How Much Does App Store Screenshot Design Cost in 2026?
the short version
- Apple requires at least one screenshot and allows up to 10 per device size, as jpeg or png, with no transparency.
- Rork’s Screenshot Studio is free while it is in beta. MakeAppShots has a free plan. Their Pro price is not on the pages we could open.
- A one-off designed set from Ignura is from £1,500, about a week, plus an icon review.
- A monthly creative retainer is a different invoice. AppFillip’s Starter was $599 a month on 10 October 2026, for three months at least.
In this post8 sections
App Store screenshot design is three different products wearing one name. A generator that frames screens you already captured. A designer who decides the first frame, writes the line, and builds a set. A monthly retainer that keeps producing store art and ads after launch. The prices are not on one scale, and the cheap one is often the right one.
This post uses prices we could open on a public page on 10 October 2026. Where a company has a paid tier and does not print the number, we say so and leave it out. What belongs in the frames, once you are paying for taste rather than export, is the screenshot checklist and what to put on screenshot 1.
What Apple actually requires
The cost only makes sense next to the spec. Apple’s screenshot specifications say you must include at least one screenshot, and you can upload up to 10 per device size, as .jpeg, .jpg or .png. Images cannot include an alpha channel or transparency.
For an iPhone app, the required set is at least one screenshot for iPhone with Dynamic Island on the medium display. If the app also runs on iPad, you need a 13-inch iPad screenshot too. If the interface is consistent across device sizes and languages, Apple says you only need screenshots for the highest required resolution. App Store Connect scales them down for the smaller sizes.
That is the whole legal minimum: one honest screen, the right pixels, no transparent PNG. Ten frames, three languages and a painted background are a marketing choice. They change the invoice. They are not what App Review is counting.
Apple lists several accepted portrait sizes, depending on the phone. Two that show up in generator exports are 1260 × 2736 (Dynamic Island, large display) and 1284 × 2778 (Face ID, large display). A tool that exports “store size” should be able to name the pixels. If it cannot, you will find out in App Store Connect, which is a bad time.
A free AI tool
Rork’s Screenshot Studio is free while it is in beta, and it does not need an account. You paste an App Store link or a GitHub repo, or you upload simulator shots. Rork says it writes a short brief, paints opening images, frames your real UI, and exports PNGs. Campaign slides come out at 1260 × 2736. Template decks come out at 1284 × 2778.
You are paying nothing, and you are still the person who decides whether frame one should be the habit loop or the paywall. That argument is the design fee. Rork’s paid plans are for building apps, not for this studio. The screenshot page says the studio is free in beta. When the beta ends, this sentence expires.
A generator with a free plan
MakeAppShots is a template generator. The homepage says the free plan is one project, all 24 templates, and localisation across 18 languages. You upload up to 10 screens. It writes a headline and a subline, you pick a template, and you export App Store and Play Store sizes. A Pro plan unlocks unlimited projects, a ZIP export, and a promo video made from the screenshots.
We looked for the Pro price. makeappshots.com/pricing returned a 404 on 10 October 2026, and the homepage does not print a number. So we will not guess it. If you need Pro, the price is whatever checkout shows that day, not a figure from a roundup.
One free project is enough for a first set, if a template and an AI caption are the look you want. It is the wrong tool when frame one has to be a specific moment, or when the words have to sound like you. The 18 languages are machine translation. Read them before you ship a headline you did not mean.
A one-off studio set
Ignura designs a full App Store screenshot set and reviews the icon. About a week. From £1,500. That is the number on the screenshot page and on the pricing page. It is not a survey of freelance day rates. We do not have a public study of what other designers charge for a set, so we are not going to invent a “typical freelancer” band.
What the £1,500 is for, compared with the tools above:
- Someone decides the order. Frame one is the pitch. The rest prove it. The argument is in screenshot 1.
- The captions are written for your app, not generated and lightly edited.
- The icon gets an honest look, because the icon is what search results actually show.
- You get files for the store, not a project locked to one vendor’s editor.
