How much does it cost to develop an Web Application?

$14,768 !! — Just kidding :P Well anybody would just expect a number! The correct answer is “it depends”.. on a number of factors… I work at Ontoborn http://www.ontoborn.com/ where our primary focus is engineering high quality web apps.

It has come to a point where web applications have become an essential component of business in the IT market. They help businesses develop and achieve its objectives much faster. They greatly help to target numerous clientele and customers at a time. Organisations are embracing these aspects of creating web applications to meet their business demands. Web apps are prime factors of any business for a multiple reasons.

1.Marketing your business and building a brand: It is no longer possible for any business to visualize a growth in their market shares unless they are supported with a proper web application. The main aim is to reach new customers and let know know about the organisation and its services. They also play a crucial role in the branding process. With their help, it is easier to maintain a proper communication channel between potential customers and the business organization. Opportunities of selling the services or products are increased as well. With the help of e-commerce developers, the business can get a whole new market to make sales.

2.Customer Support: Web applications provide options for an enhanced customer support. Good applications can become the first line of contact between potential customers and the business. The beauty of such applications is that they can be accessed at any time. Even location is no longer a limitation with their help.

3.Competitors : The current scenario in the world of business has become so intensely competitive that it has become more important to have web applications devoted to the cause of the organisation. These applications can become essential tool for garnering customers.

Factors influencing the cost of building an effective web application

Fundamentally, the cost of creating a web app is composed of the amount of work hours put into it, multiplied by the hourly rate of your web development team.The amount of work hours that your team will need to develop your software will mostly depend on its complexity. By complexity, we mainly mean the number of custom features you want and how your app will be used. There are three core factors that govern the cost of developing web applications.

• Complexity
• Hourly rates
• Post-release expenses.

Complexity : The simplest version of an application is a website where only one person manages content, no online payments are conducted and no integrations are needed. For example, an informational website about a company and its services.The complexity of a custom web application will increase as soon as you’ll want to:

• allow all users to register and add their own content
• sell online
• allow others to buy and sell on your website (C2C)
• integrate your app with other apps
• localize your website for multiple geographic locations.

So the cost of your app will depend on some features you would incorporate intended for development. Here is a list of the most common features, all of which can influence the complexity of your web application. In a nutshell, the more custom features you’d like to add, the more complex it becomes.

Ecommerce features : Payment, Payout/withdrawal (when users can sell on your website),Online bidding.

Social Networking features : Interaction between registered users (liking, sharing, commenting, messaging),Scoring system.

Management and Operational Tools : Admin panel, Multiple user roles with various access levels, Dashboard, Statistics and analytics.

Hourly Rates: The global market of web development services is very diverse and therefore hard to navigate. Just to give you an idea of the market prices, we are sharing a breakdown. web app developers are divided according to their business type and given price ranges associated with each vendor type.

Enterprise vendors: 500–2,000 employees, work only with budgets starting at six figures, the development period starts at six months.

Upstart shops: Rising stars, new in business, can be quite professional.

Bottom feeders: Low-quality companies and freelancers.

Typically this hourly rate will be distributed among several specialists, who will develop your application. Therefore, the amount you pay for the development of your app will be allocated between:

• Project Manager
• Developers
• Quality Assurance Engineer.

It is a common misconception to think that the more people you have on the team, the faster they will build a web application. This isn’t always the case, as oftentimes the development process should be done in a strict order and you cannot do most of the tasks simultaneously. Don’t fall into this trap even if you are really in a hurry, as you might end up spending your budget faster than your app is finished.

Post-Release Expenses: Post-release expenses typically include Bug fixing and Infrastructure.

Unfortunately, post-release bugs can happen even if the most brilliant developers are developing your app. During the testing stage we often will test an app under the conditions and use scenarios that we previously agreed upon with our client. This means that before getting to testing, we will discuss with our client all possible devices an app will be used on, as well as ways this app can be used by different user groups. Then we will develop a testing plan according to these conditions and use scenarios.

It would be wise to preserve a part of your budget for the unforeseen bugs that can show up after launch. Usually post-release bug fixing requires 10–25% of the app development budget. As for the infrastructure costs, they usually involve Domain name registration from $5 to $50 and Hosting web app — ranging from $4 to $500, depending on the storage space and features.

The phases of Web Application Development

The Web application development process has 4 phases:

1. Envisioning the nature and direction of the project : The management and developers assigned to the project come together and establish the goals that the solution must achieve. This includes recognizing the limitations that are placed on the project, scheduling, and versioning of the application. By the end of this phase, there should be clear documentation on what the application will achieve.
2. Devising the plan : In this phase, you must determine the “how’s” of the application. What scripting language is most appropriate, which features must be included, and how long will it take? These are some of the questions that must be answered through this planning phase. The main tangents at this point are the project plan and functional specification. The project plan determines a timeframe of events and tasks, while the functional specification outlines in detail how the application will function and flow.
3. Development : Once the project plan and functional specification are ready, a baseline is set for the development work to begin. The programmer/s or Web developer/s begin coding, testing and publishing data. This phase establishes the data variables, entities and coding procedures that will be used throughout the remainder of the project. A milestone document is prepared by the development team, which is then handed to management for review.
4. Testing,support and stability : The stability phase of the application project mainly focuses on testing and the removal of bugs, discrepancies and network issues that may otherwise cause the application to fail. It is here that policies and procedures are established for a successful support system.

How much does it Cost ?

The oversimplified estimations of the three types of projects based on their complexity is given below . This is compiled to give you an idea of how development costs vary depending on project complexity.

Basic : Pages with static information and it can cost about $…. continue reading