A managed app (sometimes called mobile app as a service) is a branded app that a provider builds, hosts and runs for you for a monthly fee. This post covers what ours costs, what the fee includes, what it doesn't, and how it compares with building and running your own. All prices are before tax.
The short answer
- Managed Apps start at USD 1,000 (JPY 150,000) a month.
- Run in-house, the tech stack alone for a business app can cost up to USD 5,000 a month, before the people to maintain and extend it and the devops. The managed fee covers the stack, the upkeep and the devops; new features are priced separately.
- Launch services (setup, branding, publishing and any custom features) are a one-time cost, scoped and priced before we start.
What sets the monthly price
Mainly two things: how many people use the app, and which features it needs. We give you the monthly figure before you commit.
What the monthly fee includes
- Your branded app on iOS, Android and web
- Accounts, messaging, push notifications and payments
- Web-based administration for your staff
- Hosting, updates and 24/7 monitoring
- Support during business hours in US and Japan time zones
The app runs on the Fluxweave Platform, which we have developed for more than a decade, so those parts already exist. That is why a managed app can be live in weeks rather than months.
What you own, and the terms
You own your data, your users and your brand, and your App Store listing sits in your own developer account. Fluxweave owns and runs the software. The terms are short:
- No long-term contract. Leave any time.
- If you leave, we export your data in JSON.
- If we change the price, you get 180 days' notice.
If owning the code matters to you, because the software is your edge or you plan to sell the company, build instead. Do I need to own my app's code? goes into that choice.
Managed or build your own: comparing the cost
A custom app has two costs: building it, and keeping it running. With us, building starts with a Discovery Sprint, which ends with a fixed-price build proposal or a plan for a Dedicated Team. Running it afterwards means a Support plan, plus hosting. The figures for each are on our pricing page.
So a fair comparison over, say, three years is:
- Managed: the launch services, plus 36 months of the monthly fee.
- Build: Discovery and the build price (or the team months it takes), plus 36 months of support and hosting.
For a business app that does what the platform already does well, managed is usually the cheaper route. For software with features nobody else offers, a build usually wins, and you own it. How much custom business software costs gives the build side in detail.
Questions to ask any provider
- What does the monthly fee include, and what costs extra?
- Who owns the data, the users and the App Store listing?
- Can we export our data, and in what format?
- How much notice do we get before a price change?
- Is there a minimum term?
For more on how the model works, read what is mobile app as a service? Every price we have is on our pricing page.