How Much Does A Mobile App Cost in 2018
Prelude
Before I start talking investments and actual numbers, let me start with saying this is from my own experience owning a software development company and other owners/ freelancers I have come in contact with.
This is by no means the ONLY pricing structure out there and you can find rangers much higher and ranges much lower. However, this is a good idea of what to expect to pay from certain companies you want to hire.
Remember, you get what you pay for. While you can go to outsourcing or Upwork for way cheaper — that doesn’t mean you’re getting expert data, launch strategies, consulting, industry standard, project managers, and more in your experience. Not saying outsourcing is bad, but make sure you do your due diligence and don’t base your entire decision on price solely.
I want to provide you with this information to allow you the insight into what you can expect to pay before having to approach a freelancer or individual — if you have any questions don’t hesitate to email me or leave a comment below.
The Different Options You Have
When you’re planning to have a mobile app designed and built you have a few different avenues you can take depending on your timeframe, commitment level, budget, integrations, and overall complexity of the app.
Let’s take a look at the options:
- Outsourcing — Usually to countries such as India and China where many developers can work for much cheaper hourly rates. Can receive good development based on who/ where you hire the developers.
- Freelancer — An individual that takes on a handful of projects at once, sometimes contracts work with companies as well.
- Small Agency (<10 people) — Small agencies have the man power to create large scale apps but not at a rapid pace due to the lack of hands.
- Medium Agency (10–50 people)—Medium sized agencies can work on multiple different projects and platforms simultaneously and often times have multiple levels of hierarchy, project managers, and more levels of control inside the company.
- Large Agency (50+ people) — These are enterprise software agencies that are doing the entire CTO work for large companies. These companies work with multiple different stacks and frameworks daily.
This gives a small breakdown of who each level is and kind of their scale of projects. Now, let’s dive deeper into each and discuss budget and some pros and cons of each:
Outsourcing — $~2K
As stated above, outsourcing can be a cheap way to build your initial app or MVP with labor from India, China, and other countries at a fraction of the cost.
This development can be good depending on the area and platform you’re hiring the developers. Platforms like Upwork and Freelancer.com are good areas to ensure you’re receiving quality work.
If you’re building a personal app or something for just a few people this could be a good route to take. However, if you’re building internal software for your business, customers, or monetization purposes this may not be a good route because you won’t get the crucial consulting you’ll need.
PRICING: You can expect to pay around 2K for a complete mobile app build, be weary because you could be getting reused code, previous builds, and bad practices. Make sure to do your due diligence.
PROS:
- Cheap
- Fast
- Diverse
- Flexible
CONS:
- Time Difference
- Uncertainty
- Professionalism
- No Consulting
- On-Going Maintenance Issues
Freelancer — $2K-$10K
A freelancer can usually build your small to medium sized app in a reasonable time period depending on their other workload. If they have experience with launch strategy, monetization, and other consulting information they may be able to help in these areas but most of the time they won’t because their money comes from development not consulting.
Freelancers are good for all kinds of apps, however, be mindful of their work load because communication and updates/ maintenance can become a hassle when many people are all sharing the time of one person.
PRICING: Around 2K-10K for a freelancer to complete your entire project. Remember this most likely won’t cover any consulting costs or strategies such as road-mapping, design, and on-going maintenance.
PROS:
- Cheaper
- Fast
- More Personal
- Niched Developer
CONS:
- Limited Ability for 1 Person
- Communication
- On-Going Support Issues
- Consulting Unknowns
Small Agency — $10K-$50K
Small agencies have some more power because of their increased staff, they can handle multiple medium-large projects at once but probably stick to one stack/ framework they use for most of their projects.
Depending on the size they may have a specific project manager for you to talk to instead of the owner.
At this level you can start to receive pretty good consulting on launch strategies, monetization, App/ Google Play Store SEO and more.
PRICING: For a small agency depending on your project you’re looking at 10K-50K for most work. This will most likely include pre-development consulting and strategy as well as consulting. If you continue with a maintenance plan you can spend to pay 20% of the project price yearly.
PROS:
- Experienced
- Larger Team
- On- Going Support/ Maintenance
- Consulting
CONS:
- One Stack/ Framework
- More Expensive
- Longer Project Times
Medium & Large Agency — $50K+
I grouped these together because they have many similarities. When you start working with companies this large you’re getting the entire package from road-mapping all the way thought development.
Everyone that works on your product will be in house from designers to project managers to the actual developers.
Companies this large have multiple different stacks and frameworks they use and can perform enterprise level software as well.
PRICING: This is where things get really expensive, I wouldn’t expect to pay anything less than 50K for a Medium to Large sized agency. This comes with all the perks of account representatives, project managers, sales people, constant emails, and more. They will have a separate team for each phase of your project and have expert consulting along the way.
PROS:
- Large Teams
- Enterprise Level Software
- Expert Consulting
- Dedicated Project Managers
- Account Representatives
CONS:
- Very Expensive
- Long Term Contracts
- “Just a Number” Mentality
- Hard to reach
- Thick levels of hierarchy
The BEST OPTION😏
So, which option is the best?
Easy, it’s the option what works best for you.
Yes, I know what you’re thinking, that makes absolutely no sense if you don’t know which one is the best for you.
But come on guys you know I’m not going to leave you hanging like that.
Let’s discuss some key factors you need to look at when deciding on a development plan:
- Budget — The is important and a real issue, you need to find out how much you can realistically spend. Also, do you want to make payments, two large payments, etc.
- Timeline — How long do you have until the project needs to be introduced and launched to users
- Scope of Idea — How complex is the idea? Do you have a lot of integrations? Need special features such as messaging, APIs, DBs, and other features.
- Business, Monetization, and Launch — Is your app for a business? For personal use? For monetization? Do you need a monetization, business, or launch strategy? Do you have an existing audience to launch too?
- Experience — What is your experience working with development agencies and what is the agencies experience building digital products?
These I would consider the most important things when finding a development route for your business and idea. My biggest advice for this is choose the option that makes you feel the happiest, most excited, and most comfortable.
You want to make sure you have an agency or individual your trust, you don’t want to lay in bed every night worrying about where your investment is going.
So, What Will You Pay?
This depends on the complexity of your idea, the scope of what you’re doing and the timeline you have for the project.
Also, be expected to pay a monthly maintenance retainer as well because things will go wrong, need to be updated, improved, and features added.
With that in mind, realize it is an investment and you need to make sure you’re comfortable with the individual or company you’re investing your money into for a positive ROI.
Questions?
If you have any questions don’t hesitate to leave a comment or email me and I would love to help!
