Social, content and dating apps
How much does it cost to build an app like Instagram?
By Nick McCandless, founder of EltherionUpdated
Short answer
Eltherion prices an MVP of an app like Instagram, a photo and video sharing app with a social feed, at $34k to $100k. A full platform with the features listed below runs $62k to $182k. These are Eltherion's own estimate ranges for building a comparable product, not what Instagram spent; your fixed price comes after a free scoping call, and small, tightly scoped work starts as low as $1,000.
An app like Instagram lets people post photos and short videos, follow each other and react in a feed. The visible features are simple; the work is in media upload and processing, a fast feed, notifications and moderation tools.
What an MVP of an app like Instagram 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) | Profiles and following, Posting, Feed, Moderation tools | $30k to $90k |
| Media storage and video processing | Store, resize and stream images and video through a media service | $2k to $5k |
| Push notifications | Likes, comments and new followers | $2k to $5k |
| Total | $34k to $100k |
- Profiles and following: Sign up, profile pages, follow and unfollow.
- Posting: Upload photos and short videos with captions.
- Feed: Posts from people you follow, likes and comments.
- Moderation tools: Reporting, blocking and an admin review queue.
What drives the cost of an app like Instagram
- Video upload, processing and streaming cost more than text or photo features.
- A ranked, personalized feed costs more than a simple time-ordered one.
- Moderation is not optional for any app where users post publicly.
Full platform: $62k to $182k
The full-platform tier prices the same app at full-platform scope ($54k to $162k for the core) plus these additions:
- Stories and direct messages: Expiring posts and private chat (part of the full-platform core).
- Discovery: Explore page, hashtags and search (part of the full-platform core).
- Content moderation service: Automated screening of uploads ($2k to $5k).
- Analytics: Creator and product analytics ($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 $18k 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: $63k to $165k.
- 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).
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 Instagram?
- Eltherion prices an MVP of an app like Instagram, a photo and video sharing app with a social feed, at $34k to $100k, and a full platform at $62k to $182k. 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.
- Should a creator build their own Instagram-style app?
- Usually not as a general social network. Creators get more from a members app that owns the audience relationship: paid content, a community feed and direct messages for fans. That is a smaller, cheaper build than a public social platform.
- What is the cheapest way to start a photo-sharing app?
- Launch with photos only, a time-ordered feed and basic moderation. Video, stories and recommendation feeds can come later once people are posting.
- Is this what Instagram spent to build its app?
- No. It is Eltherion's estimate for building a comparable first version today. It says nothing about what Instagram spent, and Eltherion is not affiliated with Instagram. 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 Instagram.