The published range for a custom mobile app build, simple to complex. It’s why the first thing we deliver is whether you need one.
Source: Appinventiv 2026 app development cost guideAverage cost of a custom app across an industry survey of 5,000+ development projects.
Source: GoodFirms app development cost surveyOf the build cost, every year, just to keep an app working as devices, operating systems and store policies change.
Source: 2026 app maintenance cost guidesWhat’s included
An app is a bigger commitment than a website, so the first thing we deliver is an answer to whether you need one at all. When you do (offline use, push notifications, a login people come back to every week), this is the whole job: defining it, building it, getting it on the store shelf, and keeping it working when the next OS update breaks something.
Focus areas · Build & ship
Product definition
What it does, who would open it more than once, and whether it should exist at all. We answer that before any money goes into a build. See a sample brief →
Design & prototyping
Screens and flows agreed on and clickable before we write a line of production code.
iOS & Android
Native builds for both, from one shared codebase when that’s the right call.
Store submission
Listings, screenshots, the review process, and the rejections that come with it. We handle all of it.
Push & notifications
The reason most apps earn a spot on the home screen. We design them to be welcome, so people don’t mute them.
Backend & integrations
Booking systems, CRMs and whatever already runs your business, connected properly, including the website the app has to agree with.
Analytics & measurement
Who opens it, what they do in it, and who comes back. Measured from launch day.
Maintenance
OS updates, store policy changes and the breakage they cause every year. It’s part of the engagement, not a surprise invoice.
The shelf your app lands on
Shipping the app is only half the job. This is the shelf it lands on, and the listing decides whether anyone installs it. The parts we write, test and maintain are labeled.
4What’s New Version 2.4 — offline tide tables, faster booking, support for the newest OS release.
- Name and subtitle. This is the listing’s search copy. We write and revise it like ad copy, because that’s what it is. Most installs are decided before anyone taps through.
- Rating and reviews. The number that drives installs. Asking for a review at the right moment is a build decision, not a marketing afterthought, and it feeds your wider reputation work.
- The screenshots. The first two do most of the selling. We design them around what the app does for the customer instead of exporting whatever screen happened to look tidy.
- The update line. Proof the app is alive. Operating systems change every year. An app with a stale update date reads as abandoned, and eventually is.
How we compare
We read the app development pages that rank for this work, and the warnings AI assistants give buyers who ask whether they need an app at all. The left column is what we found.
The typical app shop
- Every inquiry needs an app; the answer arrives before the question
- Enterprise logos and six-figure price ranges aimed at a small business
- Maintenance discovered in year two, with no budget for it
- The store listing treated as paperwork after the build
- Ownership of code and developer accounts left vague
- A price band on the page, a very different number after scoping
Southern Tide Media
- Product definition first, and it’s allowed to conclude you don’t need one
- Two apps shipped in this market, both on the work page
- Maintenance priced with the build, before you commit
- Listing copy and screenshots written as part of the job
- Your code, your design files, your developer accounts
- $95/hour, and a written scope the estimate is built from
Where it starts
Quoted per projectThe buildScoped and priced in writing after product definition: the smallest version that’s useful, priced from the work involved. If the definition says you don’t need an app, that’s the finding, and it’s free.
How pricing worksShould this app exist? Four questions
The single best predictor. An app that gets opened twice a year is a website with extra steps and a yearly maintenance bill.
Tide tables on the water, a job sheet in a basement, a boarding pass in a dead zone. If the phone always has a signal, the browser is fine.
A timely message people want, not a marketing blast. Notifications people mute are worse than no app at all.
Accounts customers value: bookings, membership, saved history. If the biggest drop-off in your checkout is account creation, the answer is no.
Two clear yeses and an app is usually worth pricing out. Fewer than that and we’ll recommend the cheaper route and tell you what would have to change for the answer to flip. That finding is the deliverable, and it comes before any build quote. See a sample product definition brief →
How pricing works
No two apps are the same job, so there are no tiers here. Pricing is a process: define the app first, then scope and price it in writing before anything starts.
