You think that you have a million-dollar idea? So, now you want to know how to create an application, wondering how much does it cost to make an app, right? You’re not the only one — the mobile industry is booming more than ever and you have many options how to make an app.
One of the lead questions on the minds of customers that are driven by their ideas is the cost of developing an app. Ask any iOS and Android application development companies, and they’ll tell you that irrespective of the country that the customer is from and their company, they are all looking for a good quality, relatively low-price application.
The mobile app development cost depends on multiple factors – that is an understood fact. What we are unaware of is what we expect to pay for our fancy new application and what you actually end up paying for.
There’s an enormous difference between freelancers, big agencies, and everyone in between. Let’s take a closer look at how much does it cost to make an app and everything that goes into the price.
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What Is The Cost Of App Development?
When you go to a professional app development company, you cannot expect them to tell you the price of the app to be developed right off the bat. App development is not done according to any set rate list and it all depends on the type of the app and a number of other factors.
Before a company sends you the app development bill, they will estimate the approximate number of hours needed to implement the product fit for your specifications. Once that is done, the company has a rough estimate cost that it can present to the customer. What should be noted is that it is all negotiable and concessions can be made to help it fit into the budget.
NOTE: There can often be some unplanned development changes that would need to be introduced by you. Hence, you need to take such costs into account and plan for a budget with the inclusion of an added expense section.
Once the rough estimate is approved by the client, the company proceeds with a detailed estimate that identifies the scope of each of the work aspect planned. This is then put into models and shown to the customer.
A View Of App Development Costs Around The Globe
The best way to consider the money that you are willing to pay in the app development is to view it as an investment given and an investment returned. Simply put, consider the return on investment that the application will be able to produce. If it does nicely in this regard, it is worthwhile to invest in the app. So how do you estimate the costs of having an application developed and equate its earning to your future expenses? When you are looking to do that, you are best advised to pick the expertise before choosing the price.
While this may be a no brainer, you might end up wondering what the difference is between each development company that claims to be the best mobile application developers.
You need to understand that even if you are 100% sure that your app will get your money back, you should only go for an expensive company. It is often misunderstood that high price is equal to good quality. Since there are lots of other factors that need to be minded. Much like high price doesn’t equal quality; low price will not always lead to excellent results. Having said that, let’s take a look at the map from the standpoint of rates per hour.
- Programmers that are based in Australia and USA tend to charge somewhere in the region of $50 to $150 an hour.
- In Britain, UK developers are charging rates of around £60 to £70 while other developers around Western Europe seem to charge the same amount in a more depreciated Euro.
- Eastern Europe developers are happy with an hourly salary of $25 to $50.
- Indian developers on the other hand offer their services for an hourly rate of $8 to $30.
The Dilemma Of Outsourcing Vs Local development
Making an app locally is something that makes sense primarily because it allows for better communication. It is easier to explain your needs in a face to face communication and to be able to literally feel and touch something before paying for it.
The other side of the picture is development of an app using outsourcing. While it may seem hard to communicate with a team of developers that are making an app for you across an ocean, it is not impossible. Remote teams of developers that have high expertise individuals and developers can cost less than and perform much better than the local developer companies. Finding a remote company is not that hard a task. If you are able to find an international company that is trustworthy, has the right abilities and skills, and can manage the communication difficulties, then they are worth the investment.
If Your Application Is Simple, a Freelancer or Two Might Be Everything You Need
Hiring a freelancer is enough to build a personal portfolio to impress your clients with. Depending on the experience, region, and responsibilities, the charge sets between $50 and $200 per hour.
The biggest downside you could face with is the lack of guarantee that the app will turn out great. It is possible that in the middle of the development process you might discover that you need to hire an extra freelancer to finish the product. With the two or more people you need someone to coordinate the work. A project manager makes a project flow smoother, but it means extra costs.
Hiring a Small Team to Not Worry About Anything Else Besides How Much Does It Cost to Make an App
The UI/UX designer, one or two developers, and a QA engineer would charge around $50,000 for a simple app. Mindsea warns being attracted to price quotes of about $30,000 from offshore development companies.
Hiring a team is not a panacea. Just like with freelancers, you might not get what you want, making the total product cost much higher than the initial figure.
If You Are Ambitious Enough to Build the Next Twitter or Uber App
Get prepared to shell out approximately $1,000,000. That’s how much it takes to hire a large app development company for the following services:
- Design
- iOS and Android native development
- Back-end development
- Web development
- Project management
- Quality assurance
Of course, you get what you pay for when it comes to application development.
The Number of Features You Want Your App to Support Goes Hand-in-hand With How Much You Will Pay for It
That’s why it’s a good idea to start with a proof-of-concept with only essential features. Only after the app turns out to be profitable, add more functionality. It might not be possible to always create an app this way. The method is excellent as it keeps the cost of the final mobile product as low as possible without sacrificing quality.
The integrations that make the app even more expensive:
- Third-party services
- Social media support
- Admin panel
- In-app purchases
- Use of various hardware components.
The More Platforms You Decide to Target, the Higher the Cost of the Application You Want to Create Will Be
According to Thorn Tech:
iOS has 33.6% market share in the U.S., while Android owns 62.8% of the American market. Android further dominates internationally with almost 85% of the world’s smartphone users. The iOS owns 13.1%.
Modern hybrid app development platforms are trying to make cross-platform development more accessible, but such tools are currently not suitable for complex projects. That being said, they can be handy for iPhone mobile development because the average iPhone mobile development cost tends to be steep.
Read also: App Store vs Google Play. Stores in Numbers
The Moment Your Product Appears on the Apple App Store or Google Play Is Just the Beginning of the Journey
To make the application succeed, you have to spend a lot of money of post-release support and ongoing maintenance. You will discover bugs that need to be fixed. The users will request features that you should implement unless you want your competition to make your app obsolete.
With over 2,000,000 applications on the two most popular stores, you won’t get too far without a solid marketing plan. Online advertising can cost some serious money. The same is true for cloud hosting, legal and accounting help, and many other expenses that you are guaranteed to encounter along the way.
The Cost of Mobile App Development, Especially iOS App Development, Can Vary Dramatically
On one end of the spectrum are independent freelancers and small, cookie-cutter apps that cost a few thousand dollars. On the opposite end – renowned agencies and complex applications with server back-ends and support for all popular mobile operating systems.
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