App development

Social networking app development for communities

Yes, Brightray builds social networking apps with profiles, a feed, messaging and groups for interest-based communities, on iOS and Android. It is a bespoke build quoted per project after a quick scope, usually live in about 10 to 16 weeks plus app-store review, and for founders we can launch a focused first version and grow it with a revenue-share option.

Get a quote See pricing

User profiles and a feed that puts your community's activity front and centre
Direct and group messaging so members actually talk and stick around
Groups or topics that let niche interests find each other
Moderation tools and reporting to keep the community safe and civil

From £500 fixed

Live in 7 days

20% off for charities

Found on Google

What you get

Everything, as standard.

Whatever the budget, these aren’t extras. They’re the baseline for anything that leaves the studio.

Designed for you

No off-the-shelf themes. Your site is designed around your business, your customers and what you actually need it to do.

Built for phones first

Most of your visitors arrive on a mobile. Your site is designed for the small screen first, and looks sharp everywhere else.

Found on Google

Sensible titles, descriptions and structure, plus your Google Business Profile set up properly so local customers find you.

Fast by default

No bloated page-builders. Lean, hand-written pages that load in a blink — which Google rewards and visitors notice.

Plain-English support

One person, direct contact, no ticket queues. Questions answered in language you don’t need a translator for.

WhatsApp built in

Every enquiry can go straight to your phone by WhatsApp — customers message you in one tap. Standard in every package.

Pricing

Simple, upfront pricing.

Agreed before any work starts. The price you’re quoted is the price you pay.

Essential · ONE-OFF

£500

Up to 5 pages, custom designed
Contact form, WhatsApp & click-to-call
Google Business Profile setup
Search-engine basics done right
Live in around 7 days
30 days of free tweaks

Choose Essential

Growth · MOST POPULAR

£950

Everything in Essential
Up to 10 pages
Booking & enquiry forms
Galleries & news section
Online payments if you need them
60 days of free tweaks

Choose Growth

Bespoke · FROM

from £1,800

Everything in Growth
Online shop or bookings
Member & login areas
Integrations with your tools
Scoped and quoted together
Timeline agreed up front

Talk it through

Optional extras

Add only what you need.

WhatsApp chat, Google Business Profile setup and mobile-first design are standard in every package. These are the extras — pick any, or none.

Advanced SEO

£100

Keyword research, optimised titles & meta on every page, schema markup, sitemap + Google Search Console and local-SEO tuning.

Interactive calculators

from £150

Cost estimators and quote calculators that keep visitors on your site, boost engagement and turn browsers into enquiries.

GEO — AI search

£100

Get recommended by ChatGPT, Google AI & Perplexity: answer-first content, FAQ & entity schema, directory consistency and AI-answer testing.

SEO + GEO bundle

£175

Both add-ons together — the full “Get Found” search + AI-answer package.

Extra pages

£40 each

Add more pages beyond your package as your business grows.

Online shop

£350

Sell up to 10 products or take payments — typically £500–£2,400 elsewhere.

Booking system

from £150

Let customers book appointments or slots online.

Copywriting

£45 / page

We write the words for you, in plain English.

Blog / news setup

£90

A blog or news section, ready for you to post updates.

Logo & branding

from £120

A clean logo and colour palette if you need them.

Keep it growing

Simple monthly plans.

All optional, all by Direct Debit, cancel any time. The one-off build is yours to keep either way.

Care Plan

£25/mo

Hosting, SSL, updates, security, backups and small monthly edits — cancel any time.

Care + Growth

£45/mo

Everything in Care, plus a monthly SEO & GEO refresh, a content update and a simple analytics report.

SEO & GEO ongoing

£75/mo

Monthly ranking and AI-visibility monitoring, with ongoing tweaks to keep you ahead.

Registered charities and community groups get 20% off every package and add-on, plus the first 3 months of any monthly plan free.

Questions

Asked and answered.

How much does a social networking app cost and how long does it take?+

It is quoted per project, because a social app needs feeds, messaging, moderation and infrastructure that scales, making it one of the larger builds. Most run about 10 to 16 weeks plus app-store review, and we usually launch a focused first version before adding everything.

How do you keep a social app safe and moderated?+

We build in reporting, blocking and moderation tools from the start so your team can act on bad behaviour quickly, which the app stores also require before they will approve a social app. We agree the right level of moderation for your community during the scope.

Get in touch

Let’s build yours.

Tell us what you do and what you need — two sentences will do. You’ll get a reply within one working day with a fixed price and a start date. No obligation.

Prefer to give us the full picture? Start a detailed project brief — pick your business type, content and exact brand colours.