How Much Does a Delivery App Like HungerStation Cost in Saudi Arabia in 2026?

When you say “I want an app like HungerStation”, you are not asking for one app but for four systems working together: a customer app to browse, order and pay; an app or dashboard for the restaurant or store to receive and prepare orders; a driver app that picks up jobs and is tracked by everyone on the map; and an admin panel that controls commissions, zones, offers and reports. The name is used here for illustration only; we have no connection with the company that owns the app.

The big platforms invested years and whole teams to reach where they are. Your goal at the start is not to copy them in full, but to build a version that serves your specific market: one city, one type of store, or just your restaurant and its branches. That decision alone can cut the cost in half.

Ready-made (clone) solutions start in the market at around SAR 14,000 and launch in weeks. They suit testing an idea in a small market, or a restaurant that wants its own app instead of paying platform commissions. The downside: you are limited to their features, the code may be shared with dozens of other clients, and changing it later can cost more than building.

Custom development usually starts at SAR 50,000, but you own the code and can build what sets you apart: your own commission model, integration with your restaurant’s POS, or scheduled delivery for corporate clients. If you are building a delivery company that competes in the market, custom development is the realistic route in the medium term.

These are the items that move the number most in delivery projects, and each is a decision that can be postponed or simplified in the first version.

Running costs in delivery are higher than in most apps, because every order consumes usage-based services: maps, verification SMS, notifications and payment gateway fees. Market estimates put APIs at SAR 2,000 a month and up, and maps and tracking at SAR 15,000–40,000 depending on volume.

Add a server that can handle peak orders at lunch and dinner, technical support that works outside office hours, and yearly maintenance of 15% to 20% of the build cost. Most important of all: the cost of acquiring stores, drivers and customers, which is usually larger than the cost of the software itself.

Ask every provider to demo a working version, then compare the items below in writing. A quote that does not break out the four apps usually hides a large difference in scope.

Start with one city or district and one type of store, and dispatch orders to drivers manually from the admin panel at first instead of a complex dispatch algorithm. Postpone wallets and loyalty points until you have proven that customers order and come back. And build both platforms with shared technology so you do not pay twice.

At Fortune Code we start with a written scope and a contract before any work, payments tied to delivery, and a client portal where you follow progress weekly, working on Saudi time with daily follow-up on WhatsApp. We send you a written proposal within 24 hours that breaks down each app separately.

Before you ask what the development costs, ask where the platform will make money. Delivery apps usually live on a mix of a commission on each order from the store, a delivery fee from the customer, and subscriptions or paid placements for stores inside the app. Each model changes what you need to build: commissions need an accurate settlement system, subscriptions need plans and billing, and ads need placements and reports.

Work out your cost per order too: payment gateway fees, verification and notification messages, the driver’s pay and map costs. If that total is higher than what you earn per order, no software will save it, however good. That is why we recommend a simple financial model before you start, and a small first version that tests it against the real market.

Remember that competition in this sector is for stores, drivers and customers all at once. The platform that succeeds early is the one that serves a specific segment well, such as one city, one type of store or corporate delivery, not the one that tries to beat the big platforms at everything from day one.

To launch quickly at a sensible cost, focus the first version on what the app cannot work without, and postpone the rest: