Booking app development for service businesses
Your own iOS and Android booking app, with an office admin behind it, for businesses with staff, crews or several locations. Every build starts with a fixed-price Blueprint, so you know the scope and the price before any code is written.
Rent or build? Three questions
An honest first answer, based on the list prices in our cost guide. On price alone, renting usually wins.
Answer the three questions to see the result.
Three steps: Blueprint, build, care plan
One path for every app. You can stop after the Blueprint and keep everything it produced.
- 1. Booking App Blueprint14 to 21 days. A rent-vs-own cost sheet, a v1 feature list, a clickable prototype of 15 to 25 screens and a fixed build quote.Open
- 2. Custom booking and service appBuilt to the v1 feature list at the fixed price in your Blueprint, paid by milestones, published on your own store accounts.Open
- 3. App care planA monthly plan after launch: OS and SDK updates, store policy changes, monitoring, backups and small changes.Open
Week by week, from Blueprint to care plan
The Blueprint takes 2 to 3 weeks. The build has no fixed length on this page: your Blueprint quote sets it.
- Week 1Kickoff and researchA kickoff call, a walk-through of how bookings, crews, pricing and payments work today, and a look at the tools you use now.
- Week 2Prototype and reviewThe clickable prototype of the customer app and the key admin screens, and the feature list split into v1 and later. You review it with your team.
- Week 3Cost sheet and fixed quoteYour review applied, the rent-vs-own cost sheet, the architecture note and the fixed build quote with milestones.
- Set by your quote
Build
Built to the v1 feature list at the fixed price, paid by milestones. The number of weeks is in your Blueprint quote.
- After the build
Store launch
Submitted to the App Store and Google Play on your own developer accounts. Apple and Google set their review times.
- Every month
Care plan
OS and SDK updates, store policy changes, monitoring, backups and small changes, quoted monthly from your build.
What a booking app usually includes
Three sides of one system. Your Blueprint decides which parts are in v1 and which come later.
- Book, reschedule and cancel
- Pay online or leave a deposit
- Reminders and push notifications
- Sign in with Google or Apple
- History, plans and invoices
- Today's jobs or appointments
- Availability and time off
- Job notes and photos
- Status updates the customer can see
- Calendar, staff and services
- Customers, plans and contracts
- Payments and refunds
- Notifications and reports
Booking apps we have shipped
Two apps that are live in the stores today. Every link below goes to the real store listing.
Lawn and snow contracts, run from one app.
Customer app for iOS and Android, a Laravel API and an office dashboard for a landscaping company in Milton, Ontario. Seasonal lawn and snow contracts, Stripe payments and push alerts. Android is live on Google Play; the iOS app is in App Store review.
The production marketplace of Saudi.
A booking marketplace in Riyadh for studios, equipment, locations and crews: a customer app and a provider app, both live on the App Store and Google Play.
Laqtah (customers)
Laqtah Provider
By type of business
You own it
No platform between you and your customers. If you stop working with us, everything below stays yours.
- Code
- The source code of the apps, the API and the admin, in a repository you own once the build is paid.
- Store accounts
- The app is published on App Store and Google Play developer accounts in your name.
- Data
- Customer and booking data sit on a backend and hosting in your name.
- Handover
- Logins, setup notes and the admin accounts are handed to you at launch.
What we need from you before the Blueprint
Nothing has to be polished. Rough notes and screenshots are enough for the kickoff call.
- How bookings work today: the tool you use, a few screenshots, and where it gets in the way
- Your services and price list, plus any plans, packages or contracts you sell
- Who uses what: customers, staff or crews, and the office
- Your logo and brand colours, if you have them
- Accounts you already have, such as Stripe, Google Workspace or a calendar, and any system the app must talk to
- One person who can decide, for the kickoff call and the prototype reviews
Security and where your data lives
Plain facts about how we set up an app. If your business needs a specific compliance standard, raise it in the Blueprint so it is scoped before the quote.
- Card payments
- Stripe handles the card data. Card numbers go to Stripe, not to your server or ours.
- Where data lives
- Customer and booking data sit on your own backend and hosting, in your name.
- Backups
- Database backups are set up as part of the build, before launch.
- Access
- Admin accounts and roles are set up in the build, so each person sees only what their job needs. Customers can sign in with Google or Apple.
What we build with
This is the stack behind the Lawn By Moe app. The store accounts and the hosting are set up in your name.
- Flutter
- One codebase for iOS and Android
- Laravel
- API and backend
- Admin
- Office dashboard
- Stripe
- Payments and deposits
- FCM / APNs
- Push notifications
- Google / Apple
- Sign-in
How much does a custom booking app cost?
We quote every build at a fixed price, set in your Blueprint. For context, one published vendor guide puts a basic booking app at $20,000 to $30,000 and a mid-tier one at $40,000 to $60,000. Those are another company's figures, not our price; the cost page lists the sources.
What does the Blueprint cost?
$3,500, a fixed price, delivered in 14 to 21 days. 50% of it is credited to the build if you sign within 30 days.
Whose name is the app in?
Yours. It is published on your own Apple and Google developer accounts, and the customer data sits on a backend in your name.
Is a custom app worth it for a small shop?
Usually not. For 1 to 5 staff, renting Booksy, Vagaro, Jobber or Housecall Pro costs less than building and keeping an app, even over 3 years. Owning starts to make sense with many seats or locations, high marketplace commissions, or a way of working those tools do not fit.
What happens after launch?
The app care plan keeps it running: OS and SDK updates, app store policy changes, monitoring, backups and a set number of small change hours a month. It is quoted monthly from your build.
Start with a Booking App Blueprint
In 14 to 21 days you get a cost sheet, a v1 feature list, a clickable prototype and a fixed build quote. You keep all of it.
$1,750 comes off your build if you sign within 30 days.