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Mobile app development cost

Building Your Vision Within Budget

The cost of creating a mobile app can be as low as $ 1000 or as big as $ 100 K, so the general answer to the question “How much does it cost to develop an app” is “It Depends”. For the uninitiated, An App MVP is generally developed in between $ 5000 to $ 15000 and within 8 to 12 weeks. If it takes more than this time and cost then we don’t call it an MVP, because it is more of a full-fledged product with all bells and whistles.

Almost all successful Apps need continuous development, feature enhancements, and localization etc and such projects should be done on a monthly fee model rather than fixed price. The monthly fee for continuous development can start from as low as $ 2900 per month and can go upward if you use more than 1 App developer in the team. You can find out cost of App Developers on Monthly basis using this App Development Team rates calculator.

We try to solve this question outrightly by offering this free App development cost calculator tool that you can use to pick features, platforms, give some brief which we’ll use to prepare a pretty accurate app development cost for you.

Furthermore, we’ll try to quote examples of some famous Apps and their possible App development costs for your better understanding. So, read on…

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App Cost Research

App Development Cost Calculator

With Agicent, explore its simplified online tool that helps your business to calculate the estimated cost before launching your app. It includes key features such as UX, functionality integrity, etc., which assist you in making data-driven decisions aligning with your budget.

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Platform
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UI Type
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AI Functionality
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Multimedia Features
What Audio/ Video/ Multimedia features you want?
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Functionality (i)
What set of functionality you want in your app?
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Functionality (ii)
What set of functionality you want in your app?
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Functionality (iii)
Your preferred App monetization method
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Backend
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Describe in your own words...
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App price comparison

Fixed Price vs Continuous App Development Cost

time-and-material-model

Fixed Price App Development Cost

Depending upon the success of the App and the nature of its business, you may either end up creating an App one time and maintain it only when needed and in such a case a one time cost would sufficient For example, you create a simple Loan Calculator App that has no big complexity or updates, and such a simple app can be created one time in let’s say $ 5000 and no further cost would be needed except some yearly maintenance that will cost you almost negligible.

Continuous App Development Cost

Now take an example of a Social Media App like Tiktok or any other App where there are more than one core features and when they compete in a highly competitive space. In such cases, you need to add new features, enhancements, updates on your App on regular basis and also the demand of maintenance would be higher because of large number of users, features, inter-operability of features, algorithms, server demands and what not. So you can’t predict a fixed price cost for these kind of apps (which means “most of the consumer apps”), and that is why a “Continuous development model” fits best here. You hire a team of developers to continuously work on your app. You add more number of developers, Tech leads, testers, designers depending upon your business need.

Since it is difficult to predict cost of “continuous App development” as a whole, we will focus largely on the “Fixed price App development cost” in this write up.

Factors

Factors Impacting the App Development Cost

An App is essentially an assembly of various features and functionality, UI and UX, Backend (Database, API, algorithm) and then integration with third party APIs like maps, payment gateways, bank authentication, signup authentication and so on. All these several sub parts are factors that impact the cost of app development + some more. Let us go into details:

UI/ UX of the App

Target Platforms for the App

App Type

Complexity

Backend infrastructure

Third-Party Integrations

factors

UI/ UX of the App

A regular design, with stock UI/ UX is easier to be made. And the moment you go for custom design (which you’ll want to make your app stand apart) then both designing and development job will consume more time. Add animation or fluid design, and the efforts will go further more. Finding a sweet spot between using stock screens with custom designs is the key to keep the cost of App development on the lower side.

Target Platforms for the App

Using native technology requires separate coding for iOS, Android, and web platforms, increasing skill requirements, time, and cost. Cross-platform technologies like React Native and Flutter allow writing once and running on multiple platforms, saving up to 40% in time and cost compared to pure native development. In 2023, these cross-platform options offer high performance. The backend remains consistent regardless of front-end choice. Unless native is essential, cross-platform development is recommended for cost savings, ease of enhancements, maintenance, and upgrades due to a single codebase.

