How much does it cost to create a mobile app?
There are currently 5.135 billion mobile phone users worldwide. The average smartphone has 80 apps installed. 40 of these are actually used every month, with users spending 2 hours each day. This represents a 7:1 ratio of time spent using mobile apps to web browsers. This is only part of the information provided by Hootsuite. In the future, these numbers are likely to double. By 2021, it is estimated that there will be over 350 billion mobile app downloads per year. Who should you trust to create mobile apps?
Many such companies will invest in their own mobile apps. This leads to increased competition in the market. It’s pretty crowded right now, and the mobile market is just getting bigger. According to Statista, Android users had 2.1 billion apps to choose from in the third quarter of 2018. The Apple App Store is slightly smaller, with over 2 billion apps available. On the one hand we are dealing with great investment potential and on the other hand we are dealing with intense competition
Standing out from this big crowd has become a top priority. For that, you need something that actually stands out. This could be a great idea or a specific feature that outperforms your competitors and breaks into a particular niche. And here we get to the point. Preparing before entering the market is important.
If you are willing to invest a few euros or hundreds of thousands of euros, you cannot reduce your assumptions to 3-6 sentences and expect an outside company or freelancer to expand your ideas. Proper market research and a well-written plan are the foundations of action. Before you even think about sending a request to someone, you should answer a series of questions yourself (explained later) and estimate the scope of your project. This is painstaking work. Just type “freelancer mobile apps” into Google and browse the results to see for yourself. Usually he can’t handle complex multi-platform projects by himself. Of course, this is the cheapest option, but also the most risky. If you’re looking for someone to create a small app that works with basic functionality, doesn’t require a complicated graphical interface, and isn’t subject to deadlines, then you can consider such an option. Examples include an app for registering patients at a dental office, or a small business appointment scheduling program built for a specific device. By outsourcing a project like this to a freelancer, we do not risk financial loss due to possible delays or accidental exposure of our ideas to the world. However, it’s always worth asking for portfolios and references upfront, and asking people who have successfully built similar apps in the past.
For large projects, it is wise to enlist the help of a large development company agency. A typical team working on his app for mobile he consists of four people, which in most cases is enough to release version 1.0 of the program within four to six months. That’s right, version 1.0 is just the beginning of the app’s journey. A characteristic of digital products is that they are never completely finished. Agencies typically offer technical support after deploying later updates. This is necessary if you want to develop the app further in the future. Some features may require a fixed monthly fee (such as using external GPS maps). Budgets should be planned along the product life cycle. What factors affect the cost of mobile apps?
So far, this text has not mentioned specific numbers or price ranges. The reason is simple. The cost of building a mobile app depends on so many factors. First, you need to decide what kind of app you want to create and what its purpose is. This is the most obvious aspect that determines production costs.
The simplest apps work on their own, but more complex projects require constant access to the server. This means the app needs to communicate with the database. An application programming interface or API allows the system to connect to the database. The API library is the core of your app and is the most expensive but important element. These are not the only aspects that influence the determination of the nature and purpose of the project. For example, business apps don’t need visual extras, which saves artwork. Or quite the opposite, our goal is to develop a game that may need to hire a dedicated development team and adapt to longer production times. You should care about the best possible user experience or UX. . . And don’t try to take this department lightly. Users are now very demanding, so another company may soon offer a more comfortable solution. Once you have decided on your app type, you need to define the users and markets in which you will release your software. This is mainly related to platform selection and allocation of interfaces in specific languages. Android smartphones are the most popular in most countries, but the United States, Canada, or Japan are the biggest fans of the iPhone. When choosing a target platform, the cost of building Android-only apps is higher than iOS-specific apps. Note that the
This is due to uniform technical specifications, a large number of different devices and operating system versions. This can cause the app to load incorrectly on some tablets and smartphones, leading to user frustration and negative reviews. The need to fix bugs in your app can make testing time-consuming and strain your budget.
