Your number
$40,375
Your rate card
- Day rate$1,100 per day
- Hourlyfor anything that does not fit a day$150 per hour
- An app, version one$40,375 per project
- Monthly retainer$32,300 per month
What to charge for each thing (4)
- MVP$23,375 each
- New feature$5,100 each
- App store release and prep$1,075 each
- Maintenance month$2,775 per month
US rates for mobile app developers at your level, adjusted for your market. What you last got wins.
- an app, version one$40,375
For an app, version one, the quote is $40,375.
To take home $85,000 after $9,000 of costs and 30% tax you need to bill $134,286 a year. At 24 billable hours a week for 47 weeks that is $125 an hour, $950 a day. Anything under that is a pay cut you did not agree to.
Mobile app developers at your level in your market day at about $1,100 ($800 to $1,800 in New York and LA). Your income math lands under that, so the market number is the one to quote; the gap is a raise you are owed.
An app, version one runs $15,000 to $80,000 and takes about 250 hours of your time; at your hourly that is $37,500. The number is the higher of the two, because the client is buying the outcome, not the hours.
A retainer is the month, not the hours: a set scope, paid up front on the 1st. It is priced about 20% under the same work bought one at a time, in exchange for the certainty; three months minimum, or it is not a retainer.