Investment app development companies compared
| Company | Published project | Shortlist for |
|---|---|---|
| hedgehog lab | AJ Bell Dodl | First-time investors |
| Cheesecake Labs | EQI | Mobile portfolio management |
| Fueled | Fennel | Self-directed investing with company research |
| Netguru | Prospero.Ai | Mobile research and market signals |
| Zühlke | HSBC UK | Investment features inside a banking app |
| Scott Logic | SaxoTraderGO | Trading charts and order interaction |
| Itexus | Unnamed investment advisory firm | Taking over an existing wealth app |
| Andersen | Unnamed European fintech | Combining banking and investing |
| Monterail | Unnamed UAE investment client | Bilingual property investment MVP |
| Droids On Roids | Sarwa Real Estate Investment | Investment tracking and reporting |
| Daffodil Software | CircleBlack | Adviser and client mobile workflows |
How Fintyle selected these companies
Each entry has a public reference describing its contribution to an investment app or a specific component of one. This global shortlist includes full-product builds, existing-app modernisation, and specialist engineering. The fit labels are editorial assessments based on the published project scope. Ask for a recent reference and confirm who will lead the work on your product.
11 investment app development partners to evaluate
1. hedgehog lab
hedgehog lab researched first-time investors and built Dodl’s iOS and Android apps in Flutter for AJ Bell. This is a useful reference if customers are new to investing and need help comparing choices before opening an account. Ask the team to show where it would place fee and risk information and how it would test whether users understand both before making their first investment.
hedgehog lab project reference
2. Cheesecake Labs
Cheesecake Labs describes full product delivery for EQI’s iOS and Android investment app. EQI wanted to give clients a mobile alternative to relying on telephone and email for interactions with their broker. Consider this team if you need to bring portfolio servicing into an app. Ask which tasks would become self-service and how the app would route a complex request back to an adviser.
Cheesecake Labs project reference
3. Fueled
Fueled describes creating the brand and app for Fennel, an investing product designed around transparency and impact-focused research. This example is relevant when customers need to interpret information about a company before deciding what to do. Ask how the app would distinguish sourced company data from its own analysis and display the date, methodology, and limitations behind each metric.
4. Netguru
Netguru rebuilt the mobile interface for Prospero.Ai and delivered an iOS and Android MVP using React Native. The case is relevant to a research app that helps people monitor companies and interpret market signals. Ask the proposed team how it would display a stale signal, handle an unavailable feed, and separate historical observations from forward-looking analysis in the interface.
5. Zühlke
Zühlke helped HSBC UK bring investment journeys into its mobile banking experience, including a dashboard for tracking investments. This is a reference for banks adding wealth features to an established app. Ask how the team would show the difference between cash available for use, investments valued at the latest available price, and instructions that are still being processed.
6. Scott Logic
Scott Logic worked with Saxo Bank on the HTML5 chart in SaxoTraderGO, including interactions that let users work with orders on the chart. The case shows component-level delivery within a broader trading platform. Ask for a prototype that handles a price update while an order is being edited and makes it clear when an amendment has been acknowledged by the trading system.
7. Itexus
Itexus describes auditing and stabilising an existing wealth management product that included web and mobile apps, market feeds, and portfolio analysis tools. Consider it if the existing product is difficult to maintain and you need to keep serving users during the transition. Ask for a takeover plan that identifies fragile dependencies, preserves access to historical data, and specifies when a release can be rolled back.
8. Andersen
Andersen describes developing a mobile product that brought everyday banking functions together with investments such as stocks and ETFs. It is a relevant reference for projects with several providers and account types behind one mobile interface. Ask which partner would supply each balance and order status and how customers would see the distinction between spendable cash and funds committed to an investment.
9. Monterail
Monterail describes building a bilingual Flutter app for browsing property opportunities and managing investments. The project included identity and bank-detail verification integrations. Ask to test an investor’s journey in both Arabic and English, including an incomplete verification, a change of language midway through onboarding, and a payment that has reached the provider but still needs to be confirmed in the app.
10. Droids On Roids
Droids On Roids describes engineering work for Sarwa Real Estate Investment focused on portfolio data, reporting, and updates. Consider it if the main job is replacing manual investment administration with a shared view of assets and activity. Ask how the proposed system would version documents and correct a historical distribution without silently changing a report that an investor has already received.
Droids On Roids project reference
11. Daffodil Software
Daffodil Software describes building a mobile application for CircleBlack, whose web platform was used by investment advisers and their clients for portfolio management. This example fits products that need distinct experiences for the two groups. Ask how an adviser’s access changes when a client switches firms, and how the system logs who viewed an account or configured an alert.
Daffodil Software project reference
What to include in an investment app development brief
- Define the app’s responsibilities. Decide whether the product displays holdings, accepts order instructions, or supports advisory workflows. Identify the organisation responsible for custody, execution, statements, and support. Have your compliance team review that operating model for the intended launch market before finalising the scope.
- Identify the source of each number. Document which provider supplies holdings, prices, cash, fees, and foreign exchange rates. Define what the app displays when a feed is delayed, when markets are closed, or when a provider sends a corrected value.
- Test orders through to settlement. Give finalists the same scenario, such as a partially filled order followed by a cancellation request. Ask them to show the state on the customer screen, in the broker’s record, and in the support view. Include duplicate messages and events arriving out of order.
- Specify permissions and release ownership. Decide who can view portfolios, update disclosures, manage account access, and approve releases. Ask who owns the repositories and app-store accounts and what incident procedures your team will receive at handover.
For planning beyond engineering, see Fintyle’s fintech product development guide for a broader view of the product lifecycle.
How to compare investment app development costs
Ask vendors to price the same first release and separate recurring costs from implementation. A read-only portfolio app may need data integration, valuation, and statements. A trading app may also need broker integration, order state handling, reconciliation, and operational support. Ask for distinct estimates for mobile development, backend services, partner integrations, security testing, and ongoing maintenance.
Check whether each quote includes market-data licensing, sandbox access, release support, and work required to onboard the broker or custodian. A pilot can start with one account type and one asset class. Define what the pilot must prove before funding additional markets, instruments, or advisory features.
Frequently asked questions
What should an investment app MVP include?
Choose one journey that proves the product’s value. For a portfolio tracker, connect an account and show holdings with clear valuation timestamps. For an execution app, demonstrate that a customer can submit an order, see its status, and understand any rejection or partial fill.
Can one partner build both the app and the trading backend?
Some partners offer both, while others specialise in the mobile experience or integration. Ask bidders to identify which parts they would build, which systems would come from external providers, and who would own production support for each connection.
