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cost to maintain an app in 2025

How Much Does It Cost To Maintain An App In 2025

Launching an app is just the beginning; maintaining it is crucial to its long-term success. But how much does app maintenance cost to keep the app running smoothly, and what factors influence these costs?

 

After your app goes live, there’s still a lot of work to ensure its continuous operation. Many app owners are surprised by the amount of maintenance required, beyond addressing backlog issues or implementing new features. Regular maintenance involves conducting health checks and monitoring the app, much like maintaining a car. For example, you wouldn’t ignore a check engine light or the need for an oil change because neglecting these could lead to bigger problems and higher costs later. Similarly, regular app maintenance helps prevent issues and costly fixes.

 

The cost of app maintenance varies for each app and is an ongoing expense, not a one-time event. It’s important to include these costs in your business or startup budget. In this blog, we provide realistic estimates and discuss the key factors that influence app maintenance costs.

What Do App Maintenance Services Usually Cover?

To clarify, app maintenance and support typically do not include developing new features. While the app may undergo modifications after release, adding entirely new functionality falls under “additional milestones” and subsequent product development.

 

What App Maintenance Includes:

Post-release maintenance involves continuous work to keep the app running smoothly. It generally covers the following areas:

  • Bug Fixes: Identifying and eliminating glitches, errors, or technical issues that may arise after release. This can involve aspects like UX/UI and performance.

 

  • Compatibility Updates: Ensuring the app remains compatible with new operating system updates (e.g., iOS or Android) to maintain effective operation.

 

  • Security Patches: Addressing security concerns promptly to protect the app and user data from hacks or other threats.

 

  • Performance Optimization: Improving load times, app speed, navigation, user experience, and code efficiency.

 

  • Infrastructure Maintenance: Keeping servers, hosting, databases, and overall infrastructure stable and operational.

 

  • Feature Improvement: Enhancing existing functionalities, which can sometimes be considered part of app maintenance.

 

  • Simple Integrations: Adding third-party applications as needed, which may also fall under maintenance.

 

By covering these areas, app maintenance ensures the application remains functional, secure, and efficient over time.

Importance of Timely Mobile Application Maintenance

App maintenance might seem costly, but neglecting it can lead to significant issues. Regular maintenance ensures your app functions properly and incorporates user feedback for improvements. Here’s why app maintenance is crucial and the risks of ignoring it.

Removal from App Markets:

  • Compatibility with OS Updates: Apps need updates to stay compatible with new OS releases and devices.
  • Compliance with Marketplaces: App stores like Google Play and the App Store have strict guidelines regarding app quality, performance, and updates. Failure to comply can result in your app being removed.
  • Perception of App: An outdated app can be seen as unsupported or defective, affecting user trust and market presence.

Bugs Harm App Quality:

  • Unavoidable Glitches: No matter how well an app is built, bugs and errors are inevitable. Regular maintenance is necessary to address these issues promptly.
  • Domino Effect: Minor errors can trigger other malfunctions, leading to a cascade of problems if not addressed.

Security Breaches:

  • Data Leaks and Cyber Attacks: Vulnerable apps are prime targets for hackers, risking data theft and legal issues. Regular security updates are essential to protect user data and maintain trust.

Business Losses:

  • User Frustration: A glitchy app can irritate users, leading them to uninstall it. Once uninstalled, apps are rarely redownloaded.
  • Negative Impact on Revenue: Poor app performance can result in negative reviews, higher bounce rates, and decreased downloads, all of which harm your sales, revenue, and reputation.
  • Competitive Disadvantage: Neglecting maintenance gives your competitors an edge, as they can offer more reliable and updated alternatives.

 

While ongoing maintenance costs may seem burdensome, they are manageable compared to the potential business losses from an unmaintained app. Regular maintenance keeps your app functional, secure, and user-friendly, ultimately benefiting your business.

Why Is Software Application Maintenance Challenging?

Maintaining an application is a complex and ongoing process that requires constant effort to ensure it functions smoothly, remains secure, and stays up-to-date. Here are some key reasons why software application maintenance is challenging:

Continuous Security Efforts:

  • Ongoing Security Work: Ensuring the app is secure from cyber threats requires regular updates and monitoring. Security measures taken once are not enough to protect the app indefinitely.

Optimal Performance:

  • Systematic Updates: Operating systems, programming libraries, third-party integrations, and other tech components require frequent updates and reconfiguration. Regular monitoring is essential to maintain optimal performance.
  • Scalability: As the product grows, new integrations and expansions may be needed, adding to the complexity of maintenance.

Design and User Experience:

  • Evolving Market Trends: Design trends change, and maintaining a modern, intuitive UX/UI design requires periodic updates to keep the app appealing and user-friendly.

