f you are considering developing a mobile app, then this blog post is for you. As the world becomes more and more connected, it's imperative to have an app that will allow users to access your company's services on the go.
The cost of developing a mobile app can vary depending on the type, size, and complexity. You may be surprised at how much it varies from one source to another! We’ve got everything you need in our short article below - including tips for optimizing your budget so that you get maximum return on investment with minimum risk
Whether you are a startup or an established company, app development is essential to your business. It can help with everything from customer service and sales tracking all the way up to managing inventory management in case there's ever been some kind of recall! Well...you'll find out what each stage entails so that when it comes time for choosing which one will work best for you not only do we have low prices but also offer quality service as well depending on how far along our client might be ready at any given moment."
First things first, let’s go with the direct answer to the app development cost. We brought down the three major app stages, where we concisely put the exact data that you need to know. These are the basic, medium, and large app development stages.
Basic App - from $20,000 – $50,000
A basic mobile app typically refers to an MVP or any kind of digital product that a startup typically produces to test its target market. This MVP consists only of basic and core features with very simple business logic, elementary UI design assets, while the app has only 5 active screens at maximum.
The development process time one needs to estimate will vary from 330 to 650 hours. The QA engineers on the other hand will set the time limit of 50 hours per month with a very basic checklist on their hands. The overall timeline will be set at roughly 4 to 9 weeks.
Medium App - from $50,000 – $100,000
The medium-sized application is pretty much a very standard and a core mobile application that has a few complex features with medium business logic. It also contains some custom UI/UX assets and animations, supports two main languages, and has around 6 to 15 main app screens.
Regarding the development process, the average time for a team to accomplish such an app will be around 660 - 1100 working hours. While the QA engineers will have 80 hours on their hands to test and prepare the app for the deployment phase. To conclude, the total timeline will be set from 10 to 15 weeks, which is around 2 to 3,5 months at maximum.
Large App - more than $100,000
The word “large” in the mobile app development process typically means that the app will have lots of features consisting of complex business logic. Plus it does also mean that it is typically being developed by a large corporation. Apart from that, the complex app also has a custom UI design process, a large-scale user base, multiple software integrations, solid security aspects, complex architecture, and the app has more than 15 interactive screens.
On the other side, the time required to complete a complex application for a development team is capped at more than 1200 working hours. While the QA engineers are allocating more than 160 hours per month on a huge and scaled mobile app. So, in total, the development time will be approximately more than 3 months. So, all of these approximate estimates can serve as the first step into the understanding an approximate estimation for an app development cost.
Cost of Mobile App Development- an in-depth analysis
The Cost to Develop Mobile Apps can vary based on many factors. We want you to get the full story so we'll dive deeper into what affects it and why!
Key factors that affect the total cost of app development
Features
One of the most general reasons why you'll find that app development costs rise so suddenly is due to the number of features an individual wants to be implemented. A feature can be thought of as something special which your application must provide expected results for; in order to estimate more accurately what each one will cost if developed separately from others then it would need knowledge about how much time is needed per task at hand - this includes both doing research beforehand or just going off intuition alone!
The list of features is one thing that you should discuss with your digital agency. It'll help them work out the best way for development and give an idea on how complex or straightforward it may be when they start working off these instructions in earnest!
There are two major scenarios for that.
The first is when the company is completely irresponsible for the provided project estimation due to their low-quality service. These types of companies usually just want to sign a contract and get the money out of you. To prevent such cases, you should look into their reviews page, look through the apps they have previously developed, and sometimes even contact their previous customers.
The second is when the estimated scope has been changed during the development process due to some changes along the development path. To prevent this unforeseen circumstance and stick to your budget, you should follow these 3 simple rules:
- Set key features - Highlight only the most important features you want to include in your first app version. Stick to it and provide it to your outsource team while carefully overlooking the development process. Then your costs will stay on the same level.
- Drop functionality - In case, if you see that a given functionality may not match with the current MVP structure, you can rearrange the scope of work to fit budget constraints. Try to reach an agreement with your team, so the cost of app development will stay on the same level.
The choice of Platform
Are you considering an iOS mobile app development? Or perhaps, for Android too! If that is true then it's important to be aware of the expenses involved in both platforms- specifically how much they cost and what these entail. When choosing which platform should start with though there are various factors considered including market share among other things but most importantly varying costs dueling programming languages used across different SDKs (Software Development Kits)
Location and Structure of a Development Team
The location you pick for your IT outsourcing team is vital to the cost. For example, it costs way more in Britain than in America or other parts around Europe because different countries have their own labor laws that affect how much time people spend on projects like this one.
Business Analyst
A business analyst is responsible for gathering requirements, identifying technical and industry problems, conducting competitive analysis to determine project value. They also write specifications that are used in the planning phase of an app development process with outsourcing agencies or internally developed apps
Business Analysts must know how every part works together so they can plan accordingly when it comes time for building out features from start-to-finish .
Designers
To make your product stand out among the competition, it's important to hire a professional designer who specializes in UI/UX design. The responsibilities of this position include researching comparable applications and analyzing user preferences while also developing wireframes for implementation into an application or website before finishing touches such as color choices are made final on top-threatening features like navigation menus
Mobile app engineer
Depending on the platform you’re going to release your app, you'll probably require several iOS and/or Android app developers. Their primary responsibility is to develop and publish the application while taking into account all of the technical and business peculiarities described in the specification.
