Every business nowadays is thinking of shifting to a digital approach for expansion. There are undoubtedly unlimited benefits to switching from brick-and-mortar stores to online stores. They find application development for their existing business the most convenient option. But with this comes the decision related to costs. The budget varies for different types of applications. Therefore, It is not easy for every business to make a shift. However, an accurate understanding of the development process and required resources helps make the right decision.
This blog will cover every intricate detail to ensure entrepreneurs or SME organizations can look into their budgets and develop the app. Take five minutes to read and manage your account to have a robust and feature-rich business application.
However, to help you make up your mind about going ahead with app development, it is believed that the estimation for app development in the USA goes as follows:
Average Cost: $75,000 to $300,000+ depending on complexity
Developer Rates: $150 to $250 per hour for U.S.-based developers
Simple Apps: $10,000 to $50,000
Complex Apps (AI, AR, Blockchain): Can exceed $1 million
Maintenance Costs: 15% to 20% of development cost annually
This range depends on the app’s complexity, platform, and post-launch needs.(*sourced from various trusted statistics websites)
Although the above-mentioned are estimated numbers, they can vary much based on many factors. From types of developers to different technologies, from cross to native platforms and the types of operating systems on which the app will run. All these intricate aspects can bring a much bigger difference in the estimation costs for custom app development. Thus, to come up with the final costs, it is necessary to break down the complexities of platforms, OS, screens, technologies, development languages, resources and much more. Henceforth, for easy understanding here, we break these intricacies in simpler ways
There are three core areas that help determine the pricing.
Design: in technical terms, referred to as font ends, which is UI that impacts branding.
Technical Features: coordination of small chunks related to app development and connection in between them, in technical term referred as API, Data Fetching capabilities etc.
Maintenance: After development and deployment, upgradation, error correction, bug fixation etc.
In addition to this, there certain more things such as emerging technologies like AI/ML, GPS or IoT that significantly affect development cost. Further more light will be put on these in blog.
But first, here’s a concise breakdown of factors influencing app development costs:
- Discovery Phase: Aligns audience needs with business goals and helps choose the optimal development approach.
- Prototyping & Design: Focuses on user experience and aesthetics and involves iterative user testing.
- Coding/Development: Largest cost factor, varying by app type, scalability, and backend requirements.
- QA Testing: Ensures functionality and compatibility with technological changes.
- Deployment: Includes app verification and backend transfer.
- Maintenance: Ongoing costs due to cloud services and integrations.
- Cross-Platform: Offers cost savings compared to native apps.
- PWA: Affordable but limited hardware integration.
- API Integrations: Enables connectivity with external services.
- Advanced Features: AI/ML, geolocation, sensors, and IoT add complexity and increase costs.
- Accessibility: Necessary for inclusiveness and app usability.
These factors all contribute to the overall development cost depending on the complexity and scope.
Though, it is to be noted that determine all of the above mentioned factors help you in estimating costs for first version of MVP app development. The critical aspects are the game changer to make final budget.
Development Process and Software Costs
Building an app today, much like in the past, follows a set process, and each stage impacts the final cost of development. Here’s a breakdown:
Discovery Stage:
In this phase, the business identifies its target audience and defines the app’s goals, design, and functionality. It usually takes about 30-40 hours of analysis. This stage is crucial as it determines the project’s resources, development models (like Agile or Waterfall), and team structure.
Pro Tip: Conducting early market research can save costs. Clients who handle audience research and development models early on often avoid extra expenses later.
Skipping this stage can affect costs by as much as 10%, so investing time here is key.
Prototyping and Design
This phase is a crucial step where the user experience is determined, and graphical assets are created. The process moves forward with a clickable prototype, allowing a clear understanding of how pages and buttons will react and function. It’s important to note that this phase isn’t just about attractive colors or aesthetics. It helps identify the practicality of features, colors, and other design elements when the app goes live.
Complex designs and high-standard graphics, or specific color choices, can impact the final application cost. Clients can choose between predefined templates or customized themes depending on their budget. Therefore, it’s essential to make decisions regarding screen layout, navigation, UX behavior, and custom features, which will require coding logic to be implemented.
In this phase, a lot of back-and-forth communication happens, and pricing adjustments occur. Every client wants their app to be both interactive and visually appealing.
