How Much Does It Cost For App Development

Technological advancements have helped businesses to progress at a rapid pace. It’s getting important for the companies to digitize their sources, otherwise, they would miss their chance to stand out of their competitors. The best way through which companies can digitalize themselves is by investing their money in mobile application development. Since mobile application users are growing at a rapid pace, it will be easier for companies to connect with audiences from different corners.  By leveraging mobile application development services companies will be able to stay ahead. 

Application development is a laborious task for app developers. It involves deciding the right UI/UX, framework, language, and its compatibility with cross-market platforms. App developers spend months to develop an application that is user-centric. Since an application has to be quality oriented, companies should know that its development would be costly. Let’s dig in further and know how much does it cost to develop an app for your business. 

Application Development Firms Develop Three Types of applications:

• Web App: Creating a mobile version of a website. Mobile Friendliness occupies a huge online space.
• Native App: Built for a specific operating system(either Android or IoS). These apps are easier to download from an app store. Offers ultimate user experience and are complex to build.
• Hybrid App: Easier to build because of the single programming language. Hybrid apps are easier to operate on more than one platform. It functions similar to a native app.

Factors that Impact App Development Costs
 

1. Business Model

The first and foremost step that decides the cost of app development is its business model and business plan. A business plan includes your target audiences, devices, platforms to be used, ways to monetize it. It also takes into account the factors like ‘access to download an app, download costs, in-app purchases, advertisement options etc.. If you are planning to get an app with in-app purchase options, then these kinds of apps take longer to implement and thus are expensive to build. Companies expecting a full-blown e-commerce experience should be prepared to pay even more.  

• Platform: Businesses have to decide on which platforms they would like their apps to be designed. The users should keep in mind that It is comparatively easier for software developers to design an application for an iPhone in comparison to an Android phone. If you have money, you can choose to get an app built for both the platforms.  Android apps take time to build and therefore, they are quite expensive.  

2. Functionality: Functionality of an application is dependent on app type that includes: 

• Table/List: designed to display a simple collection of information. It is similar to a mobile optimized website
• Database: the structure of these websites is complex. In this users have to sort, find and display data from large data sets. These apps connect to a website,  or an online web service to retrieve information. 
• Dynamism: similar to database apps and are complex to build. These apps are built in a manner so that they can easily connect with other platforms via APIs. 
• Games: these types of applications are most difficult to develop. Simple games are easier to build but when a company demands to have a complex gaming environment like 3D animations, then he should be prepared to pay a high cost for it.  

Apart from these functions, there are additional features like push notifications, geolocation, search bar, personal profiles and logic these factors also affect the cost of application development. 

3. Design: Users are attracted by the design of an application. Pillars that are responsible for designing of an application are:

• Graphics/Visual Design: How much people would use your app depends on the kind of design it has. Customers are always attracted to an application that has a good UI/UX design. Graphic designer cost keeps on fluctuating. If companies ask graphic designers to design an icon for their app, then the cost usually fluctuates between $300 to $1,500.
• User interface and user experience design: Users interface is the next dominating factor. If it’s difficult for the users to use an application, they would take no time to uninstall it. 
• Development: Development of an application is dependent on the kind of application developer you would be choosing to develop your applications. Categories of app developers to choose from: 

• Small agency: Small application development firms usually have 3-10 creative professionals involved in creating an application.  Each creative professional is assigned with a job that they need to accomplish. Small agencies want to grow themselves in the market, therefore, they deliver high quality, on-time completion, and consistency in offering assistance even after the completion of a project.  
• Large agency: Bigger application development firms have large teams. Since they have earned huge reputations in the market over the years, therefore, they promise to deliver products that are of high quality. Availing the application development services from big firms is usually a costly affair. Keep this in mind while you prefer opting for application developed from them.  
• Freelancer: Selecting a freelancer for an app development could be pocket-friendly as they do not charge you a huge amount for it. Freelancers usually have a limited range of expertise, so they might sometimes fail to deliver great results. If a freelancer is slow, uncommitted or late at delivering your project, then the chances are, your project may even sink.

 
The point of advice here is to choose a developer that is well versed in your niche and would be able to deliver high-quality app development services within the specified budget. If a software developer is able to meet up to your expectations, then go ahead with it. 

Apart from the above factors that decide the cost of an application, there are some hidden costs associated with it. Let's dig in: 

• Testing an App: Testing will cost you enough but it definitely saves you from bugs and glitches. 
• Protection of Intellectual Property: IP protection involves preventing visuals, multimedia, and texts from being plagiarised. Companies need to increase IP protection with varying layers that include copyrights, patents, and trademarks. 
• Marketing and Launch of App: Creating awareness is the step towards making the audiences know about your application. Marketing is again a costly affair but if it's done right, it can bring huge traffic to your application. 
• Admin and Technical Support: Offering technical support is important so that an application can run smooth. Technical teams are talented and that prevents the applications from bugs, thus, hiring a good technical team will prevent the app from facing downtime. 
• Maintenance: Application development is easier but maintaining it is not. It again requires a huge investment. Maintenance cost is 20-30% of the development cost an application

After considering all the factors, we can now estimate the total cost of building an application.

According to a Kinsey Report, it was concluded that companies spend around $270k on an average to get a mobile application developed. Some companies charge a high amount while some a nominal amount. 

In a survey from 12 leading application development companies, it was concluded that the cost of building an iOS app goes between $38,000 for low functionality to $171,000 for a high tech app.

In spite of such calculations, application development cost keeps on fluctuating. The best way of calculating the actual cost for your application development is based on the niche and services you would like to opt for. Cost of application development can even be calculated on cost calculators that some of the application development companies offer namely:

• Otreva Calculator
• Imason Calculator
• How Much to Make an App

Are you searching for an application development company to fulfill the requirement you have for dynamic application development? Get in touch with Oodles Technologies for feature loaded applications. Our experts offer the best app development solutions to companies across the globe. Contact us now for more details on application development services.