Marketplaces and on-demand apps
How much does it cost to build an app like Instacart?
By Nick McCandless, founder of EltherionUpdated
Short answer
Eltherion prices an MVP of an app like Instacart, a grocery delivery app with personal shoppers, at $36k to $105k. A full platform with the features listed below runs $66k to $192k. These are Eltherion's own estimate ranges for building a comparable product, not what Instacart spent; your fixed price comes after a free scoping call, and small, tightly scoped work starts as low as $1,000.
An app like Instacart lets customers order groceries from local stores while shoppers pick, pack and deliver them. Grocery adds a twist other delivery apps don't have: large catalogs, out-of-stock items and substitutions that shopper and customer agree on in real time.
What an MVP of an app like Instacart costs, feature by feature
The first version below is the smallest product people could actually use. Core features are covered by the base price for an iPhone and Android app; each outside service the app connects to, and each add-on, adds its own line.
| Line item | What it covers | Estimate |
|---|---|---|
| Core iPhone and Android app (MVP) | Customer app, Shopper app, Substitutions and chat, Admin dashboard | $30k to $90k |
| Store catalog import | Load product data and prices from each store | $2k to $5k |
| Payments and shopper payouts | Card payments and payouts to shoppers | $2k to $5k |
| Maps and routing | Addresses and delivery tracking | $2k to $5k |
| Total | $36k to $105k |
- Customer app: Browse a store's catalog, build a cart, schedule delivery and pay.
- Shopper app: Accept orders, pick items, suggest substitutions, deliver.
- Substitutions and chat: Shopper and customer agree on replacements during the shop.
- Admin dashboard: Manage stores, catalogs, delivery windows and refunds.
What drives the cost of an app like Instacart
- Catalog data is the hidden cost: thousands of products, prices and images per store.
- Substitutions and live shopper chat add real-time features most delivery apps skip.
- Starting with one store and its own staff as shoppers keeps the first version small.
Full platform: $66k to $192k
The full-platform tier prices the same app at full-platform scope ($54k to $162k for the core) plus these additions:
- Delivery windows and capacity planning: Limit orders per time slot (part of the full-platform core).
- Inventory feeds: Near-real-time stock levels from store systems ($2k to $5k).
- Push and SMS notifications: Order progress for customers ($2k to $5k).
- Customer support tooling: Help desk for missing or wrong items ($2k to $5k).
Most products should not build this tier up front. Ship the MVP, see what users actually do, and add the pieces that earn their place. Open the full-platform estimate in the calculator.
Running costs after launch
- Maintenance and small improvements: $6k to $19k a year for the MVP (18% of the build, a planning assumption).
- Hosting: about $4k a year (a planning estimate; heavy usage costs more).
- Three-year total for the MVP, build included: $66k to $173k.
- App store accounts: the Apple Developer Program is $99 a year and Google Play has a $25 one-time registration fee (checked October 30, 2026).
- Card payments: Stripe's standard US rate is 2.9% + 30¢ per successful domestic card transaction (checked October 30, 2026); other providers price differently.
Each integration also has its provider's own usage fees (maps, messaging, video, AI models), which depend on how much the app is used.
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Frequently asked questions
- How much does it cost to build an app like Instacart?
- Eltherion prices an MVP of an app like Instacart, a grocery delivery app with personal shoppers, at $36k to $105k, and a full platform at $66k to $192k. These are Eltherion's estimate ranges from its published pricing model; your fixed price comes after a free scoping call. Small, tightly scoped work starts as low as $1,000.
- Can a single grocery store build its own delivery app?
- Yes. A store that delivers with its own staff needs the customer app, a simple picking screen and payments, without the shopper marketplace and payouts. The store's catalog and stock data is usually the biggest part of that project.
- What makes grocery delivery harder than restaurant delivery?
- Bigger orders, large catalogs, items that run out mid-shop and substitutions the customer has to approve. Each of those needs extra screens and data work that a restaurant ordering app does not.
- Is this what Instacart spent to build its app?
- No. It is Eltherion's estimate for building a comparable first version today. It says nothing about what Instacart spent, and Eltherion is not affiliated with Instacart. A product at that company's scale has years of work and teams behind it that no MVP includes.
- How can I lower the cost?
- Launch with fewer integrations, one market and one platform, and leave the full-platform features until users ask for them. The adjustable calculator shows how each choice moves the range.
How we priced this
Every number on this page comes from Eltherion's software development cost calculator: a base range for the product type, multiplied by scope, plus a fixed range for each integration and add-on. The method is published on the cost methodology page. The feature list describes a typical comparable product; Eltherion is not affiliated with Instacart.