React Native lets one codebase run on both iPhone and Android. That is the main reason it is cheaper than building two native apps — but "cheaper than two apps" is not a budget. Here is what the published UK figures say, and what actually moves the number.
What a React Native app costs in the UK
Dotsquares' 2026 UK guide splits apps into three bands. Their figures, not ours:
| Complexity | Typical UK cost | What it usually means |
|---|---|---|
| Basic | £5,000–£10,000 | Simple functions and design, one platform |
| Intermediate | £10,000–£50,000 | Custom interface, integrated APIs |
| High | £50,000–£100,000+ | Machine learning, advanced security |
For a first product, Peachr's June 2026 MVP guide is more specific: £25,000–£55,000 for a mobile MVP on one platform over 10–18 weeks, and £40,000–£80,000 for iOS and Android together over 14–22 weeks.
A June 2026 RapidNative guide reports a UK estimate, which it attributes to Pulsion, of £12,000–£28,000 for a simple React Native app and £70,000–£150,000+ for a high-complexity one.
Is React Native really cheaper than native?
Usually, for the same app on both platforms. The RapidNative guide, citing Space-O Technologies, puts React Native at 25% to 50% less than building separate native iOS and Android apps. The saving comes from one team, one codebase, one test cycle and one set of fixes, instead of two of each.
It is not free. Some features still need native code — a specialised Bluetooth device, a heavy camera pipeline, a widget — and every one of those narrows the saving. For a typical business app (accounts, forms, lists, payments, notifications) the shared share of the code is high, which is where React Native earns its keep.
We compare the two leading cross-platform options in React Native vs Flutter.
What moves the price
- Screens and roles. An app with one kind of user and ten screens is a different job from one with customers, staff and admins, each seeing different things.
- The backend. Most of the cost of an app is often the server it talks to: accounts, data, payments, notifications. An app with an existing API to call costs far less than one that needs its backend built too.
- Integrations. Payments, a CRM, an accounting system, maps. Each is a dependency you do not control.
- Offline and real time. Working without signal, or live updates between users, adds design and testing work out of proportion to how small they sound.
- Store review. Apple and Google both review apps before they go live, and a rejection costs a round of changes. Build that time into the plan.
The costs after launch
- Maintenance: Dotsquares advises setting aside 15–20% of the original build cost every year — new iOS and Android versions arrive annually and the app has to keep working on them.
- Store accounts: the Apple Developer Program is US$99 a year (charged in local currency), and Google Play is a one-off US$25 registration.
- Hosting for the backend, and any paid services the app uses, such as maps or messaging.
How to get a reliable number
Come to the first conversation with a list of the screens you imagine, who uses the app, what it must connect to, and whether it needs to work offline. That is enough for a supplier to give you a range you can plan with, and to tell you whether a clickable prototype would answer your first question for less.
Sources
- How Much Does it Cost to Build an App in the UK? (2026 Guide) — Dotsquares
- How Much Does It Cost to Build an MVP in the UK? (2026 Guide) — Peachr, 2 June 2026
- React Native App Development Cost in 2026: A Real Budget — RapidNative, 12 June 2026
- Purchase and activation — Apple Developer
- Get started with Play Console — Google Play Console Help