Mobile applications allow you to increase customer loyalty, improve your business image and establish direct contact with each specific customer. A separate icon of your company in a person’s smartphone will not let people forget about you and will significantly increase the percentage of re-contact.

In this article, we have collected all the interesting and useful information about how much it costs to develop an application from scratch, whether it’s possible to use constructors, and why a large project requires the participation of many specialists.

The cost of developing a mobile application depending on the platform

An application on a mobile device is created for a specific target audience, so the entrepreneur, together with the development team, must decide on the strategy in advance. You can choose to write native code so that the application works on a specific Android or IOS platform, or cross-platform coding that will work on two platforms. Each approach has its own advantages and disadvantages.

The cost of creating Android applications

The application is developed in a native way and hosted on the Play Market platform. The main advantage lies in the vast user base: more than three billion active accounts worldwide, who are ready to take a look at the millions of applications in the library every day.

On the plus side, many libraries that can be used. Moderation on the side of the marketplace is easier, which means faster development compared to iOS. OAs for the minuses, there’s a large number of different manufacturers and phone models, which complicates testing. The cost of developing an Android application starts from $5,000.

iOS development cost

The native method of development could be used, followed by placement on the App Store site. The store's audience is characterized by a higher loyalty to developers and a willingness to spend more within the app.

The difficulties of developing an application for this platform are:

strict moderation in the store,
no direct access to the user's contact information, which complicates feedback.

Depending on the functionality, the price may be 20-30% higher than on Android. The development of a mobile application for this platform starts from $6,000.

Cost of cross-platform development

A cross-platform approach is used if you want to place a mobile program on two platforms at once.

It’s assumed that only one team will be hired to implement the project, which will reduce the costs. At the same time, the coverage of the target audience is increasing.

Using a cross-platform approach is justified in cases when the project doesn’t require a large number of native components. Among them may be in-app purchases, various widgets, currency updates, and many others. The method can be used for both large and small projects.

The cost of creating mobile applications depending on the complexity

The development price is different for simple and advanced projects. It influences the functionality that needs to be properly implemented and provided to users. Let's give some understandable examples and on their basis, we will explain the increase in cost:

Simple Applications
An example is a mobile application through which customers can order water delivery. By logging into the application, the user can repeat his previous order or order delivery to a new address. The application has an order history and online payment. Such an application can be developed cross-platform. In such a case, the cost of developing will start from $ 5,000.
Applications of medium complexity
The cost will be higher, as additional functional modules and user capabilities are connected. For example, a mobile application, having a personal account of a gas station network. When developing it, you will have to create a section with current promotions, a cumulative bonus system, and add the possibility of push notifications. Medium difficulty is distinguished by advanced features, which means the development of some parts of applications on native technologies or in general two applications for Android and iOS. In this regard, the cost of creating such turnkey applications starts from $10,000.
Complex applications
The high price is justified by the need to hire several teams for development at once, sometimes outstaffing of ready-made teams is carried out. It takes into account the constant load due to the mass of clients, a large number of functions, and the need for optimization. Mistakes may lead to significant losses of potential profit.
A simple example is Uber and Bolt that have hundreds of thousands of customers every day across the country, building logistics online, accepting payments and refunds, promptly solving emerging problems.
The development of such applications should be done separately for Android and iOS since native technologies provide more variations in load optimization. The cost of creating complex mobile applications starts from $50,000.
The price is determined by the necessity for a large team of specialists: Android programmers, IOS programmers, Back-end developers, DevOps, Designer, Project managers.

What is the cost of developing a mobile application?

In addition to directly writing the code, creating an application includes numerous additional steps, without which it won’t be possible to release the application. The cost of developing a mobile application depends on the complexity of implementing each of the required steps.

Design
Before starting development, you need to think through all the details and include them in the final plan in advance. The design includes the creation of technical specifications with goal setting and prototyping.

Terms of Reference
It’s important to correctly compose the TOR in order to obtain the required results from each development phase. The key task is to thoroughly describe how the future application should work, fix the technologies used, load and security requirements, and also specify the services that should be integrated into the finished product. The cost of developing technical specifications for a mobile application is 10% of the preliminary cost of the project.
Prototyping
During design, a mock-up of your future application is created. At this stage, the usability of the application and the placement of functional elements are worked out, based on the scenarios for using the application. This step can be performed by a designer, project manager, or UX specialist. The price for app prototyping depends on the number of screens and starts from $500 .
Design
Applications of medium and high complexity often have a large number of screens. One of them is the main menu, the second will carry information about the user's latest transactions, the third will tell about current promotions, and the fourth will offer to pay for the goods directly in the application. Elements are drawn sequentially and for a large number of screen resolutions, so the process can be time-consuming and quite expensive. The price for the design of a mobile application of medium complexity is around $1,000.
Application development
When developing an application, the technical part of the project is created. Depending on the functionality of the application, mobile application programmers and back-end developers shall write the server part, and system administrators are to configure the servers. These specialists are directly connected at this stage.
To develop simple applications, the work of one programmer who knows a cross-platform programming language is enough. His work on a small application is estimated at $3,000.

