Can you imagine your life without a mobile device? These little devices have converted into something we cannot live without in the past decade.
We use them to communicate with our loved ones and our colleagues, be active on social media, read news, educate ourselves in new fields, shop, and of course, entertain ourselves with all this dynamic content around us.
For all of these things mentioned above, we are using mobile apps. Therefore, the mobile application market is constantly growing, and as long as they meet our needs, there will be no changes in that trend shortly. This lead to many business owners realizing the benefits an app could have for their business.
If you’re one of them and are looking into seeing how much money you need to have for a custom mobile apps development, continue reading as we’ll break it down in this article.
Costs of Custom App Development
The total costs of custom app development will depend on numerous factors, but the average price of a mobile app is around $30,000.
Of course, this number can be lower or higher depending on the app’s complexity you wish to build. Also, the price will vary significantly depending on if you’ll make the app on your own, with a freelancer’s help, or with a software development company.
If you’re a small business owner who got discouraged by this sum, don’t be. Apps that are more basic and have a few features can cost you anywhere from $10,000 to $50,000. What’s great about these simple apps is that you can upgrade them later and integrate more complex features once you have more money and the audience shows the need for an upgrade.
Outsourcing Talent or Hire a Software Development Company?
We’ve already mentioned that you can reach out to freelancers who will provide you with parts of the custom mobile app development. However, there are a few things you’ll need to keep in mind if you choose that route.
Building an app is never cheap, so hiring someone you don’t know might be a loss of money. They might have excellent qualifications on digital platforms and a great portfolio, but that doesn’t guarantee you will get the quality you need.
Also, the price of these services will depend significantly on the country a freelancer is from. However, this might lead you to a wrong assumption that a high price implies higher quality when in reality, the price is justified by the specific economic conditions of that country.
The most expensive mobile app freelancers are based in North America, and they charge anywhere from $50 to $250 per hour, with custom cross-platform apps being even more expensive. Following North America, Australia and the UK have hourly rates from $35 to $150.
Cross-Platform Apps
When deciding about your app, you will need to think about the platforms. Will your app be on Android or iOS? Or maybe both? You should make the decision based on your target audience. If most of your potential app users are using Android, you should build an Android app.
This will, however, exclude a group of users who are using iOS devices. So, most of the time, it will be beneficial for you to have a cross-platform app, but if your budget is limited, you will need to research the burning question: Android vs iOS, and make an informed decision.
Software Development Team
If this will be your first mobile app, you will need to know that it’s almost impossible to create even the most basic mobile app with only one person. Usually, it takes a team of professionals with unique skills to deliver a product that can be marketed well in front of your target audience.
Assuming that you’d save some money if you opt for only a programmer who will handle the design, or vice versa could cost you more money than having both of these professionals on board from the start.
A quality custom-built mobile app will need a programmer, UI/UX designer, project manager, and QA engineer. In the end, who would like to use an app with a clean code but an unattractive and confusing design?
When it comes to more complex projects, you will need more people in your software development team. The best thing to do is to consult a few companies to see their prices and determine which one has the best price and the set of skills you need to build the app you want.
