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There’s not a fixed price for building a mobile application.

Think of a scenario of a product/service, a mobile phone, or a car service, the price of both depends and differ with respect to certain factors like features or facilities. Similarly when we talk about mobile app development cost, Depending on the depth of mobile application features and end-user flow, building cost varies. So how much does it cost to make an app?
According to our experience in building mobile apps, the cost to build a quality app ranges from $25,000 up to $50,000+ per platform. IT vendor influence the app price, where at $25 to $40/hour rate:
  • Basic app price – from $15,000 to $25,000 per platform
  • Complex, custom (multi-feature) app cost – $300,000+
Basically, your app idea, along with business and functional necessities, influences the app development cost.
The factors which determine the final cost to build an app are:

mobile-app-features

mobile-application-developer-cta

  1. Application development source (freelancer or development company)
  2. Location of the development partner
  3. Features & complexity
  4. Design complexity
  5. Platform (iOS, Android)
  6. Native vs Hybrid
Let’s discuss each factor a little more in detail :
1. Application development source (freelancer or development company)

Choosing the right developer is important whether you hire freelance developers or an app development company to build your app. What are the pros and cons of both options?
When Hired Freelancer :
  • Lower development cost i.e. low as $20/hour
  • But other aspects such as Competitor analysis, UI design & UX, timeline management, look out for team discipline, in-budget project planning will go to the product owner’s account.
When App Development Company :
The main advantages of working with a mobile app development agency include:
  • Quality assurance
  • Efficient project management
  • All-inclusive services
  • Schedule and discipline
  • Deep involvement
  • Ease of communication
  • Accountability
If we categorize mobile apps based on their complexity – simple, moderate, mid-level, and fully custom, then the cost of app development is approximate:
Complexity Feature Inclusion Estimated Time Cost of Freelancer Development Company Cost
Simple Standard UI elements with simple back-end 3-4 Months $15k – $25k $40k – $60k
Moderate API Integration, custom design, standard design 4-5 Months $30k – $40k $70k – $100k
B2B focus Limited external integration B2B focus B2B focus B2B focus
Mid-Level Professional design, pro-features, high quality animation 6-7 Months $50k – $70k $110k – $200k
Fully Customized Custom professional front-end design and integration 8+ Months $80k+ $200k+
2. Location of the App Development Partner:

mobile-app-location-of-agency
The location of an app development agency plays an important role in deciding the final cost of development. How much does it cost to build an app in these regions? Here are the average rates:
Region iOS ($/hour) Android ($/hour)
North America 150 168
Australia 110 110
UK 70 70
South America 43 34
Eastern Europe 35 35
India 30 26
Indonesia 11 12
3. The Size of Your Development Team to Build an App:

Scope of Your Project helps deciding the development team size,
A standard development team includes:
  • Programmer
  • Project Manager
  • UI/UX Designer
  • QA Engineer
While an extended team consists of:
  • Project Manager
  • Two to four App Developers
  • One Back-end Developer
  • One to Two UI/UX Designers
  • A QA Engineer
  • A System Administrator

cta-hire-developers

So how many resources does it take to build a high-quality app with a full-scale development team? Here is an illustration:
Person Responsibilities
UX/UI Designer Design the app layout, look and feel of different screens, perform optimization tasks
Developer Write the code to create app functionalities, perform data integration, fix bugs
Back-end Developer Ensure smooth communication between the application, the server, and the database
QA Engineer or Tester Check every functionality of the app, check the quality of code, design quality, and ensure the app fulfills the main purpose
Project Manager Efficiently handle the project, ensure deadlines are followed by everyone, ensure there is discipline and proper communication within the team
4. Native App Vs Hybrid App:

native-vs-hybrid-app
Native App Hybrid App
Chooses individual languages w.r.t to the selected platform iOS(used languages) Swift,Objective-C) , Android(used languages Java,Kotlin) Chooses single code across the multiple platforms with the binding of native code
Security is the most promising. The main drawback of hybrid apps is to use in-device third-party features, requiring download of data as users navigate the feature, security is a concern here.
Expensive across multiple platforms as code is individual. Cost effective across multiple platforms as single code can be used for multiple platforms
Best user experience Faster speed to market when launch in short time
Basic app development cost starts from $15k-$25k Basic app development cost starts from $5000-$10k
5. Cost to Build an App Based on the Key Features & Complexities:

Basic features like user sign-in, push notifications, and primary navigation are less time consuming.However, features like credit card payment, online streaming, offline mode consumes time.

