Are iOS development agencies actually worth the cost, or are most startups overpaying?

I’ve been digging into this while planning out a mobile app, and honestly, the pricing and opinions are all over the place. Some agencies quote really high budgets for what seems like a fairly straightforward app, while others are much cheaper, which makes it hard to judge what’s reasonable vs risky.

I’ve been looking into a mix of iOS development agencies (names like Debut Infotech, Appinventiv, Hyperlink InfoSystem, Tech Mahindra, and Infosys come up a lot), but it’s difficult to separate actual capability from marketing and polished case studies.

From what I understand, agencies usually provide a full team—design, development, QA, and project management—which can be really helpful if you’re not technical or don’t want to manage multiple people. At the same time, I keep seeing people say that smaller teams or experienced freelancers can deliver similar outcomes if the project is handled well.

So I’m trying to figure out where the real value comes in. Is the higher pricing mainly about better processes, reliability, and long-term scalability? Or is part of it just overhead and brand positioning?

Would really like to hear from people who’ve gone through this:

• Did the cost feel justified in the end?
• How close were the initial estimates to the final cost?
• Did you run into delays, scope creep, or communication issues?
• What was the post-launch support like?

Also open to hearing any honest experiences—good or bad—with different agencies.