Have an app idea? See the features, what it costs and how many weeks it takes.
How long does it take to build an app? An MVP usually takes about 9 to 17 weeks.
Onekode planning figures, October 2026.
A first version costs from a few hundred dollars to more than $50,000.
The First Version Report 2026, October 2026.
What moves both: the first version you pick (a prototype, an MVP or one ready to launch), who builds it, and how many kinds of user it has.
Spec works that out for your idea in about three minutes.
How does it work?
Tell it what your app does. It does the rest.
What do you get?
Your features, your weeks, your cost range.
The result has four parts:
A booking app for dog walkers.
Dog owners book local walkers and get a photo after each walk. A mobile app, an MVP, built by a small studio in South Asia. Spec found three kinds of user and left the admin out of the MVP.
How long does it take to build an app?
It depends on which first version you want, who builds it, and how many kinds of user it has.
The big figures online describe the whole product. Clutch puts a typical mobile app project at about 11 months.
Clutch, app development pricing guide, updated 21 September 2026.
A full product with its own back end and native apps can take 6 to 18 months. A first version is shorter.
The First Version Report 2026, October 2026.
About how many weeks, by first version and route
Spec’s own planning bands, October 2026. Planning figures, not a promise. Prototype and MVP: the dog-walker example above, run on Spec as a mobile app. Ready to launch: Spec’s range for a mobile app of the usual size, small to large. Building it yourself counts your own time.
What goes in a first version?
A first version is a choice, not a list.
Feature lists online give everyone the same features. Spec starts from what your first version has to prove.
What Spec leaves for later, and why.
Features you leave unticked go under “Saved for later”: reviews, referrals, growth features, both app stores. They only matter once people are using the app. They stay in your spec, but not in the first price. The cheapest feature is the one you build once you know users want it.
Not sure which first version you need? The cost guide’s first step walks you through it: Pick your goal → Launching to phones? The Launch List → has the store steps.
Where do the figures come from?
Market ranges, not our prices. Spec’s cost ranges come from The First Version Report 2026 (October 2026).
It draws on published price guides and rate surveys, sellers’ published prices for finishing AI-built apps, and founder funding data.
And on our own read of 2,779 founder product jobs posted on Upwork in September and October 2026, out of 16,363 posts read. These are budgets founders posted on one marketplace, not prices paid.
Studio and team ranges are planning ranges, not quotes.
None of it is an Onekode price. We price each app on its own brief.
Want a written spec and build plan?
Ask on the result screen, and it is written for your route.
On the result screen, press “Send me my spec and build plan”. A person on our team writes it for the route you picked. Back the same working day, subject to availability. Looking for an app specification template or example? This is it, filled in for your app.
If you want the spec turned into a plan with a fixed price and a date, that is the first step of Build My App.
Questions.
How long does it take to build an app?
An MVP usually takes about 9 to 17 weeks (Onekode planning figures, October 2026). A prototype takes about 4 weeks; an app ready to launch takes longer. It depends on who builds it and how many kinds of user it has. Big figures online describe a whole product. Spec gives the weeks for your idea in about three minutes.
How long does it take to build an app with AI?
A clickable prototype in Lovable, Bolt or Replit can take days. Making it ready for real users, with login, data rules, payments and tests, takes weeks more and usually a developer; sellers ask $2.5k–15k for that step (sellers' published prices, October 2026). Phones add store review on top.
How long does it take to build an app by yourself?
A clickable prototype in an AI builder can take days. In Spec's dog-walker example, an MVP built yourself was about 17 weeks of your own time (Onekode planning figures, October 2026). Login, data rules and payments take longest, so plan for a developer to finish those.
What features should an MVP have?
Login, real data, one core workflow done well, basic security, and payments if your idea needs them. That is it. Reviews, referrals, a second kind of user and the app stores can wait for version 2. Spec tags each feature Prototype, MVP or Launch and lists the rest under "Saved for later".
Is there an app specification template I can use?
Spec's result is a filled-in specification for your app, not a blank template: the kinds of user, the features for each tagged by stage, the weeks in four phases, a cost range for your route and the assumptions behind it. It is free and takes about three minutes. Ask on the result screen for the written version.
Is Spec free, and do I need to sign up?
Spec is free and needs no sign-up. You describe your app, answer five short questions and see the full result on screen: features by user, weeks and a cost range. The only time it asks for an email is if you want the written spec and build plan sent to you.
Is the cost a quote from Onekode?
No. It is what an app like yours usually costs for the route you pick, from The First Version Report 2026 (October 2026): market ranges from published price guides, sellers’ prices and founder job posts. Onekode does not publish prices. We price each app on its own brief, as one fixed price with a breakdown.
What happens when I ask for my spec and build plan?
You leave your email on the result screen. A person on our team reads your spec and writes the build plan for your route: prompts if you are building with AI, a brief for a developer, or a brief and phases for a team. It comes back the same working day, subject to availability. No call, no sales follow-up.
Spec your app in about three minutes.
Describe it in a sentence. See the features, the weeks and what it usually costs. Free, no sign-up.