How Much Does It Cost to Make an App for My Business?

In this digital era, businesses need to be where their customers are. Out of the 7.8 billion people in the world, 4.78 billion are mobile phone owners. Mobile phones have paved the way for mobile apps to be used as a marketing tool. Data from a survey shows that the average smartphone user has 40 apps installed on their mobile phone. It is evident that mobile apps are one of the best ways to engage with your customers and market your products or services, which is why more than half of the millennials-owned businesses have mobile apps today.

If you’re a business owner contemplating how much it will cost to create an app for your business, you’re at the right place. However, the answer to this question is not simple. It’s like asking someone how much it will cost you to buy a car. It all depends on what kind of a car you want; a Lamborghini or a Chevrolet? The case with mobile apps is similar; the cost varies greatly based on the features and complexity of the app. This can range anywhere from $15,000 to $240,000+.

Studies conducted by Clutch and Outsystems confirm that an app development project costs from $5,000 to $500,000+ and takes about 1 to 9+ months to complete.

According to Goodfirm’s research:

• A feature-rich, highly complex app like Instagram costs anywhere between $70,000 to $100,000.
• A medium complexity app like WhatsApp costs between $61,000 to $69,000.
• A user-friendly app with minimal functionality like Tinder costs anywhere between $40,000 to $60,000.

The cost range of app development is too broad, and may confuse you. Let’s explain the factors that contribute to the overall cost of an app. It will give you a rough estimate of how much you need to invest in your business app.

Factors that Determine the Cost to Make an App for My Business?

Factors that determine the cost of an app are manifold. Most developers determine their rate based on the number of hours they spend working on the project. Some of the significant factors that directly influence the cost of app development are:

• Features and Functionality
• Complexity of App Design
• Number of Platforms
• Backend Infrastructure and App Administration
• Location and Structure of a Development Team
• App Maintenance Costs

Features and Functionality

Some features and functionality options are more complex than others and require the developers to put in extensive hours just to integrate these features into your business app. Let’s start with the cost estimation of a simple app with basic features and functionality, and then proceed to discuss the cost of more complex ones.

• Simple App with Basic Features and Functionality

Some of the core features included in a basic app are:

User login/registration

 The implementation of a basic login feature takes around 20 – 25 hours and costs approximately $800 – $1,000. User registration options include registering via email, phone number, or social media networks. You can later use a phone validator to ensure the numbers registered are actual phone numbers.

Push notifications

A basic text form of push notification feature requires 12-15 hours and costs about $500 – $600 to be developed. Push notifications are a perfect way to communicate with your customer. SMS, alerts, and other important notifications help users stay up-to-date about your products or services.

P2P Chat

A rough estimate of the time required by the developers to implement P2P Chat is about 60 – 80+ hours.  The PowerPoint timeline for the implementation of P2P Chat feature depends on its functionality, such as saving chat history, auto-delete, emojis, file transfer, and so on. Its cost ranges from $2,500 – $3,200.

Search 

A basic search function takes approximately 12-15+ hours to complete and costs approximately $500 – $600. Search function is a way to allow your users to search for the products and services they are specifically interested in. Users’ search queries can also provide useful insight regarding consumer interests and behavior.

Payments

Implementing a payment functionality requires 50 – 65+ hours and it costs anywhere between $2,000 – $2,600. In-app payment options include payment through credit cards, PayPal, Apple or Google wallets, or even cash.

Analytics

The most basic form of analytics functionality can be implemented in about 2 – 5 hours. Analytics help you collect users’ data and analyze their activity and interaction with your app. It costs around $100 – $200 per tool, such as One Analytics tool, Google Analytics/ Firebase, or MixPanel.

• Advanced App with Complex Features and Functionality

Some of the complex features used in an advanced app are:

Geolocation

Geolocation feature can be implemented in approximately 32 – 48 hours and costs around $1,500 – $2,000. It allows you to locate the user device with the use of GPS. It is essential for businesses like Uber and other travel-related businesses. 

