The short version
$40,000 to $250,000
An Android MVP from a quality Australian team typically costs $50K to $90K. The total project cost including backend, design, and QA is similar to iOS. Android alone is slightly cheaper to deploy (lower store fees, faster review), but the development cost itself is comparable. Cross-platform (Flutter) is the smartest way to cover both markets for the same budget.
Android holds roughly 47% of the Australian smartphone market. In global terms, it is closer to 72%. If your product has any international ambition, or if your target audience is outside the premium iPhone demographic, Android coverage is non-negotiable.
The practical question is not whether to cover Android, it is how. Building a separate native Android app (Kotlin/Jetpack Compose) doubles your development team and your maintenance burden. Cross-platform development with Flutter gives you a production-quality Android app from the same codebase as your iOS app, for roughly the same total cost as building iOS-only native.
We build in Flutter for the vast majority of our clients. When a native Android build is genuinely the right call, we will tell you.
Where Android adds complexity vs iOS
Android's main challenge is device fragmentation. There are hundreds of Android device models across different screen sizes, hardware capabilities, and OS versions. A good Android build includes thorough testing across device profiles. Budget $5K to $15K extra for QA if you need broad Android device coverage. For most consumer apps, testing on 3 to 5 reference devices covers 90% of your user base.
Device compatibility requirements
If you need to support older Android versions (Android 8 or 9), the development and QA cost goes up. Most modern apps target Android 11+, which cuts compatibility work. Be explicit with your developer about minimum supported Android versions.
Google Play Store requirements
Google Play has its own content policies, data safety form requirements, and app review process. First-time submissions can take 3 to 7 days for review. New accounts with no history can face extended review periods. Plan for this in your timeline.
Payment processing
Google Play has its own in-app billing API that differs from iOS. If you use in-app purchases, you need to implement both Apple's StoreKit and Google's Billing Library. With cross-platform, this is handled once in the architecture layer, saving significant time.