Scoped and priced in writing after product definition: the smallest version that’s useful, priced from the work involved. If the definition says you don’t need an app, that’s the finding, and it’s free.
The same standard rate as everything else we build. Estimates come from the scope, not from a rate you can’t see.
OS and store-policy changes break things on a predictable yearly cycle. Maintenance is priced up front with the build, so you know what year two costs before you commit.
Bundling is cheaper than buying the pieces.
See plans & pricingHow long it takes
What to expect
App timelines depend on scope, so we won’t invent week numbers. The sequence is always the same, and you approve each step before the next one starts.
Scope the smallest useful version, price it, and agree on the screens and flows before any code.
Built for iOS and Android, tested on real devices, and put in front of real users before we submit.
Submitted, launched, then kept current as Apple and Google change things underneath it.
Who we help
We’ve shipped apps for this market. The Myrtle Beach Golf app and Condo A La Carte are both ours, and both are on the work page. Here’s where apps earn their keep:
Hospitality & Resort
Guest and owner apps: bookings, unit info and stay details on the home screen.
Explore →E-commerce & DTC
A login customers return to every week, when a browser can’t do the job.
Explore →Medical & Med Spa
Appointments, aftercare and reminders, delivered by push notification.
Explore →Recreation & local guides
Course guides, trail maps, event apps. Useful tools people keep.
Don’t take our word for it
“The Southern Tide Media team has smartly positioned itself as partners, versus “vendors.” Each step along the strategic path, I feel as if they are “all in” and have our best interests at heart.”
“Southern Tide Media increased our conversion rates on our SEO campaigns by 60% in short time… Brandon takes the worry out of all the technical jargon and translates that into workable applications you can understand as a business owner.”
“In every dealing I have ever had with Brandon Evans, he has been knowledgeable, fair, and has responded quickly. I would highly recommend using him for any of your business’s marketing or advertising needs!”
Questions, answered
Do I actually need an app?
Probably not, and we’ll tell you so. A fast mobile site covers most cases, costs a fraction as much, and reaches the customer who will never install anything. An app earns its place when you need offline use, push notifications, or a login people come back to every week. The sample product brief shows what the answer looks like when it comes back “not yet.”
Have you shipped apps before?
Yes. The Myrtle Beach Golf app and Condo A La Carte are both ours, both built for this market. Both are on the work page.
Why quote per project instead of publishing a price?
Because every other price on this site is published, and we won’t print a number here we can’t stand behind. Two apps with the same one-line description can differ by a factor of five depending on integrations, offline behavior, and how much has to be built instead of configured. What we can commit to is the rate the estimate is built from, $95/hour, and a written scope before anything starts.
Native, cross-platform or hybrid: which do I need?
Whichever the job calls for, and we’ll say which and why. A native build (written separately for iPhone and Android) is worth the extra cost when speed, offline use or deep device features matter. One shared codebase that runs on both is often the right call for a straightforward booking or account app. We won’t pick the one that suits us and call it your requirement.
Do you handle the App Store and Google Play submission?
Yes: listings, screenshots, descriptions, the review process, and the rejections that come with it. The listing is a sales page, not paperwork. The name, subtitle and first two screenshots decide most installs, so we write them the way we write ad copy.
Who owns the app and the code?
You do. The code, the design files, the store listings and the developer accounts, all in your name. Same rule as everything else we build: if we part ways, you leave with a working product and its source code.
What if we build it and nobody uses it?
That risk is real, and it’s why product definition comes first and is allowed to end in “don’t build this.” When we do build, we measure from launch (installs, opens, repeat use) so the second version is shaped by what people do, not by what the roadmap assumed.
What happens when Apple or Google changes something?
We handle it. OS updates and store policy changes break things on a predictable yearly cycle, and keeping up is part of the engagement, not a surprise invoice. Scope and any setup work are disclosed up front, and after any initial term the maintenance arrangement runs month to month with 30 days’ notice.