We maintain 30+ apps. Here is the real monthly cost of keeping an app alive — and the surprises that blow up budgets.
By David Friedman, Founder of AppBrewers
Founders budget for launch. They forget maintenance. We maintain 30+ web and mobile apps. The average founder underestimates maintenance costs by 60%. Here is the real breakdown.
Monthly Maintenance by App Type
| App Type | Users | Monthly Maintenance | Annual Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Simple landing page | N/A | 0-100 Euro | 0-1,200 Euro |
| Small SaaS (1-5K users) | 1,000-5,000 | 500-1,500 Euro | 6,000-18,000 Euro |
| Medium SaaS (5-50K users) | 5,000-50,000 | 1,500-5,000 Euro | 18,000-60,000 Euro |
| Large SaaS (50K+ users) | 50,000+ | 5,000-20,000 Euro | 60,000-240,000 Euro |
| E-commerce app | 1,000-50,000 | 1,000-4,000 Euro | 12,000-48,000 Euro |
| Marketplace | 5,000-100,000 | 2,000-8,000 Euro | 24,000-96,000 Euro |
Where the Money Goes
| Category | Small SaaS | Medium SaaS | Large SaaS |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hosting (Vercel/Firebase) | 50-200 Euro | 200-500 Euro | 500-2,000 Euro |
| Database (Firestore/PostgreSQL) | 0-100 Euro | 100-500 Euro | 500-2,000 Euro |
| Monitoring (Sentry, UptimeRobot) | 0-50 Euro | 50-200 Euro | 200-500 Euro |
| Bug fixes | 200-500 Euro | 500-1,500 Euro | 1,500-5,000 Euro |
| OS updates (iOS, Android) | 0 | 200-500 Euro | 500-1,000 Euro |
| Security patches | 0-100 Euro | 100-300 Euro | 300-1,000 Euro |
| Third-party API changes | 100-300 Euro | 300-1,000 Euro | 1,000-3,000 Euro |
| Feature requests | 200-500 Euro | 500-2,000 Euro | 2,000-8,000 Euro |
| Dependency updates | 100-200 Euro | 200-500 Euro | 500-1,500 Euro |
Hidden Costs Nobody Talks About
Apple/Google Policy Changes
Apple changes their guidelines every year. Google Play updates their policies. Each change can require 10-40 hours of work.
Cost: 1,000-4,000 Euro per major policy update.
Third-Party API Deprecations
That payment processor you integrated? They sunset their v1 API. Now you have 90 days to migrate.
Cost: 500-3,000 Euro per API migration.
Security Incidents
A dependency has a CVE. You need to patch immediately. Or worse: you get breached.
Cost: 500-5,000 Euro for patches. 10,000-50,000+ Euro for breach response.
User Growth Spikes
Your app goes viral. Firebase bill jumps from 200 Euro to 2,000 Euro overnight.
Cost: Unpredictable. Budget 2x your current hosting for spikes.
How to Reduce Maintenance Costs
| Strategy | Savings | How |
|---|---|---|
| Fixed maintenance retainer | 20-30% | Agencies give discounts for predictable monthly work. |
| Automated testing | 30-50% | Catch bugs before they reach production. |
| CI/CD pipelines | 20-40% | Faster deployments, fewer errors. |
| Dependency audits | 10-20% | Update proactively, not reactively. |
| Serverless architecture | 20-40% | Pay per request, not per server. |
Our Maintenance Packages
| Package | Monthly Cost | Includes | Best For |
|---|---|---|---|
| Essential | 500 Euro | Bug fixes, security patches, monitoring | Small SaaS |
| Growth | 1,500 Euro | Essential + feature requests, OS updates | Medium SaaS |
| Scale | 4,000 Euro | Growth + dedicated team, 24/7 support | Large SaaS |
Need a Maintenance Partner?
We maintain 30+ apps. Fast turnaround. Fixed monthly pricing.
Originally published on the AppBrewers Blog.
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