Most of the time we want to adapt our products to the global market. To reach as many users as possible, it’s worth considering releasing your app for both systems and having an English version. Multi-platforming can even double production costs unless the location is very expensive (only when testing, do you have to be very careful that all commands sound and look right). Decide on a native or hybrid app depending on the accepted purpose. Platform-specific apps are more sophisticated and efficient. If your setup isn’t too complicated, hybrid apps are worth choosing. This reduces production costs and facilitates the deployment of future modifications. It’s also important not to overlook that publishing an app on both platforms requires a fee. Fortunately, they are not large numbers. Google Play charges his one-time fee of $25, and it costs $100 a year to maintain an active Apple Store developer account (regardless of the number of releases). A low price threshold is a fact that income must be shared in the future. Both shops charge 30% of all income generated and transfer the remaining 70% to our account.
Now we come to the most interesting stage – making money. But before you flood your account with remittances from satisfied customers, you need to tighten your budget a bit. why? popular apps on these platforms are free. And if it’s free, you’ll need to monetize your popularity in ways other than outright purchases. The most common solutions are internal advertising and microtransactions. The latter makes it possible to purchase virtual goods, add additional features, remove advertisements from the app, and increase the convenience of use. So the need exists.
Other factors that affect the cost of creating mobile apps are user registration methods and profile management, social media integration, customer data protection, push notifications, geolocation features, and testing (the more complex the features, the more, should be more careful). ).
Where can I find mobile app developers?
According to this, most of the mobile app budget is spent on development and subsequent technical support. Therefore, the cost of creating such an app is easiest to calculate using hourly rates that vary by country. US programmers earn between $50 and $200 an hour. Considering that even the simplest app requires 200 hours of work, and in extreme cases can even exceed 2000 hours, your budget should grow accordingly. For this reason, Western companies often hire his IT specialists from other parts of the world in search of savings (so-called offshore/nearshore software development). The average hourly wage in Central Eastern Europe is about $25 to $100. This makes sense, especially since a country like Poland isn’t left behind by other her EU member states and doesn’t have big cultural differences as many professionals speak advanced English.
But it’s also not the cheapest option. In Asia, in countries such as India and Vietnam, hourly wages never exceed $30-$50. However, choosing the cheapest provider isn’t always worth it. Before making a selection, you should carefully research the history of a potential business partner. Product maturity to market – what does that mean?
Let’s say you have a great idea. It may be an Uber-like revolution, but it can’t be scaled up in any way. After all, you’re an innovator and you can’t see how the competition is doing. Your company doesn’t need to invest hundreds of thousands of dollars to gauge interest in this service. There is none. As mentioned earlier, working with mobile apps is virtually endless. A Minimum Viable Product (MVP for short) is the minimum condition that allows a product to enter the market. The production of mobile app MVPs (minimum viable products) focuses on ethnic features and their release allows us to measure demand. This does not mean that such apps are of poor quality. MVP (Minimum Viable Product) is a fully functional app (but incomplete by default). As with all apps, attention should be paid to functionality, design, and UX, but things that are not critical to working properly should be left for later. On top of that, it’s up to the user to get their actions and comments on the right track within the app. This way, you can give your users exactly what they want faster (and cheaper), and production costs are spread over time.
So how much does it cost to create a mobile app? If so, you can try to answer them. The rating of a mobile app depends primarily on its complexity and the effort required to complete it. The minimum budget is $1,000-$5,000. Don’t expect anything more than the absolute basics here. That means simple apps that work independently on the platform, often without graphic design. If you hire the services of a few small development groups in Central Eastern Europe for a large project, prices start at $20,000 with virtually no upper limit. Count on an app available in two language versions with user registration, internal payments, statistical analysis tools, responsive adaptation to different devices, multiple language versions, dedicated design and UX, integration with APIs, and social media We can do about 100,000. and selected services/features (such as Google Maps and QR code scanners). But according to his Kinvey report, based on the information director’s opinion, development times often exceed seven months, with companies spending an average of $270,000 on this goal. Large companies boast even larger budgets of over $500,000. For example, Uber started with 1.5 million vehicles. And remember that we are still talking about the first version of the program. In each case discussed, at least as much should be added for ongoing application support and its further development. Add to this the possible marketing costs, and it becomes clear that creating mobile apps is not a game for individuals.