Building an app with AI costs from $0 to about $200 a month per person in tools, plus the time of the person who steers it. Add a developer for the parts AI doesn't finish well, such as payments, scale and security review. Prices below are as of 30 October 2026.
What you pay for
- The agent. The AI that writes the code, such as Claude Code, Codex, Cursor or another MCP client. Most are a monthly subscription.
- The building tool. Where the app is built and reviewed: a chat app builder, an editor, or an agent workspace. Some bundle the agent's usage into their plans; others let you bring your own.
- Hosting and services. A host, a database and any paid APIs the app calls. These depend on traffic and vary too much to price here.
- People. Your own time, and a developer for the hard parts.
Prices, as of 30 October 2026
| Tool | Plans and prices | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Claude (includes Claude Code from Pro up) | Free $0. Pro $20 a month, or $17 a month billed yearly. Max from $100 a month. Team from $20 a seat a month billed yearly. | claude.com/pricing |
| Cursor | Free $0. Plus $8, Premium $30, Super $100 and Ultra $200 a month. Teams from $30 a user a month. | cursor.com/pricing |
| Prototyper | Free $0, with your own agent. Premium $20 a month ($16 billed yearly). Team $30 a seat a month ($24 yearly). Team Business $100 a seat a month ($80 yearly). Paid plans include AI credits for the built-in agent. | Pricing |
| v0, Bolt, Lovable | See each vendor's pricing page. | v0, Bolt, Lovable |
Prices change often. Check the source before you budget.
Pay per generation or a flat rate
Some builders charge per message or per credit. That's cheap at first and costly forty revisions in, when every small change uses credit. A flat agent subscription keeps iteration free at the margin. The hub's cost section explains why that matters for how you work.
Three sample budgets
These use the prices above. They cover tools only, not hosting or people.
- One person testing an idea: Prototyper Free with Claude Pro, $20 a month.
- A team of three designing together: Prototyper Team for three seats ($90) and Claude Pro for each person ($60), $150 a month.
- A developer building daily: Cursor Premium ($30) or Claude Max (from $100), $30 to $100 or more a month.
When a developer is still worth paying for
An agent ships the visible product quickly: screens, flows, forms and the wiring under them. Pay an engineer for what still needs judgment, such as payments, data at scale, security review and the code you'll maintain for years. The AI app builder guide covers what a builder can and can't do on its own.