Building an app: How much does it cost?
Whether a customer interested in the process or a business weighing up the options for the future, the question “How much does it cost to make an app” has long-been an interesting one. Often, people ask us the cost to hire an app developer, how should they hire an app developer, and what the whole process involves. Business owners want the best quality for the lowest price since this makes fiscal sense, right?
As you might imagine, we can’t provide a single cost here today because we have no information regarding your ideas, what features you wish to include, and how much time the project will take. However, we at ANODA Mobile Development Agency can show you what influences the cost of app development and the considerations you need to make moving forward! Firts, let’s take a look at infographics.
App Development Cost: The Variables
1. App developers team — First and foremost, you should consider the sort of team you need to compile for the project. You’re likely to need an iPhone app developers or Android developers, or both, depending on platform you choose for your future app. Their quantity depends on the complexity of your project. As well you will need UI/UX designer, a quality assurance specialist, and then a project manager to hold it all together. A backend developer will also be required if there’s a backend infrastructure with the app.
2. Complexity of the Project — How complex is your project? Are there lots of special features that take extra skill (and time!) to complete? For example, you might consider the following:
- Backend Development — It’s a program that works on a server and processes data.
- With it working behind-the-scenes, the APIs can allow for an exchange of data between the database and the mobile application.
- Integration with Third-Party Services — Depending on the aim of the app, it may need to integrate with other services, libraries, or frameworks; the most common example of this would be a payment service so consumers can buy products through the app. More recently, there’s been an interest in ‘live chat’ features as well as social media. If you integrate the app with Facebook, Twitter, and others, it allows for sharing within the community.
- In-app purchasing — Do you need to add in-app purchases to the application? Unfortunately, the addition of these isn’t as easy as you might think. Which is why it instantly makes a project more complex for mobile app development company.
- Admin Panel — With an admin panel for your application, you’ll find it easier to stay in control whether it’s through analytics, managing all users, or adding/removing content. Today, there are some fantastic templates you can choose but you might decide you want a unique solution to suit your needs precisely.
- Hardware Components — Finally, all devices are different within the market because they offer varying features from Bluetooth to GPS, heart rate sensors to accelerometers. Therefore, calculating the iPhone app development cost will be very different to app development costs for other devices. These days, there’s no universal solution so you’ll need to work out a strategy for testing the relationship between hardware and software.
3. Devices and platforms
Picking up from the last consideration regarding hardware components, working with iOS and Android can be very different. With the former, you’ll need to ensure the mobile application will work with both new and old devices as well as the operating system within those devices. Today, the gap between iPhone models seems wider than ever; look at the iPhone 5 compared to the iPhone X, for example. Elsewhere, the Android world is more diverse which leads to some important decisions.
When choosing which platforms to support, there are some important details to remember including the market share of all Android devices and the preference of your target market. Nowadays, even Android has different versions from “Jelly Bean” to “Oreo”. The more devices and operating systems you choose to support, the longer the project will take.
Why? Not only does the software have different requirements, you also need to adjust for screen size and resolution. If you’re working on a budget, you might choose the most popular device and operating system within your target market to keep costs to a minimum. If we look at the market currently, Android seems to offer more fragmentation which generally makes iOS app development services more affordable.
4. Animation and Design — Next up, the interface of your app is an important consideration. As we’ve seen before, we’re at a stage now where templates and ‘standard’ features can be added but these aren’t always good enough for the unique needs of every app. If you’re happy to go ahead with the open source ideas and standard components that can be added to the app, this can be an affordable part of the process. If you need an interface designed especially for you, you’ll require a much larger budget.
5. Expenses After Release — When calculating the cost to hire an app developer and the overall app development costs, many make the mistake of thinking right up until launch. However, the journey doesn’t end there because you’ll also need to consider what happens after the customers get their hands on the app. Over time, your users might find issues, the app will need updating, customer support is important, servers need to be maintained, and even legal support enters the picture. Even moving away from the app itself, you also need to advertise and get it into the hands of your audience in the first place.
For the most part, this after-development service won’t be a regular expense but instead an additional service. When you look at mobile app developers for hire, remember their initial quotes won’t include these types of services since they’ll be arranged ‘as and when’ after the project is completed.
