This era has been thriving on the wave of digitization. However, there can be many reasons behind this wave. But the advent of apps has been the most significant amongst all. These apps are the reason why the means of digital have become mainstream for the masses.
Now by looking at the reach and market segment of these apps. Every business wants to get a customized app to feature its services and products. Now, apart from the technology used, time, and other factors, we are going to discuss the pricing factor. As the budget is something the organizations must consider before developing or choosing an app development partner to develop an app for them.
Well, the answer to this question is not easy or nor certain and it depends on multiple factors. While it may not be possible to approach this question in a binary manner and come up with a response. But we can narrow down some responses by considering various factors and can come to a certain conclusion.
Now, it is time to look the pros and cons of both Android and iOS that help in making this decision:
iOS applications – pros
- They are quicker to build to cost less than that of Android apps
- As iOS users are more likely to spend money, so paid ads are more successful in this
- Have more loyal audiences than Android
- Apple has strict guidelines to ensure the quality and security of the app.
- iOS platform is more interactive and easier to use
Android applications – pros
- The number of users for Android are more than that of iOS by a significant margin.
- It has a lower cost per download as compared to iOS
- It comes with low maintenance cost
iOS applications – cons
- Hosting charges are high. It can get close to $200
- Fewer users in the Asian market; means can save a lot of capital
- Hard to get approval on the App Store due to strict guidelines
Android applications – cons
- Paid apps do not work well with Android, as the majority of users prefer free apps
- Longer development time
So now before opting for any platform, you must consider the above factors and need to understand what audiences you are catering to and their behavior.
Types of applications
The budget of development also depends highly on what type or category the application falls under. Here are some different types of apps:
Web application
Web apps are known as websites that are optimized to deliver mobile app experience. And as per the surveys, 80 percent of smartphone users are leaner towards mobile apps over typical websites.
Native application
It is a type of app which is developed for a specific OS, either for Android or iOS. These apps are destined to provide rich user experience but come with a bit of complexity
Hybrid application
It entirely functions on a single programming language. Unlike the native apps, it can work with equal efficiency on both the platforms
They are considered easier to manage and develop. However, the user experience these apps deliver is not as good as native apps.
Outsourcing or In-house development
The option of hiring a dedicated in-house team for the app or to opt for an outsourcing app have the biggest impact on the overall cost of the app development. An app is critical to the success of your service or product and intrinsic to the business model.
So it is not a good idea to delay the process because of the poor decision of choosing the wrong developer. And don’t think of saving cost by compromising on the app quality. It may pave the way for revenue loss in future
Most of the businesses typically look at in-house development as the first choice because they think that in-house teams can perform better because of effective internal communication.
On the other hand, the rest of the businesses opt for an outsourcing partner, as they think it will save them a good cost and they can get better expertise.
Deeply entrenched hourly rates across nations
You may look at hourly rates that can go anywhere between $10 to $250 per hour. These are standard rates. The highest prices maybe 20 times more than the lowest one.
So, if you have a tight budget, then you have to look for a simple app with some limited functions. If your app model gets its desired success, you can add any desired functionality in it.
On the other hand, if you have a decent budget then go for a trusted app development partner, it will take care of the overall user experience of your app, which will pave the way for better revenue.
Costs across locations
- Companies across the US and Canada charge from $50 to $250 per hour
- Australian agencies offer $50 to $150 for their services
- Areas around the UK charging rated between $35 to $ 170 per hour
- The Asian market, including India, charges around $20 to $150 per hour, which is very attractive by the way.
If you closely analyze the development process, then the average time for design and development can go between 400 to 600 hours, based on the complexity and features. So it is important to understand that the time taken for the development of the apps may differ depending on the complexity of the app.
The different stages of app development in terms of costs
There are multiple stages of app development. So when it comes to the technical aspect and the lifecycle of app development, it has become super necessary to look at the different phases in terms of cost of app development and exactly how much budget every stage wants to get completed.
These are the five different stages of app development we are talking about
- Discovery/pre-research stage
- Design stage
- Development stage
- Testing and deployment stage
- Support & maintenance
A complete understanding of the cost of app development across each stage will assist you to plan your budget accordingly.
Actual development time required
As we have already mentioned that the average time required for the design and development of an app goes high as per the complexity and the features. Sometimes a simple app takes up to 600 hours to complete all the stages. And for apps with advanced features and the integration of some next-gen technology will take almost 1000 hours to develop
So you must make a better benchmark before you decide to create an app.
You can take a call on the complexity of the app that you intend to develop and the kind of resource that you intend to use for the development.
Taking these two into consideration you can easily work out the app development cost by factoring in the time and the total hourly rates.
This will give you a figure that is very close to the costs that you need to shell out for the development.
Factor in additional costs
Additional app development costs are always expected after the development of the app.
So you have to keep resources and budgets for the marketing of your app. Apart from it, you will need a budget for backend support and you have to spend some money on additional updates.
So you have these mandatory requirements insight before you allot the budget.
An app is always considered complete only after it has launched fully on the decide app store and when all the support functions are in place.
Conclusion
The question “How much an app costs” doesn’t have a one size fits all answer. As the function, business goal, revenue model, and complexity with every app is different. So one must consider all the factors we have mentioned above to reach any conclusion.