The problemThe average app project costs $90,780 and takes eleven months.
In shortCustom mobile app development from Pixel & Oak means one React Native app for iPhone and Android, built from a written scope at a fixed price and released to the App Store and Google Play under your own accounts. A first version with sign-in, one core workflow and the store listings starts at $8,000 and takes 6–12 weeks.
Most people who look for a custom mobile app development company already have a few quotes, and they do not line up. One says $150,000, another says $5,000, and none explains what the difference buys. Price follows scope: how many screens, how many kinds of user, what the app connects to, and whether it must work offline or in real time.
We build in React Native with Expo, so one code base runs on iPhone and Android, and we price a first version that does one job well before anything else. We are an agency of one: Haider Ali directs the AI agents that write and test the code and signs off every release. Our own two apps, a rides marketplace and an AI résumé builder, are live on Google Play.
Maintained by Haider Ali, Founder & CEO · Updated
What founders and business owners ask before they hire anyone, often in exactly these words.
With nothing to compare them by, owners either pay for features nobody asked for or take the cheapest offer and pay again to rebuild it a year later.
What we doA written scope first: every screen, type of user and integration, priced once. If something is not on the list, it is not in the price, and you can see that before you sign.
Two native apps mean two code bases, two sets of bugs and close to double the cost to build and maintain, for features most business apps never use.
What we doOne React Native code base for both platforms, with native code only where a feature truly needs it, such as a payment SDK or background location.
Without the source code, the signing keys and the store accounts, nobody can ship even a one-line fix. Founders lose months of paid work this way.
What we doThe repository, signing keys, Expo account and store developer accounts are set up in your name before we write any code, and you can see every commit as it lands.
Personal developer accounts created after November 13, 2023 must run a closed test with at least 12 testers opted in for 14 days in a row, then wait for review. Many founders find out in launch week.
What we doWe plan the closed test into the schedule from the first build, or publish under your company's organization account, which the rule does not cover.
A rejection sends the release back to the queue. Common causes are missing login details for the reviewer, permissions the app cannot justify and a privacy policy that does not match the listing.
What we doReviewer notes, a demo account and privacy answers are ready before the first submission. When Google Play rejected one of our own releases over a privacy-policy mismatch, we fixed it the same day.
We would rather tell you now than take the project and disappoint you.
| Starts from | $8,000 for a first version: sign-in, one core workflow and the store listings |
|---|---|
| Typical timeline | 6–12 weeks from signed scope to store release |
| Platforms | iPhone and Android from one React Native code base |
| Built with | React Native, Expo and TypeScript, with Supabase or your own API behind it |
| What you own | Code, signing keys, developer accounts and store listings, all in your name |
| Store fees | Apple charges $99 a year and Google Play $25 once, paid to them directly |
| Yearly upkeep | Budget 15–20% of the build cost a year for updates and new phone software |
| Who builds it | Haider Ali directing AI agents. He signs off every release |
| Proof so far | Two React Native apps of our own, live on Google Play |
Worth knowing: Published price guides do not agree. Clutch's app pricing guide, updated September 2026, puts the average app project at $90,780 over about 11 months, yet most projects reviewed there fall between $10,000 and $49,999. A first version that does one job costs far less than a full product, which is why we price it on its own. One honest limit: our own two apps are live on Google Play and neither is on the App Store yet. iPhone builds come from the same code and reach your testers through Apple's TestFlight before release.
Every screen, type of user and integration listed and priced once. Changes are quoted before anyone builds them.
Screens that follow iPhone and Android conventions, checked on small and large phones.
React Native with Expo and TypeScript, with native modules only where a feature needs them.
Accounts, data and file storage on Supabase or your own API, with access rules enforced on the server.
Errors reach us with the device, the app version and the steps that caused them, from the first build.
A Google Play closed test and TestFlight builds for your team, with the 12-tester rule planned in.
Screenshots, descriptions, privacy answers and reviewer notes for both stores, and replies to any rejection.
