A Comprehensive Guide on How to Estimate App Development Cost

A few important factors that impact the app development cost.

XongoLab Technologies
JavaScript in Plain English
8 min readMar 2, 2022

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app development cost

Whenever we think to build a mobile application, the cost is the first thing that comes to our mind. In this blog, we will discuss all the necessary factors that can affect the overall mobile app development cost. Below mentioned are a few factors that impact the app development cost.

  • Design and development
  • Features
  • Hourly rates of developers or companies
  • Project size

The hourly rate of companies or developers is the most critical part that helps in identifying the cost to develop a mobile app, and it often varies by location. For example, an application that would cost $50,000 to design & develop in the United States might cost roughly $10,000 if built up by developers of Asian countries like India.

Cost of Building a Mobile Application

The reality is that most consumers who come in for a consultation about an app idea have no idea what the process and cost to create a mobile application entail. They’ll most likely have a rough idea of the app’s capabilities before asking for a price. Isn’t that reasonable? Unfortunately, a broad overview of the functionality is insufficient for a reasonable price estimate, and to be honest, it’s nearly impossible to provide a definitive answer of how much does it cost to build an application without a thorough understanding of its functionality and extensive research. The overall cost also varies according to the mobile app development company you choose to avail services. The true amount of app development is determined by several factors like-

  • It might cost around $10,000 to $100,000 to build a native mobile app.
  • A medium-sized mobile application can cost you around $5,000 to $10,000.
  • An app development company project’s development stage accounts for about 25% of the entire cost.
  • Supporting and sustaining a mobile enterprise app might cost up to 50% of the original development cost.

What Are the Hidden Costs of Mobile App Development?

We can say that hidden costs are divided into the factors mentioned below-

  1. Functional cost
  2. Administrative cost
  3. IT costs
  4. Infrastructure cost

Let’s discuss all of them separately.

1. Functional Cost

The costs of integrating an app’s features are known as functional costs. You may need to subscribe to a service that offers a delivery method for a specific feature to work. Apps use a wide range of services, and the list might be lengthy at times. The monthly cost of these services might be hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars. To develop a fully functioning application you can approach a leading mobile app development company as they will better fulfill your customized needs and

suggest better ways to save the cost. A few instances of paid services are as follows:

  • SMS Notifications - Notifications by SMS You may use a provider like Twilio to incorporate SMS messages into a mobile app.
  • Push Notifications - Push notifications to encourage users to interact with your app and prompt them to execute the required action, such as purchasing something.
  • Integration with social media - You must integrate social media interactions to make your app active among users.
  • Email - Email is also an important part when it comes to marketing. You can use services like Mailgun or Sendgrid to add an email facility to your mobile app.

2. Administrative Cost

Administrative services can give you constant access to data, allowing you to maintain the content of your app and manage your users without having to contact the IT department. The expenses of such administrative services are difficult to estimate and are mostly determined by the type of mobile app you’re creating. These expenses mount up over time, and you’ll have to pay them on a regular basis. Here are a few examples of administrative services that can be paid for:

  • Tools for content management
  • Emulators for dashboards
  • Management of functional services
  • Updates in real-time
  • Collectors of data and events
  • Access controls
  • Data segment

3. IT support cost

You can’t build a high-quality app without IT support services because it requires constant technical assistance to maintain any app. The only issue is that the cost of support can rise with time. The following are some examples of IT support services:

  • Submissions for app updates
  • Updates for iOS and Android
  • Upkeep of APIs
  • Bug fixing

4. Infrastructure cost

Expenses for data storage, app hosting, and data transmission are all included in infrastructure costs. For security servers and backup, redundancy and load balancers are also required. All of this adds to the project’s expense and complexity. Mobile app development services from a reputed company can help you to get the results at an early stage. Costs associated with infrastructure include the following:

  • Servers
  • Data storage
  • Content delivery network (CDN)
  • Image data development tools and libraries

Factors Affecting the Overall Cost of Mobile App Development

You can’t expect your mobile app development company to tell you about the development costs right away when you start working on an app. They must initially examine your original requirements. Certainly, before sending you a quote, the development team will calculate the number of hours needed to implement your specific demands.