Key Maintenance Activities:

Maintaining an application involves a variety of tasks, each with its own set of challenges:

 

  • Monitoring and Diagnostics: Regularly monitoring the code, running diagnostics, and reviewing reports to identify bugs, errors, or crashes.

 

  • Bug Fixes and Technical Repairs: Promptly addressing bugs, fixing UX/UI issues, and resolving technical problems to minimize downtime.

 

  • Security Updates: Regularly updating security patches to safeguard data and prevent breaches.

 

  • System Upgrades: Handling necessary upgrades, including server, hosting, and operating system changes.

 

  • Data Management: Ensuring backups and stored data are secure and accessible.

 

  • Releasing Updates: Periodically releasing app updates to introduce improvements and new features.

Kinds of App Maintenance Services:

Maintaining an app involves various approaches and types of services to ensure it remains functional, up-to-date, and user-friendly. Here are the primary types of app maintenance services:

1. Emergency Maintenance

  • Immediate Fixes: Addressing urgent bugs and critical issues that prevent users from completing essential tasks (e.g., opening the app, completing a transaction).
  • Rapid Response: Handling issues immediately to avoid downtime and significant business losses. These issues can arise unpredictably due to server errors, overloads, or performance gaps.

2. Corrective Maintenance

  • Ongoing Fixes: Addressing minor bugs and performance issues that do not halt the app’s functionality. This includes tweaking performance, adjusting design defects, and removing bugs.
  • Less Urgent: These fixes can be handled in a routine manner without the urgency of emergency maintenance.

3. Adaptive Maintenance

  • Staying Current: Ensuring the app remains compatible with technological advancements and marketplace standards. Marketplaces like Google Play and the App Store frequently update their guidelines, requiring apps to comply with new performance, security, design, and legal standards.
  • Continuous Adaptation: Regular updates to align with evolving technologies and marketplace requirements.

4. Preventive Maintenance:

  • Proactive Measures: Taking actions in advance to prevent potential issues. This includes system security enhancements, revising documentation, and improving code scalability and durability.
  • Building a Safety Net: Aiming to identify and mitigate potential flaws before they occur.

5. Perfective Maintenance

  • Proactive Measures: Taking actions in advance to prevent potential issues. This includes sys
  • Improvements: Focusing on enhancing the app rather than just fixing issues. This can include adding new integrations, improving UX/UI for better usability and navigation, and refining the app’s logic.
  • Enhancing User Experience: Making the product better and more user-friendly through ongoing improvements.
  • m security enhancements, revising documentation, and improving code scalability and durability.
  • Building a Safety Net: Aiming to identify and mitigate potential flaws before they occur.

Factors Influencing the Cost of App Maintenance:

App maintenance costs can vary widely based on several factors. Understanding these factors can help you estimate the overall expenses for post-launch support work.

The Kind of Issues You're Tackling:

  • Type of Modifications: The nature of the changes required (e.g., bug fixes, feature updates) can significantly impact costs.
  • Complexity of Issues: More complicated problems take longer to resolve and require more resources.
  • Time to Fix: The duration needed to address issues affects costs, as longer fixes incur higher expenses.
  • Number of Specialists Involved: More specialists involved in the maintenance work increase the cost.
  • Frequency of Fixes: Regularly occurring issues will lead to higher cumulative costs.

UX/UI Improvement Expenses:

  • Scale of Changes: The extent of design updates (minor tweaks vs. a complete redesign) affects the cost.
  • Frequency of Updates: Regular updates to improve user experience can accumulate costs over time.

Fees for Tools, Hosting, and Other Services:

  • Hosting Fees: Ongoing payments to host the application.
  • Marketplace Listing Fees: Fees for listing the app on platforms like the App Store or Google Play.
  • Third-Party Services: Costs for integrating and maintaining third-party services.
  • Tool Subscriptions: Recurring fees for tools used by the development and maintenance teams.
  • Transactional Fees: Charges by payment gateways for processing transactions.

Who You Hire to Handle Maintenance

  • In-House Team vs. Outsourcing: Maintaining an in-house team generally costs more than outsourcing the work.
  • Original vs. New Team: Some prefer the original development team for maintenance, while others outsource to a new team.
  • Location and Terms: The geographic location and contractual terms of the maintenance team also impact costs.

How Much Does It Cost to Maintain an App?

The average post-launch service costs are around 15% to 20% of the initial price of your app’s development. The exact cost will vary for each product, but this estimate provides a realistic idea of what to expect.

 

For example, if your app’s development cost was $150,000, you should budget around $2,000 to $2,500 per month for maintenance. Over a year, this would amount to approximately one-fifth of the development cost, highlighting the importance of including these expenses in your initial budget planning.

 

It’s important to note that creating extra features and developing new functionalities are generally considered separate milestones and are calculated separately. These costs are often based on a sprint basis, with specific chunks of work being released every two weeks.

