Shreyasi Madhu
Co-Founder & Engineer, PSBM Labs
A surprising number of first-time app founders budget carefully for the build and then treat launch as the finish line. It isn't. An app is a living product, and ongoing maintenance is a real, recurring cost that deserves its own line item.
What "maintenance" actually covers
- OS and dependency updates — Android and iOS ship yearly updates that can break existing functionality if the app isn't tested and updated against them.
- Bug fixes — no app ships bug-free; issues surface once real users, not just test accounts, start using it at scale.
- Store compliance — Apple and Google periodically change policy requirements, and non-compliant apps can be pulled from the store without much warning.
- Backend hosting and monitoring — servers, databases, and third-party API costs continue whether or not you're actively adding features.
- Security patches — dependencies used in your app get vulnerabilities disclosed over time and need periodic updates to stay safe.
A rough monthly framework
Maintenance cost scales with app complexity, not just user count. A simple utility app with no backend needs far less ongoing attention than a platform with real-time data, payments, and a growing user base. As a rough rule, budgeting a smaller percentage of your original build cost per month for the first year covers most of what comes up — but this varies enough that a specific quote against your actual app matters more than any generic percentage.
The cost of skipping maintenance
Apps that go unmaintained don't fail dramatically — they fail quietly. Crash rates creep up, store ratings decline, and eventually an OS update breaks something critical with no one watching to catch it. By the time it's noticed, the fix is often more expensive than it would have been under an active maintenance plan.
What to ask a development team before you sign
Ask explicitly what happens after launch: is there a maintenance retainer option, what's the response time for critical bugs, and who owns monitoring for crashes and errors. If a team can't answer this clearly during scoping, plan for that gap yourself.