App Type

The cost of app development is influenced by the complexity and number of features. Simple, common features like signup, photo upload, and profile creation are cost-effective due to readily available frameworks. However, complex and unique features like image processing, facial recognition, or advanced AI increase development time and cost. Additionally, a high volume of simple features, as seen in Ecommerce Apps with numerous functionalities, can also make a project more expensive.

Complexity

One common question that buzzes every entrepreneur's mind is, "How much does it cost to create an app? One of the primary factors that come into the picture is app complexity. It includes various factors, such as features, functionalities and user interface. Let's say if the app has expensive features such as social media integration, payment gateway, etc. and expensive functionalities such as real-time data processing and complex algorithms, it requires additional time and finally increases overall costs.

Backend infrastructure

The backend is a vital component of any application, encompassing the database, APIs, algorithms, AI processing, admin console, and more. It ensures efficient performance, security, and simplifies complex information. Backend development requires specific skills, often a full-stack developer, to create data models, databases, APIs, algorithms, and integrate third-party libraries. A robust and complex backend demands more expertise, time, and cost. For MVP development, ready-to-use backends can reduce development efforts and costs. However, as you scale, a custom backend becomes essential.

Third-Party Integrations

Your app comprises both native features and integrations with third-party APIs, which can be public (common, like authentication and payment gateways) or private (for unique uses with partner permission). While third-party APIs save you from building everything from scratch, they frequently update, requiring your app to follow suit. The more third-party APIs you use, the greater the engineering time and cost, with API integration updates being a significant part of app maintenance costs.

Hidden Cost

Hidden Mobile App Development Costs That You Must Know?

Well, there are no hidden costs of Mobile App Development and we better call them as “Other Costs of Mobile App Development process”. They are not usually much, but worth mentioning:

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Cost to publish Apps to their respective Stores

Apple charges $ 99 yearly for their App publisher program enrollment so that you can publish and sell things via your App. Google charges one time $ 25 for the same process for their Google Play store.

Server and Infrastructure Cost

Server cost for a new app can be as low as free for an year or may be $ 10 to 30 when you have some good thousands of the users. The cost of server and infrastructure increases when you have large number of active users (say 50 K or more) who are exchanging data regularly on the app. The cost of server actually depends more upon the “interactions users have with the app frequently” than just the number of users on the app. You can always use a cloud hosting service that you can upgrade when the number of users and their usage increase. Nothing much to worry about unless your app is successful.

Continuous App Development and Maintenance Cost

As discussed briefly above, the cost of continuous App development and maintenance is an important “hidden app development cost” to know. But you pay for continuous App development or enhancements or maintenance only when you want it, and it is not mandatory as such. With a one developer App development team (with one full stack developer, need basis designer and tester + project manager) you can easily do regular App updates and maintenance and that can cost you $ 2900 per month and sometimes even lesser.

You can increase the size of the App maintenance team by adding more engineers and hours to expedite the continuous development and maintenance and that comes with additional cost. A good read on App maintenance costs is here. On need basis, you may pay only $ 20/ hour for any kind of app update or maintenance.

App Marketing Cost

Not a very hidden cost, however we’ve seen many first time entrepreneurs don’t factor it in the way it demands. There are only a few Apps in the world that may have gotten famous without marketing, otherwise you have to spend on marketing and App promotion in order to gain more users. The marketing efforts can be free or paid channels but they do involve human resource and cost nevertheless. As a rule of thumb, you need to spend $ 1 to $ 3 to acquire a new App user who installs and uses the app. So if we need 10,000 users then marketing cost can be $ 10,000 $ 30,000. Depending upon how users take your App, the marketing cost in the long run can be lesser per user or more.

Regular Testing Cost

Its part of a regular App maintenance process only, however sometimes you need more dedicated testing effort especially when your app processes user’s health data, financial transactions or any other serious aspect. A dedicated testing team helps you perfecting your App on daily basis and provides inputs to the development team for the same. This can come up with a regular testing cost that can start from as low as $ 1600 per month (one Dedicated App tester’s cost) to more.

