Are you planning to develop an app for your business? You must’ve known that apps are great for business. Think about Facebook or the Instagram app. What if Facebook doesn't have the app? Do you think they would get the same amount of traffic then? The answer is no. Because people aren't that comfortable with a website as to how much they’re with an App.
Apps are more user friendly and easy to use than a website. Besides, apps are mainly developed for smartphones and people spend more time with their smartphones. An app has a huge possibility to draw them into your business. This is why modern businesses are relying so much on apps. And you also know the benefits of having an app for your business. So you want to make an app of your business or your website.
You might be wondering how much does it cost to make an app for your business. Actually, this answer isn't that simple to say an amount that would be the cost of making the app for your business. It's a complex thing. There are a number of factors that are connected to the making cost of an app. So, when it comes to estimating the costs of creating an app, all these factors need to be considered.
A typical cost range to develop an app by software companies is $100,000 – $500,000
In this article, we'll walk you through every corner of the process of creating an app and give you the estimation of how much does it cost to make an app for your business. You'll have comprehensive knowledge of the cost estimation for creating an app.
So let's start with the options that are available for you to make an app for your business. When you intend to make an app, you'll find a number of options to make your app. All these have their pros and cons. You can simply give the charge to a software company to make your app and pay them after you get your desired app. Or you can hire a freelancer to make the app for you. Now let's know which option suits you the most.
How Much Does It Cost To Make An App
Contract a Software Company
You'll find a number of software companies around you who are ready to make your app. You simply order them and they'll make the app for you. But it isn't that simple. You should consider your budget. Because a software company will charge you a high amount of cost for making your app. So, if your pocket isn't deep enough, it will be difficult for you to contract a software company.
However, this is the surest and most reliable option for you to make your app. Because there will be a team working to develop your app who are all skillful and experienced in this field. An app consists of various aspects where different skills are needed and for a single person, having all those skills is somewhat difficult. So, it's better to split the tasks into different segments and assign the experts to work on those. This is the thing that a software company assures you. A team of experts in different aspects of app development will work for creating your app and give you the best result.
Besides, you have the surety to get your order at the right te because there is someone to monitor the progress. That's why a software charges you a high amount to make your app. And, this is the most expensive way of creating an app. Usually, a software company charges $150-250$ per hour but it varies from place to place.
Hire a Freelancer
Don't you have a pocket deep enough to contract a software company to make your app? No worry! That's not the only option for you. You can hire a freelancer to do the job at a fraction of the cost that would a software company charges.
There are a lot of freelancers who are capable of making the whole app for you and many of them are really skilled enough. You can find a skilled developer at $50/hour.
However, there are some drawbacks to hiring a freelancer. First of all, you have to find a good developer which needs you much effort and time. You have to give the charge to a stranger where there is no surety to get your order at the right time. Because there won't be a project manager like a software company to coordinate the work to make your app within the budget and the deadline. Besides, the delivered app may not reflect your desire because you don't have a face to face contact with the developer. So, there's a chance to have a terrible experience. However, putting aside all these odds, you still have the chance to make a good app at a cheap cost by hiring a freelancer.
Buy an app template and customize it
This is another low-cost option for you to make your app. There are tons of app templates available on the web. However, this option is suitable when your app is similar to another app that is popular in the app store and you don't need a highly customized app of a unique design. You need to buy the source code for the app and make the necessary customization as your requirements.
So, you need to hire a freelancer to customize the template for you. In this case, it won't take that much which you would need to make the whole app. You can customize the template on your own by learning the coding. That will be the cheapest option for making your app.
However, there are many problems with developing an app from a template. The template may be buggy and not be exactly what you need. So, you need high customization of the template. In that case, the developer would need more hours to do the job and the cost will rise.
Now you are well known about the available options for you to make your app. We'll suggest to handover the charge to a software company to make the app for you if you don't have a tight budget. Now let's jump into the estimation of the cost of creating an app.