The overall cost of developing an app relies on various factors such as-

Business model — In today’s competitive world, where we use a multitude of mobile applications on a daily basis it is very important to have a business model. Once you set a business model, then you must determine the total cost to construct an app. Before you begin the process of estimating the average app development cost, you must first determine where the average app development cost will fit into your overall business strategy.

App Type — After selecting the business model you must decide the type of app which you want to launch. Your project manager must carefully select the appropriate application, as this will have a big impact on the overall cost of developing an app. An app can be classified into the following categories based on its level of complexity:

  • Web app
  • Native app
  • Hybrid app
  • Cross-platform app

Platform Choice — Once you select the app type, then you must choose the platform where you want your app to be launched. We suggest you go for both the iOS and Android platforms for better customer reach. Don’t compromise with the platform because it is better to deal with some expenses rather reduce the customer base.

Features and Functionality — The complicated apps are intended for large corporations.

In general, businesses either develop bespoke software without integrating it with existing systems or employ custom integrations with existing systems. Complex apps are quite challenging to develop and developers usually have to deal with a lot of coding while developing, which results in greater development expenses.

The cost of developing the app may be significantly higher than you anticipated. Here are a few functions that can boost your overall app development cost if you choose them to integrate into the app-

  • Native features
  • Online streaming
  • In-app call facility
  • In-app chatting
  • Video call/chat
  • Messaging, etc.

Not only is it difficult to design such apps, but it is also difficult to conduct research and plan for a mobile app development cost estimate.

The size of the development team — The size of your development team is determined by the project’s scope. While a dedicated team of developers should handle complicated applications, the team should also handle small apps. Here is the list of a standard team-

  • Project manager
  • UI/UX designer
  • Android and iOS developers
  • Backend developer
  • Frontend developer
  • QA engineer

You must hire a team of experienced developers if you want a quality app. You can hire a team of freelancers or avail services of a mobile app development company. The cost will be different for both.

Location of the app development — The location of an app development company is crucial when it comes to deciding the final app development cost. North America, the UK, India, South America, Ukraine, Australia, Indonesia are some famous destinations for mobile app development.

The cost of developing a mobile app varies substantially depending on where you are.

In Asian countries, app development costs lie between $10 and $35 per hour. In nations such as Australia, the United Kingdom, or South America, you could be charged anywhere from $50 to $120 for the same service.

North America is the most preferred and expensive development destination, with organizations charging between $120 and $160 per hour to design a mobile app.

Additional Expenses of Developing a Mobile App for Your Business

App marketing budget — It’s not enough to have your mobile app designed, tested, and launched. For mobile app promotion, you’ll need a budget. App marketing budget should be planned at the same time as you plan the overall app budget. Gone are the days when a good app would sell itself; now, with millions of apps in the Apple App Store and Google Play Store, you’ll need to plan and invest to gain any app store awareness.

However, there are a few things that may be done without spending money on app marketing that must be done:

  • App reviews, app shops, and other leading web media are all good places to start.
  • Optimization for the App Store (ASO).
  • The use of social media.
  • Trailer for the app.

App Maintenance budget — This is something you cannot avoid so if you’re thinking about creating a mobile app, keep in mind that you have to spend for its maintenance and ongoing app development.

Keep in mind that most software development companies simply estimate the current cost of the app’s development, ignoring the cost of maintenance, which is evaluated separately. Frequently, the expense of maintaining and supporting an app exceeds the cost of producing it in the first place.

App Security — The safety of apps is a serious problem. Users must have faith in your app with their personal information. As a result, you should have a solid security strategy in place.

Before you make a security plan with your development team, here are some things you should know-

  • Check the security of third-party frameworks and libraries if your development team wants to utilize them.
  • As much as feasible, request that your developer test code for vulnerabilities.
  • Reduce the number of permissions granted to your app’s users. If you don’t need access to contacts or the camera, don’t provide it to them.
  • Ask your development team to conduct code reviews on a regular basis.

Conclusion

If you want to build a mobile app, it takes time and money. I hope you now have a better understanding of how much app development costs. The price of a mobile app is mostly determined by its features, design, and project size, as well as your development team’s hourly rate. However, there are a few hidden costs that aren’t readily apparent. You can avail of a reliable mobile app development services provider company for better assistance.

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Published in JavaScript in Plain English

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Written by XongoLab Technologies

Trusted web & mobile app development company serving clients across the globe since 2011. Working with AI, DevOps, ML & IoT. https://www.xongolab.com/

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