Code, keys, accounts and a plain-language guide to releasing updates, so another developer can take over.
| Mobile website | React Native app | Two native apps | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Install from a store | No, it opens from a link | Yes, App Store and Google Play | Yes |
| Push notifications | Limited; on iPhone only after adding it to the home screen | Yes | Yes |
| Camera, location, Bluetooth | Some, through the browser | Yes, through native modules | Yes |
| Works offline | Partly | Yes | Yes |
| Code bases to maintain | One | One | Two |
| Cost of a first version | Lowest | Middle | Close to double the single app |
If customers only need to look something up, book or pay, a fast mobile website is cheaper, and we will say so. An app earns its cost when people use it every week, need notifications, or need the camera, location or offline access.
Price follows scope, and scope is easier to compare than quotes. These six things move it the most:
Mainstream tools, so any React Native developer can pick the app up after us.
React Native, Expo, TypeScript, Expo Router
Supabase (Postgres, sign-in, storage), Cloudflare Workers or your own API
Expo EAS Build and Submit, Google Play Console, App Store Connect
Sentry crash reports, automated tests, Google Play closed testing and TestFlight
Not sure whether a custom mobile app is what you actually need? Send over what you are trying to fix and we will tell you straight — including if a smaller job would do it.
Ask us first →We agree the one job the app must do, every screen and type of user, and what waits for version two.
One price for the first version, with store fees and running costs estimated, so you know the total.
You install real builds on your own phone as features land. Haider reviews and signs off each one.
Closed testing, store listings and review, then release in your accounts, with two weeks of fixes included.
AI agents from our Engineering, Quality & Security and Design & Film divisions do the work, in parallel. Haider Ali, founder and CEO, agrees the plan with you and signs off everything before it reaches you.
Real work that uses the same skills. Every card links to something you can open and inspect yourself.
Our rides marketplace for Gilgit-Baltistan: riders name a fare, drivers reply with offers, and drivers sign up inside the app. English and Urdu, built with Expo and Supabase.
React Native · Google PlayOur Android app that reads an existing résumé with AI and reworks it for each job. Store listing in 21 languages, with crash reports in Sentry.
Our first versions start at $8,000 for one app on iPhone and Android with sign-in, one core workflow and the store listings. Apps with several types of user, payments, real-time features or offline sync are quoted after we write the scope together. Published 2026 guides put most agency projects between $10,000 and $50,000, and complex apps above $150,000.
Six to twelve weeks for a first version, from a signed scope to the store release. Add two weeks if a new personal Google Play account must run its 14-day closed test, and allow for store review: Google says its production-access review usually takes seven days or less, and Apple reviews most apps within a day or two.
Usually not. React Native runs one code base on both platforms and uses each platform's own interface components, so the app feels at home on both. Separate native apps make sense when the app is built around one deep platform feature, such as advanced augmented reality, which most business apps are not.
One TypeScript code base serves both platforms, it shares a language with the websites and back ends we build, and Expo's cloud build service signs and builds both versions. Many developers know it, so you can hire someone else to maintain the app later. When Flutter or native code fits a project better, we say so.
You do. The repository, the app signing keys, the Expo account and the Apple and Google developer accounts are created in your name before any code is written. If you stop working with us, you keep everything and can hand it to another developer the same day.
Apple charges $99 a year for its developer program and Google Play charges $25 once. Servers for a small app cost little at first and grow with use. The larger cost is upkeep: new iPhone and Android versions, library updates and Google Play's yearly target-version rule. Industry guides suggest 15–20% of the build cost a year.
Personal Google Play developer accounts created after November 13, 2023 must run a closed test with at least 12 testers who stay opted in for 14 days in a row before they can apply for production access. Organization accounts are not covered by that rule. We plan the closed test into the schedule or set the app up under your company account.
Yes. Our own two React Native apps are live on Google Play: SafarGB, a rides marketplace in English and Urdu, and an AI résumé builder with a store listing in 21 languages. Neither is on the App Store yet, and we have no client app case studies to publish, so we show you those two apps instead of numbers we cannot back up.
Often, yes. We start with a paid code review of the versions, libraries, build setup and accounts, then tell you plainly whether to continue, upgrade or rebuild parts of it. If the code or signing keys are missing, we help you recover what you can from the stores and the hosting before deciding.
Tell us about your business and we'll design a custom homepage concept within 48 hours — free, no strings attached.