After Launch: What It Really Takes (and Costs) to Keep an App Running

Most app budgets focus on the build. Then the app goes live, the project team moves on, and three months later something breaks: a payment callback stops working, the Android app is pulled from search results, or a marketplace changes its API. Software is closer to a vehicle than a building. It needs regular servicing to keep running.

This article covers what happens after launch, so you can budget for it from the start. If you are still estimating the build itself, our guide to what it costs to build an app in Indonesia is a good companion.

The recurring costs

• Hosting and infrastructure. Servers or cloud services, the database, file storage, a CDN and backups. These grow with users and data.
• Domain and certificates. Small, but forgetting to renew a domain takes the whole product offline.
• Third-party services. WhatsApp Business API messages, maps, email and SMS delivery, payment gateway fees, AI APIs. Many are billed per use, so they scale with success.
• App store accounts. Apple charges USD 99 per year for its developer program, and Google a one-time USD 25 registration fee.
• Maintenance and support time. The people who keep everything working, covered below.

The four kinds of maintenance

Corrective: fixing bugs

No app launches bug-free. Real users find edge cases that testing missed: an unusual address format, a slow connection, an old phone. Expect a busier first few weeks, then a steady trickle.

Adaptive: keeping up with the world

The ground moves under every app. Apple and Google release new OS versions every year, and Google Play requires apps to target a recent Android API level to stay available to new users. Marketplaces and payment providers change their APIs. Regulations change too: Coretax changed how Indonesian businesses issue tax invoices, as we covered in what Coretax means for your business software.

Preventive: security and dependencies

Modern apps are built on open-source frameworks and libraries, and security issues are found in them regularly. This month we patched a set of Next.js and React vulnerabilities on our own website within days of disclosure. Without someone watching and updating, an app that worked perfectly can become an easy target.

Perfective: small improvements

Once people use the app daily, they ask for changes: a new report, an extra field, a faster flow. A small monthly allowance for these keeps the product useful without starting a new project each time.

How much to budget

A common rule of thumb is 15 to 20 percent of the original build cost per year for maintenance, excluding hosting and third-party fees. Apps with many integrations or heavy regulatory exposure sit at the higher end; simple internal tools at the lower end.

Reading a support contract or SLA

Support is usually sold in one of three ways: ad-hoc hourly work, a monthly retainer with a set number of hours, or a service level agreement (SLA) with guaranteed response times. When you read an SLA, check:

• Severity levels. What counts as critical (the system is down or losing money) versus minor (a typo on a page)?
• Response versus resolution time. "Response within one hour" means someone acknowledges the issue, not that it is fixed.
• Support hours. Business hours only, or nights and weekends for critical issues?
• Uptime target. 99.9% uptime still allows about 43 minutes of downtime per month. Know what is promised and what happens if it is missed.
• What is excluded. New features, third-party outages and changes requested by you are often outside the SLA.

Things that should exist on day one

• Monitoring and alerts, so problems are found before customers report them.
• Automatic backups with a restore that has actually been tested.
• Documentation and a handover of credentials, so you are not locked in to one person.
• Clear ownership: the source code, domain, cloud accounts and app store accounts should be in your company's name.

If you have an app that has gone quiet since launch, or you are planning one and want the running costs on the table before you start, talk to CodeWorks. We can review where it stands and suggest a support plan that fits.