App Store Cost to Publish: What an Owner Pays

App store cost to publish for a San Antonio or Austin shop owner: the store fee, the build, the upkeep and who submits, with a table to copy.

Say you own a cafe in San Antonio and you want an app on customers' phones. The app store cost to publish is one line on the bill. The build, the upkeep and the person who submits the app cost more. Apple and Google each charge their own fee, and each posts the current figure on its own page. This post puts every cost in one table you can copy.

Key Takeaways

The store fee is one cost. The build and the upkeep are the others.
Read the current fee on Apple's and Google's own pages the week you decide.
Someone must test, fix, rebuild and resubmit the app for every iOS release.
Ask any studio who submits the app and whose account it lives in.

How much does it cost to publish an app on the App Store?

Apple charges a fee to publish. The figure is set by Apple and can change, so read it on Apple's developer pages before you budget. We do not copy it here, because an old number would mislead you.

The fee is the entry ticket. You still need an app to put in the store. Every app is also checked against Apple's App Store Review Guidelines before it goes live.

Does it cost money to publish an app on the App Store?

Yes. Paying the fee does not finish the job, because the app still has to be built and kept running.

Think of three buckets.

Store fee. Paid to Apple or Google.
Build. Paid once, to a studio or a developer.
Upkeep. Paid every month, for hosting, fixes and new iOS releases.

How much does it cost to publish an app on Google Play?

Google charges its own fee to register as a developer. The current figure sits on Google's Play Console Help pages. Look it up when you are ready to publish.

If you want both stores, ask the studio to price each one. An iPhone app and an Android app are two builds, not one.

How long does it take to publish an app on the App Store?

Apple decides, and we have not measured it. Leave room for a fix and a second submission if Apple asks for a change.

This is why upkeep matters. A new iOS release can break an app that worked last month. Someone has to catch that and resubmit.

What does it cost to keep an app on the App Store after it is live?

An app is not finished at launch. Each iOS release needs a test, a fix, a rebuild and a new submission. The app also needs a server for its data and a way to send push notifications. Bugs need fixing.

At Kin Studios, the monthly price covers all of that. It covers backend hosting and push delivery, every iOS release (test, fix, rebuild, resubmit), bug fixes, and two edit requests a month, app or website.

If you hire a one-time developer with no care plan, ask who does this work next September.

Who submits the app if I hire a studio?

The studio should, and you should ask before you sign. Ask three things.

Who submits the app?
Whose name is the store listing under?
Who handles it when Apple asks for a change?

Kin App Pro includes your own App Store listing, with a 12 month minimum. See a Kin App with its own App Store listing.

What is the app store cost to publish in total? A table to copy

The Kin rows come from our posted prices. The store fee row is blank on purpose. Fill it in from Apple's and Google's pages.

Cost	Who is paid	How often	Kin App	Kin App Pro	Custom App
Store fee	Apple, Google	Check their pages	Fill in	Fill in	Fill in
Setup	Studio	Once	$1,500	$3,500	From $25,000
Monthly	Studio	Each month	$199	$399	$450 care
Minimum term	Studio	Contract	12 months	12 months	Quoted after a call

Custom App is half to start and half when it is live on the App Store. Our custom quotes so far run from $25,000 to $45,000. Care for the first 3 months is included.

An illustrative example, with every number an assumption. Say the cafe owner picks Kin App Pro and stays 12 months. Setup is $3,500. Twelve months at $399 is $4,788. Together that is $8,288 for the first year, plus the store fee you looked up. Redo it with your own plan.

For a retail case, read what a shop app costs. For the steps before you publish, read how to create an app for your business.

FAQ

Is the store fee the main cost of an app? No. In our table it is one row, and the build and monthly upkeep are the bigger ones.

Can I publish an app myself? Yes, if you follow Apple's guidelines. You then own every release and every fix.

Does Kin submit the app for me? For Kin App Pro, yes: it includes your own App Store listing, and the monthly price covers every iOS release.

Next step

Look up Apple's and Google's current fees, fill in the blank row, and compare. Then see the Kin App plans to price the rest.