The real cost of an AI-built app, from prompt to store (first 12 months)

Building an app with AI costs little; publishing it and keeping it alive is where the bill sits. Over the first 12 months, billed yearly, count about $270 to $790 with an AI generator that publishes or a native no-code tool, Apple and Google fees included, and up to $1,275 if your path means buying a Mac. For a fitness app, published estimates for an agency-built first version start around $30,000.

Free stops at the store

Every tool lets you build for free. None lets you ship for free. Pierre-Laurent Medori, Head of Backend Engineering at GoodBarber, sums it up in a post signed on dev.to on September 1, 2026: you can build an app for free anywhere, and ship one for free nowhere. His comparison of free plans, with pricing pages checked on August 26, 2026, finds that none of the six free plans he compares publishes a native app to the App Store or Google Play.

The reason is structural: a published app has to be rebuilt every time Apple or Google raise their requirements, and its backend runs every day. Someone pays for that, and on a free plan it is usually you, in branding, limits or time.

The cost lines nobody adds up

Line	What it costs (checked November 12, 2026)	When it applies
Tool subscription	$144 to $624 a year for an entry plan that publishes, billed yearly	Always
Extra credits	Lovable: $15 per 50 credits. Draftbit: from $5. Rork: top-ups cost more per credit than plan credits	When the monthly allowance runs out
Backend and database	Included at Bolt, Draftbit (Supabase built in) and Rork’s paid plans. Supabase Pro from $25/month if you outgrow its free plan	When the tool doesn’t host it
Expo build	Free: 15 iOS and 15 Android builds a month, low priority. Starter: $19/month plus usage, no yearly price shown	React Native projects you publish yourself
Apple Developer Program	$99 per membership year	Any iPhone app
Google Play Console	$25, once	Any Android app
A Mac	Mac mini from $899 (Apple US store)	iOS builds you compile yourself, for example with Capacitor
Store commissions	15% in the small business programs, more above $1 million	Digital sales inside the app
Submission help	A service or a freelancer, optional	If you don’t want to handle review yourself
Maintenance	Your time, or a line in an agency quote	Every year

Credits: what happens when they run out

This is the line that surprises people. At Lovable, when the workspace is out of credits, building stops, AI features in your published app stop working, and a Lovable Cloud backend pauses: the data is kept, but you can’t access or export it until you add credits. The pages keep serving. Credits on a yearly plan stay valid until one month after the year ends; top-ups last 12 months.

Elsewhere the rules differ. Bolt keeps unused tokens for up to two months on paid plans. Draftbit credits expire one year after they’re added, and you can also plug in your own Claude or ChatGPT subscription. Rork’s plan credits reset on your billing date. Rork describes its entry plan as suited to simple apps and prototypes.

A Mac, or not

Capacitor, the usual way to wrap a Lovable web app, needs macOS and Xcode to build the iOS version. Expo Build compiles iOS apps on Expo-hosted Macs, Rork compiles in the cloud, and native no-code tools build for you. If you don’t own a Mac, that choice is worth $899.

Store commissions

They only apply to digital sales: paid apps, in-app purchases and subscriptions. Apple requires another payment method for physical goods and services used outside the app.

• Apple: 15% in the App Store Small Business Program, open to developers with up to $1 million in proceeds. Outside it, on a subscription, Apple keeps 30% during the subscriber’s first year, then 15%.
• Google: in the US, UK and EEA since June 30, 2026 (Australia and Japan since September 30), 10% plus a 5% billing fee on your first $1 million of yearly earnings. Elsewhere, 15% on the first $1 million for developers in the 15% tier, 30% above, and 15% on subscriptions.

On a $10 monthly subscription, at 15% you keep $8.50.

Maintenance: the yearly rebuild

Since April 28, 2026, Apple requires apps uploaded to be built with the iOS 26 SDK. Since August 31, 2026, Google requires new apps and updates to target Android 16 (API 36), and raises the bar every year. With an AI generator or a web wrapper, each of those rebuilds is yours: new prompts, new credits, a new submission. On Google Play, a new personal account must also run a closed test with 12 testers for 14 days before the first release. Our guide on how to publish an AI-built app details the steps.

The 12-month total, per path

Assumptions: one app on both stores (iPhone only for Rork), individual developer accounts, the cheapest plan that publishes, billed yearly when the vendor offers it, no extra credits. Not included: taxes, commissions, domain name and your time. All prices are in US dollars. All checked on November 12, 2026.

Path	Example setup	Tool, first year	Store fees	First 12 months
(a) Web generator, you publish	Bolt Pro + Expo free tier	$216 (billed yearly)	$124	$340
	Lovable Pro + Capacitor	$252 (billed yearly)	$124	$376, or $1,275 with a Mac mini
(b) AI generator that publishes	Draftbit Standard	$144 (billed yearly), plus your AI subscription or credits	$124	$268 and up
	Rork Pro, iPhone only	$240 ($20/month, no yearly price shown)	$99	$339
	Newly Apex, 100 credits a month	$240 (billed yearly)	$124	$364
(c) Native no-code tool	FlutterFlow Basic	$351 (billed yearly), backend separate	$124	$475 and up
	Thunkable Builder, 1 published app	$444 ($37/month billed yearly)	$124	$568
	Adalo Builder, 2 published apps	$624 (billed yearly)	$124	$748
	GoodBarber Premium	$660 (billed yearly)	$124	$784
(d) Agency or freelancer	First version	$30,000 to $50,000	$124	$30,124 and up, maintenance on top

In group (c), GoodBarber is the most expensive. It is also the only one that publishes its stack, native engines written in Swift and Kotlin, and includes the backend: FlutterFlow produces Flutter and leaves the backend to you, while Adalo and Thunkable don’t publish their stack. If an installable web version is enough for you, without going through the stores, GoodBarber’s Standard plan costs $360 a year ($30 a month), with no Apple or Google fees.

The agency range comes from Pierre-Laurent Medori’s reading of published estimates for a fitness app (September 25, 2026); a full-featured app runs from $75,000 to $600,000 in the same article.

What the totals don’t show: paths (a) and (b) are cheap in cash and expensive in time, since every store requirement lands on you. At GoodBarber, native iOS and Android apps start with the Premium plan. Hosting and the backend are included in the subscription, and GoodBarber takes no commission on the app’s sales (Apple’s and Google’s still apply to digital sales). As an option, the GoodBarber Takes Care service handles submission, for $50 for 5 credits. The source code, on the other hand, can’t be exported. FlutterFlow is cheaper and lets you download your code, but the backend is yours to run.

Our take

• You’re testing an idea: stay on a free plan or a single month. Don’t pay for a year before you know the app will be used.
• You want the cheapest real launch and you’re comfortable with a terminal: Bolt with Expo, or an AI generator that publishes such as Draftbit or Newly. Count $270 to $365 for the year, plus credits.
• You have a Lovable web app and no Mac: the wrap costs you a Mac. Check first that the app does more than a website, or Apple may reject it, as we explain in why Apple rejects AI-built apps.
• The app has to keep running without you: a native no-code tool costs more per year, $475 to $784 here, GoodBarber included. It builds for you, though you still republish the app every year. Our comparison of AI tools for mobile apps helps you pick one.
• Your needs are truly specific: an agency, with a budget of $30,000 and up, plus maintenance.