cost-factors-app

Let’s see the cost of developing each feature in detail:
Registration and Login:
  • log-in/Sign-up Module using in-app registration
  • Additional sign-in option using social media credentials or google account
Navigation:
  • App navigation defines development of user flow throughout the app
  • It is a flow how users will navigate to different modules/screens of an app.
  • It is important that the whole user flow needs to be derived with a complete analysis before the development phase.
Push Notifications:
  • Push notifications have become the must-have feature in today’s mobile applications.
  • It helps businesses to share real-time updates with their customers.
  • There are multiple options you can try – simple text notifications or the ones with images and action buttons.
  • If you are developing a chat application like Whatsapp, then the implementation of push notifications needs to be done carefully.
  • The notifications should be delivered to the appropriate person.
Media:
  • Media content is an essential asset for any mobile application.
  • Your app should have attractive images, videos, and audio to optimize the overall user experience. Depending on the scope of your app, you might also need to integrate certain filters, effects, smileys, and so on.
Maps:
  • Google Map has become an obvious feature of every mobile app now.
  • Routing locations, track locations are crucial features for business mobile app.
  • This requires Map API integration.
In-app Purchases:
  • If you are planning to build a complete ecommerce app this feature is crucial.
  • By integrating payment gateways, adding a purchase option you can allow users to buy products/services from the app.
Security and Data Encryption:
  • To protect users data & business information hacked by cyber crimes,adding up data security can prevent security attacks.
App Development Cost for Each Phase:
An efficient app development process spans six key phases.
  • Business Analysis
  • UI/UX design
  • App development
  • Project management
  • App testing and deployment
  • Ongoing support and maintenance
As an appreneur, it will help to know the costs at each phase, as it helps plan your budget.
1. Business Analysis:
  • Consider various facets before development stage.
  • A business model of mobile app needs to be run through competitive analysis.
  • It needs Software requirement documentation & app verification.
Costs at Business Analysis Phase:
  • Usually, the business analysis phase could cost in between $1,200 to $11,000 with a timeline of 2-4 weeks which is 10% of the allocated budget on mobile app development.
2. Prototyping and UI/UX Design:
  • When it comes to your app, you will want a flawless UI/UX design to create that exceptional first impression.
  • Userflow defines mobile app success, at this stage it’s a great idea to get an interactive prototype.
  • You can get your click-through prototype with tools, such as:
  • Adobe XD
  • Marvel
  • InVision
  • Proto.io
Costs at Design and Prototyping Phase:
  • The design costs in mobile app development range from $2,500 to $10,000.
3. App Coding:
  • The costs associated with programming and coding are more than other mobile app development phases.
Costs at Coding Phase:
  • The app architecture and functionality development costs range from $2,000 to $60,000.
4. Project Management:
Another critical phase in the app development process is project management.
  • A project manager controls the development process from start to finish. The manager’s efforts take up to 10-15% of the total app budget.
Costs at Project Management Phase:
  • The project management stage in app development costs ranges from $1,200 to $12,000.
5. App Testing and Deployment:
Testing is a crucial facet of your app development.
  • It defines the quality of your product. You will need to incorporate precise testing protocols throughout your app development process.
  • it contains multiple iterations and stages of testing the app code.
Costs at App Testing and Deployment Phase:
  • Usually, the app testing and deployment phase costs less than $5,000.
6. App /Maintenance:
  • Developing and releasing your app on Google Play Store and App Store doesn’t mean your expenses are over.
  • It’s essential to consider the cost of maintaining your mobile application in the overall development cost.
Mobile app maintenance usually includes:
  • Fixing bugs
  • Updating your app to the latest OS versions
  • Upgrading app to make it compatible with new technologies
  • Code optimization
  • Improving app stability
  • Scale up the server infrastructure as the number of users grows
  • Mobile app development is an ongoing process, and you should keep upgrading your app to reap the benefits of advanced technologies.
Costs at App Maintenance Phase:
  • Based on our experience of developing and maintaining mobile apps for several businesses, the app maintenance cost is typically 10-20% of the development cost.
Final Words:

Building a mobile app requires a lot of planning to get a final product the closest to your offline model. If you are planning to build a mobile app that boosts your business productivity, let our highly skilled developers help you.

mobile-app-build-cost-cta

If your dream plan is ready on paper, pass the sketch to us or write to us on info@varianceinfotech.com.



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