How Much Do App Store Screenshots Cost? Designer vs Generator vs DIY

App store screenshot design cost depends on which of three routes you take. A freelance designer or agency charges per project, and the price is driven mostly by how many images you need (screens × device sizes × languages). A screenshot generator charges a subscription, credits, or nothing at all, and you supply the judgement. Doing it yourself in Figma or with fastlane frameit costs no money but the most time. The cheapest option for the first set is often not the cheapest over a year of updates.

We won’t quote market rates for designers: they vary by region, experience and scope, and any number we gave you would be a guess. Instead, here is what drives each route’s cost, so you can price your own project.

What are you actually paying for?

Before comparing routes, count the job. A listing is a set of screenshots per device type, per store, per language:

• Screens per set: App Store Connect allows up to 10 per device size, Google Play up to 8 per device type. Most apps use 5 to 8.
• Device sizes: an iPhone set, an iPad set if you support iPad, and phone (plus tablets if relevant) for Google Play. Our screenshot size reference lists the exact dimensions.
• Languages: each localized listing needs its own captions, and ideally its own in-app captures.

Worked example: 6 screens, for iPhone, iPad and an Android phone, in 3 languages, is 6 × 3 × 3 = 54 images. Add Google Play’s feature graphic per language and you’re near 60.

One rule from Apple reduces this. Its screenshot specifications say that if your app’s UI is the same across device sizes and localizations, you only need to provide the highest required resolution, and App Store Connect scales it down for the others. You still need separate localized images if your captions are translated, but you don’t need every iPhone size.

Route 1: hiring a designer or agency

What drives the quote

• Image count. The multiplication above. Some designers price per screen, some per device set, some per language.
• Copywriting. Whether the designer writes the captions or you supply them. Good caption copy is half the value of a screenshot set.
• Custom work. Illustration, 3D renders or a new visual system cost more than layouts built on your existing brand.
• Revisions. How many rounds are included, and what happens after.
• Source files. Whether you get the editable Figma or design file, which decides whether you can update it yourself later.
• Localization. Whether translated versions are included, and who supplies the translations.

To get a real number for your project, search published listings on freelance marketplaces such as Fiverr or Upwork for “app store screenshots” and compare what each package includes. Treat listed prices as a starting point; the package scope is what you’re comparing, and it varies a lot. Then ask two or three designers to quote the same written brief: number of screens, device sizes, stores, languages, and revision rounds.

When a designer is worth it

When the screenshots are part of a brand launch, when you need custom illustration, or when nobody on the team has the time or eye for it. A good designer also brings an outside view of what your app’s pitch is, which is hard to get from a tool.

Route 2: a screenshot generator

Generators are priced per month, per year, as one-time credits, or free with limits. The cost per image is low, and later updates cost little or nothing extra. What you trade is design judgement: you choose the template, write the captions and decide the order, though AI generation in some tools now drafts those for you.

Free tiers vary more than people expect: watermarks, export caps, locked templates and licence terms all differ. We compared them in free app store screenshot generators compared, and the paid plans in our roundup of the best screenshot generators.

Launch Shots pricing, exactly

Since we build it, here are our own numbers from the pricing page:

• Free: one full screenshot-set download per month, translation into 3 languages, every template and device frame, no watermark on any export.
• Credits: from $1.93 per credit in the 15-pack at $29. They never expire.
• Launch Kit: $39 one-time, 14 days of unlimited downloads, publishes and localization into 15 languages.
• Unlimited: $19/month or $149/year, the only tier with all 84 store languages. It’s the only thing that renews and can be cancelled any time.

Route 3: do it yourself

The two common DIY routes cost nothing in software. Figma’s free Starter plan includes unlimited drafts, and there are community frame kits for store screenshots; we cover the process in how to make App Store screenshots in Figma. fastlane’s snapshot and frameit are open source and can capture and frame screenshots from a single command once set up; see automating store screenshots with fastlane.

The cost is time, and it shows up in places that are easy to underestimate:

• Building frames at each store size and getting the export settings right.
• Finding or making device mockups.
• Writing and fitting captions, which is harder than it looks (see our screenshot copywriting guide).
• Duplicating and re-flowing everything per language.
• Learning enough design to make it look intentional.

DIY makes the most sense if you’re already comfortable in Figma, or if you want fully automated captures in CI and are happy maintaining the config.

Designer vs generator vs DIY: side by side

The hidden costs: every update repeats part of the job

The first set is the visible cost. The recurring costs are what decide which route is cheapest over a year:

• Every redesign. A UI refresh makes your in-app captures stale. With a designer, that’s often a new project. With a generator or your own source files, it’s replacing the captures.
• Every new language. Each localization multiplies the image count. This is usually where per-project pricing climbs fastest. Our localization guide covers how to prioritise markets so you don’t pay for languages that won’t move installs.
• Every new device size or platform. Adding iPad or Android tablet support adds a full set. See iPad App Store screenshots for whether you need one.
• Testing. If you run screenshot A/B tests, each variant is another set.
• Upload time. Uploading dozens of images per language by hand in App Store Connect and Play Console is slow; fastlane deliver and supply, or a tool with direct upload, removes most of it.

A practical way to compare: estimate how many times in the next 12 months you’ll change screenshots (releases, languages, tests), then price each route across all of them, not just the first.

The short version

1. Count your images: screens × device sizes × stores × languages.
2. Check whether Apple’s scaling rule lets you skip some iPhone and iPad sizes.
3. For a designer, send that count in a written brief and compare quotes on scope, not just price.
4. For a generator, check the free tier’s watermark, export limits and licence first.
5. For DIY, budget your time honestly, including every language.
6. Price the next year of updates, not just the first set.