Short answer: a standard Glassly template is free to create, and building your own idea needs a plan. The Basic plan is $5 a month and includes 50 credits for changes and new apps. Your total also depends on developer accounts and any external services you connect. A custom app quote can cover design, integrations, testing and support beyond that scope, so compare the work included before comparing the price. The full pricing page sets out our plans and limits.
How much does it cost to build an app the traditional way
There is no single agency price that describes every mobile app. Ask for a quote against a written brief: screens, user roles, integrations, supported devices, testing and maintenance. Check whether it includes the following work.
- Discovery and design: workshops, wireframes and a clickable prototype.
- Two codebases, or one cross-platform codebase, written by hand, then reviewed and tested.
- A backend: accounts, a database, file storage, hosting, and someone to keep it running.
- Quality assurance on real devices, then store listings, screenshots and review rounds.
- Changes after launch, billed by the day, because every change goes back through the same people.
How long does it take to build an app
Separate the first working preview from an app ready for your users. Generating screens, testing permissions, connecting live services and completing store review are different steps. Ask a supplier for milestones and dependencies. A quick first build does not establish how long the whole release will take.
What Glassly charges for building and changing an app
Standard templates are free to create, with a managed starter backend and a browser preview. New accounts receive 5 credits to try changes. Every message is priced by the work it takes: a simple app is ~15 credits, a bigger one ~50, and most fixes are a credit or two, though a stubborn bug costs more. These are estimates rather than fixed prices. The plans are Basic is $5 a month with 50 credits, Pro is $19 a month with 250 credits, Business is $49 a month with 1000 credits. Each plan supports the same build workflow, with different credit allowances.
A template starts with existing screens and logic. An app from your own description needs generation work first. Build queues, account setup, testing and store review can add time, so treat the first preview and the release as separate milestones.
Developer-account fees and other services
Developer accounts are paid separately. Glassly’s iPhone installation route needs your own Apple Developer Program membership, which costs $99 a year. Google charges a one-off $25 for a Google Play developer account, and only if you want to be on the store: installing on Android phones from a link does not need a Play account. Both accounts have to be yours, in your name or your company’s.
Fee sources: Apple Developer Program and Google Play developer registration. Our installation guide explains Glassly’s route on each platform.
The costs a cheap quote hides
- The backend. Some builders make the screens and leave you to rent and wire up a database. Here the backend comes with the app; on the free plan it sleeps after an hour of quiet and wakes in a few minutes, and paid plans keep it awake for around two days of inactivity. Your own Supabase project is required for production or store builds, integration secrets, or when you outgrow the starter limits; include its hosting costs in your budget.
- The changes. An app is never finished. Ask what a change costs before you ask what the build costs. Here it is a few credits, not a day rate.
- The phone. A builder whose output runs in a browser tab is not a mobile app builder, whatever the price. Ask whether it produces native builds or an installable web app, and test the device features you need.
When the expensive route is still the right one
If the app has to pass a regulator’s audit, talk to hardware, or plug into systems your company already runs, a team that owns those integrations earns its fee. For an app with screens, sign-in and data, try a relevant template and test it against your brief. The appointments template is one example: check its features and limits before deciding whether it covers the booking flow you need.
Compare the same brief, including testing, integrations and maintenance. A working template lets you test part of that brief before commissioning more work.