App development cost in Malaysia: why quotes run RM15k to RM500k

Ask five Malaysian app companies what an app costs and you’ll hear five numbers between RM15,000 and RM500,000. Most of them aren’t wrong. They’re pricing different apps, and different amounts of the work behind them.

So here are the app development costs in Malaysia that app companies publish, what moves a quote up or down, and what an app costs to keep once it’s live.

What an app costs in Malaysia

These ranges come from price guides that Malaysian app companies publish for their own work. There’s no independent survey, so read them as a rough map.

Our own pricing page puts a phone app on top of a system you already run at RM60,000 to RM240,000, and an app or platform your customers use at RM150,000 to RM700,000.

The screens are the cheap part

Most of an app’s cost sits behind it. Someone has to decide who the user is and what they may do, keep their data, take their payments and let your staff manage all of it. Media Plus calls the admin dashboard “effectively a second product”.^⁠[3]

Then there are your other systems. A loyalty app has to read points from wherever your sales are recorded. A booking app has to know which branch has a free slot. Each connection is work, and an old system with no proper way in takes the most.

That’s why two quotes for “the same app” can be RM100,000 apart. One prices the screens. The other prices the screens, the back office and the link to your POS.

iOS and Android: one app or two?

You can build two native apps, one for iOS and one for Android, or one cross-platform app that runs on both, in React Native or Flutter.

Advisory Apps puts a cross-platform app at about 1.15 to 1.35 times the cost of a single native app. Building both natively costs 1.7 to 1.9 times.^⁠[2] So for most business apps, launching on both platforms costs far less than double.

Native can still be the better choice when the app leans hard on the phone itself, such as Bluetooth devices or complex offline work. We build both. The AWC, Able Group and Tit Tar Man apps each shipped on iOS and Android from a single React Native codebase.

What sends the price up

• More kinds of users. Customers, staff and managers each need their own screens and rules.
• Payments, wallets or anything regulated.
• Connections to your POS, SAP, accounting software or a partner’s system.
• Offline use, maps, live tracking or chat.
• A design that changes after the build starts.

What an app costs after launch

Yearly upkeep. Advisory Apps budgets 15 to 25% of the build cost a year;^⁠[2] Media Plus puts a straightforward app at 15 to 20%.^⁠[3] That covers fixes, security updates and changes as the phones and stores move on. For a RM100,000 app, allow roughly RM15,000 to RM25,000 a year, and check what the maintenance quote includes.

The stores change their rules every year. Google Play and Apple both raise their minimum requirements, and an app that falls behind can’t ship updates. We explain how that works in why your app needs updating every year.

Store accounts. Apple charges USD 99 a year for its developer programme, and a company needs a D-U-N-S number to sign up.^⁠[4] Google Play charges a one-time USD 25.^⁠[5] Open both in your company’s name, not your developer’s. More in who should own your code, hosting and accounts.

Hosting, SMS, maps and payment gateway fees are usually extra, and they grow with your users.

How much does it cost to pay someone to build an app?

Malaysian contract developers charge about RM300 to RM550 a day at junior level, RM550 to RM900 mid-level, RM900 to RM1,600 senior, and RM1,600 to RM2,500 or more for a lead.^⁠[6]

One freelancer can build a simple app. A business app also needs design, a back end, testing on real phones, store submissions and someone to answer when it breaks. That’s usually more than one person.

How to compare app quotes

Ask every company the same five questions:

1. Is the back office or admin included, or only the app?
2. iOS and Android: native, or one cross-platform app?
3. Which of our systems does it connect to, and who deals with the other side?
4. Who owns the code and the store accounts?
5. What’s fixed free after launch, and what will it cost to keep each year?

If a quote is a third of the others, these answers usually show why.

What we charge for apps

Apps that will keep growing after launch usually run on Managed Delivery, from RM13,000 a month, released one priority at a time, with no lock-in. RM19,000 a month adds technical ownership, and with it we publish the app to the App Store and Google Play under your accounts.

If the scope is written down and one person signs it off, a Custom Project gives you a fixed price from RM30,000, with genuine bugs fixed free for 60 days after go-live.

Not sure which quote to trust? A Review gives you a written second opinion for RM1,000.

For apps for businesses, see mobile app development. For custom systems that aren’t apps, see how much a custom system costs in Malaysia.

Common questions

How much does a simple app cost in Malaysia?

About RM15,000 to RM40,000 for content, a catalogue or one kind of user, with no payments and nothing to connect to.^⁠[1] Add a back office or payments and it moves into the next band.

Is it cheaper to launch on one platform first?

A little, but not by half. One cross-platform app covers both for roughly 15 to 35% more than a single native app,^⁠[2] and your customers are almost certainly on both.

Why is a Malaysian app quote so much lower than the others?

Usually it leaves something out: the back office, the connection to your system, testing on real phones or support after launch. Ask what isn’t included.

Who owns the app once it’s built?

Your company should own the code, the cloud accounts and the store listings. Put that in the contract before work starts.