Mobile App Development Company Rates Based On Location
Now we’ve addressed the main considerations, the next question is whether the cost changes based on location. For example, will iPhone app development cost vary within the US and moving abroad? Well, our reply to this would be that your main focus should always be on quality and experience. Often, we choose the most expensive company just because ‘they’ll offer the best final product in the fastest time’; this isn’t necessarily true.
If you prioritize experience, you know they’ll be able to handle any problems that arise during the course of the project. Even if they’re one of the cheapest services around, they can still provide a high-quality service if they have the right expertise. Nowadays, there are numerous factors that impact pricing aside from just quality. For example, location can be pivotal and we have some facts for you below:
- US/Canada — Around $50 to $250 per hour
- Western Europe — Around $35 to $170 per hour
- Eastern Europe — Around $20 to $150 per hour
- Australia — Around $50 to $150 per hour
- India — Around $10 to $80 per hour
Cost to Hire an App Developer
As mentioned previously, although we would love to, there’s just no way we can provide you with a quote and neither can a professional mobile app development company within seconds. Even if you come across ‘price calculators’, we recommend avoiding these because they’re normally created as a marketing ploy as opposed to an attempt to be genuinely helpful. Not only will the price change depending on your project, you also have to realize that rates are often negotiable.
When looking for iPhone app development cost or any other device/operating system, it all comes down to the number of hours required to take your project from an idea to a product. As we’ve seen all the way through this guide, the number of hours required will depend on the complexity of the job. To provide you with a little more guidance, we’ve decided to offer three separate categories for complexity. Therefore, you’ll be one step closer to knowing roughly how much money you need to hire an app developer.
Low Complexity — With the simpler projects, the app will require basic functionality but with no backend infrastructure and therefore no integration with third-party APIs; this simple project may include filters, a feed list, map markers, and standard UI components. For a basic app, you should be looking at up to 150 hours and. Using a rate of ANODA app development company of $35 per hour, around $5,000.
Medium Complexity — As we reach a more advanced app, we start to include things like real-time chat functions, custom UI features, adaptable for mobile and tablet, payment tools, push notifications, a simple backend server, and integration with APIs. Now, we’re pushing 500 hours and this would lead to an expense of around $17,000. For example, we’ve developed the wedding planner app Planestry that fits this category.
High Complexity — Finally, this is the app with all the bells and whistles including audio/video processing, custom animations, advanced functionality, integrations with multiple third-party services, real-time synchronization, and a complex backend system. With these types of projects, you should be looking at anything above 800 hours which could be $20,000 right up to $50,000 (and even beyond). If you were to look on the App Store right now, high complexity projects would include social media, video streaming, and perhaps even dating apps. We also developed a travel mobile app that fits this group. It’s the best cruise app in the App Store with over 2 million downloads — Ship Mate
If you were wondering why we haven’t been able to suggest accurate app development costs, this is why. Within the market, every single app is different from one feature to the next so any figure we provide would be utterly useless and widely inaccurate. When researching mobile app developers for hire, you need to find app developers that meet your needs. Once you have a handful of services, you can then get rough quotes and estimates after discussing your project. No matter how complex your app idea we highly recommend you to first build the Minimum Viable Product.
The Hiring Process
To finish, we would like to discuss how the hiring the app developer process should work so you don’t have to go into negotiations blindly. After getting in contact, you can discuss the project and this allows the company to build a rough estimate (after calculating the required hours to meet your needs). If you decide to go ahead with the service, a more detailed estimate can be created where the project is broken down into segments and the scope of each segment is calculated. After this, you should be shown wireframes so you get a glimpse into how your app will appear aesthetically.
With the right service, whether iPhone app developers or Android developers, you’ll be guided through the process from start to finish; this should include requirements analysis, design, development, and then testing before launch. Remember, the launch isn’t the end of the mission! So choose a company who wants to help long after your consumers have their hands on the product.
If you follow the advice we’ve provided today, there’s no reason why you can’t find a mobile app development company to meet your needs and contribute to your success in the time ahead!