What it is not: a monthly supply of ad sizes, a translation house, or a guarantee that the page will convert. If you want a second opinion before you pay anyone, the Shelf Test shows the listing at the size a stranger sees in search, and the free teardown is a week with the app, a written note and 2–3 mockups.
Under £3,000 is paid upfront. £1,500 is under that line.
A monthly retainer
AppFillip’s creative production page is a retainer, not a set. On 10 October 2026 Starter was shown at $599 a month, with $1,198 struck through, and the page said the discount ends 31 October 2026. The minimum is three months. The list for Starter is 5 screenshots per platform, one 15–30 second app preview, 10 static ad creatives a month, an icon refresh and a monthly review.
The comparison a founder actually needs is the minimum term, not the monthly sticker.
| What you pay | Sum | What the page says is in it |
|---|---|---|
| Three months at $599 | $1,797 | The offer price shown that day |
| Three months at $1,198 | $3,594 | The figure printed next to the offer |
| Ignura, once | from £1,500 | One screenshot set and an icon review |
$599 times three is $1,797, and $1,198 times three is $3,594. That is arithmetic, not a proposal AppFillip sent us. After 31 October 2026 the offer price may be gone. Read the page again before you compare.
The retainer is the right shape when you expect to remake the set, test icons, and need a pile of static ads every month. It is the wrong shape when you are two weeks from submit and you need one set. Five screenshots per platform is also a smaller set than “up to 10” on Apple’s spec. Count the frames in the quote, not the word “screenshots.”
What actually moves the price
From the pages above, four things change the number. Everything else is taste.
Template or a designed order. Rork in beta and MakeAppShots’ free plan cost £0 and still take an afternoon of your judgement. A studio set starts, for us, at £1,500 because a person is deciding the sequence. If your screens are already clear and you only need them framed, do not pay for the sequence.
How many sizes you insist on. Apple will scale one high-resolution set when the UI is consistent. Paying for a bespoke iPad set, a Watch set and a Mac set is a real brief. It is not required for an iPhone-only app that already has the Dynamic Island medium screenshot.
Languages. MakeAppShots puts 18 languages on the free plan, as machine translation you can edit. A studio that rewrites every headline with a native speaker is a different job, and we do not publish a per-language rate because that work is not on our menu. If a quote jumps because of localisation, ask to see one language before you approve ten.
Once, or every month. £1,500 once and $599 a month are not rivals until you know how many months you will stay. A founder who re-screenshots after every release may want the retainer. A founder shipping one version wants the set.
How to choose this week
If the build is in TestFlight and the store page is empty, export a set from a free tool today so you can see the product in a frame. Then look at frame one on a phone, which is the test in screenshot 1. If the line is wrong, or the screen is the settings page, the tool did the easy half.
Pay a studio when the first three frames are the thing a stranger uses to decide, and you do not want that decision made by a template. Pay a retainer when the set is already live and the job is next month’s variants.
Do not pay a screenshot fee for a launch you have not scoped. Screenshots are one line. The film, the page, the videos and the day are the rest of the menu.
Questions
How much does App Store screenshot design cost in 2026?
On the pages we checked: £0 for Rork while Screenshot Studio is in beta, £0 to start on MakeAppShots (Pro price unpublished), from £1,500 for a designed Ignura set, and $599 a month for AppFillip Starter at the offer shown on 10 October 2026, with a three-month minimum. Same word, four invoices.
Are AI screenshot tools good enough to ship?
Good enough to export legal pixels and a first draft of the captions. Not a substitute for deciding what frame one should prove. Ship the export if you would still say the line out loud. If you would not, the tool has finished and the design has not started.
How many screenshots does Apple require?
At least one per required device size, and no more than 10. An iPhone app needs the Dynamic Island medium display. iPad support adds a 13-inch iPad shot. Consistent UI can be one high-resolution set that Connect scales. The page is Apple’s screenshot specifications.
What is in Ignura’s £1,500?
A full screenshot set and an icon review, in about a week. Not a retainer, not 18 languages, not a promise about conversion. If you want the set marked up before you hire anyone, ask for the free teardown. If you already know the set is the hole, book a free 15-minute call and send the current listing.
