How Much Does It Cost to Build an App in Nigeria? (2026 Guide)

Every week someone asks us the same question: "How much will my app cost?" The honest answer used to be "it depends", which helps nobody planning a budget. So here are the real numbers we work with in 2026, what moves them up or down, and the costs that quotes tend to leave out.

The short answer

A professionally built app in Nigeria costs between ₦3,000,000 and ₦10,000,000 as a one-off project fee. At Linestech that maps to three fixed-price packages, each delivered in two weeks:

• Basic (₦3,000,000): iOS, Android and web app, unlimited screens, custom UI/UX, payments with one provider, up to 3 integrations, basic AI features, App Store and Google Play deployment, 30 days of support.
• Premium (₦5,000,000): everything in Basic plus a discovery workshop, advanced design with a clickable prototype, full AI integration, multiple payment providers and subscriptions, up to 6 integrations, real-time features, analytics and 90 days of support.
• Business (₦10,000,000): everything in Premium plus regulated-industry compliance, multiple user types and portals, wallets and advanced payments, unlimited integrations, business intelligence dashboards, a dedicated team and 6 months of support.

Freelancers will quote less, sometimes ₦500,000 to ₦1,500,000. Some of those apps are fine. Many arrive late, are never published, or cannot be maintained because the one person who wrote them has moved on. When you compare quotes, compare what happens after launch too.

What actually drives the price

• Platforms: an app that must run on iPhone, Android and the web is more work than one platform, although cross-platform frameworks like React Native and Flutter bring the gap down a lot. All our packages cover all three.
• Backend and data: user accounts, payments, order histories and admin dashboards need a server, a database and an API. This is usually a third to half of the effort and the part freelancer quotes skip.
• Integrations: every payment gateway, SMS provider, CRM, ERP or core-banking connection is design, build and test work. Three integrations is a normal Basic app; a marketplace can have ten.
• Design depth: a clean interface built from a design system is quick. Custom animation, illustration and a fully prototyped user-tested flow cost more and convert better.
• Compliance: fintech, health and insurance apps need audit trails, KYC, data-residency decisions and security reviews. Budget for it from the start rather than retrofitting.
• Support: the first three months after launch are when bugs, store reviews and user feedback arrive. Make sure someone is contracted to deal with them.

The hidden costs to budget for

These are not in the development fee at any agency, and they surprise first-time founders:

• Apple Developer account: $99 a year. Google Play: a one-off $25.
• Payment gateway fees: Paystack and Flutterwave charge a percentage per transaction (typically 1.5% capped for local cards), which comes out of your revenue, not the build.
• Cloud hosting: from around ₦50,000 a month for a small app on AWS, Google Cloud or Azure, rising with users and traffic. We size this in the proposal.
• Third-party APIs and AI usage: SMS, maps, verification services and AI model calls are metered by their providers.
• Ongoing maintenance: operating systems change every year and libraries need updates. Plan for a maintenance retainer or an in-house engineer after the support period.

How to get an accurate quote

Write one page: who the app is for, the three things users must be able to do, the systems it must talk to, and how you make money from it. That is enough for a fixed-price proposal. If you do not have that yet, a discovery workshop (included in our Premium and Business packages) produces it in two days.

Two more rules of thumb from a decade of building apps for Nigerian companies. First, launch smaller than you think: a Basic app in production teaches you more than a Business app on paper. Second, put the money you save into the launch and the first three months of growth; a great app nobody hears about is the most expensive kind.