App Development Cost Breakdown “What You’re Paying For”

In an evolving digital landscape, the most adaptable businesses see the most success, and a significantly important area of adapting is in mobile apps. We’re seeing an increasing number of businesses attempt to reach new audiences through mobile apps.

App development can typically be a massive undertaking and it’s important to understand the costs involved before you dive into it so you can budget accordingly. There have been multiple instances of projects shutting down halfway through because of unforeseen and overrunning costs along the way.

So, to help you prepare your budget accordingly, consider this a guide to an app development cost breakdown. This article aims to present estimations and industry standards to help you manage expectations and plan accordingly.

How Much Will App Development Cost?

A question everyone asks before jumping on the mobile app bandwagon is how much will app development cost. It’s essential to understand the full scope of the cost of developing and maintaining apps and plan your budget accordingly before taking on such a project. There are many different contributing factors to consider that will affect the cost of building an app.

App functionality and complexity

The most important factor to consider is how complex your app will be, and the complexity will depend on the category of the app, the features and user interface. For example, a banking app will be significantly more complex because of all the security protocols and integrations than a social networking app.

Similarly, the platform matters too. If you’re designing individual apps for Google Play Store and Apple App Store, that’ll cost you more than a hybrid app.

Design and code

The extent of your user interface design and the coding required would also significantly inflate the app development costs. The visual objects, custom images, animations, as well as how much of the code is reused and created from scratch will determine the expense.

App maintenance plan

The expense doesn’t stop once the app has been launched. You will have to provide ongoing technical support, bug fixes, optimizations, new features and compatibility updates, which will incur additional costs. Apple reports 1.5 million “abandoned apps” on the app store that haven’t been updated in several years, so clearly this is an unforeseen showstopper.

App development timeline

It’s also important to forecast the time the entire app development cycle would take and plan your budget accordingly. Often, the process takes longer than expected and overrun costs due to recurring expenses, like salaries.

You would need to consider these factors in your initial budgeting and planning to make sure you don’t encounter hidden costs that could hinder your progress down the road.

Cost Effective App Development Approach

As elusive and nebulous as app development costs may seem, they are still entirely in your control. All you need is to decide on certain variables and calculate the associated costs to create a budget.

Platform

The very first variable is the platform. The cost of developing and maintaining apps will depend on which platform you’re developing apps for.

The cost of developing an app for Android or iOS will depend on the complexity of the app, features, user interface and maintenance plan. Android apps are typically coded on Java or Kotlin, which are more complex and require more lines of code compared to Swift used for iOS apps. So, the cost effectiveness of the platform will largely depend on the complexity of the app. Plus, depending on your requirements, you may have to develop separate apps for Android and iOS which will incur more costs.

You would need to accommodate this expense in your budget and planning. These apps will cost anywhere from $20,000 to $80,000 to develop, and twice as much if you’re developing an app for both platforms independently.

Web apps typically cost less than native apps because of their limited capabilities. Web apps are delivered through a browser through a browser interface and are dependent on a steady internet connection.

As the name suggests, web apps are coded in HTML5, CSS or JavaScript, making them relatively easier to code. But this also restricts the functionalities of the app. You can expect to spend around $10,000 to $60,000 on web app development.

Finally, hybrid apps are developed to work on both Android and iOS platforms. This means the app only has to be developed once for both platforms. This could potentially be a relatively cost effective solution, costing on average between $30,000 to $120,000.

Frameworks and Tools

Flutter is one of the most popular frameworks in app development because it is open source and offers a shared codebase across different platforms. Flutter is Google’s SDK and can be used to develop mobile, web and desktop apps from a single framework, making it time and cost efficient. Using Flutter framework can reduce app development costs by 30% to 40%.

React is another rather popular framework built on the JavaScript library. It’s popular because JavaScript is a popular and easy-to-use coding language, which again makes app development cost effective. You can easily find a capable JavaScript developer for relatively cheaper.

Xamarin is another framework that proves particularly useful for developing hybrid apps. It’s a cross-platform framework that allows you to use the same C# codebase across different platforms.

Tools like Appy Pie, GoodBarber and Thunkable are gaining traction in the app development domain because of their ease-of-use. They are cloud-based app development tools that help individuals and businesses develop customized apps from scratch using templates and selections, without the need for programming.

These tools allow you to skip hiring a dedicated app developer and save associated costs by taking on the development process yourself. Depending on your requirements from your app, Appy Pie, GoodBarber or Thunkable could possibly be all you need. With monthly plans starting at $19, they have proven to be rather cost-effective as well.

Hidden Costs

Finally, the one thing you need to look out for are the hidden costs that may pop up along the way. These hidden costs include:

• App store fees – There is a fee associated with hosting your app on the Apple App Store and the Google Play Store. Apple charges individuals $99 and businesses $299 in annual fees, while Google charges a one time $25 to submit an app.
•  Marketing and promotion – Often, businesses exhaust all their budget in developing an app and fail to promote the app which can result in underwhelming performance numbers, defeating the purpose of the endeavor.
• Customer support – Ongoing support will definitely be an additional cost on the business and it can quickly multiply depending on the number of users.
•  Security and compliance – With time, you will need to update and maintain the app to adapt to the changing security requirements and regulations, which will incur additional costs.

It is also important to note that if your app includes in-app purchases, the platforms charge a commission on each purchase (Apple charges 30% on all in-app purchases and Google charges 15% on the first $1 million and then 30% on subsequent purchases).

These commissions don’t introduce any costs to the business since they are deducted from the payment for the in-app services or features, but it’s important to price your purchases accordingly to make your in-app purchases worthwhile for you and the users.

Conclusion

There are various expenses that factor in the cost of developing apps, including the complexity and functionality of your app, the platforms you are developing the apps for, the framework you use, and the hidden cost associated with hosting and maintaining the apps.

To make sure that you have a clear plan and budget before you embark on the project, you would need to do your research on the costs associated with each step and familiarize yourself with the various expenses included in the process. You would also need relevant information to determine the most cost-effective approach to keep app development costs as low and profitable as possible.