How much does an app like Revolut cost? An expert analysis

7 min read
June 28, 2024

Do you want to build an app like Revolut but don’t know how much it will cost you?

Don’t worry, we’ve got you covered.

In this article, we’ll give you an in-depth breakdown of how much it costs to build a similar app and why you should build it.

Let’s dive in!

Why make an app like Revolut?

So, why should you make an app like Revolut?

There’s an easy answer – neobanking is a rapidly developing market with very strong growth potential.

Neobanking is a digital-first take on banking and financial services and as such, neobanks usually don’t have physical office bank offices.

Here’s a few other differences between traditional banks and neobanks:

Traditional bank vs neobank

Neobanks have exploded in popularity in recent years and will only continue to grow in the coming years.

The neobanking market, valued at $143.29 billion in 2024, is projected to grow to a staggering $3.4 trillion in value by 2032 with an incredible compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 48.6%.

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So, the market itself is exciting – but why did we single out Revolut for analysis?

It’s because Revolut is the market leader in the neobanking sector.

In 2024, it was valued at $25.7 billion and reached over 40 million customers globally.

And it all started with a (relatively) simple MVP back in 2015 – here’s what it looked like:

Revolut MVP

Revolut quickly blew up, reaching 100,000 users in just a few months after launch.

But, their success isn’t the only reason why we picked them.

Revolut is also a great example of how you can build on a simple MVP to grow and expand your business.

After launch, they iterated and expanded the range of digital financial services they offer, including digital insurance and business-focused products.

Here’s how Revolut’s product stack evolved over the years:

Revolut product stack

So, if you build a similar MVP, it’s a great starting point for your app’s further development and a solid foundation you can build on.

And that’s why building an app like Revolut is a good idea.

How much does it cost to build an app like Revolut?

Now, let’s get into what we’re all here for – how much does an app like Revolut cost to build?

Total cost and duration

Here’s what you’ll need to build the app:

4

Team members

3

Months

$83K

Total development cost

It doesn’t include other services like product discovery or product design, which will cost you extra.

So, why did we choose this approach? And what would the team like?

There’s a simple reason – it’s a great way to validate your idea and get to a product-market fit.

And once development’s done, you have a working product you can present to investors to get funding.

As for the team that will build your MVP, at a minimum it should include:

This is because you’ll need native Android and iOS apps plus a web app.

And all 3 apps need a back-end to function, which is the most important (and expensive!) part of the app to build.

It handles the business logic and data processing across all 3 apps – in layman’s terms, it powers your app and all of its features.

Now, let’s get into our detailed cost breakdown.

Detailed cost breakdown

Here’s how we broke down the cost – first, we divided our estimation into Agile epics:

  • Onboarding
  • Home screen
  • Cards
  • Currency exchange
  • Payments
  • Spending analytics
  • Profile

Then, we broke each epic down into individual features and estimated how many work days each feature would take to build.

But, there’s something you should keep in mind – we gave a range of work days for our UI estimation.

That’s because some features take longer than others to build, depending on the platform.

Getting back on track, each epic forms the basis of a sprint during development.

Scrum sprint

There’s a good reason why we’ve taken this approach.

Agile methodologies like Scrum, which we use here at DECODE, are the gold standard in modern software product development.

And they’re a perfect fit if you’re building an MVP you want to get to market quickly.

How we estimated the cost

To get to the total development cost of an app like Revolut, we first estimated how many work days are required to build the features in each epic and the total cost for each epic.

To reiterate, we gave a range of work days for the UI estimation because some features take longer to build on different platforms.

However, all 3 platforms use the same back-end so our estimate there is more specific.

To get to the total cost of each epic, we took the average of each range and multiplied it by 3 to get the total cost of building the UI for all 3 platforms.

Next, we added it up with our back-end estimation to get the total cost for each epic.

Finally, we added everything up to get the overall total cost.

So, without further ado, let’s dive in!

Onboarding

To start off, here’s how much Revolut’s onboarding features cost:

Feature

UI estimation

Back-end

Create an account

1-2

1

Phone number verification

1-2

3

Personal details & KYC check

2-4

6

Card selection & creation

1-2

1

Currency selection & initial top-up

2

6

App tour & tips

2-3

0

Secure app passcode & biometric authentication

4-5

3

Confirmation & activation

1

1

Total work days

14-21

21

Total cost: $32,340

And here’s what they look like:

Cards

Here’s how much the cards screen costs:

Feature

UI estimation

Back-end

Card status/user details

1-2

1

Freeze/unfreeze card

1-2

1

PIN change

1

1

Spending limits

1

1

Card transactions

1-2

1

Total work days

5-8

1

Total cost: $9,020

And here’s what they look like:

Currency exchange

Here’s how much Revolut’s currency exchange features cost:

Feature

UI estimation

Back-end

Currency converter

1

1

Exchange history

1

1

Exchange currency

1

1

Total work days

3

3

Total cost: $5,280

And here’s what they look like:

Payments

Here’s how much Revolut’s payment features cost to build:

Feature

UI estimation

Back-end

Peer-to-peer payments

1

6

Payment requests

1

1

Transaction history

1

1

Total work days

3

8

Total cost: $7,480

And here’s what they look like:

Spending analytics

Here’s how much the spending analytics features cost to build:

Feature

UI estimation

Back-end

Spending overview

2-3

1

Monthly reports

1-2

1

Total work days

3-5

2

Total cost: $6,160

And here’s what they look like:

Profile

Here’s how much the profile settings cost to build:

Feature

UI estimation

Back-end

User details, password settings & 2FA settings

2-3

2

Customer support chat

3-4

4

Support & help FAQs

1-2

0

Total work days

6-9

6

Total cost: $12,540

And here’s what they look like:

Overall total cost

Finally, let’s add everything up to get the total overall cost of building an app like Revolut:

Agile epic

Cost

Onboarding

$32,340

Home screen

$10,780

Cards

$9,020

Currency exchange

$5,280

Payments

$7,480

Spending analytics

$6,160

Profile

$12,540

Total cost

$83,600

Overall total development cost: $83,600

Just to reiterate, this is just how much MVP development for an app like Revolut costs.

It doesn’t include other costs and services like:

  • Product discovery
  • Product design
  • Compliance costs
  • Partnership costs w/ financial service providers

So, if you want to make an app like this, you’ll need a bigger budget to make it a full-fledged product.

Want an app like Revolut?

If you’re looking to build an app like Revolut, you’re in the right place.

We can help you build it from the ground up, from validating your idea all the way to post-launch maintenance and future iterations.

If you want to make it a reality, feel free to reach out to us and we’ll set up a quick call to discuss how we can help you do just that.

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Written by

Kristina Roskar

Solution architect

As a solution architect, Kristina makes sure no detail goes overlooked and every solution fits our clients' needs perfectly. Thanks to her knack for software architecture and deep love for all things tech, she can translate even the most complex business requirements into feasible software solutions. Outside of work, you'll find her enjoying board games with friends and planning her next unforgettable trip. Her ideal workspace? Somewhere where summer never ends, like the Seychelles. It doesn't get much better than that, right?

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