Testing
Testing of mobile applications is an extremely important step that should not be skipped due to the fact that during it all possible errors and bugs that can lead to the loss of users are eliminated. The process of testing a simple application takes up to 1 week and will cost from $500. Below we‘ll take a closer look at the 2 main factors that we pay attention to when testing mobile applications.
- #1. Android smartphones can be of different brands, such as Samsung, Lenovo, VIVO, and others. Companies create their own shell on top of the Android shell. This means that some elements of the application may not work, so it’s important to test the application on each of these smartphones so that it works stably and without bugs;
- #2. Test the program on different versions of the operating system so that all users can use it.
Placement of applications in the Apple Store and Play Market
The finished product is placed on the Play Market or Apple Store platforms. Sometimes moderation is difficult due to inconsistencies with store policies. Problems may arise with the content presented or with the necessary data for the application to work, say, geolocation, phone data, and other confidential information.
Placement of mobile applications in marketplaces is usually included in the total cost of the project and is its logical conclusion.
Further support of the project
It’s convenient to buy hours of warranty service from the developers in advance so that the team is ready to immediately start working on fixing the problems found after the release within a month. Otherwise, you’ll have to wait for free windows in the schedule of programmers, which means wasting time, money, and potentially losing customers.

The cost of creating applications by types of contractors

Today, you can create a mobile application in 2 main ways: order from a company that specializes in mobile development or create it yourself using designers. It’s important to note here that the second method is suitable for small projects where you need to create a simple company business card application.

Creating applications for large projects such as online stores (say, Wog, and many others) requires only the development from scratch since the functionality of the constructors is not enough for such projects to be realized in this way. Below we will go into more detail on each of the options.

Custom application development

The price of developing an application depends on the type of contractors that a future product owner hires to implement the project. The cost is most often measured in hours of work that will need to be spent on the application development. Depending on the choice of the team, their successful cases, and their reputation, the price can vary significantly. The table shows the average cost of services for each category.

Contractor type	Hourly cost
Freelancer	10$
Digital agency	15$
Specialized company	30$

Freelancers. One person does all the work of creating an application, from design to programming. The cost is low, but there are many risks of missed deadlines and fraud on the part of the contractor.
Digital agency. It’s suitable for simple mobile applications. Most often, the work is built on the conveyor method and transferring part of the work to freelancers, so complex projects cannot be implemented.
Specialized companies. Those are advanced companies that have successful niche product development cases and extensive experience in mobile application development. They manage to handle complex projects and meet high demands.

If you want to create a startup or a mobile application for your business, then it’s better to give your project to a specialized company, cos this will allow you to guarantee 100% completion of the project on time.

Self-creation of the application

In addition to hiring a team of contractors, you can use the services of designers. Such services offer a minimal set of tools that can be used without specialized knowledge.

The table below shows 3 main leaders offering the development of a mobile application on constructors:

Company name	Application cost	Examples of applications created on these constructors
Glide	10% off $32 sale per month	Subscription make-up manual; Photo school application; Catalog of mentors in Digital.
Adalo	$50 per month	Application for booking workouts and equipment in a fitness club; Online assistant for teachers.
Bubble	$25 per month	Application for career gamification; Mobile website builder for restaurateurs.

Benefits of hiring contractors for app development:

Cross-platform. The constructor most often allows you to create an application for both platforms at once. It’ll be possible to work for an extended audience.
Relatively low price. Usually, you need to pay a monthly subscription to fully open the functionality. The costs are fixed, which can also be considered an advantage.
You don't need to be a programmer. The tools are specially selected to be universal so that any entrepreneur or amateur can create their own mobile application.

Disadvantages of hiring contractors for app development:

Wasting your time. You still need to thoroughly understand the work of developers you hire and keep an eye on the whole process in order to get an application that will meet your expectations.
Not suitable for large projects. The final product will include an order button and multiple interaction screens. The tools are too limited to create anything complex or unique.
You can't customize the app. The closed code is used to prevent builder users from taking their app permanently and paying for a subscription.
Not original design. Initially, several standard themes are offered. You can try to make them unique, but an experienced user will immediately see the same type and not different design.
Uncomfortable UX. It’s almost impossible to add internal integrations or functional modules. The stereotyped approach in design leaves its mark.

If your project is more complex than a simple application, then working with the constructor will most likely not help. Available tools aren’t enough to automate or create a unique service. Constructors provide only universal solutions that are not suitable for individual projects. It’s impossible to create a great product on your own.

Approximate cost of the mobile application

Now you know that the price of an application depends on the complexity of the project, the required functionality, the hired development team, and the chosen platform for hosting. We are ready to talk in detail about the specific cost of various projects so that you can immediately calculate the upcoming costs of developing your application.

Client's personal account

A simple mobile application in which the client can interact with the company, view promotions, see purchase history, receive notifications about interesting offers. A service center for the maintenance of equipment is a bright example of such a solution. Functionality includes viewing created applications, submitting a new application, contacting support. The data will be pulled up via the API from the accounting system. Costs start from $8000.

B2B portal

Online solution for large suppliers that are interested in effective interaction with large distributors. Functionality involves viewing the catalog of goods and services, a section with my orders, mutual settlements, and contacting support. Costs start from $15,000.

Enterprise application

The application is intended for company employees. A separate area for managers who can conveniently assign tasks and monitor their implementation. The corporate program will allow you to quickly inform all parts of the organization, track the structure of departments. Functionality covers latest news feed, internal secure chat, coordination of decisions, ongoing events, training tab for new specialists, department structure, current tasks. Costs start from $10,000.

Client application

A popular option for a chain of shopping centers or supermarkets, clothing stores. Allows you to increase loyalty and collect more data about the target audience. Functionality includes profile section, personalized offers, and promotions, accumulated purchase bonuses, latest news tab. Costs start from $8000.

Conclusion

Each application for a medium or large business is a unique project that is evaluated directly at the planning and prototyping stage. Now you know exactly how the price is formed and what affects the final cost.

Thinking of how to make the most of your software development? Order the Discovery Phase to consider all key aspects and ensure your project's success!

How much does app development cost? 4 factors affecting the price