How Much Does an App Development Cost In 2023-24?

Did you know?

Besides that, Statista says,

Since you have had a glance at the stats above, chances are you don’t get flabbergasted to see businesses rushing toward mobile app development. When thinking of mobile app creation, you get tons of questions popping up in your mind. However, the questions are plenty; your biggest concern should be the cost of building an app. But fret not! This article will get you a complete hold of mobile app development costs!

A Quick Glance To An Average Mobile App Development Cost

There are plenty of variables depending on which the cost of mobile app development may differ. How much you’ll need to pay for building your application is determined by various factors. These can be your project’s requirements, complexities, features you need, the app development company you choose, and the like. So, before we dig deeper to explore all of the aspects, let’s have a quick glance at the average cost of mobile app development!

How Much Does It Cost To Make An App By Yourself?

If you have some technical knowledge and expertise, this question is likely to pop up in your mind. Anyone having technical know-how and some experience can create a mobile app on their own. However, you can do it; creating a mobile app on your own may not help you embrace the optimal results your project deserves.

Mobile apps are, in general, created by an entire team that consists of project managers, designers, developers, quality assurance engineers, and the like. When the entire team works together on a single project, your app gets developed in just a matter of 3 to 6 months at a reduced cost.

The question “how much does it cost to build an app?” is something answering which is an arduous task—as it differs based on different factors. We’ll explore every factor in this article one by one. Below mentioned are some of the factors which can differ the cost of mobile app development!

Outsourcing Mobile App Development

When it comes to developing a mobile app, the very first thing that comes into mind is whether to build an app in-house or to have it created by outsourcing it to a third-party software development company. However, if you decide to outsource your project, you open the door for a huge chunk of advantages, as mentioned below!

Besides these all, there are some disadvantages as well when you choose to outsource your app development project.

In-house mobile app development

When outsourcing doesn’t seem to suffice your need, you should head to creating an in-house app development team. However, you don’t need to worry about it—as we’ve published our previous guide on how to hire dedicated offshore mobile developers for your project. So, go through this guide and get help on the way to hire developers and build a team to build mobile apps. Have a look at the benefits of creating an in-house team

Also, have a look at the other side of in-house app development.

Android vs. iOS App Development

If you’re thinking of building a mobile app, you should first know that there are two different operating systems (Android and iOS) for which you need to build apps separately to target people from all walks of life. However, you can build applications for each platform; it would be better if you test your app idea by creating just one app initially. It prevents you from risking huge amounts in the initial phase.

Now, you may have the question, “How much will it cost to build an Android or iOS application.” I should tell you, for your information’s sake, that the cost won’t vary much, as the timeline is almost equal for both types of development. It’s up to you whether you choose to build a single app or both at the same time. Determine it as per your budget.

Native vs. Hybrid App Development

Similar to Android and iOS, the selection of whether to develop a Native or Hybrid application can differ in the price of your project. If you want to cover a single platform, you can create a Native app, but in case you’re intended to target both platforms (iOS and Android), you should prefer going with Hybrid app development. It’ll help you lessen the cost spent on building separate apps for each platform.

However, hybrid development mitigates the expense; it may lead you to compromise on the quality of the app. These may be unstable performance, tricky user experience, technical limitations, and the like. So before you make any decision, decide which one to choose between Native Vs. Cross-platform apps.

Code Reusability

Employing this approach will lead you towards reducing the cost of mobile app development up to a large extent. When you determine to use your existing code in the new application being built, you’re opening the door to lessen the app development cost by up to 20 to 30%. However, you can use it; you’re advised to make use of merely the common elements, for instance, login, contact us, and the like, and create the rest from the get-go. If not done so, it would be almost impossible to create a separate brand identity.

Complexities Associated with Visual Design

The complexities involved with the visual designs creation are also a huge cost differentiator while building a mobile app. The app design is something your users encounter prior to anything else. It has the potential to make or break your app’s impression. UI UX design can cost you around $5,000 and even more than that for 15 to 20 app screens. How much you will pay for UI UX design depends upon the number of screens, custom elements you require, complex illustrations, visual complexities, branding, and the like.

Features and Functionalities of Mobile Application

The functionalities and features you need to add to your app too influence the price for app development. Furthermore, complexities in your app design and functionalities enhance time consumption, causing the app development cost to go higher. Some typical features, for instance, primarily navigation, push notification, and user sign-in, may cost you a little; features like offline mode, online streaming, credit card payments, and so on will be likely to cost you a small fortune on the app development.

In-app Purchases

No matter whether you’re willing to sell your products or services, a course or subscription, and the like, you need to have payment gateways through which you can accept payments for your service. However, the feature is a must; it enhances the cost of the project.

