The short answer
Plan to spend 15% to 20% of what your app cost to build on maintenance every year. Chop Dawg, a US app agency, puts a $100,000 app at $15,000 to $20,000 a year and a $200,000 app at $30,000 to $40,000 in its July 2026 guide. It also says many US apps land between $2,500 and $5,000 a month. Older or badly built apps can need 30% to 40% a year.
Hosting, app store fees and outside services come on top. For a typical business app at modest scale, that adds a few hundred dollars a month. At Zeebrix, support retainers start at $2,500 a month (about A$3,750) and cover bug fixes, security and library updates, new iOS and Android versions, store releases and small new features.
What app maintenance costs, by size of app
The 15% to 20% rule is the simplest way to set a budget, and most agency guides use it. Treat it as a starting point. It is a planning convention, not a measured average, and your real number depends on how many systems the app talks to and how often you release.
Here is what the rule gives at common build prices. The smaller apps sit below what most retainers cost, which is why small, stable apps often do better with a few planned releases a year than with a monthly plan.
| Build cost | Maintenance per year | Per month |
|---|---|---|
| $30,000 (focused app) | $4,500 to $6,000 | $375 to $500 |
| $70,000 (app with backend and admin panel) | $10,500 to $14,000 | $875 to $1,170 |
| $100,000 | $15,000 to $20,000 | $1,250 to $1,670 |
| $200,000 | $30,000 to $40,000 | $2,500 to $3,330 |
What does app maintenance actually cover?
Maintenance is the work that keeps an app running, safe and accepted by the app stores. It is different from building large new features, although most retainers include some of both. This is what the money usually pays for:
- Updates for each new iOS and Android version, and for the build rules Apple and Google raise every year
- Security patches and updates to the libraries and packages the app is built on
- Bug fixes and crash triage, ideally driven by crash reports rather than customer complaints
- Servers, databases, backups and monitoring
- Changes when an outside service you rely on, such as payments, maps or sign-in, updates its API
- Small improvements based on how people actually use the app
- Compliance upkeep where it applies, such as HIPAA for US health apps or a privacy policy that has to change with the app
The 2026 Apple and Google rules that force updates
Even an app that nobody adds features to has to be updated at least once a year. Both app stores keep raising the minimum, and an app that falls behind stops being able to ship anything, even a one-line bug fix.
Apple: since April 28, 2026, every app uploaded to App Store Connect must be built with Xcode 26 or later, using the iOS 26 SDK. Apple usually brings in a rule like this each spring, a few months after the September iOS release.
Google Play: from August 31, 2026, new apps and app updates must target Android 16 (API level 36). Existing apps must target at least Android 15 (API level 35), or they stop showing up for new users on phones running newer versions of Android. Google lets developers request an extension to November 1, 2026, and it raises the bar again every August.
Meeting these rules is rarely a quick recompile. Each new Android target brings behavior changes the app has to handle, and an old package that hasn't been updated can block the whole upgrade. That is why an app left alone for two years often needs weeks of catch-up work before it can ship again.
Hosting, store fees and other running costs
These costs keep the app available. They aren't maintenance work, but they belong in the same budget line, and they grow with your user numbers rather than with the size of the build.
- Apple Developer Program: US$99 a year, or A$149 in Australia
- Google Play developer account: a one-off US$25 registration fee
- Hosting and database: Chop Dawg puts AWS, Google Cloud or Azure at a few hundred dollars a month at modest scale. In Australia, budget A$100 to A$1,500 a month depending on users and whether your data has to stay onshore
- Card payments: around 2.9% plus 30 cents per transaction, the figure Chop Dawg uses for typical US card processing
- Usage-billed services: maps, SMS, email, push notifications, analytics and AI APIs, each charged on how much the app uses them
What makes app maintenance cost more?
Integrations are the biggest driver. Every payment provider, CRM, booking system or AI model the app connects to changes on its own schedule, and each change can mean an update. An app with eight integrations needs far more upkeep than one with two.
Age and code quality come next. Chop Dawg puts legacy or badly built apps at 30% to 40% of the build cost a year, because every change has to work around old decisions. Apps without automated tests cost more too, since each release needs more checking by hand.
