The market of custom mobile application development services is at an all-time high and yes there is no looking back or halt for this market as it is on a booming spree. Many people are searching worldwide, they want to know how much is the app development cost to build an app. When most of us make use of apps for purposes like games, food, communication, lifestyle, sports, and much more, building an app is a serious business for many.
To give you a brief idea of the cost to build an app, the app cost calculator shown below will help. All you need to do is fill in the specifications of the app which you want to be developed. All the data collected on this tool would be transferred to our app development experts and the app development team will be in touch with you sooner than you can imagine with an exact price quote and tips on how to make the perfect app for your business.
When you have questions like: “How much is app development cost” and “What are the factors that decide the cost of an app” in your mind, it is important to go through the main driving forces of mobile app development:
One latest study pointed towards the fact that the average cost to build an app that's straightforward ranges somewhere between $50,000 to $70,000. While a medium one costs between $71,000 and $85,000. When we look at a complex app we see that it might cost anywhere between $85,000 to $200,000.
Therefore, we can provide an answer to the much-asked question: how much does it costs to build an app, we can on average take it to be $60- $70 per hour. So a base version of an application would be costing $30,000 approx. The apps of medium complexity would be costing anywhere between $50,000 and $80,000 and a complex application would generally be beyond $100,000.
Today, if we search the internet we find that a huge number of companies globally declare themselves among the best app developers while promising the best app solution. You can find some companies that are big names and are around for a very long time, some would-be newbies, some locally based while some foreign ones, many of them would be large and some of them would be small. Well! A tough choice for many! Isn’t it? To make a selection would be mind-boggling not only for experienced businesspersons but for start-up owners equally.
A very common doubt among them would be whether a high price guarantees them a top-quality app or whether the new names in the app development market would be competent enough to deliver high-quality products. So when we keep all that in our mind, we would head back towards our impartial scan of the cost to build an app where we will first see what is the average cost of app development worldwide and how it changes as per the geographical location.
The table down below will give us a quick idea of the hourly rates of app creation worldwide :
| Region | Android ($/hr) | iOS ($/hr) |
| Australia | 100 | 100 |
| North America | 168 | 150 |
| South America | 37 | 43 |
| Eastern Europe | 40 | 40 |
| Indonesia | 35 | 35 |
| India | 26 | 30 |
| UK | 71 | 71 |
When we look at the above table we get an idea that the costliest region for app development in North America. The lowest app development costs are in India and Indonesia.
To be frank there is only one attractive feature to consider local app development which is, the physical presence of the app development team that makes communication among you and the team extremely seamless.
Otherwise, the app developers who are foreign-based have great expertise in their work and they perform a whole lot better too when compared to the local ones. App development outsourcing cost is much flexible and has lower rates. You have already seen the above table indicating the hourly rates per region so taking the decision wouldn’t be tough!
It is important to note that all apps are made differently. While apps made for the iOS platform would have different features, the Android ones would be different. This difference would affect the requirement of time too for their development. However, we can certainly point out the approx time needed for different apps:
Basic App: needs approx 500-800hrs
Moderate Complexity App: needs 800-1200hrs
Highly Complex App: needs over 1200hrs
You should never expect the software development company or team to give you an exact figure right at the time of the first meeting. Instead, you should know that various factors have to be considered before coming with the exact cost. These factors are :
To find out the cost to build an app, it is also important to find out the complexity of the app. It is the functionality and the features like buttons, screens, and fields that have a lot of impact on the cost. First we will have a look at the time and cost with the basic features then go further to the more complex ones.
Simple Features :
Here is the basic features app development cost breakdown, along with the time taken.
| Feature | Illustration | Time/Cost(approx)$ |
| Login | With Email | 28 to 42 hrs/1100-2100 |
| With social media | ||
| Forgot the password | ||
| Log Out | ||
| File Upload | Photo upload | 20 to 30 hrs/800-1200 |
| Video upload | ||
| Photo view | ||
| Video playback | ||
| Edit Profile | Info | 47-62 hrs/2350-3100 |
| Edit | ||
| Password change | ||
| Add remove payment method | ||
| Complete Profile | Info | 24-29 hrs/1000-1250 |
| Photo | ||
| Messaging(basic) | Status(online/offline) | 160-170 hrs/8000-8500 |
| Conversation details | ||
| Sent/Read status | ||
| Push Notifications | Receive push notifications | 25-30 hrs/1250-1600 |
| Admin Panel: User Management | List | |
| Edit | 66-90 hrs/2700-4000 | |
| Block/delete user | ||
| Create User | ||
| Payment | See a list of payments | 23-44 hrs/1000-1700 |
| Refund info | ||
| Push Notifications | Send custom push notifications | 15-20 hrs/1000-1200 |
Complex Features :
Here is the breakdown for cost to build an app that includes complex features, along with the time taken.
| Feature | Illustration | Time/Cost(approx)$ |
| Map/Location | User location detection | 75-111hrs/3000-5000 |
| Map search | ||
| Pick up point setup | ||
| Payment | Balance info | 60-78hrs/2500-3500 |
| Transaction list | ||
| Add Card/Wallet | ||
| Add PayPal | ||
| Streaming | Start/Resume/Stop broadcast | 90-140hrs/4500-7000 |
| Calls | Video | 257-365hrs/ 12850-18250 |
| Audio | ||
| Contacts List |
Also, make a note of the unprecedented changes which may pop up while developing the app thus affecting the cost and time. The app’s complexity and its features affect to a great extent the time taken and the cost for building the app.