Wireframing, Interfaces, and Testing
For any business, it is always important to consider how software will function. In short, the user journey is critical for any successful business application. Determining the workflow typically takes eight to nine hours. Afterward, wireframing begins, focusing on the app’s user journey. Designers eliminate unnecessary elements and utilize tools or sometimes sketches to figure out the flow, buttons, fields, text, and more. This process consumes an additional 40-50 hours. Once wireframing is complete, the actual design phase begins, where brand colors, fonts, sizes, and various navigation and visual assets are created. This complete process of prototyping and design consumes not only time but also resources. When front-end development is done from scratch, costs are significantly increased.
User Testing
User testing is a crucial aspect of the app development process. This phase helps to evaluate the functionality of the prototype. Therefore, it is essential to conduct user testing after the prototype is complete. While it does add to the overall cost, skipping or neglecting this phase can lead to app failure, ultimately affecting the budget. A key tip for the user testing phase is to ensure that errors are corrected and repeated testing is performed to refine the design. This is vital because making changes during the design phase is far less expensive than making changes during the coding phase.
It’s important to remember that, although code is critical and considered a state of the art, poor or gimmicky design can increase the rate of users abandoning the app.
Fact: Design iterations can be 80% cheaper than code iterations, so it’s wise to invest more in them.
Development
The core development phase has a significant impact on application development. In fact, experienced and skilled developers are quite scarce in the IT industry. Therefore, coding an application is often an expensive affair. Utilizing seasoned developers with hands-on experience comes with high fees. When a client requires an application for e-commerce, AI chatbots, trading, crypto, or investment, developers with specific expertise are typically assigned. This highlights the fact that application development is costly, with additional expenses arising when there is a demand for specialized applications.
Scratch vs. Existing Projects
These two factors play a key role in determining the budget for application development. When an app is built using an existing codebase, costs are undoubtedly reduced, but the original creators’ marks remain. Additionally, there’s a chance that the pre-written code may contain errors or be poorly structured, leading to increased costs for rework. Therefore, when delegating app development solutions to businesses, it’s essential to pay attention to the quality of work being done by both previous and current developers. The lack of communication during the discovery phase can also become a billable matter, so it’s important to keep everything clear and transparent.
Backend Code
No application can be developed without backend code, whether it’s for babysitting services, trading platforms, hospital management, or food recipe apps. Unless the app is designed for a very basic feature set, a database is mandatory. Popular SaaS backend solutions provide off-the-shelf functionality, simplifying the coding process for applications. For example, Shopify’s SDK allows store owners to manage their store, cart, payment processing, and much more, which reduces costs for both Android and iOS apps. Additionally, open-source software simplifies application development by providing libraries, such as JavaScript libraries for rendering ePub files. All of this reduces time and money spent on app development.
Scalability Issues
The simplicity of an application can sometimes affect its performance. Moreover, customizing off-the-shelf components can increase overhead costs, as developers may need to start from scratch. Modifying another developer’s codebase is not a simple or quick task, and all these additional efforts contribute to the cost of customized app development. In conclusion, the overall cost depends on the features, availability, and feasibility of open-source software and SaaS platforms.
Note: The majority of app development costs, around 70-80%, are attributed to coding.
QA Testing
Quality assurance (QA) is essential in app development to ensure flawless functionality. At Topflight, we perform two types of QA: Unit Testing and System Testing. Unit Testing checks each component as it’s built, while System Testing evaluates the overall performance once development is done. Regression tests are always included to catch recurring issues. QA guarantees the app works smoothly on all devices, though the number of tests will impact development costs, especially with frequent software and OS updates.
Deployment
The deployment does not take large time compared to the different phases involved in application development. Therefore, sometimes it gets overlooked and clients also fail to add the cost into their budget estimation. Thus, do not forget to add it while creating budget for app development.
Cost Including in App Maintenance
App maintenance involves various ongoing costs that are crucial for smooth operation. Cloud service providers like AWS, Google Cloud, or Azure can range from minimal to significant monthly expenses. Third-party integrations, such as payment systems, follow a subscription model, adding to the total. As app usage grows, so do throughput and server demands, increasing maintenance costs. Bugs also need consistent fixes. A good rule of thumb: annual maintenance is typically around 25% of the original development cost.
The cost estimation doesn’t end here. There are many other major factors that significantly impact the cost of customized application development. These include the type of app, feature complexities, hidden costs in app development, and the need to run applications on different operating systems. Numerous aspects determine app development costs, and these factors will be covered in upcoming blogs. Combined, they will guide you in budgeting and making informed decisions when choosing customized app development solution providers.
For more technical details or professional assistance, feel free to reach out to the TechRev LLC development team. Their industry experience can provide valuable insights and support.