Two separate native apps, one for iOS and one for Android, mean doing the yearly platform work twice. A cross-platform app built in Flutter or React Native has one codebase to update, although the framework itself needs upgrading too. Our Flutter vs React Native guide covers how each one handles this.
Finally, rules and pace. Apps under HIPAA, SOC 2 or similar compliance sit at the top of the range. So do apps that release every two weeks, because frequent releases mean more testing and more store reviews.
App maintenance cost in Australia
The work is the same in Australia, and so is the 15% to 20% rule. For an app that cost A$105,000 to build, that comes to A$15,750 to A$21,000 a year before hosting. Our support retainers start at about A$3,750 a month. We quote in US dollars, so AUD figures here are converted at roughly A$1.50 to US$1 and exclude GST.
Two local points change the budget. If your app holds health records or works for government, you may need hosting in AWS Sydney or Azure Australia East, which usually costs a little more than the cheapest overseas region. And routine maintenance rarely qualifies for the R&D Tax Incentive, because fixing bugs and updating libraries doesn't resolve real technical uncertainty. Plan to fund it in full, and talk to an R&D tax specialist if a project involves genuine experimentation. Our guide to app development cost in Australia covers the build side.
How to keep app maintenance costs down
Most of the saving is decided while the app is being built. These habits make the biggest difference on the apps we look after:
- Build one cross-platform codebase instead of two native apps
- Keep the list of outside packages short and choose well supported ones, because every package is something you will have to update
- Use managed services for databases, sign-in and file storage instead of servers you patch yourself
- Turn on crash reporting and monitoring from the first release, so you fix problems from data rather than from one-star reviews
- Put the store deadlines in your calendar: Google's falls on August 31 each year, and Apple's SDK rule usually lands in spring
- Keep the developer accounts, hosting and code repository in your company's name, so changing developers doesn't mean starting again
- Ask for the maintenance price before you sign the build contract, not after launch
Retainer, hourly or in-house?
A monthly retainer suits an app that keeps growing. You get a fixed budget, a team that already knows the code, and fixes that don't wait in a queue. Chop Dawg's retainers start at $2,500 a month, and so do ours.
Paying by the hour or per release suits a small, stable app. It costs less in quiet months, but you wait for someone to be free, and you pay for the time it takes them to get back into the code. Ask any developer to quote both ways so you can compare.
An in-house developer makes sense once the app is central to the business and needs close to a full-time person. Until then, a retainer is usually cheaper than a salary, and it doesn't leave you exposed when one person goes on leave.
What a Zeebrix support retainer includes
Our support retainers start at $2,500 a month (about A$3,750). They cover bug fixes and crash triage, security and library updates, the yearly Apple and Google platform updates, store releases and small new features. We build everything under your own accounts, so you can take the app in-house whenever you like.
If you are planning a new build, our guides to app development cost in the USA and how long it takes to build an app cover the earlier stages. You can see how we build apps on our mobile app development page.
Frequently asked questions
How much does it cost to maintain an app per year?
Most agencies say 15% to 20% of the original build cost a year, so a $100,000 app needs about $15,000 to $20,000. Hosting, store fees and outside services come on top. Older or badly built apps can need 30% to 40%, according to Chop Dawg's 2026 guide.
How much does app maintenance cost per month?
Chop Dawg puts many US apps at $2,500 to $5,000 a month in 2026. A small, stable app can cost less if you pay per release instead of on a retainer. Add a few hundred dollars a month for hosting at modest scale.
What happens if I stop maintaining my app?
Within a year it usually can't ship updates. Apple requires apps to be built with Xcode 26 and the iOS 26 SDK, and Google hides apps that target old Android versions from new users on newer phones. Security holes go unpatched and integrations break as outside services change.
Is maintenance included in the price of building an app?
Usually only a short warranty for bugs found after launch. Updates for new iOS and Android versions, new features and hosting are billed separately. Ask how long the warranty lasts and what maintenance will cost before you sign the build contract.
Do Flutter or React Native apps cost less to maintain?
Usually, yes. One codebase means the yearly iOS and Android updates are done once instead of twice. The framework itself also needs upgrading every so often, so budget for that, but it is still less work than maintaining two separate native apps.
Need someone to look after your app?
Book a free call and tell us what your app is built with and when it was last updated. We explain what the next Apple and Google deadlines mean for it and quote app support from $2,500 a month.
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