When you think of an app design that has a unique user interface, also think of how difficult a task it is to create an app with that design feature. This will also add some extra cost to build an app that you planned. But when you go for a lower-priced version that guides you to use OS furnished units, apart from making screens of elements that are standard the cost may decline. So the number of screens is n important decider here.
Talking about the design of the app, well! This impacts the complete app-building process. The more complex the design of your app is, the more will be the cost of the app.
A straightforward app design usually has the standard elements which are platform-specific and very easy to bring into effect. Not to forget a simple app design would take the least time too. When you add the personalized elements or even add animation to your app, they make the design complex thereby increasing the cost of app design.
Let’s look at some examples of app screens of various complexities. The first image shows what a simple app design looks like:
The more advanced design of your application can be as follows:
If you want to design an app in a very complex way, see the following example to understand what is meant by expensive design elements:
Do you want to build an iOS app or do you want an Android one? Probably you are thinking of building an app that works on both platforms! Before making this decision try to study the market properly. Find out the app share as per iOS and as per Android. See whether the app will be successful among Android users or iOS.
Also, consider the pricing structure of iOS and Android apps. After carefully studying these factors make a decision on which platform your app should be built. In case you want to make the most of both platforms, then opt for a hybrid or cross-platform app development. Hybrid works better as there would be a single team working on the creation while in the case of cross-platform two different teams would be there!
When we talk of mobile app development, the backend is the operating system that assists the app developers on the API part. It helps in the exchange of data between the database and the app. The app comes equipped with analytics to carefully make use of user data.
You can easily keep track of the activity of the user and also see how your app is fairing in the market. Whether users are finding it easy to use or difficult to operate. When you want to keep track on such parameters through your app you should also know that these will also affect the building cost of your app.
There may be many useful tools to manage the contents on an app but undoubtedly, the top one is the administration panel. Yes! This tool helps to manage users, content, and statistics. Although there might be many existing administration templates searching for a good one will be tedious. So only build a panel that is in sync with all your needs.
We discussed earlier in the article how the geographical location of the app development team is crucial in deciding the cost of the app. So when we look at app development in North America, the cost to build an app would be different here than in India.
Business Analyst: business analysts produce a business solution. They help a lot in the planning stage by studying the competitors and producing the best solution as per market needs.
This is one very important factor that is included in the cost of build an app. A very tedious task indeed. A project manager greatly helps and takes care of a lot of work like:
Before ending the points to be considered to decide the cost to build an app, you also should know that after the app is created you also have to maintain it. So basically there is a maintenance cost attached to it. Maintaining the app is important if you want to or don’t want to add the latest features to it which will attract users to it. Maintenance is also needed if you don’t have plans for scaling up. Maintaining the app will protect it from :
To let you know about maintenance costs clearly we can say that this cost is approximately 15-20 percent of the total development price. It is critical for keeping the app up and running that you remain in touch with the app development team. The support of the team continues even when the app is ready and in the store.
The whole process of mobile app development goes through the following stages :
| Type of Work |
Basic App |
Moderate App |
| Development (Developers+ DevOps+ solution Architect) |
$45,200+ | $76,500+ |
| UI/UX Design |
$4,000+ | $7,200+ |
| QA | $10,500+ | $18,000+ |
| Project Management |
$10,000+ | $13,750+ |
| Total Cost |
$69,700+ | $115,450+ |
With our calculator that tells you how much will it cost to build an app, you can find the cost in different zones around the world easily.
Let us take the example of building a business app in India :
| Mobile Platforms: Both |
| App User: Log In Email |
| User Profile: Yes |
| Notifications : Push Notifications |
| Payments : PayPal |
| Administration Features : User Management & Reporting/Analytics |
| Location Services: Yes |
| User Messaging: Search, List of Chats |
| Multi Lingual: English |
| Quality: Moderate |
Looking at the above features and requirements, a business app in India would take around 720 hrs with a development cost of $8639.
You can check the cost of building your app clearly by using our Mobile App Development Calculator.
Answer a few easy questions and voila! You have the estimated cost of building your dream app emailed straight to your inbox.
A well-designed app can bring a great return on your investment. So, If you have a dream App Idea in your mind, don’t wait let us know right away and we will make your Dream come True!