The Formula of How is App Development Cost Estimated
Generally, the cost of making an app is estimated on the basis of hours required to develop the app. So the cost estimation formula is simple. Calculate the total hours required to develop your app and multiply the hours with the hourly rates. This is how you could get the answer to how much does it cost to create an app. However,, the hourly rate for app development varies with different aspects. Because there are different parts involved in app development and each of the parts has different rates. So, you need to learn more about the calculation of the total required hours to create your app. Let's forward to the factors that measure up as the cost to build an app.
Factors That Measure Up As the Cost to Build an App
There are several factors involved in the app development process from its very beginning to the end. Whether it is a team of professionals or a single freelance developer, the factors are almost the same. The factors include:
App Discovery
The first thing which comes to the development of an app is to discover the app. It means conceptualization of the app idea making the rough estimate for how much the app will cost. The team starts the process after receiving the order. In this process, the idea of the app is validated and different companies use different methods to validate the idea such as competitor analysis, market research, market capitalization, etc. The most followed methods are the following.
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Market Research
Like any other business products, an app also required adequate market research to make entry into the market. Market research intends to discover the demand and needs of people. The developer team does the market research to identify which features they will implement with the app, how much back-end support will be required to run those features smoothly, and many more. Without proper market research, the demand and needs of the market remain unknown which can be a major drawback of the app development process .
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User Persona
The second step of the app discovery process is developing the user persona. The overall design of the app will revolve around this. A lot of features and factors of an app such as app size, UI/UX, etc are dependent on user demographics. So it is necessary to determine first who the users are of your app. Then you'll determine what they want, what features they will love to have in your app. User persona helps you to determine these things and make the app that your users will love
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Market Capitalization
For every business, market capitalization is the way to calculate the worth of it. Market capital means the potential of revenue generation by the business. The same condition is applicable to an app too. To determine the worth of the app, market capitalization is the primary tool. The developer team gathers different information to determine the value of the app such as how much traffic the app would attract, how much revenue it would generate, and even how much funding it would get.
These are the three methods used in the app discovery stage. The aim of the app discovery stage is to validate the app idea and make a rough estimation of how much it cost to make an app.
Analysis and Scoping
In this step, the technical aspects of the app are prepared and documented. "App Complexity" and "App Category", These are the main two aspects of an app development process that are decided in this step.
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App Complexity
App complexity depends on the different features that the app includes. Based on the number of features, the app can be simple to complex. There are a lot of features that are directly connected to the cost of app development and the more the features the app will have, the higher the cost rises. According to the app complexity, all the apps can be categorized into three groups.
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Simple Apps
This type of apps has no API integration and no back end support. These apps include the standard UI components and the basic features like email subscription, social site login, calendar, etc. Generally, a simple app takes about 400 hours to develop, and cost ranges from $20000-$40000.
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Mid-level Apps
These apps have more features than simple apps such as custom UI features, payment features, API integration, back-end server support, etc. Mid-level apps require 500-800 hours to and the cost ranges from $40000 to $150000.
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Complex Apps
These apps include a lot of advanced features such as multi-language support, a complicated strong back end support, 3rd party integration, highly customized UI and UX, and many more real-time features. Complex apps are expensive and they require around 1500 hours. Complex apps cost starts from $80000 and there is no upper limit.
App Category
When you're seeking the answer to how much does it cost to make an app, you should determine the app category. Because the app making cost greatly varies with app categories. Different factors come into consideration when you move from category to category such as level of complexity, features, and functionalities, security issues, etc. And all these factors have direct impacts on the cost of developing an app. All the apps can be grouped into the following categories.
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Stand-Alone Apps
These apps mainly belong to simple apps. They don't need a network to run and aren't dependent on the device features. These apps can stand on their own without any help from the internet or other support. Clock and Calendar are the simplest examples of Stand-Alone apps.
