One ranking, eight studios, researched by hand. Here is who made it and how to reach us.
App design is one of the hardest agency categories to shop for, because the label covers work that is barely related. A studio doing consumer interface craft for an App Store launch and a firm running an enterprise mobile program for a bank both describe themselves as app design agencies. So does a development shop where design is one line item, and so does a two-person team taking MVPs.
None of that is dishonest. It just means the category label carries almost no information, and a buyer starting from a search result has no way to tell those four things apart before the first call.
This site does that sorting once, properly, so you do not have to do it four times. Eight studios, each researched individually, with the delivery model, ownership, and client fit stated plainly on every profile.
It is not comprehensive. There are excellent studios shipping excellent apps that are not on this list, and eight places against a global field means the cut is sharp. If your existing shortlist is not here, that is not a verdict on it.
It is not a review platform. There are no star ratings, no client testimonials collected by us, and no scores. Ratings gathered from clients an agency selects tell you about the agency's sampling, not its quality.
It is not a lead broker. We do not sit between you and the studios, take a cut, or receive the brief before they do. Contact details go to the agency and the conversation is yours.
We confirm the studio is actively trading, check what it has actually shipped and whether those apps reached users, establish whether it designs, builds, or both, and record who owns it including recent acquisitions.
Client names appear only where they can be sourced to case studies, credible press, or the client's own materials. Plenty of good studios cannot publish a roster, usually for confidentiality reasons, and in those cases the profile says so and points you at the portfolio instead.
Ranking is editorial judgment applied against published criteria, not a calculated score. The reasoning is set out in full on the methodology page, including what we deliberately ignore and why.
If a fact on this site is wrong, tell us. Ownership status changes, offices move, studios get acquired, and client attributions can be inaccurate. Corrections are made promptly and we do not need you to prove standing to report one.
Agencies can put themselves forward. Include the studio name, site, where the team is based, whether you design, build, or both, and two or three pieces of work you would want assessed. Submissions run through the same verification as everything else, and putting yourself forward has no bearing on the outcome.
For anything about the research, the criteria, or the site itself.
We do not broker introductions, forward briefs, or recommend a studio for a specific project. Contact the agencies directly — their details are on every profile.
