The Cost of Building a Mobile App

The Cost of Building a Mobile App

Human life is now inextricably bound up with smartphones and mobile apps that connect us across worlds within seconds. Mobile users are paying more and more attention to buying products online due to technological advancements. Online forums are used by the majority of globally recognized organizations and companies to attract and gain customers. Increasingly, mobile applications are becoming more and more critical to the overall well-being of a company.

Developing a mobile app of a high standard does not come at a fixed price. Mobile app development does not always have a price tag, even though nearly everything has a price tag.

Take a moment to think of a recent purchase that you made. No matter what it is, the final price of a smart TV, a cell phone, or a car is determined by several factors. It is no different with mobile applications.

If you’re developing a mobile app for the first time, how do you estimate how much it’ll cost? Here, we will discuss different factors you should consider when estimating the cost of mobile app development.

A Cost Analysis of App Development

The number of hours one developer spends coding in an app is often taken as a measure of how much it costs. But this is not the case.

Specialists like project managers, business analysts, quality assurance managers, and designers are also necessary other than coding as a part of mobile app development projects.

All of the roles must be filled by qualified specialists who charge a reasonable price. There may also be a need for a development team. This is why work hours play a large role in calculating a mobile app’s cost.

Work hours play an important role in calculating a mobile app’s cost because the roles that are mentioned above must be filled by qualified specialists who charge a fair price. It is also possible that you might also need a team of developers.

Various aspects that affect the cost of mobile app development

The following are the aspects that affect the mobile app development price:

  • Freelancer vs. App development company
  • The type of project
  • iOS vs. Android platform
  • The infrastructure of a backend
  • The complexity of the design
  • Specifications and functionality

Freelancer vs. App development company

An important part of the development process is choosing the right development partner. A company or freelancer can develop your app, or you can build it yourself.

Developing an app can be done by hiring freelancers or an app development company but it is very important to choose the right development partner.

You can hire freelancers at a very low cost to create your app that’s why the cost of employing freelance developers is the biggest advantage. You may locate freelance app developers from the website like upwork.com or freelance.com

However, hiring a freelancer has its disadvantages.

Because if you decide to hire a freelancer then there are several factors you need to consider, including design and UI/UX. Developing an app entails more than simply a few 100 lines of code.

Hiring a freelancer can save you money, but you will not be able to get quality work and the project delivery on time. You’ll need to find someone to work on all aspects of your project if you want to hire freelancers. You might have to lead the crew by yourself.

An app development company, on the other hand, may give you a boatload of advantages. These advantages include:

  • Exceptional product
  • Collaboration
  • The ideal team formation
  • High-Quality Work
  • On-Time Delivery
  • Support System

An app development company can be more expensive but will deliver greater quality and faster results, whereas freelancers are often less expensive in terms of cost but will take longer to complete the project.

The type of project

A large part of the reason why the average cost to create an app is so different is because of this because the type of project is determined by the particular software you choose to use, and not all apps are made equal.

For example, if you want to make financial apps, you will need software that monitors all payment gateways. On the other hand, healthcare apps also include electronic health records (EHR) if the app is intended to provide easy access to patient records.

iOS vs. Android platform

Most likely, you will want to develop an application for one of these operating systems. The most popular smartphone operating systems is Android and iOS.

Start with an application for a single platform, such as iOS or Android, if you want to test your app idea without risking a lot of money. You can also make apps for every platform if you want to.

So, the question here is how much does it cost to build an iOS or Android mobile app?

If you have more money, you can develop two applications and launch them simultaneously. As the timelines for the two types of development are similar, the prices are not much different.

The infrastructure of a backend

In the backend infrastructure, the app exchanges data with the database, content, and users are managed, reports are generated, and marketing is customized. There are different types of backend environments and infrastructure available.

They all provide different services, for example (AWS, Google Cloud, Digital Ocean, etc), and what is more. App development costs are largely influenced by these elements.

The complexity of the design

Designing your User Interface is an important factor in how you design your app, as well as what it will cost to develop.

The UX/UI can be customized for each platform (Android: Material Design elements, iOS: Cupertino design elements), or you can create one design template, common for all platforms. As a result, it simplifies the process of developing and customizing applications as well as lowers the costs associated with their creation.

Specifications and functionality

Functionalities like push notifications can get very expensive and eat up half of your app budget. Depending on the number and complexity of features you intend to implement, the average cost to develop an app can fluctuate either way.

Let’s see how much each feature costs in detail:

Sign up and log in

This is certainly the most crucial component of the majority of apps available at this time. If you want people to sign up and log in before they use your app then this functionality will be required in your app. Signing up using social networks, or by email are two popular ways.

Users just have to authorize permission to your app to obtain the essential information from their social account when signing up via social login.

Directions

The goal of app directions is to improve the flow of users through your app. It specifies how users navigate between displays, access various functions, and return to and exit the program.
The core of mobile apps is user interface architecture. Before beginning development, the entire user flow must be carefully considered and planned out.

Interaction with users

Some features may be implemented via APIs, while others must be built from the ground up. Features like push notifications, SMS, email, and social media sharing allow you to better engage with consumers.

Depending on your needs implementing such functionality might take a longer time.

Locations

One of the most important aspects of applications like Uber, Airbnb, and restaurant apps is location. To implement this functionality, developers may need to incorporate Google Maps into the app. Even business apps may make use of the maps feature to assist clients to find their way to the store.

In-app Purchases

You will need to connect payment gateways if you want to sell your goods and services directly from your app to accept payments whether you are selling a product, a course, premium features, or subscriptions.

Payment gateways are a very popular functionality and integrating them into your app won’t take long.

Data Encryption

Consider including such features in your application if you don’t want to run into issues and other rules. In many nations, data encryption is now required. Data encryption is important to prevent unauthorized access to the app’s data.

Depending on the protocols employed, the amount of security, and your unique requirements, the development can take anywhere from 10 to 80 hours.

Final Words

You must also know that creating a successful mobile application requires numerous skills and experience. The process of developing a mobile app is extremely expensive.

You need an experienced app development company like E2logy to turn your ideas into a reality and boost your business with a mobile app.

Get in touch with us today if you have a great idea for an app. Our team of developers, at E2logy, is a leader in web and mobile application development. Our innovative solutions for mobile apps have helped many businesses grow.