The Complete Guide to App Development Cost: Factors, Estimation, and Budgeting
Contents
Cost: Factors, Estimation, and Budgeting
You can have a $5000 app, or you can have a $100,000 app. The higher and lower limits don’t define your application. The more functionalities you offer through your app, the more it resolves the customers’ problems will keep you ahead.
A $5000 app can be very successful if it has all the functionality it aims for, like a calculator or alarm clock app. It is simple, if you offer customers a world clock or timer or stopwatch or any other function WITHIN an Alarm Clock that aids and improves the customer experience, then be sure to taste success.
An app development company knows what goes where. Hence, they assist you in the journey of app development. It is necessary to get fair information before finalizing the company in different areas. These include their experience in the domain, efficient handling of the type of application, previous work, and ratings to understand the experience of previous clients.
Moon Technolabs is an excellent app development company with plenty of experience, expertise and skill in the domain with customers with reviews on platforms like Clutch, Bark and GoodFirms.
The app development cost involves developing, implementing, testing and maintaining an app. But how much does app development cost, you ask? You can deduce that by looking at the various factors involved in the process impacting the overall cost of app development.
Factors Influencing App Development Cost
Various factors influencing the cost of app development are
- Type of App
- Platform and Operating System
- Time
- Location
- Complexity
- Design
- Backend Development
- App security
- Testing and QA
Let’s look into them deeply to understand the cost division.
Type of App
| Application Types | Avg. Development Cost | Development Hrs |
| E-commers App | $4000-$50,000 | $1000-$1200 |
| Social Media app | $25,000-higher limited based on requirement | $1000-$1400+ |
| Learning app | $20,000-Based on feature added | $1000-$1200+ |
| Dating App | $20,000-Based on feature added | $1200-$1400+ |
| Gaming app | $10,000-$100,000 | $1200-$1800+ |
| Taxi app | $12,000-$50,000 | $1400-$1600+ |
Different types of apps have different functionalities. The Social media app emphasises picture and video posting features, whereas a healthcare app will emphasize patient details. There won’t be any need for image and video posting.
Platform and Operating System
Native or Cross-Platform Development
While deciding on the platform, you should choose whether you want a dedicated approach(native) or one app that runs on both platforms(Cross-platform).
The mobile app development cost is decided once you choose to work on the platform.
| Application Types | Avg. Development Cost | Development Hrs |
| web App | $5,000-higher limit requirement basis | $800-$1200+ |
| Native mobile app(Ios,android) | $10,000-$100,000 | $800-$1000+ |
| Hybrid mobile app | $10,000-$150,000 | $800-$1200+ |
Here you can see that the mobile app development cost depends on the platform and operating system.
Reason– Different platforms need different levels of expertise and skills. The knowledge of programming language, frameworks, and tools differs for each platform and operating system. Let’s explain it with the programming language used:
iOS needs a proficiency level in Swift and Objective C whereas
Android needs expertise in Java and flavours of Java like Javascript, Typescript, Core Java etc., to work on various frameworks and tools.
Frameworks help in giving a precoded structure to avoid iteration and save time. Depending on the purpose of the application, the frameworks are selected that accommodate the in-built features to aid in the frontend app development process. For example,
iOS has a dedicated Swift UI framework, and Xcode is its own IDE.
Android has different frameworks like Angular, React, Vue.js and others.
Time
The time is calculated by multiplying the hourly rate of developers with the summation of design hours, platform development hours and backend server development hours.
The total cost is affected by the hourly rates of developers. This rate varies from region to region.
Location
The cost in various places differs as the living standards and basic pay scale vary worldwide. The average app development cost comes to be the highest in the U.S. as the basic pay scale is much higher than in the rest of the world. Here depicted in the image, are the per-hour charges of developers around the globe.
An excellent app is developed when the developer has a clear picture of the complexity level of the app.
The Complexity of the App
“How to decide how complex the app you want?