Navigation

App navigation is all about creating user flow throughout your application. The feature determines how users will switch through several screens, access features, and how they get back and close the app. A complete user flow must be thoughtful and laid out prior to the moment when development begins. It also influences the cost of mobile app development.

Registration and Login

Would you expect your users to register and log in to your application? If the answer is affirmative, you need this feature to be added to your app. Some of the popular alternatives include signing up using social media, for instance, Facebook or email. Users tend to like signing up via social media apps, as it eases the hassles by enabling them to just grant access to their app to access some essential information via social media accounts.

Push Notifications

You’re likely to find features like push notifications in today’s applications. The feature enables you to share real-time updates with your targeted customers. There’s a multitude of alternatives, including simple text notifications to images and action buttons are available, which you can make use of as per your need. Employing these features can also add expense to your app development project.

Structure And Location of An App Development Team

As we have mentioned above, the mode of app development you choose can differentiate the price. If you choose to go with outsourcing your mobile app development, you need to select a country; hence, the cost gets differ. Here’s how!

Here, if you choose the first one, it tends to bring along a wide array of challenges, for instance, time differences and the like, making it tough to get in touch with the development team. Despite all of these hassles, businesses choose this model to get financial ease. You can, too, choose to go with it by finding a company from a different country with a little time difference.

Have a look at the table below indicating how much organizations charge for providing different resources for app development!

Mobile App Development Cost of Some of The World’s Most Popular Applications

Now that we have come to know the cost differentiators let’s have a look at some of the world’s most popular applications and the average price of building an app like them!

WhatsApp

The first one on our list is Whatsapp. It’s an instant messaging app enabling its users with competencies to send and receive messages, photos, and videos, as well as making audio/video calls to the people they want and need. The average cost of building an application like “WhatsApp” you need to spend an amount that may be anywhere between $30,000- $70,000.

Snapchat

Another one we have is “Snapchat.” With 300+ million daily active users, the app has become a renowned name in the world of social media applications. Snapchat has become a pioneer when it comes to bringing augmented reality to its users through interactive lenses and filters. Furthermore, the app enables you to share multimedia messages capable of getting “self-destruct” within 10 seconds. If you want to build an app like Snapchat, you may need to spend anywhere between $45,000 to $100,000.

TikTok

Now, we have TikTok, a video-sharing app that has become a preferred choice of users in the entertainment world. This high-performance application enables users to lip-sync music and dialogues and re-enact a video scene from their favorite movie or any kind of video. You can make use of several effects and filters to beautify the quality of the image. You need to pay around $60,000 to $100,000 to build an app like TikTok.

If you want to create a mobile app for both platforms, you may need to pay up to $150,000.

Netflix

Next up, we have Netflix on our list. It’s one of the world’s leading media streaming platforms that enables its users to stream movies and shows with ease and convenience. To create an app like Netflix, you need to spend up to $25,000 to $200,000.

Uber

Another one on the list is Uber, which is a well-known ride-sharing application that bridges the gap between riders and drivers from across the world, to give people an amazing traveling experience. With Uber, users can conveniently book a car in no time from wherever they’re at that very moment. When a user places an order, it connects them to a nearby driver. The cost to create an app like Uber, you need to spend around $30,000–$100,000.

How Much Does It Cost To Make An App?/The Final Conclusion

After an intense exploration of various aspects of mobile app development cost, we’ve come to a point when we need to have a conclusion about how much it costs to build a mobile app. Since there are different factors involved in differentiating the cost, it’s impossible to ascertain the exact cost of building an application. Here’s an approximate cost you need to spend if you need to build a mobile app.

Final Thoughts:

That’s pretty much about it! That’s all how you can determine the average cost of your mobile app development project. We discussed every single element in this article. This includes the factors that differentiate the prices, some popular apps built for different purposes, and how much you would need to spend if you want to build one like them. This mobile app development costs guide will help you optimize costs and hire the best Android and iOS developers for your projects.

Frequently Asked Questions:

How much does it cost to maintain an app?

To maintain an app, you need to spend around 50% of the initial app development cost for the first year. After that, you need just 20% to 25% of the same cost to keep your app maintained.

How long does it take to build an app?

However, it entirely depends upon your requirements; the average time it takes to get your app developed is anywhere between two to ten months. The time can be more or less, depending on the variety of requirements and complexities of your project.

Why does it cost so much to build an app?

However, there are plenty of factors influencing the cost of mobile app development; the complexity and feature needed to add to an application can be one of the biggest price differentiators. If your app requires features, for instance, sync with the internet, process payments, process in-app purchases, push notifications, and the like, you need to pay a considerable amount to build that full-fledged application.

How can I make money using mobile apps?

When it comes to making money using a mobile app, the subscription, premium upsell, purchases of in-app resources, and the like are the highest-earning sources in an app. However, online sales, sponsorship, and transaction fees are some additional ones that may complement these all.