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Social Networking Apps
These apps all belong to complex apps and have many advanced features. Think about Facebook or Instagram app. What features these apps include? These social networking apps have strong backend server support because millions of users use these apps at the same time. Besides, these apps include third party integration, highly customized UI and animation, real-time messaging use of location service, and device hardware access such as camera, microphone, and media storage.
Social networking apps are way expensive to develop. Generally, it takes about 2000 hours to develop an app like Facebook. So the cost margin is very high if you develop the app from a software company or even by a freelance developer.
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On-demand Apps
her type of complex apps. On-demand apps are basically three in one app. These apps have three different interfaces, one for the users, one for the business owner, and one for the service provider. That’s why the cost of making these types of apps rises to a higher extent. Besides, these apps include some advanced features such as in-app payment, real-time synchronization, real-time tracking, chat support, rate and review support, and notifications, etc which add more to the cost margin of making the app. On-demand apps are mainly e-commerce apps such as taxi service, food service. Uber and Amazon App are the example of On-Demand App. On-Demand Apps require about 2000 hours or more develop.
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Social Networking Apps
These apps aren’t like other conventional apps. Enterprise mobile apps are mainly used for supporting a business’s regular tasks smoothly and the employees of the business are the users of these apps. That’s why these apps require more precision and are developed in such a way so that they can contribute to business growth. Enterprise Mobile Apps also fall under the complex apps category, hence it is expensive to develop such apps.
App Design and Animation
The next factor that is required to understand to determine how much does it cost to make an app is app design and animation. App design means both the UI and UX design which intends to provide the user with the best user experience and comfort. The cost of making an app is greatly dependent on app design and animation. The more complex the design will be, the higher the cost will rise. But you can’t compromise with this. Because it is related to the user interface of your app which the user will see. And, if your app isn’t that comfy and attractive, the users will lose their attention to it. So it is necessary to ensure an attractive design for your app and this will eventually raise the cost of app making.
Wireframing
Wireframing is the process of developing the outline of an app showing where the features and functionalities will be placed. Wireframes provide a clear overview of the page structure, layout, information architecture, user flow, and functionality of the app. A wireframe is developed prior to the UI/UX developer proceed for designing the app. The wireframe allows the client to know and agree on how the app is going to be designed.
UI Design
After developing the structure of the app, the next step is to design the UI. UI is a very important part of an app because the user experience depends on it to a great extent. UI design requires a lot of creativity to make a unique and eye-catching design for the app.
Animation
Animations are used in the apps to provide a better user experience. Usually, animations are necessary for gaming and social networking apps. The development process of animated UI is much complicated than a normal one. So, using animations will high up the cost of making the app.
The overall app design process requires 200 to 400 hours based on its complexity.
App Platform
user experience depends on it to a great extent. UI design requires a lot of creativity to make a unique and eye-catching design for the app.
Animation
Animations are used in the apps to provide a better user experience. Usually, animations are necessary for gaming and social networking apps. The development process of animated UI is much complicated than a normal one. So, using animations will high up the cost of making the app.
The overall app design process requires 200 to 400 hours based on its complexity.
App Platform
There are several platforms for app development. The most common platforms are android and IOS. Both platforms require separate app structures and properties. Hence, an app that is developed for Android platforms doesn’t run on the IOS platform. The cost of making an app for the Android or IOS platform is almost the same. Yet, developing the app for the Android platform is a bit costly than the IOS platform. Because Android apps need to be compatible with a number of OS versions.
However, if you intend to develop your app making compatible with both the Android and IOS versions, it will cost you more to make the app than for a single platform. But it would be cost-efficient if you go for making a single app compatible for both platforms rather than making two separate apps for these platforms.
Type of App
Now let’s jump into the more precise factor estimate the answer to how much does it cost to make an app. The cost of making an app varies from type to type and an average cost to make an app largely depends on what type of app you choose to develop. The types of apps include the following.
