Guide
What an app redesign costs when every screen is rebuilt
New screens for a car wash chain’s membership app, built on the server it already has, price at $26,000 – $37,000 over 12–18 weeks. Drawing the new screens is about $4,500 of that, and building them is about $13,000. Rebuilding the whole app, server and staff portal included, is $41,000 – $57,000.
- $26,000 – $37,000
- New screens for the membership app, on its existing server
- $4,500
- What drawing the new screens comes to, inside that
- $17,500
- What rebuilding everything adds over the redesign
Written by
WhatWillMyAppCost
We build the estimator this site runs on, and we design and build custom mobile and web software for a living. Every figure below is the estimator’s own output, except the published vendor prices, which are read off each company’s own page and dated.
You’ve had the app for a few years. Members pay their plans in it, the server behind it is fine, and it looks its age. The reviews say people who use it every week still can’t find half of what’s in it. You want it redone without starting over.
One car wash chain’s app gets priced twice here: as a redesign on the server it already has, and as a rebuild from nothing. In between is where the redesign’s money goes, and what moves it.
How much does it cost to redesign an app?
$26,000 – $37,000 over 12–18 weeks, for a car wash chain’s membership app. The chain has 14 locations and a few thousand members. They open the app at the pay station to scan in with the phone’s camera, and use it to pay the monthly plan, see the nearest wash and get offers. It’s on iPhone and Android from one codebase.
The redesign keeps the brand, the members’ accounts and the staff portal. Every screen in the app gets drawn again and written again in new code, on the server that’s already there. The estimator has no setting for keeping the app’s current code and restyling it, so a refresh of today’s screens in today’s code isn’t what this figure covers.
Where does the money go in an app redesign?
The biggest share goes to building the new screens. Drawing them is one of the smaller lines. Of the $31,500 middle of the range, here’s roughly how it splits.
- Building the new screens, about $13,000
- Every screen in the app written again in code, wired to the server and checked on both platforms.
- Server changes, about $6,500
- What the new screens ask the server for that the old ones didn’t, such as a home screen that shows the member’s plan and their nearest wash together.
- Drawing the new screens, about $4,500
- Every screen members see, drawn again in the chain’s existing brand and signed off before building starts.
- Discovery, testing and project management, about $8,000
- Working out what members struggle with now, testing the new app on real phones, and running the project.
On the car wash app, drawing the new screens is about $4,500 and building them is about $13,000. When a redesign means new code under every screen, the code is the bigger bill, and on a new app the screens are a smaller part of it, as the app development process shows.
Is it cheaper to redesign an app or rebuild it?
Redesigning is cheaper by $17,500. Rebuilding the car wash app from nothing, with a new server and a new staff portal, comes to $41,000 – $57,000 over 14–21 weeks. About $13,000 of that difference is the staff portal, and a new server under the new screens adds about $4,500 on its own.
- The redesign
- $26,000 – $37,000. New screens on the server, accounts and staff portal you already have.
- The rebuild
- $41,000 – $57,000. All of that built again, including the parts that already work.
A rebuild is worth it when the server is the problem: it’s slow, nobody can change it safely, or it runs on something that’s no longer supported. That figure leaves out moving members’ accounts across, which what legacy app modernization costs prices. If the complaints are all about the screens, the server can stay. Keep it.
Does the server have to change in an app redesign?
Usually, and on the car wash app the server work is about $6,500 of the redesign, more than drawing the screens. If the server can serve the new screens exactly as it is, the redesign comes down by $3,500.
Either way, members keep their accounts and their plans, because those live on the server. Nobody signs up again. The redesigned app goes out as an ordinary update in both stores.
What makes an app redesign cost more or less?
Two things. What you already have, and what you change alongside the screens. On the car wash app:
A new brand at the same time, logo and colors included: $2,000 more.
Every new screen already drawn by a designer you hired: $3,500 less.
A server that needs nothing new: $3,500 less.
Switching to two separate native apps while you’re at it: $9,000 more.
The biggest of those is the switch to native, because the screens get built in two codebases, one for iPhone and one for Android. What app design costs goes further into what finished designs take off a build.
How long does an app redesign take?
12–18 weeks for the car wash app, against 14–21 weeks for a rebuild. The current app stays live the whole time, so members keep paying their plans and scanning in at the pay station on the old screens until they install the update. Nobody’s locked out in between.
Redesigning the car wash chain’s membership app on its existing server costs $26,000 – $37,000 and takes 12–18 weeks. About $4,500 of it is drawing the screens and about $13,000 is building them.
Rebuilding everything instead is $41,000 – $57,000, and most of the extra is a new staff portal.
FAQ
Questions about redesigning an app
How much does it cost to redesign an app?
A membership app with sign-in, monthly plans, notifications, a map and code scanning prices at $26,000 – $37,000 to redesign on its existing server. The biggest part, about $13,000, is building the new screens. Drawing them is about $4,500.
Can a redesign keep the app’s existing code?
Sometimes, but the estimator can’t price that. It prices every screen drawn and written again in new code, which comes to $26,000 – $37,000 for a car wash chain’s membership app. Restyling screens inside the code you already have is a different job, and how big it is comes down to the state of that code.
Should I redesign my app or rebuild it?
Redesign if the server works and the complaints are about the screens. Rebuild if the server is the problem. On a car wash chain’s membership app the difference is $17,500, and $13,000 of it is a new staff portal.
Will users lose their accounts when an app is redesigned?
No, if the server stays. Accounts, plans and history live on the server, and the redesigned app arrives as a normal update in the App Store and Google Play.
Does an app redesign include a new design system?
It does in this estimate. The design system gets drawn again with the screens, and it’s inside the $4,500 of drawing on a car wash chain’s membership app.
Can I redesign only part of an app?
Yes, though the price doesn’t drop in step with the screens. Setting up the new app and its design system costs the same for five screens or fifty. A version of a car wash membership app with only sign-in and the monthly plan still comes to $21,000 – $29,000.
Is a redesign a good time to switch to native?
Only if you need something one codebase can’t do. On a car wash chain’s membership app it adds $9,000, because the screens get built in two codebases, one for iPhone and one for Android. What React Native saves covers when native is worth it.