How much does it cost to turn a spreadsheet into an app?

If your team runs on a shared spreadsheet and you want it to become a real app, the first question is usually what that costs. The honest answer is that it depends on a handful of things, and the way you are charged changes a lot with who builds it. This page walks through what moves the price and the ways you will be asked to pay, so you can read any quote you get with clear eyes.

What moves the price

A few things decide how much work an app really is.

• How many screens and roles. One screen for one person is quick. A screen each for the office, the floor and the owner, with different permissions, is more work.
• How many jobs it covers. One order book is smaller work than an order book, a crew schedule and a change order log joined into one app.
• What it connects to. An app that stands on its own is cheaper than one wired into your accounting, your email and the tools you already pay for.
• Whether your real data moves in. Sample rows are fast to make. Moving years of live data, cleaning it and keeping the old sheet in step takes care.
• Logins and permissions. A single shared login is simple. Real accounts, where each person sees only their own screen, add work.
• What happens after launch. Hosting, backups, security updates and the odd change are a running cost, month after month, on top of the build.

The ways you will be charged

Four kinds of people build these apps, and each one charges in its own way.

A no-code tool you build yourself

Platforms such as AppSheet, Glide, Softr and Airtable charge a monthly fee, usually for each person who uses the app. The cash cost is the lowest of the four. The build and the upkeep sit with you, or with whoever on your team takes it on. We go through the trade-offs between a no-code tool, a developer and a service in AppSheet, Glide or a developer.

A freelance developer

You pay by the hour or by the project. The figure moves with the scope and with how well that scope is written down before the work starts. A clear brief keeps it steady. A vague one lets it drift.

A software agency

You pay a project fee for the build and, often, a monthly retainer for support. This is the dearest of the four, with a team and a process behind it.

A fixed-price service

The price for each stage is set and published before you start, so you know the number up front. This is how we work, and the prices are on our offer page.

Why nobody can quote it blind

Scope is the thing that moves the price, so a number given before anyone has seen your sheet is a guess. A good quote comes after someone has looked at your columns and heard how your team works. That is the whole point of a short first call.

How we price it

We turn your shared spreadsheet into a prototype of your app, built from the column headers you already use. The price of the prototype and the price of the finished app are both set and published on our offer page, and you pay only if you like what you see. You can read the exact figures, stage by stage, in What it costs on that page.