QA engineer
QA developers ensure the stability of an application through a number of different types of tests, including regression and load testing. They also validate that all user-facing aspects are in accordance with specifications for conformance cost purposes - which can impact development costs if some processes weren't completed or missed altogether during the verification time
Project Manager
The product manager is responsible for managing all aspects of the development process, including providing direction to stakeholders and overseeing tasks within their assigned authority. This ensures that deadlines are met while keeping costs low enough so as not to burden either party too much- which would be detrimental towards future projects if done carelessly!
Maintenance Cost
One last factor to remember is the expenses of maintaining an app. It is common practice to allocate from 15% to 20% of your budget to form annual maintenance options for your app. Some of the maintenance costs will typically include creating new functionalities, bug fixes, and shifting your app to new OS versions. Additionally, the cost may also depend on the number of features you plan to add and their complexity.
Even if you have no plans to scale the application or add new functionality, maintenance is a must-have operation. These costs can increase as the application becomes more complex.
The core maintenance options include the following:
- Bug fixing
- Code optimization
- Improving performance
- Creation of new features
- Adding support for latest OS versions
- Supporting the latest versions of 3d services
That is why the collaboration with your technology partner or development team does not end until the product is ready. It is an evolving operation, and each software development company has its post-release support policies.
Cost of Different App Development Types
Every mobile app type has different sums and expenses since it all depends on the functions’ level of complexity. And to understand that, here are a few examples of how much money some of the famous mobile apps were required to build.
- WhatsApp has received $60 million in their 2 round funding for creating and developing their idea that has significantly impacted the online communication services.
- Back in 2012, Tinder was funded with $485,000 in a first seed round when it was just trying to hit up the market wall.
- Snapchat, as we know it today as one of the most popular social media tools in the US, in 2012 also got $485,000 in the very first round of funding. While the total funding is over $3 billion.
Below, we will demonstrate each app development type and break down the approximate costs, and show the approximate hours. That way, one would understand how exactly they should allocate their budget on the type of app they need to develop. And do remember, that these are raw estimates and they are calculated on the average app development time for one platform only.
Ecommerce app development cost
E-Commerce mobile app development is considered to be one of the most common digital products in the market space. However, the total cost may vary depending on the level of complexity of the app you’re going to develop. Here is a simple breakdown of every cost you need to think about when developing an E-Commerce application.
- Design - 175 Hours - $11,000
- App development - 1,435 Hours - $86,100
- QA - 1,100 Hours - $55,000
- PM - 500 Hours - $27,000
- Total - 3,210 Hours ~ $180,000
These are the estimations for mobile E-commerce app development for an international retail company. The team will consist of 3 Developers, 1 QA, 1 PM, and 1 UI/UX Designer, while the timeline will be stretched up to 4 months.
Most of the key and important features in the development process include browsing products, product filtering, and sorting, cart, wishlist, local store search, checking product availability, product reservation, delivery to a chosen shop, barcode scanning.
Fintech app development cost
A fintech application is a personal mobile app that connects banks or financial institutes with their relevant users to make digital payments remotely and at any given time. Here is a simple breakdown of expenses that you should consider.
- Design - 130 Hours - $7,000
- App development - 1,600 Hours - $94,000
- QA - 270 Hours - $15,000
- PM - 250 Hours - $14,000
- Total - 2,250 Hours ~ $130,000
The common dev team will consist of 2 Developers, 1 QA, 1 PM, and 1 UI/UX Designer, while the timeline will be up to 6 months. Main features include integration with a third-party platform that enables users to link with their bank account, providing pay advances, and emergency loans, sign in with email/phone number/passcode, providing loans, notifications on status change, etc.
Game & Education app development cost
Both the game and educational mobile apps are very similar to each other in terms of development. Thus, the estimated costs are as follow:
- Design & Development - 2100 Hours - $126,000
- QA - 310 Hours - $17,000
- PM - 300 Hours - $17,000
- Total - 2,710 Hours ~ $160,000
Typically your team will consist of 2 Developers, 1 QA, 1 PM, and 1 UI/UX Designer, while the timeline will be set up to 6 months. All of the core features include integrations with financial institutions, implementation of dozen games with visually attractive animations.
MedTech app development cost
MedTech or healthcare apps are generally created for private or public use, to help patients to assist them with their health status through adjusting and monitoring health parameters. Here is a simple breakdown of application costs and timelines:
- Design - 350 Hours - $21,000
- App development - 1,780 Hours - $107,000
- QA - 570 Hours - $31,000
- PM - 590 Hours - $32,000
- Total - 3,290 Hours ~ $191,000
Typically, the dev team will consist of 3 developers, 1 QA, 1 PM, and 1 UI/UX Designer, while the timeline will be up to 8 months. Main features include saving health parameters, prescription list view, pediatric mode, contacting a doctor via video call, adding events to the calendar, notifications, QR code scanning, photo library, notes, etc.
Taxi app development cost
This app type refers to the development of any taxi mobile application. Such an example would be Uber or Grab or any other popular taxi app available in the digital market.
- Design - 570 Hours - $34,000
- App development - 1,950 Hours - $116,700
- QA - 1,150 Hours - $64,000
- PM - 1,200 Hours - $68,000
- Total - 4,870 Hours ~ $283,000
The regular dev team consists of 3 developers, 1 QA, 1 PM, and 1 UI/UX Designer, while the timeline will be up to 8 months. The main features of your mobile somewhere have geolocation services, registration, personal data management; call or text the driver / the passenger right from the app, push notifications, ride cost & time estimation, etc
To Wrap Up
We hope that this blog helped you understand the estimate of Mobile app development cost this 2022, now it takes a simple step to get started, just contact us today and let's build your first ever app! If you want more info about the mobile apps just read our blog post about the mobile apps.