Process

App Development Process

Agicent follows a dynamically proven and tested mobile app development process to help businesses to launch their app successfully. We take care of each step to be executed perfectly to ensure that your app provides the best user experience.

Market Research

Whatever idea you have needs to be validated first to ensure that your money and time will be invested in the right place. We have a marketing team who can analyze the market and understand the problem your app will solve and how it will benefit your users. After that, we will define your customer persona and research the competition so that we can align them with your business objectives.

Wireframe the Concept

It is the process in which the rough sketches of the mobile app concept have been layout to understand how the button screens and user interface will look and how the users will likely interact with the mobile app. This step helps to save time as developers don't need to write large sections of the code, and the changes can be done without even finishing the design.

Prototype and Designing

In the prototyping stage, the initial testing is carried out by implementing the functions and incorporating some backend components. After the stage, the final design should be implemented based on the feedback from the prototype testing. The result? So that it is easy to make the necessary changes in this stage as the code still needs to be written, thus saving time and allowing developing the app quickly.

Development

Now is the development stage, our Agicent team works on writing the code so that all the components work together seamlessly. It is the backbone of any application, so our team will spend sufficient time to analyze how your app works. In the development stage, they also connect with you so that we can decide the app type, development approach, programming language, and the right platform to run your app.

Testing

Our proficient QA professionals can test your mobile application for compatibility, security, performance, usability, user interface checks, and more. This ensures your app can respond well to user requests, handle the high load, and offer seamless performance. What else we can do? We evaluate the security of mobile apps to identify potential vulnerabilities.

Deployment and Support

At this stage, your app is ready to launch. After this, your app will be continuously monitored, all the user suggestions and feedback will be considered, and improvements will be made to provide an exceptional user experience. We provide complete support from app updates to adding more features, fixing bugs, etc.

Pricing models

Different App Development Pricing Models

There are 3 major App development models that you can follow to Create an App. Depending upon the stage of your product development, business demand you can choose one that will work best for you.

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Fixed Price App Development Model

It is a model in which the client explains their precise requirements, and based on that, the total project cost would be given along with a clear deadline. This model is great for small projects that have pretty much fixed scope of work, and have less chances of scope change during the development. Pretty good model for the MVP development.

Time and Material Model

Rather than paying a fixed amount, you have to pay the software team for the time and material utilized in the project. It offers great flexibility as there are no fixed prices and meticulously rigid deadlines. This model works for medium-sized or longer-term projects where the project scope is not fully known – a perfect model for continuous development and enhancements.

Offshore Dedicated Development Team

When you have more than one projects, or when the sub projects of one projects are the size of an individual project on its own (like 5 people + per sub project) then it is better to have your own offshore development team working dedicatedly for you. This model is perfect for large Tech clients, Ecommerce clients, industrial clients. You can check monthly rates of Offshore Developers for different skills and experience level here.

Case Studies

Stories of Success and Innovation

Discover the stories behind these transformative apps, where creativity meets functionality, and ideas are transformed into solutions. Join us in celebrating a legacy of innovation and success that continues to shape the digital landscape. Explore, be inspired, and witness the magic of our development journey.

HASfit App Development Cost

Hasfit and Agicent got in touch in 2013. HASfit had a fitness channel with a million subscribers at the time. By establishing connections with more loyal consumers (the Hasfit tribe), they hoped to elevate the HASfit brand to new heights in the digital sphere. Agicent created its initial iteration by developing a thorough knowledge of its concept and designing a scalable infrastructure between the backend and frontend apps. Additionally, to give their consumers an outstanding experience, we developed premium, immersive frontend apps for Android and iOS, as well as a strong admin console. HASfit App’s one time development cost was $ 25000 and now it is in continuous development and maintenance mode.

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Swaralink IoT App Development Cost

Swaralink and Agicent collaborated to develop an IoT BLE app that enabled open-source eyewear such as Monocle and other smart devices. Agicent understood the concept and Swaralink's business goals to create a high-performing IoT app. Agicent team took care of every detail and incorporated the best features, such as built-in security, remote debugging, interoperability with iOS & other mobile operating systems and simplified pairing and unpairing procedures. Swaralink’s one time cost is $ 45000 and then it runs on regular development and maintenance mode.

