Turning a website into an app costs anywhere from nothing to tens of thousands of dollars, and the difference is almost entirely what you mean by "app". A website to app converter produces an installable Android app from your URL for $0, and about $5 a month if you want it on Google Play. A freelancer building a WebView wrapper by hand charges $200–$2,000. An agency building a native app that re-implements your site charges $5,000 to $50,000 and up. Below are the numbers, and the recurring costs that follow each route.
Route 1 — A website to app converter
| Item | Cost | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Building a signed Android APK | $0 | Free tier on this site. No watermark, no expiry, no card. |
| Pro (AAB, own key, push, tabs, splash, onboarding) | $5 / month | Only needed for Google Play or the native extras. Cancel any time. |
| Google Play developer account | $25 once | Google's fee, paid to Google. Required to publish anything on Play. |
| Push notification service | $0 | OneSignal's free tier covers most small apps. |
| Your time | About an hour | Including making an icon and testing on a phone. |
Total for an app installed on your customers' phones from a link: $0. Total for an app on Google Play: $25 + $5/month, and the subscription only for as long as you need to publish updates — a URL app updates its content from the website without a rebuild.
Route 2 — A freelancer builds a wrapper
Search any freelance marketplace for "convert website to Android app" and the going rate for a WebView wrapper is $200–$2,000, depending on what is included: icon and splash, push, a tab bar, Play submission. What you get is the same kind of app a converter produces, built by hand. The advantages are custom work outside a converter's options and someone to blame; the disadvantages are that every later change is a new invoice, and you now depend on that person having kept the project and the signing key. Ask, specifically, who holds the keystore.
Route 3 — An agency builds a native app
A native app that re-implements your site's functionality — screens built in Kotlin or Swift, or in Flutter or React Native for both platforms — is a software project. Realistic 2026 figures: $5,000–$15,000 for a simple content or catalogue app, $15,000–$50,000 for one with accounts, payments and a backend integration, and open-ended above that. Timelines are two to six months. This is the right route when the app is the product and the website is secondary; it is the wrong route for putting an existing site on a phone.
Route 4 — A PWA
Adding a manifest and a service worker to the site: $0 if you can do it, a few hundred dollars if a developer does. No store presence, no native push on every platform, but nothing to rebuild. The comparison covers when it is enough.
iOS changes the numbers
Every iOS route has a floor: $99 per year for Apple's developer program, and a Mac to build with. On top of that, Apple's review historically rejects apps that are "just a website", so a wrapper needs more native work to pass. Budget accordingly: an iOS version via a freelancer is typically $500–$3,000 more than the Android one, and via an agency the platform roughly doubles the project. The iOS guide lays out the options.
The costs after the build
These are the ones a quote leaves out:
- Updates. Native apps need a new build for every change. A URL-based converted app needs a rebuild only when the shell changes.
- OS releases. Android and iOS each ship a major version yearly, and store policies demand you target a recent one. A converter absorbs this; a hand-built project needs someone to update it.
- Store compliance. Data safety forms, privacy policy links, target SDK deadlines. An hour or two a year, if someone is paying attention.
- Signing key custody. Lose the key, lose the ability to update the app. Free with a converter or Play App Signing; a real risk with a freelancer's laptop.
- Push service tiers. Free up to a point; OneSignal and its competitors charge once you pass tens of thousands of subscribers.
Which route, by situation
| Situation | Route | Realistic total, year one |
|---|---|---|
| Shop, restaurant, clinic, publication: site works, wants an app | Converter | $0–$85 |
| Client deliverable on top of a site you built | Converter (Pro) | $85, billed to client at your rate |
| Need a specific native feature a converter lacks | Freelancer wrapper | $500–$2,500 |
| The app is the product; site is a landing page | Agency / native | $10,000–$60,000 |
| iPhone users matter more than Android | PWA now; iOS wrapper when justified | $0 now; $99+/year later |
The one figure that surprises people is the first row. A converted app is not a compromise version of a "real" app for the sites in that row — it is the whole thing, built from the site they already paid for. Start there; the expensive routes will still exist if you need them.