Native Apps
Native apps are heavy and highly customized apps aimed at providing the best user experience and fast usability and optimization. Native apps are compatible with different platforms and use various device’s APIs as well as include a wide range of features and functionality. The cost of making a native app depends on how many platforms you want to support. Because the number of people engaged in the app development will increase as the number of supported platforms increases.
Web Apps
Web apps are simpler than native apps. Web apps are mainly based on a remote server or a website and perform the tasks over the internet. So, These are less complex than other apps and are compatible with a wide range of platforms. Web apps aren’t that costly to develop and normally these apps require approximately $15000 t0 $30000 to develop.
Native Apps Cross-Platform App Development
Making an app compatible with different platforms is the concept of Cross-Platform App Development. Nowadays, it is getting popular because it allows you to reach more audiences from different platforms with a single app which cuts your cost to develop different apps for different platforms. Cross-platform apps are categorized in the following types.
Flutter
Flutter is an open-source UI framework created by Google and it allows developing native apps using only a single codebase. That means you can develop two native apps for the Android platform and for the IOS platform just by using a single programming language and codebase. This is why the cost is comparatively cheaper than other apps.
React Native
React Native is another mobile app development framework that enables the developer to make an app for multiple platforms using native elements. It’s similar to flutter and comparatively a low-cost option for making an app.
Hybrid Apps
Hybrid apps are a mix up of native apps and web apps that are installed on the device like a native app and work as a web app. Hybrid apps can run on multiple platforms. However, they are less optimized and can’t provide the actual experience of native apps. Yet, hybrid apps are getting popular because these cost you almost half of a native app to develop a hybrid app.
App Deployment
After making the app, you need to publish on the app stores. The most popular app stores are the Play Store for Android and Apple App Store for IOS. Your app must comply with the guidelines of the app stores to get published. Otherwise, it may be rejected or even banned from the store. So, you need to spend some money on this to make your app complied with the stores.
You need to pay a one time fee of $25 to submit your app in the Play Store and for Apple App Store, you need to pay a yearly charge of $99.
App Maintenance
The cost of an app doesn’t end with the completion of the app. It is a continuous process. Because you have to pay a considerable amount every year for the purpose of app maintenance. App maintenance is necessary to keep your app updated with the market and sustain the users of your app.
The approximate average cost of app maintenance is about 20% of the development cost per year.
That means if your app development cost is $100000, you need to spend $20000 every year for your app maintenance. The cost of app maintenance mainly goes into the following sectors.
- App Update
- Bug Fixing
- Third-party APIs charges
- Emergency Maintenance
- Design Change
- Payment Gateway Charges and so on.
considerable amount every year for the purpose of app maintenance. App maintenance is necessary to keep your app updated with the market and sustain the users of your app.
The approximate average cost of app maintenance is about 20% of the development cost per year.
That means if your app development cost is $100000, you need to spend $20000 every year for your app maintenance. The cost of app maintenance mainly goes into the following sectors.
- App Update
- Bug Fixing
- Third-party APIs charges
- Emergency Maintenance
- Design Change
- Payment Gateway Charges and so on.
App Development Team
After going through the articles you have already learned about the different factors determining the answer to how much does it cost to make an app. You’ve seen that an app is developed by several expert hands which would be too difficult for a single person to cover all the aspects equally. So, the development of an app needs a team of experts to provide the best output. Even a simple app requires a team to get the best result. The more complex your app is, the more people need to be involved in the app development process and the cost of making the app rises up.
Generally, an app development team consists of the following members.
- 1 project manager
- 2-4 app developers
- 1 back-end developer
- 1-2 UI/UX designers
- 1 QA engineer
- 1 system administrator
The structure of the app development team may change in the number of experts depending on your requirements and your app complexity.
If you contract with a big company they can deploy their in-house experts in the app development team which will cost you a high amount of money. For making a complex app, large companies may charge you a cost of $450,000 to $1,500,000.
