Mobile App Development in Kenya and Across Africa

At Digital 4 Africa, a simple app or MVP costs KES 250,000 to 600,000. A business app with logins, M-Pesa payments and an admin panel costs KES 600,000 to 1.5 million. Complex platforms such as marketplaces and fintech apps start from KES 1.5 million. A USSD service costs KES 80,000 to 250,000 plus code fees. Prices are indicative, exclude store fees and were last checked in October 2026.

A USSD service takes 2 to 6 weeks, plus time for code approval. A web app takes 6 to 16 weeks. A cross-platform MVP usually takes 2 to 5 months, and a native or complex app takes 3 to 6 months or more. Allow extra time for store review, and about three weeks for a first launch on a new personal Google Play account.

In Kenya, start with Android or a cross-platform app. Over 90% of mobile devices in Kenya run Android, according to StatCounter data for 2026. Add iOS early if your users are in South Africa, in the diaspora or in premium segments, where iPhone use is higher.

A native app is built separately for each platform, in Kotlin for Android and Swift for iPhone and iPad. It gives the best performance and full access to device features. A cross-platform app uses one codebase, usually Flutter or React Native, for both platforms. It costs less, launches faster and suits most business apps.

Choose a mobile app when people will use it often or need phone features such as the camera, location, notifications or offline use. Choose a web app for portals, dashboards and internal tools, or to launch quickly without the app stores. Choose USSD to reach people with feature phones or no data. Many of our clients combine two of these.

It depends on the provider and the type of code. At the time of writing, Africa’s Talking lists shared Safaricom codes at KES 10,000 to 40,000, with users charged about KES 1 per session plus a small infrastructure fee. Dedicated codes cost more and need approval from the Communications Authority of Kenya and each mobile network. Our build fee is separate.

Google Play charges a one-time registration fee of USD 25. Apple charges USD 99 a year for the Apple Developer Program. You pay these fees directly, in your own name. Our publishing service covers account setup, store listings, privacy forms and review, and costs KES 15,000 to 40,000 per store.

Personal Google Play developer accounts created after 13 November 2023 must run a closed test with at least 12 testers for 14 continuous days before they can apply to publish. Organisation accounts are exempt. If you are a business, we recommend an organisation account. You will need a D-U-N-S number to register one.

Yes. We integrate M-Pesa through Safaricom’s Daraja API, including STK Push payment prompts, Paybill and Till payments, payouts and transaction status checks. We also connect Airtel Money and card payments through providers such as Pesapal, Flutterwave, Paystack and Stripe.

You do. Developer accounts are registered in your name or your company’s name, and you receive the source code and all logins once the project is paid in full. If you ever move to another team, everything goes with you.

Yes. We start with an audit of the code, security and data handling, from KES 50,000. You then get a fixed quote to clean up the app, connect it to a proper backend and publish it to Google Play and the App Store.

Our maintenance and support retainers cost KES 35,000 to 250,000 a month, depending on the size of the app and the response times you need. Google and Apple raise their technical requirements every year, so apps that are not updated can lose visibility or be removed from the stores.

Yes. We are based in Nairobi and work with clients across Africa and beyond. Our team was part of the development team behind The Social App, a messaging app based in the United States. We deliver remotely, travel on-site when needed and quote in USD, KES or your local currency.

We use Kotlin and Jetpack Compose for Android, Swift and SwiftUI for iPhone and iPad, Flutter and React Native for cross-platform apps, and React and Next.js for web apps. Backends run on Node.js, Python, Laravel, Firebase, Supabase or Frappe. For specialist work, we bring in trusted partners and contractors.

Yes. We add chat assistants, document and receipt scanning, smart search, recommendations and voice features, using models from OpenAI, Anthropic and Google. Our budgeting app, Kamp, includes Meelo, an AI money coach that suggests ways to save.