By deciding the basic and advanced features of the app, the developers will let you know the complexity of the application. “
Some features included are
Simple features– Basic functions and UI like login, profile editing, dashboard etc.
Medium features– Moderate functions include a payment portal, integrating social media, and other basic features.
Complex features – Geotagging, advanced user authentication, security
The app development range is spread in the $5000-$300,000 spectrum. This is just an approximate range to give an idea. The actual cost depends on the features included in the application.
A simple app with basic login features and UI might cost $5000. On the contrary, a complex app with advanced UI, features and multiple platforms might cost $500,000.
Design and User Interface (UI/UX)
Simple and clean designs seek attention while cutting costs. Attractive designs are undoubtedly more appealing but incur costs to your budget. These include visual designing, UX/UI designing, icon branding, etc. All these add up and are collectively called design costs.
Backend Development
Building an app and not using a database is as accurate as fish swimming without water. Database and servers attract designing and management of these components, adding to the total cost. Hostgator, Hostinger and many others charge for hosting services. Add these costs as well when accounting for total costs.
App Security and Compliance
Application security should be your primary concern. It is not wise if you are planning to forego this to reduce cost. Apps deal with sensitive user information like passwords, personal and financial information, equivalent to digital gold to attackers. Proper security protocols like HTTPS, SSH, and others are necessary to secure client information.
Security compliances like GDPR for European residents and CCPA for U.S. residents should be implemented to secure user interest and user data. These compliances give users the right to sue the companies for not following the protocols.
Testing and Quality Assurance
Thorough testing is necessary for bug-free software to guarantee app quality. During the QA check, user-friendliness is another aspect that should be aimed to deliver quality and enhance user engagement. Testing and Quality Assurance constitute a significant part of the app development cycle and acquire a considerable budget.
Estimating App Development Cost
Get an estimation before diving into the business to test the waters. Information gathering not only helps understand the market but also saves on costs. Analysis helps us understand the
- Budgeting process,
- Budget limit,
- Functioning of the App,
- Clear goals of what is needed in the App.
App Development Cost Breakdown
The cost breakdown for any app majorly depends on
- Complexity
- Time taken
- Number of platforms
- Features and functions
- Development team and time
- Location.
The effective cost is the summation of cost included in all these factors.
Budgeting Tips and Best Practices
- Allocate a surplus fund to meet the challenges arising during the process to help cover unexpected costs.
- Prioritize the features you want to include in the app. Keep it simple to ace the game.
- Focus and develop a Minimum Viable Product(MVP) and launch it soon to get an understanding and information about further improvements and upgrades. It also helps in understanding the market scenario.
- Outreach multiple sources before finalizing the project to one app development company. It is good to know the quotation from multiple sources and compare the services they are offering.
Reducing the App Development Cost
When adding up the finances, you get overwhelmed by the amount involved. Then you wonder where and how I can cut the cost. Here are some points to consider:
- Choose the right platform to get the best results from the application—no need to rush in if you feel alright launching on just one platform.
- Keep it simple – Simpler the design, the lesser the cost.
- Using third-party APIs reduces the cost to a reasonable extent.
- You know growth is your way, then optimize for scalability already in the development phase. This reduces the additional cost of making the app scalable afterwards.
- Go for experience when launching your app – You can’t bear the cost of mistakes and experiments.
- Giving the clients post-launch services such as updates and maintenance help them and shoots the app’s popularity.
Real-World App Development Cost Examples
| Popular Apps | Average Cost |
| Uber | $30,000-$100,000 |
| Netflix | $25,000-$200,000 |
| $30,000-$70,000 | |
| Snapchat | $45,000-$100,000 |
| Tik Tok | $60,000-$100,000 |
| Coursera | $60,000-$120,000 |
Conclusion
The cost of application development depends on many factors. Each factor has an impact on the overall cost. It is wise to consider all these factors and help from experts like Moon Technolabs to sail the app development journey smoothly.
This is a brief information about the topic. Research and get detailed information about the app development cost to know what works best for your application.