Integrations (Google Maps)

It takes around 32 – 40 hours and costs about $1,300 – $1,600 to integrate Google Maps in Android and iOS. Google Maps facilitate geolocation features for navigation purposes.

Ads

A simple banner integration takes approximately 8- 16 hours, and its cost lies between $350 – $700. The hours and cost can vary depending on the type, APIs, and the service. Banners or screen pop-up ads are used for the marketing of different products or services. 

Data encryption

This feature requires 16-24 hours and costs approximately $650 – $1,000 to be implemented. Data encryption is used as a security method to secure messaging with end-to-end encryption.

Video/audio streaming

 This feature is relatively harder to implement and takes about 56 – 72+ hours, and costs anywhere between $2,300 – $3,000. The number of hours spent on integrating this feature depends on data transmission processing, file formats, software logic, streaming protocols, server setup, and other settings.

Connectivity with a device

Approximately 16 – 24 hours are needed to implement this feature. It allows the app to use the device’s hardware, like NFC, Bluetooth, gyroscopes, heart rate sensors, etc. It costs about $650 – $1,000 for the integration of each component.

Complexity of App Design

The complexity of visual design influences the cost of app development. Apps can be divided into three categories based on the complexity of the visual design.

• Basic App Design:Basic design and standard widgets cost about $5,000-$10,000.
• Complex App Design: Customized or personalized design based on distinct visual parts such as gestures and buttons costs about$10,000-$20,000.
• Advanced Complex App Design:Custom animated design with the point on interactions costs about $20,000+.

Number of Platforms

Selecting a platform for your app may come off as confusing if you don’t know the difference between native and hybrid platforms. Simply put, native development is used for developing an app for a single platform such as iOS or Android. In contrast, hybrid or cross-platform development is used when you want to build an app for both iOS and Android.

Therefore, native development can be costly if you want to build an app for both iOS and Android platforms. You’ll have to manage two teams for each platform. In such a case, Hybrid development is preferred.

Native app development costs around $1,000 to $4,000 for a basic app and $2,00,000 – $3,50,000 for an advanced app with hundreds of features. On the other hand, an average hybrid app development project costs about $5000 – $1,00,000.

Backend Infrastructure and App Administration

In app development, backend is typically an OS that provides APIs to the developers to exchange data between a database and an app. It is supplemented with analytics to track how the consumer interacts with the app. The cost depends on the number of factors you want to track.

The administration panel is another important tool for managing an app’s content, user data, and other statistics. You get an option to use existing admin panel templates or create one for yourself according to your business requirements. It costs about $68,523 – $75,250 to create an admin panel.

Location and Structure of a Development Team

The location and structure of the development team largely influence the cost of an app. If you create an app in one state of the U.S., the cost might be different from what you would have to pay creating an app in another state.

The development costs in Palo Alto and San Francisco are the highest and a simple iOS app development project costs about $45,000+ , whereas, in Sacramento, it costs about $30,000 to develop an app. It is quite apparent that the rates vary based on the region of the development team. 

The cost of an app is also dependent upon the structure of the development team, which delineates the number of people involved in the project. A development team mainly consists of Developers, UI/UX Designers, Architects, Project Managers, and so on. A large development team with more people involved will cost more than a small development team because of its impact on the hourly rate.

App Maintenance Costs

App maintenance costs should be kept in mind because maintenance is necessary for every app, even if it has no updates pending. It includes fixing bugs, upgrading the app to the latest versions of third-party services, code improvement, optimization, server maintenance, and scaling applications, etc. According to Clutch’s survey, app maintenance costs about $5,000 – $10,000 per year.

Conclusion

Now that you have a breakdown of the cost associated with app development, you can roughly estimate the amount of money you need to invest in creating your business app according to your business’s unique requirements. To sum it all up, a basic app may cost around $25,000, medium complexity apps will cost anywhere between $40,000 and $70,000, and a complex app costs about $70,000+, depending on a number of factors such as features and functionality, app design, number of platforms, and so forth.

If you’re still unable to estimate the cost of your app, get a free quote from our consultants.