Maintenance costs are store fees (Apple $99 a year, Google Play $25 once), the yearly updates Apple and Google require, bug fixes, security patches, backend hosting and support. Budget the work in developer hours at public rates, about $50 to $99 an hour in the USA and $25 to $49 in India on Clutch's 2026 data, and plan one larger update each year.
What app maintenance covers
Six kinds of work keep an app running after launch:
- Platform updates: rebuilding for new iOS and Android versions and meeting store requirements.
- Bug fixes: problems users report and crash reports reveal.
- Security: updating libraries and patching vulnerabilities.
- Backend and hosting: servers, databases, APIs and third-party services the app calls.
- Monitoring: crash reporting, uptime and performance.
- Small improvements: changes users ask for that do not need a new project.
Fixed costs: the store fees
The Apple Developer Program costs $99 a year, which an app needs to stay on the App Store; the Enterprise Program, for internal apps, is $299 a year. Google Play charges a US$25 one-time registration fee. These are the only fixed fees; everything else is work and hosting.
Required updates: the yearly platform rules
Both stores raise their requirements every year, and apps that do not keep up lose reach. Google's target API level requirements say that from 31 August 2026 new apps and updates must target Android 16 (API level 36) or higher, and existing apps must target API level 35 or higher to stay available to new users on newer Android versions; an extension could be requested to 1 November 2026, a date that has now passed.
Apple's upcoming requirements show that since 28 April 2026 apps uploaded to App Store Connect must be built with Xcode 26 or later using the 26 SDKs, and since 9 September 2026 iOS and iPadOS uploads must target iOS 13 or later. So any fix or feature you ship needs the current tools, and an app left alone for a year or two needs updating before its next release.
Work costs: budget in hours
Most maintenance cost is developer time. Clutch's software developers pricing (updated 21 September 2026) puts average hourly rates at $50 to $99 in the USA, $100 to $149 in Canada and Australia, and $25 to $49 in India, the Philippines, Ukraine and Mexico.
A worked example, using illustrative figures and our own arithmetic: an app that needs 20 hours a month of fixes, updates and monitoring costs $1,000 to $1,980 a month at the US range, or $500 to $980 at the India range, before hosting and third-party services. Estimate the hours from your app's size, its platforms and how often you release.
The percentage rule, and why we do not use it
Many articles quote yearly maintenance as a fixed percentage of the original build. We could not find a survey or published dataset behind such a percentage, so we do not rely on one. A build-cost percentage also ignores what drives the work: how many platforms you support, how many third-party services the app calls, how often you release and how many users report problems. Clutch's app cost guide notes that maintaining two native apps raises long-term cost, which is one reason cross-platform builds appeal.
What raises or lowers maintenance cost
Five things move the yearly bill:
- Two native codebases cost more to maintain than one cross-platform codebase.
- Many third-party services each change their APIs and pricing over time.
- Frequent releases spread updates into small steps; rare releases pile them up.
- Good tests and monitoring catch problems before users report them.
- Clear code and documentation let any developer pick the app up.
Maintenance contract or pay as you go
A monthly maintenance contract buys a set number of hours, response times for bugs and outages, and a yearly platform update; it suits apps customers rely on. Paying per job suits simple apps with few users, but platform deadlines and urgent bugs then arrive with no one ready. Whichever you choose, keep the app, store accounts and code repository in your own name.
Conclusion
App maintenance costs little in fees, Apple's $99 a year and Google Play's one-time $25, and more in work: the yearly platform updates both stores require, bug fixes, security patches, hosting, monitoring and small improvements. Budget the work in developer hours at public rates, about $50 to $99 an hour in the USA and $25 to $49 in India on Clutch's 2026 data, and plan for one larger update each year.
PromotEdge International is an international strategy, technology, marketing and design company, and our delivery team is in India. Our application maintenance covers fixes, platform updates, security patches, monitoring and small improvements every month, and our mobile app development team builds apps in your own store accounts. We publish no rate card.
Facts we rely on: see our company facts for what we state about ourselves and where each fact comes from.