Tips on Cutting Down App Maintenance Costs

Maintaining an app can be expensive, but there are several strategies you can implement to reduce these costs without compromising quality. Here are some effective tips to minimize app maintenance expenses:

Handle Urgent Issues First:

  • Prioritize Critical Fixes: Focus on addressing urgent and necessary repairs first. Non-critical issues can be added to the backlog and tackled during routine maintenance when more resources are available. This approach helps manage costs by spreading out less urgent fixes over time.

Consider Cross-Platform Development:

  • Single Solution for Multiple Platforms: Developing cross-platform apps allows you to create a single codebase that works on multiple platforms (e.g., iOS and Android). This can save time and resources compared to maintaining separate native apps for each platform.
  • Easier Maintenance: Cross-platform apps often have reusable code, making deployment and maintenance more straightforward and cost-effective.

Shop Around for Discounts:

  • Evaluate Service Providers: Regularly review and compare the costs of tools and services you use. Look for cheaper alternatives that offer the same or better functionality.
  • Negotiate Better Deals: Check if cloud hosting providers, payment systems, or other service providers offer better packages or discounts that suit your needs.
  • Optimize Tool Usage: Assess whether you need all the tools and services you’re currently using. Eliminating redundant or unnecessary services can cut down costs.

Find an Outsourcing Partner:

  • Outsource Maintenance Tasks: Consider outsourcing app maintenance to specialized companies. Outsourcing can be more cost-effective than maintaining an in-house team, as it eliminates expenses related to salaries, equipment, and benefits for full-time employees.
  • Access to Specialized Skills: Outsourcing gives you access to a broader pool of experts, which can be particularly beneficial if you need specialized skills for specific issues. You can quickly find the right professionals to handle complex problems without long-term commitments.

5 App Maintenance Best Practices:

To ensure your application runs smoothly and efficiently, following these best practices for app maintenance can help you stay organized and proactive:

1. Run Tests Regularly:

  • Proactive Testing: Conduct routine tests and code diagnostics to identify issues before they impact users. Regular testing helps catch performance, scalability, and security issues early.
  • Stay Vigilant: Even if you receive feedback from users about bugs or issues, ongoing tests are essential to uncover hidden problems and ensure everything is functioning as expected.

2. Monitor Performance:

  • Track Metrics: Use performance metrics to gauge how well your app is performing. High bounce rates may indicate issues with user experience or app performance, while high engagement metrics can confirm you’re on the right track.
  • Utilize Analytics Tools: Tools like Mixpanel or Amplitude can provide valuable insights into user behavior and app performance, helping you make data-driven decisions.

3. Don't Neglect Design Updates

  • Adapt to User Behavior: Regularly update your UX/UI design based on user feedback and behavioral data. Agile and evolving designs help improve user experience and keep your app relevant.
  • Make Incremental Changes: Even small design tweaks, such as rearranging elements or adjusting menus, can enhance usability and address user pain points.

4. Schedule Maintenance Work

  • Regular Updates: Schedule regular maintenance to avoid issues with outdated technology and to address bugs promptly. Consistent updates help prevent tasks from piling up and ensure timely support.
  • Set a Routine: Aim to perform maintenance and updates 1-2 times a month, dedicating 20 to 40 hours per month (or more, depending on the scope) to these tasks

5. Find Reliable People to Support Your App

  • Skilled Specialists: Ensure that your maintenance is handled by skilled app development professionals who understand your app’s intricacies. Ideally, the original development team is familiar with the app and can provide effective support.
  • Consider Alternatives: If needed, you can also outsource maintenance to other parties to free up your core team for new development projects while ensuring your app is well-supported.

Concluding Thoughts on App Maintenance Costs

App maintenance is essential and cannot be overlooked. Post-release support is an ongoing commitment that requires time, effort, and budget. Planning for these costs is crucial, as unexpected issues are inevitable.

Your budget should include provisions for application support and maintenance to manage these ongoing expenses effectively.

If you need a team to help develop and maintain your application, MentorSol offers extensive experience in custom mobile app development and maintenance. We’re here to assist you with both development and ongoing support to ensure your app remains functional and up-to-date. Feel free to reach out to discuss how we can meet your needs and support your product.

Frequently Asked Questions:

Maintenance ensures your app remains functional, secure, and up-to-date with new features and compatibility requirements.

Maintenance should be ongoing, with updates typically performed once or twice a month, though frequency may vary.

Maintenance costs vary based on the scope and complexity of issues, usually billed by the hour or based on specific tasks.

Maintenance often costs 15% to 20% of the initial development cost annually. For a $150,000 app, expect around $2,000 to $2,500 per month. But with MentorSol, you can maintain your app on a budget while still receiving top-notch quality of work.