see that your project is better resolved with an 8-week PWA than with two native apps, we will tell you, even if the small project invoices us less. And if we see that we are not a fit, we will tell you that too.
Aura charges per closed phase, not per open hours: the price is agreed upon before writing the first line, and VAT is already included.
An app is not decided by technology: it is decided by what you sell inside and who can maintain it when the SDK changes. Tell us what you have in front of you and we will tell you which of the three forms serves you. Does this way of working fit you?
Have an app in mind? Write to us and we'll look at it together in a free 30-minute first call.
Frequently asked questions
How much does it cost to develop an app in Spain?
It depends on three specific decisions: number of platforms, whether there is an own backend, and whether there are in-app payments. Our public rates include VAT: from 3,000 € for a brand website, from 4,500 € for a project with interactive experiences and automations, and from 9,000 € for full branding with proprietary CRM, AI, and funnels. Below 2,000 € there is market, not Aura's offer.
Is a hybrid app cheaper than a native one?
You save on the business layer and common interface, not on the design of two platforms nor on real-device testing. Furthermore, Flutter, Capacitor, and Cordova are on the list of third-party SDKs that Apple requires to be accompanied by a privacy manifest and signature, so the compliance work does not disappear.
How long does it take to publish on Google Play?
If your personal account was created after November 13, 2023, you need a closed test with at least 12 testers registered continuously for 14 days before requesting production access, and then Google reviews in about seven days. That deadline exists even if your app is finished.
Can I upload my PWA to the App Store?
Only if it provides features, content, and UI that elevate it above a repackaged website, which is what guideline 4.2 of the App Store Review Guidelines literally requires. A website wrapped in a container is rejected; a PWA distributed via the browser does not need anyone's permission.
What commission will the stores charge me in Spain?
On Google Play, for the EEA and since June 30, 2026, 10% + 5% billing commission on auto-renewing subscriptions, and between 20% and 25% plus 5% on the rest depending on whether it is a new or existing install. On Apple, the standard commission is 30%, 15% with the Small Business Program below 1,000,000 USD in revenue the previous year, and in the EU an alternative regime applies which Apple has been changing: verify it on the day of your contract.
Keep reading
- How much does it cost and how long does it take to develop an app in Spain: the cluster's complete guide
- Native, hybrid, or PWA app: decision table with cost differential in euros
- How much you really save with Flutter vs. native: our measurement
Transparency note. Cells marked "—" are our own data, which we are still measuring on real projects with a single method. We will publish them with their sample size and date range once the sample is large enough; until then, every figure in this guide carries its source and date of consultation.
Sources
- https://developer.apple.com/support/enrollment/ — Apple Developer Program annual fee: 99 USD, Enterprise 299 USD, in local currency and with regional tax applied. Consulted 08-27-2026.
- https://support.google.com/googleplay/android-developer/answer/6112435?hl=es — one-time registration fee of 25 USD for the Google Play developer account. Consulted 08-27-2026.
- https://developer.apple.com/app-store/small-business-program/ — 15% commission with a threshold of 1,000,000 USD in revenue the previous calendar year; 30% standard; mention of 10% for subscriptions under alternative EU terms. Consulted 08-27-2026.
- https://support.google.com/googleplay/android-developer/answer/112622?hl=en — Google Play commission structure: EEA/UK/US since 06-30-2026 (10%+5% subscriptions, 20%+5% new installs, 25%+5% existing, 15% with external web links) and classic structure 15%/30% in other markets. Consulted 08-27-2026.
- https://developer.apple.com/support/dma-and-apps-in-the-eu — EU alternative terms: base commission 10% or 17%, +3% for payment processor, Core Technology Fee of 0.50 € per first annual install above the million, Core Technology Commission of 5% since 06-26-2025 and transition announced to a single model since 01-01-2026. Consulted 08-27-2026.
- https://developer.apple.com/news/upcoming-requirements/ — deadlines: age rating questionnaire before 01-31-2026; compilation with Xcode 26 and iOS/iPadOS/tvOS/visionOS/watchOS 26 SDK from 04-28-2026. Consulted 08-27-2026.
- https://developer.android.com/google/play/requirements/target-sdk — API 36 (Android 16) mandatory for new apps and updates from 08-31-2026, extension until 11-01-2026; API 35 minimum for existing apps. Consulted 08-27-2026.
- https://developer.android.com/guide/practices/page-sizes — 16 KB memory page support mandatory to publish updates from 02-01-2027 in apps with NDK libraries targeting Android 15+. Consulted 08-27-2026.
- https://support.google.com/googleplay/android-developer/answer/14151465?hl=en — personal accounts created after 11-13-2023: closed test with 12 testers registered continuously for 14 days before requesting production; review in about 7 days. Consulted 08-27-2026.
- https://developer.apple.com/support/third-party-SDK-requirements/ — list of third-party SDKs that require a privacy manifest and signature, with Flutter, Capacitor, Cordova, UnityFramework, Firebase, FBSDK, Alamofire, and RealmSwift among them. Consulted 08-27-2026.
- https://developer.apple.com/app-store/review/guidelines/ — literal text of guidelines 4.2 and 4.2.2 regarding repackaged websites and 5.1.1(v) regarding account deletion within the app. Consulted 08-27-2026.
- https://webkit.org/blog/13878/web-push-for-web-apps-on-ios-and-ipados/ — Web Push and badging in web apps since iOS/iPadOS 16.4, with manifest in standalone or fullscreen display, home screen installation, and direct user gesture. Consulted 08-27-2026.
- https://stripe.com/es/pricing — commissions in Spain: 1.5% + 0.25 € EEA standard card, 2.8% + 0.25 € premium, 2.5% + 0.25 € UK, 3.15% + 0.25 € international, +2% for currency conversion. Consulted 08-27-2026.
- https://sede.agenciatributaria.gob.es/Sede/iva/calculo-iva-repercutido-clientes/tipos-impositivos-iva.html — general VAT rate in Spain: 21%; reduced 10% and 4%. Consulted 08-27-2026.
- https://www.boe.es/eli/es/l/2023/05/08/11/con — Law 11/2023, of May 8, which transposes Directive (EU) 2019/882; effective application set on 06-28-2025; Chapter V, Article 16, on justified exceptions to compliance with accessibility requirements. Consulted 08-27-2026.
- https://www.yeeply.com/blog/cuanto-cuesta-desarrollar-una-app/ — Spanish page that ranks for the query and does not provide ranges, sources, store commissions, VAT, maintenance, or accessibility; used to document the competitive void. Consulted 08-27-2026.
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