Hire an app developer in India: one engineer, a fixed price
The short answer
You can hire an app developer in India through a marketplace, an agency or a single senior engineer. One engineer suits the first version of one app: you talk to the person writing the code, the scope is written down, the price is fixed before work starts, and the code sits in your repository from the first commit.
Most people who search for an app developer have already been quoted once and are not sure the number is real. This page sets out what hiring one engineer looks like, what it is wrong for, and what to ask any developer before you pay.
I am Yaseen Khatib, a full-stack engineer working from Hyderabad. I build mobile apps, the web backends behind them and the admin screens you need to run them, and I work remotely with clients across India and abroad.
This is for you if
- You have one app to launch and want the person designing it to also be the person writing it.
- You want a fixed price against a written scope, not an hourly meter.
- You want the code in your own repository so you can hire anyone else later.
This is not for you if
- You need ten developers working in parallel from the first week.
- You need a 24/7 support desk with a phone line. One engineer cannot honestly offer that.
- You want a copy of a large consumer app with its own delivery fleet or its own payments network.
What a first engagement delivers
- A written scope: users, screens, what connects to what, and what is left out.
- A working app on real phones every week, not a status report.
- A backend and an admin screen, because an app nobody can manage is not finished.
- Deployment on infrastructure you control, plus documentation and a handover session.
Waits for version two
- A second platform once the first has real users.
- Push notifications and reminders beyond the basics.
- Anything that needs a team: a growth plan, a design system, a support rota.
Marketplace, agency or one engineer: which fits
A marketplace gives you the widest choice and the least protection. You do the vetting, you write the brief, and you find out about quality when the work arrives. It works well for small, well-defined jobs.
An agency gives you a team and a process, and a layer between you and the people writing the code. That layer is useful when the project is large. It is a cost when the project is one app and the main risk is that requirements get lost on the way down.
One engineer gives you a single person who holds the whole design in their head. The trade is capacity: it is the wrong choice when you need a large team, and I say so on the first call rather than after the deposit.
Android, iPhone or a web app first
Many first apps do not need to be native on both stores on day one. A web app that installs to the home screen reaches both platforms with one codebase. A wrapper such as Capacitor puts the same code in a store-ready Android app. I used that route for SpotAI: a Vue 3 and Capacitor app with a NestJS backend, shipped as an Android build and an iPhone web app.
Going native on both stores is the right call when you need deep device features or the store listing is part of how customers find you. Publishing to either store needs your own developer account, which is a step you control.
Questions to ask any developer before you pay
These are worth asking me as well:
- Can I see something you built alone, running, that I can open on my own phone?
- Who owns the code, and where does it live while it is being written?
- What is in the price, and what is quoted separately if I change my mind?
- What happens if you are unavailable halfway through?
- Who pays for hosting, store accounts and third-party services, and in whose name are they?
What it costs
A first app is usually either a fixed-scope build or a hosted tool with a customer-facing side. If you hold a quote you are unsure about, the architecture review costs less than the mistake it prevents.
Fixed-scope build
₹2,00,000 to ₹10,00,000
4–12 weeks. Written scope, fixed price, staged payments, source code in your repository.
Hosted · Growth
from ₹2,500/month
Setup from ₹40,000. A few tools, more staff, or something customers log into.
Architecture review & advisory
₹25,000 to ₹75,000
1–2 weeks. A written design and an honest cost range. It is yours whoever builds it.
These are my own prices. Cancel any month on hosted plans. If you would rather run it yourself, the source and deployment are handed over for a one-time fee. You are never locked in.
Related work you can open
- SpotAI: a two-sided mobile app Built and shipped solo: member app, owner console, backend and Android and iPhone builds you can install.
- IntegrateX case study A product decision and the engineering behind it, written up with the numbers.
- All shipped products Each links to source or a live demo.
What I have not built. I work on a limited number of builds at once. If I cannot start when you need me to, you hear that on the first call, not after a deposit.
Common questions
- How much does it cost to hire an app developer in India?
- It depends on the scope and on who you hire. My own fixed-scope custom builds are quoted between ₹2,00,000 and ₹10,00,000 over 4 to 12 weeks, and a single-purpose hosted tool starts at ₹15,000 setup plus ₹800 a month. Those are my prices, and other developers price differently. The call is free, and you leave with a written scope and a fixed number.
- Do I own the app and the source code?
- Yes on every fixed-scope build. The code lives in your repository from the first commit, with no licence to renew. On the hosted subscription I run the app for you, and the source can be handed over for a one-time fee.
- Can you build for Android and iPhone?
- Yes. For a first version I usually build one codebase that runs as an Android app and as an installable web app on iPhone, and move to native on both stores when the product justifies it. Store listings need your own Apple and Google developer accounts.
- I want an app developer near me. Does location matter?
- For most apps, no. I am in Hyderabad and work remotely with weekly demos on a real phone. If you want to meet in person in Hyderabad for the first conversation, that is easy to arrange.
Tell me what you want built
A few lines is enough. You get an honest opinion on whether it is worth building, a written scope and a fixed price, usually within a day.