Do you need an app, or something simpler?
An app is not always the answer. A good website with a booking form can serve many businesses, and a standard tool can serve many more. We say so when it is true. An app earns its cost when customers come back often, when they do something on it (book, order, pay, track, log), or when your staff need a tool that works on a phone in the field.
- A web app runs in the browser on any device. It is the faster and cheaper way to start, and often all you need.
- A mobile app is installed from the app stores. It makes sense when customers use it weekly, when you need notifications, or when it must work with the phone's camera or without a connection.
- Often both: a web app for the office and a mobile app for customers or crews, sharing one back end.
App development company in Canada: what we build
- Customer apps. Booking, ordering, memberships, loyalty, account pages and notifications, built around your service instead of a generic template.
- Staff apps. Job lists, checklists, time and expense capture and approvals that work on a phone, including where the signal is weak.
- Client portals. A login where customers see status, documents and invoices, and message you.
- Admin panels. The back office for your own app: customers, subscriptions, payments and reports.
- Integrations. Payments, QuickBooks, Shopify, CRM and email, so the app is part of how the business runs and not another island.
What it takes, in tokens
Every task has a set size, quoted before it starts. A small change is 1 token and a bug is 3. A new simple screen, such as a list or a form, is 5. A report or dashboard is 6, a landing page is 8, and a complete feature, meaning a full flow like booking or checkout, is 10. An integration with payments, invoicing or a CRM is 12. A first version of a focused app is a handful of complete features, a few screens and one or two integrations. We total it for you before the first token is spent.
How an app build runs
- 1Call and kickoff
We map how your business makes money and what the app should change: more bookings, fewer calls, a new revenue line. Nothing is charged until the kickoff is done.
- 2A small first version
We start with the one flow customers will use most. The first delivery arrives in week 1 after the kickoff, and you can click through it.
- 3Release, learn, add
We release to a few real users, watch what they do, and add the next feature from what we see, not from a guess made six months earlier.
- 4App stores and accounts in your name
Domains, hosting, Apple and Google developer accounts and every key are registered to your business. Hosting of your app (AWS, Firebase, Sentry) is included in the plan.
An example: HN Fit for Harrison Nutrition
Harrison Nutrition is a nutrition business that had an app another developer left behind. We took it over, and their clients now live in HN Fit: workouts, nutrition and set logging, and video courses sold as a premium membership, which gave the business a new revenue line. An admin panel handles subscriptions, receipts, income and expenses. If your app already exists and is stuck, see software project rescue.
What a custom app costs
Plans are monthly: Starter at $1,270 (8 tokens), Growth at $2,290 (20 tokens) and Scale at $3,980 CAD (40 tokens), plus GST/HST. A Growth month buys two complete features, so a focused first version usually takes a few months and you can see progress at every step. As a project, a custom app from a Toronto studio commonly costs $80,000 to $130,000 for a first version and $130,000 to $220,000 CAD for a medium app. We explain the ranges and what moves them in what custom software costs in Canada, and the app-specific numbers in app development cost in Canada.
If you need to launch faster for a season or an event, you can move up one or two plans for a month and then back down.
Guaranteed, visible and yours
The first month is guaranteed with a full refund if it does not convince you. A bug costs 3 tokens and is fixed until it works, free if it fails again within 30 days. Every task, bug and token appears in the platform, on the web and in the app, with a monthly meeting with the senior lead. Only senior specialists work on your app; AI makes them faster, and the decisions and review are human. You sign a Canadian contract with APRed and pay in CAD, and the team works from Mexico City on your business hours.