Coaching app cost in India — the honest 2026 breakdown

If you run a coaching institute in India in 2026 and want a branded mobile app, you have three options with wildly different cost structures. An Android app from a custom agency typically runs ₹2–8 lakh as a one-time build plus ₹15,000–25,000 per month in hosting, video, maintenance, Play Store management, and developer support — so ~₹4 lakh year one. SaaS platforms like Classplus and Graphy charge ₹15,000–1,00,000 per year as a subscription, often with an added 5–10% revenue share or per-student fee on top. Igniter is the only option that charges ₹0 to start and takes a flat 5% only on actual course sales, so if you don't sell anything, you don't pay anything — not even ₹1.

For a coaching institute doing ₹5 lakh annual course revenue, the numbers are: Agency route ≈ ₹4 lakh, Classplus ≈ ₹80K–1.2L, Igniter ≈ ₹25K. For an institute doing ₹50 lakh, the gap widens dramatically — Igniter stays cheapest until you cross roughly ₹2 crore a year, at which point it's worth comparing the 5% rate against fixed-fee enterprise contracts.

The second path is a SaaS that gives you a branded-ish app on a shared container. These platforms don't publish hard pricing because their sales model is built around phone calls and custom quotes, but public data and coaching-owner community reports give us a reliable range:

• Classplus: ₹15,000–50,000+ per year base subscription, often with a revenue share of 3–10% layered on top. Setup fee varies. App is published under your brand on Play Store but the backend is shared infrastructure.
• Graphy (by Unacademy): plans from ₹24,999/yr to ₹99,999/yr, plus a 5–10% transaction fee on every course sale, plus a one-time setup/app-publishing fee that's quoted per deal.
• Teachmint: freemium model, but serious coaching features sit behind paid tiers that quote in the ₹1L+/yr range for multi-faculty institutes.
• Edmingle: enterprise pricing, typically ₹50K–2L/yr depending on student count.

These platforms work well if you want predictable monthly/yearly billing and have the cash flow to pay regardless of sales volume. They're a clear upgrade over agency-built apps because there's no maintenance headache. But the hidden cost of a SaaS subscription is that it's a fee you pay every single month — including months when exam seasons are over, when you're on vacation, when your batch hasn't started yet. For a teacher running a ₹3 lakh/year coaching business, ₹50K/year to Classplus is 16% of revenue before even paying Razorpay gateway fees. That's a lot of margin gone to the platform.

Before you sign any contract, ask every platform you're evaluating these five questions. Most coaching owners learn about these costs only after the invoice arrives:

• Is there a one-time app publishing fee? Classplus and Graphy both quote separate fees for pushing your app under your brand to the Play Store. Range: ₹10K–50K. Igniter: ₹0.
• Do you take a share of my course revenue on top of the subscription? Almost every Indian SaaS does (3–10%). Teachable's "free" plan also takes 10% per sale. Igniter: 5% flat, no subscription above it.
• Is video storage and bandwidth included? Most platforms cap storage at 50–500 GB then charge ₹5–20/GB extra. Igniter includes unlimited video hosting with DRM.
• Is there a per-student or per-admin fee? Enterprise LMS platforms often charge ₹20–100 per active student per month. Igniter charges nothing by seat or by student count.
• What's the contract lock-in? Most Indian SaaS lock you into 12-month contracts with no refund. Igniter is month-to-month, cancel anytime, no questions.

To decide which pricing model actually makes sense for your coaching business, look at break-even, not feature lists. Here's the thumb rule:

• Under ₹5 lakh revenue/year: only Igniter makes sense. Every fixed-fee option (agency or SaaS) eats more than 20% of your revenue.
• ₹5–30 lakh/year: Igniter still saves you ₹50K–₹2L/year over Classplus. Agency route is financially irresponsible at this scale.
• ₹30 lakh–₹2 crore/year: Igniter and Classplus start approaching parity on total cost, but Igniter wins on cash flow (you pay after sales, not before), flexibility (month-to-month), and keeping 95% vs 93% per sale.
• Over ₹2 crore/year: enterprise territory. Negotiate a custom rate with Igniter (contact sales) or compare against Classplus enterprise contracts. Feature parity becomes the tiebreaker.

The short version: unless you're already doing ₹2 crore+ annually, Igniter is the dominant option. And even at that scale, Igniter is the one that lets you try it free before you commit. Classplus requires a sales call, an NDA, and a signed contract to even see your real price.