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Wellcure Wellness App Platform Cost

Wellcure, a natural healthcare platform, had given Agicent an opportunity to work together by developing a web platform first and then integrating it with mobile operating systems like iOS and Android. By communicating with them and understanding their business goals, the Agicent team synergically worked to build a powerful admin panel where they can seamlessly manage and update their content along with their users and functionalities to ensure that their users can exceptionally access the content and benefit from it.

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How to Minimize Cost of App Development? Few Tips:

Build a lean MVP First

Before building the original product, you can go for the minimum viable product (MVP), which includes only a few and essential features to test how your app will perform. Well, this, can avoid wasting your valuable time and money. You can make the necessary changes to make the original product exceptional by gaining MVP feedback.

Maintain UX/UI simplicity

An app with a simple and intuitive UI design makes it easier for new users to access the app with no hassle. This allows them to stay on the app longer. Not only Complex design with too many features confuses the users, but it also incurs an additional cost.

Use Open Source wherever applicable

Use of third party open source libraries can expedite your App development time and also save a lot of cost. Agicent also uses its own re-usable software libraries to quickly roll out regular features like user onboarding, profile creation, photo/ video upload and also almost plug and play backend and admin panels. This all helps in cutting down overall cost of app development.

Cross-platform development

Creating a mobile app on a single platform isn't a ‘wow’ idea, as your target audience is diversified and not platform specific. With cross-platform development, your brand is available on multiple platforms, and therefore, you can cater to more customer bases and save costs. Well, the Agicent team is competent in building cross-platform apps, so why not use their expertise?

Use built-in features

Don't you think it's better to use the built-in features if they can align perfectly with your App requirement? The reason? They take less time and money as there is no need to develop them from scratch. Let us give you an example: instead of building your own push notification or chat support, you can also choose third-party plugins.

Use Backend as A Service

If applicable, you can use simple backend as a service frameworks which will help you creating a dynamic app without writing a separate backend.

Pricing models

How to Actually Hire Someone to Create an App in Less Cost?

A business is never a "one-man army". It requires a team who handles the work operations and streamlines the processes to achieve the business goals and objectives. Wondering about the options that can work as a time yet in affordable pricing?

Magnitude of options is available to help you to manage your business so that your focus is on expanding your business and achieving sustainable growth. The options available are hiring a local agency, building your own in-house team, working with freelancers and outsourcing app development companies like Agicent.

Choose Agicent

A solid team of 115 App developers with a 13 + years of experience and have created successful Apps from the scratch like HASfit, Wellcure, Aiko & Egor – Agicent is an App Development Company of choice for all the startups who are looking for more than the development services.

Agicent has helped startups in not only creating the MVP versions of their App but also their full-fledged product versions that are being used by millions of users. We help our startups with not just technology but also with marketing, promotions and also invest in the ideas we love or help you raise funding for them. No wonder why we’ve customers and Apps that are working with us for more than 10 years, with continuous success with their Apps and overall digital offerings.

Working with Agicent is simple and transparent, you ask us for a fixed price quote and we’ll work with you in identifying the scope of the work and then estimate that for you. You ask us for a continuous development team and you are provided with the finest developers, project managers, testers, designer as a whole package to get you going.

Hire a local App Development agency

Many people are skeptical about whether they should hire a local agency. As a coin always has two sides- so it is not an exception! If you hire a local agency, it gets easy to have an in-person meeting, discuss your requirements well, and make them understand your business exceptions. Another reason is that it could be cheaper as well. On the other side, don't miss the crucial parameters while choosing a local agency, like their experience, professionalism, and quality of work.

Build an in-house team

This option looks lucrative as your in-house team can handle all the mobile app development tasks with great flexibility. Theoretically, this is the best team one can have. However it comes with a lots of cost that starts from hiring your own team, then retaining them, doing their insurance, benefits and unless you’ve a real long term project and funds to back that up there is no point creating an inhouse App development Team, atleast for the MVP phase.

