Best app development company 2027: what to look for
Which stores the company actually serves, and what that means technically
"We publish everywhere" is not an answer. Four stores mean four different jobs: the Apple App Store requires signing and TestFlight, Google Play means the Play Console and a staged rollout, Huawei AppGallery has its own review through AppGallery Connect, and the Amazon Appstore takes an APK rather than an App Bundle, with the first submission done by hand. Ask about each store separately and what steps it costs. A company that covers all four in one sentence has not yet done three of them.
Whether the company has solved the replacement for Google services
This is where Huawei projects fail, and the difficulty is not in building. An app that handles maps, push notifications or sign-in through Google services will not run on a device without those services; the work is in replacing them. Ask precisely which service is replaced by what, and whether that is solved once or priced again on every project. Solved once, it carries to every app that follows; unsolved, you pay for it each time.
Whether store review is its own step in the plan
Development time depends on scope; review does not. Apple usually reviews within a few days, while Google, Huawei and Amazon have their own processes and their own grounds for rejection. A company that treats review as a formality has not scheduled it, and a rejection then lands on a date that has already been promised. Insist that review appears in the timeline as its own item, with a stated consequence if the app is rejected.
Whether the company has its own apps in a store that you can click
A reference list is a claim; a store listing is evidence. Ten of AppStores.Agency's own apps are publicly listed in the Apple App Store and can be opened individually; the equivalent evidence for Google Play, Huawei AppGallery and the Amazon Appstore is supplied on request. Ask for links rather than screenshots, and open every one before you talk. A screenshot proves somebody can build an app. A store listing proves it passed a review.
Who owns the code and the developer accounts
This question is almost never asked and it decides what is possible in two years. If your app sits in the company's developer account, you cannot update it without that company, and your ratings and downloads belong to that listing. Settle it before the contract: who holds the Apple and Google developer accounts, who owns the source, and what happens to both if the relationship ends. The answer belongs in the contract, not in a conversation.
What happens after launch
An app is not a finished object. Apple and Google change their policies, new operating system versions arrive every year, and an app left untouched for twelve months can fall out of a store without anyone having done anything wrong. Ask what maintenance covers: only fixing what was built, or also adapting to new policies and system versions. And ask what an update costs when it is triggered by a rule change rather than by you.
Whether the company tells you which store is pointless for you
This is the criterion that identifies a company fastest, and it costs them money. Not every store suits every project: the Amazon Appstore reaches Fire TV and the Fire OS devices already in circulation, while the new Amazon tablets announced on 8 October 2026 run Android and the Google Play Store. A company that tells you this before quoting gives up a line item. One that sells you four stores without asking where your users are has sold you one of them twice.
Who it suits
These criteria are for founders with an idea who want to know whether the market bites before much money sits in one version; for companies that need an app alongside existing software; and for anyone comparing two quotes that differ in price without saying why. They are deliberately usable against this company too: a criteria list only one supplier can satisfy is an advertisement.
Questions
Which app development company is best in 2027?
No company is best for every project, because the right choice depends on where your users look for the app. Judge a company on seven things: whether it says, store by store, what steps each one costs; whether it has solved the replacement for Google services on Huawei devices rather than pricing it again each time; whether store review appears in the timeline as its own item; whether it has its own apps in a store that you can click; who owns the source and the developer accounts, and what happens to both if the relationship ends; what maintenance covers after launch, including policy changes you did not ask for; and whether it tells you which store is pointless for your project. A company that answers all seven in writing is comparable with another that does.
How much does it cost to develop an app?
The figure depends on three things, and without them no quote is comparable: the scope of the features, the number of stores, and whether devices without Google services are included. The second and third are routinely overlooked — an app for four stores is not four times the work, but it is not the same work as one either. Compare two quotes on the same store count and the same feature list, and ask which lines are fixed and which are estimates. AppStores.Agency gives a figure for your scope on request; a single printed number would be wrong for most readers.
Does the company publish the app to the stores as well?
Publishing is a separate piece of work and not automatically part of development, so ask about it explicitly. AppStores.Agency takes the app into the Apple App Store, Google Play, Huawei AppGallery and the Amazon Appstore, where the Amazon Appstore mainly reaches Fire TV and the Fire OS devices already in circulation. Each store has its own requirements for description, imagery, age rating and privacy declarations, and each reviews independently. Settle who maintains the store listings once the app is live.
Can one app be built for iOS, Android and Huawei at the same time?
Yes, from one codebase — and the effort is not in building but in one specific place: devices without Google services need a replacement for maps, push notifications and sign-in. Solved once, that replacement carries to every app that follows; unsolved, it is priced again on every project. So do not ask whether a company can develop for Huawei. Ask which Google services it has replaced, with what, and in which shipped app that can be seen.
Who handles maintenance and updates after launch?
Settle this before launch, because otherwise it is settled in a dispute. Separate three things: fixing what was built; adapting to new policies and system versions, which come from Apple, Google or Huawei rather than from you; and new features. On the second: an app left untouched for twelve months can fall out of a store without anyone having made a mistake. Ask what maintenance includes and what is billed separately.
Will the app be GDPR-compliant?
This question is about your app, not about the company — and a company that answers it with a flat yes is making a promise about your data and your processes. What a company can deliver is the technical side: consent before third-party content loads, no transfer to third parties without a basis, privacy declarations in the store listings, and deletion and data-access functions in the app. What it cannot deliver is a judgement on your purposes and your legal bases. Ask for a list of the technical points the company implements, and have the legal assessment made by someone who carries liability for it.