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App Development Cost Guide: How Much Does It Cost To Build A Mobile App?

Mobile app development costs can be hard to decipher without understanding the complexity of the app one wants to create. Yet if we want to add a tentative price tag a simple app can cost up to 10,000 USD, a fairly moderate app development cost is up to 50,00 USD while a fully functional complex app can cost somewhere around 120,000 USD or more.

The cost of creating an app is subjective to the technology, mobile app development company, and the total number of development hours that it takes to create your app. This blog offers you useful information on how an app development cost can be classified into various segments.

In this blog, you will get to know how to make your mobile app, the app development cost breakdown of maintaining an app, and much more. Our development team has worked on various projects from designing, developing, and app maintenance.

Evolution of Mobile Apps Over the Years

Businesses all around the globe today have realized the power of mobile apps and are aiming for the same. Their target is to travel the world and make their way to your pocket as they know once they reach there, then there is no looking back. Such is the success observed by social media apps such as Facebook, Instagram, and Snapchat. Once you get hooked, you’re on it 10 times a day without even noticing that it has become your go-to place to avail of certain services.

The other app sector that has observed this astounding success is service-providing apps such as on-demand apps, navigation apps, healthcare apps, entertainment apps, and many more. Businesses in the early 2000s didn’t give enough importance to creating a dedicated app that acts as a live catalog for all their services and products that can be exercised from anywhere and anytime. But today, an app for your business can do wonders if made following good practices.

Let’s start by examining some of the statistics related to a custom mobile app development company.

How much does it cost to develop an app for my business? This is the primary question that arises in an entrepreneur’s mind when pitched the idea of developing a mobile app for their business. But this question sits at the very bottom of a software development project and triggers you to ask how much it cost.

The foremost pickle that company owner finds themselves in is finding the answer to two questions – should they hire an independent developer or a small, medium, or enterprise-level professional after the mobile app development cost breakdown? Or should they develop an app by themselves?

All methods can yield fruitful results but are incredibly different in their approach to app complexity.

Technource is a professional IT service provider that has worked on several mobile apps and projects. This helps them gather experience and develop expertise to create mobile applications for multiple platforms. An advanced app also requires the optimized use of industry 4.0 techs such as IoT, AI, AR, ML, and much more. A company that has a proven record of working with such projects has learned from their prior experience and can assist you by not committing the same mistakes again and by speeding up the app development process.

You can also opt for creating an app by yourself. This will save you a lot of money. A conventional mobile app development process requires you to write code, design an engaging UI/UX, market the app, perform quality checks, and do many other tasks that require specialized knowledge. If you don’t possess the preceding expertise, you won’t be able to create an app as per your expectations and all your hard work can go in vain.

How many platforms you choose to develop your app for directly affects the development cost. If you develop an app for the Android platform and not for iOS it will surely cost you less than creating the same for both platforms. This is because developers would have to put in double working hours to develop an app with similar features for both platforms.

The price range for app development

Here we will discuss platform-wise mobile app development costs.

1) Progressive Web App Development Cost

At times it becomes necessary to create a web app to enhance your web presence and promote quick reach. A progressive web app development cost depends on the complexity & features of your android app.

Progressive web app cost: 1000 USD – 50,000 USD

In addition to this, if you want your app to be compatible with TV, PCs, and other devices, you would have to pay more for the same. App developers would also have to put in extra effort to make sure that your app is compatible with older mobile devices and offers a similar experience to those users. All these technicalities are essential to a successful app and hence add to the total cost.

One can develop apps quickly using hybrid techs as opposed to native platforms as they are developed using a single code base for both Android and iOS platforms. They have various plug-ins that can be used to create apps similar in experience and design to native apps. The development cost and time for hybrid apps are quite less as compared to native apps. The sole reason behind this being a native app requires coding two apps with different codebases, hence doubling the development time and effort. But the same can be achieved with a single code base while using hybrid technologies. Another added benefit is as the apps are quick to build there remains an ample amount of time for marketing them.

Simple hybrid App development cost: Upto 10,000 USD

Moderate complexity hybrid app development cost: 10,000 USD – 50,000 USD

Enterprise-level hybrid app development cost: 50,000 USD – 150,000 USD

Let’s discuss the cost of the most popular framework for Cross-Platform App Development in 2023

React Native was the most popular framework till mid-2021, however now in 2023 Flutter has become more popular than React Native.

React Native is empowering businesses all over the world by creating real and native-feel apps for its users.

The average cost for creating an app in React Native can cost anywhere between 20,000 USD to 50,000 USD.

To develop an app you can outsource your project to a large software development company, an experienced IT service provider, or hire freelancer mobile app developers. Apart from this, an app development company offering its services from the US would charge you 250 – 300 USD per hour while a similar company from India would charge you way less for the same services.

If you choose an app development company, the type of app development team working on your project directly affects the cost of creating an app. A basic development team consists of a programmer, a QA engineer, a project manager, and a UI/UX designer.

While if you want to hire an extended development team it would consist of 1 back-end developer, 1 project manager, 2-4 developers, 1 or 2 UI/UX designers, 1 content specialist, and more. As the number of developers increases the development time decreases with an increase in the development rate.

Your responsibility doesn’t end with the creation of an app but now begins the real challenge. The app created by you would require maintenance once it enters the market. Your app would need bug fixes along with other software up-gradation. This is referred to as post-project consultation which costs you money.

If you observe the app stores you will see that it is filled with millions of apps. For your targeted niche to know and start using your app, it should reach them using the right marketing techniques. If you don’t invest well into marketing your targeted users may never get to learn that an app like yours exists and all your hard work right from creating an app to launching it can go to waste.

Cost of creating an app = Average Hourly Rate * (Design Time + Development Time + Quality Check Time) + Startup Service (Marketing + Launch)

Cost of Maintaining an App post its Launch

The battle is half won with the launch of your app, but there are so many challenges that lie ahead. No one can predict that they’ve created a perfect app until and unless one learns the user’s response to the same. As per the industry standards, it’s a common practice to invest anywhere between 15-20% in your app creation and then app maintenance costs.

Your app development costs can be due to any of the following:

The common myth about software development is that it happens to be an extremely costly process. But it’s not so. As you’ve already learned the prominent factors that affect the app development cost, let’s know a bit more about how you can manage to start with the same using a minimal budget.

Professional IT service companies offer their clients the option of developing a Minimal Viable Product or MVP for their business. An MVP helps a business create an app offering its core services while allowing them to test the waters.

The aim behind creating an MVP isn’t to check if the app you’re creating is successful or not but to help you decide if an app for your business should be created or not. The limited features and functionality powered by the right UI/UX design can help you get started in the right direction. You can learn more about how to prioritize your mobile app MVP features through this blog. Choosing to develop an MVP is a great idea for entrepreneurs who think they have a business idea with immense potential but don’t have thousands of dollars to invest in the same.