Work with freelancers

Do you think hiring a freelancer can lower the cost of app development? Maybe! It provides extensive flexibility to your company as you can hire them on demand for a specific project. Also, you can cut down some costs to an extent. But one of the critical problems that mostly occur while working with freelancers is the lack of supervision. Yes, you heard it right! As freelancers don't have any fixed working hours, so it may become difficult for you to connect with them when want to discuss ideas and suggestions with them.

Outsource app development

The new-age professionals become more dependent on outsourcing services due to improved productivity along with competitive pricing. But why so? As they understand how outsourcing services can make their business reach new heights of success by leaps and bounds. Not only this, they know well how these services can save their time, effort and energy. As there are many advantages, but you might be thinking- well, there are no cons to hiring them. But let us tell you- Yes, there are! Sometimes, the mere commitments, hidden costs, and not meeting the quality work standards. So, what's the way to ensure that I am choosing the right outsourcing company? It's simple: look at the company testimonials, reviews and portfolio to learn about their experience and expertise. Want to explore Agicent Portfolio? Click here!

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FAQ’s

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Some of the most frequently asked questions when it comes to Cost of App development are answered here. If you have a specific question then feel free to write to sales@agicent.com and we’ll solve that for you because that’s what we do!

just go to the cost calculator, pick up from the list of common app features and then give us a little brief about the kind of app you’re looking to create and that’s it. We’ll get back to you with a very accurate cost range, and also invite you for a free Discovery Session to discuss all details and then finalize the quote.

Are you ready to try this amazing cost calculator? Click here!

Yes, this app development cost calculator can effectively help you to find out the cost of making an app on both platforms. In this calculator, you can select the platform as per your need: either go for a single platform or choose both.

The choice is entirely yours!

Yes, of course!

Before we start working on any project, we understand the project specification and your business goals, and based on that, we create a fixed price quote to create an app along with the work mentioned and the time frame.

Want the fixed-priced quote for your project in a quick time? Connect to the Agicent team now!

We will sign a Non Disclosure Agreement with you right from the time you first get in touch with us and adhere to the same through out. You can download the Non-Disclosure and Confidentiality Agreement (NDA) from here.

Usually, the app development process takes around 1 to 3 months for the MVP App development, straight from conceptualization to launch. And when you add more features then development can take more weeks or months and if it is a successful product then it can convert into a continuous App development, enhancement and maintenance project.

In the past years, companies have preferred to make their app using a single platform. Now the story is quite different! The target customers are platform-independent, and both platforms have significant market share. So, most companies prefer to leverage both platforms to remain competitive in the marketplace.

Many factors decide the overall cost of running an app per month. It includes some of the crucial app maintenance factors-

App maintenance type App maintenance charges
Payment gateways $148 per month
Hosting charges $80 to $330 per month
Functional services $5000 per year
IT support $12000 per year
Bug fixing and updates $1000 to $3000

Type of Mobile App Average Cost of the App
Any MVP $ 5000 to $ 15000
Non Dynamic/ Standlone Apps $ 5000 to $ 10000
Social Media App $ 20000 to more
IoT app cost $ 15000 to more
AI/ Generative AI app development cost $ 20,000 to more
Augmented reality or virtual reality app cost $20,000 to more
Online booking or delivery Apps $ 20,000 to more
Ecommerce App Cost $ 15000 to more

Schedule a Discovery Session with our Team

Sudeep Bhatnagar
Co-founder & Director of Business
Sudeep Bhatnagar

Talk to our experts who have been running successful Digital Product Development (Apps, Web Apps), Offshore Team Operations, and Hardcore Software Development Campaigns. During the discovery session, we'll explore the opportunities and Scope of the work and provide you an expert consulting on the right options to achieve the outcomes.

Be it a new App Development project, or creation of an offshore developers team, or digitalization of your existing market offerings - You'll get the best advise and service and pricing. We are excited to speak to you!

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