However, if you contract with a mid-level software farm, they may not have all the in-house experts. In that case, they deploy their available experts and outsource the other experts for the app development team. A mid-level software farm may charge you a cost of $25,000 to $2,00,000 to develop your app.
Yet, you have a cheaper option to make your app by a freelancer. But this doesn’t ensure you the reliability and there are so many uncertainties.
Location
You’ve learned about the structure of an app development team. The answer to how much does it cost to make an app varies from location to location. Because the hourly rates of the experts involved in the app development team vary with location. The most expensive region for app development is North America while the Asian countries are the less expensive regions. The average hourly rates for developing an app based on different locations are presented in the following chart.
How much does it cost to make an app: Breakdown of the cost based on features of an app
|
Feature |
Description |
Approx Time |
Approx Cost |
|
User login |
|
20 hours |
$500-1000 |
|
Push notifications |
|
25 - 32 hours |
$1200 - $2000 |
|
Navigation |
|
10+ hours |
$250-500 |
|
Media content |
|
At least 20 hours |
Starts from $1000 |
|
Geolocation |
|
50+ hours |
$1500-$3000 |
|
Chat / Messaging |
|
80+ hours |
$4000-$8000 |
|
Ads |
|
20 to 50 hours |
$1000-$2500 |
|
In-app purchases |
|
Around 30 hours |
$750-$1500 |
|
Payments integration |
|
50+ hours |
$2000-$5000 |
|
Synchronization between devices |
|
50+ hours |
$1500-$2500 |
|
Streaming |
|
30+ hours |
$1500+ |
|
Multi-language support |
|
Around 15 hours |
$350-$750 |
|
Offline mode |
|
40+ hours |
$1000-$2000 |
|
Database |
|
Around 30 hours |
$750-$1500 |
|
Device hardware usage |
|
10+ hours |
$250-$500 |
|
Search |
|
10-15 hours |
$650 - $900 |
|
Data encryption |
|
20+ hours |
$1000-$3000 |
|
Payments integration |
|
50+ hours |
$2000-$5000 |
|
Synchronization between devices |
|
50+ hours |
$1500-$2500 |
|
Streaming |
|
30+ hours |
$1500+ |
|
Multi-language support |
|
Around 15 hours |
$350-$750 |
|
Offline mode |
|
40+ hours |
$1000-$2000 |
|
Database |
|
Around 30 hours |
$750-$1500 |
|
Device hardware usage |
|
10+ hours |
$250-$500 |
|
Search |
|
10-15 hours |
$650 - $900 |
|
Data encryption |
|
20+ hours |
$1000-$3000 |
Besides these features, there are a lot of other features your ma require and wish to have in your app. The cost of building an app will increase with additional features.
How Do We Estimate Your App Development Cost
We, Arrowsoft are a software development company intended to support you to make your app.
Once we have learned about your required specifications and expectations, we draw up a preliminary estimation based on how long the development will take, the tools we’ll use, and the app development team that you will be assigned during the process.
After that, we forward the estimation to you and when you approve it, we proceed to further details- a breakdown of the cost, developing the framework, and prepare other documentation to give you the final answer to how much does it cost to make an app for your business.
the app will increase with additional features.
How Much Does It Cost to Make an App: Total Cost
Now, it’s time for summing up all the things to give you an estimation of how much does it cost to make an app for your business. Arrowsoft is dedicated to building your app from scratch to the end product. The total cost for building an app based on an average cost of $50/hour is presented in the table.
|
App Complexity |
Approx Time |
Approx Cost |
|
Simple App |
400+ hours |
$20000+ |
|
Mid-Level App |
800+ hours |
$40000+ |
|
Complex App |
1600+ hours |
$80000+ |
These are the base price of making an app based on the basic features and functionalities. The required time and total cost may vary with additional features and your requirements.
So, we hope that all the aspects of app development are now clear to you after going through this article and this is the final answer to how much does it cost to make an app for your business.
THANK YOU