How Much Does It Cost To Build An App In 2024?
Key Takeaways:
- The primary concern for new business owners is developing an app that is within their budget while also aligning with their vision and generating the desired ROI.
- Several factors influence app development costs, including the release platform (mobile or web).
- Surveys were conducted to establish cost slabs for app development based on business requirements and development complexities.
- The statistics mentioned in the content are compiled from these surveys, providing information about the cost implications of app development.
However, these are not the exact costs and the actual numbers might vary as per your idea of app development. This is to provide you with a brief idea of what the current market cost expectations are when one goes out looking for an app development business.
Various Factors That Are Considered While Calculating An App Development Cost
As shown in the above image, some crucial parameters are taken into account before devising a cost value for an application to be developed. These are:
1. The platform for which the application is to be made. In the case of mobile applications, it is checked if the requirement is for only Android operating systems iOS, or both. Based on this platform selection further parameters are accessed accordingly.
In the case of web applications, it is important to identify if the business requirement is for a static application or a dynamic one. Also in the case of having a responsive web application, build charges get increased accordingly.
2. Design complexity is another important aspect that contributes highly to deciding a price value for any application. Based on the count of screens your application is going to have, the resource allocation is decided from the development team’s end. Also, if your business requirement has any payment gateway integration needs then the costs of third-party alliances are also taken into account.
3. Having security protocols deployed within your application is also taken into account depending upon the design complexity.
4. Requirement of quality assurance phase. This phase requires a completely separate team and a set of resources to be allocated which needs proper budgeting. Hence this calculation also goes into the overall cost of your mobile/web application.
5. The number of features and functionalities to be embedded in the application determines how much total bandwidth in terms of human hands and hours would be needed to build the application. Accordingly, the resources are hired, wages are decided and the application costing is prepared.
Current Market Cost Expectations
1. Basic App Development:
$40,000 to $150,000 with the development duration defined as up to 6 months.
2. Complex App Development:
$300,000 onwards. Such application projects range up to more than 9 months.
There are minor cost variations possible based on the development platform i.e., web or mobile. Sometimes the business demands cross-platform applications where the average cost parameters get increased.
Different Types Of Applications And Their Estimated Costs By 2026
Around 80% of a day for a human being is spent using mobile applications doing various activities. It has been predicted that by the year 2026, up top to the mobile application industry market will increase by approx. 18.2%. The type of application going out there on Google Play or Apple Play stores is also a contributing factor in determining the average cost bars of applications.
Cost To Build An App In 2024
Below is the list of different types of applications and the average cost slabs in developing the same:
| Type | Cost Slab |
| Starts from $50,000 and goes to $300,000 |
| Starts from $30,000 and goes upto $300,000 |
| Starts from $50,000 and goes upto $300,000 |
| Starts from $55,000 and goes upto $300,000 |
| Starts from $60,000 and goes upto $300,000 |
| Starts from $40,000 and goes upto $150,000 |
| Starts from $55,000 and goes upto $300,000 | |
| Starts from $30,000 and goes upto $180,000 |
| Starts from $50,000 and goes upto $350,000 |
| Starts from $40,000 and goes upto $150,000 |
Other than the type of application that you require for your business, the cost factor also varies depending upon your country, region, or the country where the application will be used once developed and rolled out in the Play stores.
Based on recent studies and research in this domain it has been observed that the USA ranks higher in cost for applications as the wage rate of this country is the largest among the other countries. On the second rank comes the UK followed by other countries like Australia, Western Europe, and Eastern Europe, and then India in the 6th position.
Options You Can Explore As A Business Owner For Developing Your Application
To meet the budget constraints allocated for your application project, you can opt for the below-mentioned options for the development of your application. These are as follows:
1. Hiring a local agency or service provider for the development of your application as per your business and software requirements.
2. Building your in-house team of developers. This option saves a huge amount of developing costs for your company as you do not need to pay big amounts to the developers and engineers outside of your organization.
3. Hiring a set of freelancers to fulfill your need for application development based on the required skills and expertise levels.
4. Having contract-based employees till the completion of the application development project. In corporate sectors, there is a defined terminology for this technique which is known as“ Outsourcing”.
Conclusion
Once you are ready with your idea of developing an application, it is wise and very essential to discuss security-related, design-related, business-related, and other aspects of the domain with your team of stakeholders and board of members to arrive at a business-suitable cost slab. Accordingly, work on hiring a suitable team of developers considering all the above-mentioned parameters. Ultimately the sole focus is to get the desired outcomes at the best possible prices.