Logistics app development cost
A driver app with tracking and proof of delivery on top of an existing system runs $90,000 to $150,000. A full dispatch platform with a customer app, driver app and operations console runs $280,000 to $600,000.
Cross-platform mobile, 30 screens, 3 user roles, with the compliance posture this vertical carries.
- Timeline
- 5.5 – 7.6 months
- Engineering hours
- 2,825 – 3,600
- Data sensitivity
- 3 of 5
- Default security posture
- Hardened
Compliance and security add $40,467 here
That is 9% of this build, measured rather than asserted: we priced the identical app with no named regime and a baseline security posture, and this is the difference. None of it produces a user-visible feature, and none of it can be retrofitted cheaply.
Regimes that apply in this vertical
- SOC 2 Type IINobody by law. In practice it is the entry ticket for selling software to any US mid-market or enterprise buyer, and it is asked for during procurement rather than after.
- $20K – $48K audit
- CCPA / CPRABusinesses over the revenue or data thresholds with California consumers. In practice, most US consumer products at any scale.
- $0 – $8K audit
- ADA / Section 508 accessibilityPublic sector procurement contractually, and in practice any consumer or education product large enough to attract a complaint.
- $6K – $20K audit
Systems you will likely integrate with
- Google Maps PlatformMaps, places, geocoding, routes and distance matrix.
- simple
- TwilioSMS, voice and WhatsApp, plus US 10DLC registration.
- simple
- ERP (SAP, NetSuite, Dynamics)Master data, orders and financials against a system of record.
- complex
- Custom / in-house APIA system you own, but did not build for this product.
- moderate
- AWSAccounts, networking, IAM, managed services, cost controls.
- moderate
What makes logistics & transportation different
Live location is expensive on every axis
Continuous tracking costs battery, bandwidth, database writes and real-time infrastructure. It is usually the single largest running-cost line in a logistics product.
The field is offline more than you think
Warehouses, basements and rural routes have no signal. Offline-first storage with queued writes and conflict resolution is a serious piece of client engineering.
Dispatch is an optimisation problem
Matching supply to demand under time, distance and capacity constraints is real algorithmic work, and it is where these products either succeed or quietly fail.
Who uses software in this vertical
Each additional role brings its own screens plus a row in a permission matrix that grows faster than the role count — because every new role is a question about every role that already exists.
End customer
The public-facing app
Staff / operator
Day-to-day operational screens
Manager / supervisor
Approvals, oversight, reporting
Administrator
Configuration, users, permissions
Partner / vendor
A second side with its own account
Four standards of finish
The same app in logistics & transportation, built to four different levels of depth.
| Level | Cost range | Timeline | Hours | Team |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| MVP Prove it works | $260K – $360K | 4.6 – 6.5 months | 2,225 | 7 |
| Standard Production ready | $370K – $525K | 5.5 – 7.6 months | 3,150 | 7 |
| Advanced Built to grow | $480K – $650K | 6.5 – 8.8 months | 4,050 | 7 |
| Enterprise Audited and integrated | $625K – $875K | 7.2 – 9.9 months | 5,250 | 7 |
per month, cloud and vendors, at 45,000 monthly users
19% – 26% of build cost
Drives peak concurrency, and therefore the architecture.