Support and hidden costs after launching a website or app: what additional expenses should you budget for?

In brief

We provide a 2-year development warranty, which includes free fixes for bugs and defects introduced during the creation of your website or development of mobile application. We do not offer a separate subscription-based maintenance service. Any additional work—new features, client-requested changes, or updates required for new iOS or Android versions—is billed separately on a per-task basis. Regardless of the warranty, there are ongoing third-party costs that should always be included in your budget: hosting and domain registration (€50–250/year for a website), developer accounts (Apple Developer Program — $99/year, Google Play Console — one-time $25 registration fee), as well as payment processing fees and other usage-based third-party services.

Website expenses

1. Hosting and domain. Hosting typically costs €50–200 per year, depending on traffic volume and the hosting type (shared hosting or VPS). A domain name usually costs €10–20 per year. Backups, uptime monitoring, and basic security are generally included in your hosting provider's plan. It's worth confirming this when choosing a hosting provider rather than treating them as separate expenses.
2. SSL certificate. A standard SSL certificate is available free of charge through Let's Encrypt and is included with most hosting plans. Extended Validation (EV) and Organization Validation (OV) certificates, which verify the legal entity behind the website, typically cost €50–200 per year. They're not required for most websites and are mainly used by financial institutions and payment-related services.
3. Warranty vs. additional development. For 2 years after launch, all bugs and development defects are fixed free of charge. Any new functionality or changes to the original requirements are considered additional development and are billed separately, even if the work is carried out by the same team.
4. Content creation and updates. We do not provide content creation services such as writing copy, preparing images, or maintaining product catalogs. This is the client's responsibility, whether handled by an in-house copywriter, content manager, or an external contractor. These costs should be planned separately from the development budget.

React Native mobile app expenses

1. Developer accounts. The Apple Developer Program costs $99 per year and is mandatory. If the membership is not renewed, the app will be removed from the App Store. The Google Play Console requires a one-time $25 registration fee when creating a developer account.
2. Updates for new iOS and Android versions. Every 1–2 years, Apple and Google update their SDK requirements. Apps that are not updated to the latest target SDK eventually become ineligible for publishing new releases. This is not a development defect but a consequence of platform changes. Therefore, these updates are not covered by the 2-year warranty and are billed as additional development work. Depending on the scope of changes, such updates typically cost €500–2,000 every 1–2 years.
3. Usage-based third-party integrations. Payment processors typically charge a 1.5–3?e per transaction. SMS providers charge based on the number of messages sent. Mapping services (Google Maps API and similar) include a monthly free usage quota, after which additional requests are billed. Firebase Cloud Messaging (push notifications) is generally free until very high usage volumes.
4. Warranty vs. additional development. As with websites, bugs and development defects are fixed free of charge for 2 years. New features, UI redesigns, or changes to the application's business logic are considered additional development and are billed separately.
5. Backend scaling. If your user base grows significantly, you may eventually need to upgrade your server infrastructure or backend architecture. This is not covered by the warranty, as it is considered additional development. However, it's wise to allocate a budget for this possibility in advance rather than dealing with unexpected costs later.

Costs that are most often overlooked

1. Annual Apple Developer Program renewal. This is the one recurring payment that can quietly cause your app to disappear from the App Store if you forget to renew it.
2. Updates for new iOS and Android releases. Many people assume that once an app is launched, it will simply keep working. In reality, mobile platforms evolve continuously, and without periodic paid updates, your app will eventually become ineligible for future releases.
3. Payment processing fees. These fees are often overlooked when calculating a product's unit economics, even though they are an ongoing operational expense.
4. Additional development work. Many clients assume that future improvements are covered by the warranty. In reality, the warranty covers only defects in the original development. Any new feature, even a minor one, is considered additional development and is billed separately. It's important to understand this before signing the contract, not after the project has been delivered.

What you should actually budget for

Fixed and predictable expenses—such as hosting, domain registration, and developer accounts—should be included in your annual budget from the start.

Variable costs—including updates for new iOS and Android versions, payment processing fees, and infrastructure scaling as your product grows—are harder to predict. Even so, it's worth keeping a financial reserve instead of assuming that a 2-year warranty covers every future expense.

Sources

• Apple Developer Program — annual membership fee.
• Google Play Console — one-time developer account registration fee.