How Much Does It Cost to Build An App in 2020?

Costs obviously vary as there are several factors, considerations, and price tiers of app development. It depends on who builds your app, how it gets built, and what you want your app to do. Here are a few of the main factors that determine the cost to build an app.

1. Type of App:

The marketplace is crowded with many types of mobile apps. And they have different development costs associated with it. The cost of making, running, and operating apps of unique complexities always vary.

There is a wide range of apps that fit into a gradually vast array of categories include lifestyle apps, e-Commerce apps, education apps, social networking apps, utility apps, gaming, and entertainment apps, on-demand apps, and data-driven apps.

There will be certain factors that are ideal only on one type of app, and not on others. So, the cost of app development will vary with the app category.

2. App Platforms:

The platform is simply hardware on which the operating system and all the other applications run. There can be three kinds of platform applications – Android, IOs, Windows. The app development cost will depend upon the choice of platform for which the app is built. If your target audience mostly uses one specific platform you can decide to build the app for a single platform only, cost will be less for sure. And, if you prefer both platforms, it will considerably cost more .

3. App Compatibility:

When you are planning to make an app then you need to make another decision whether or not to develop a hybrid, native, or web-based app. Also, it supports the latest versions of the top browsers such as Google Chrome, Microsoft Edge, Mozilla Firefox, and Safari.

The native app has the best user experience, optimization, also it is fast and reliable in terms of performance. This app is designed for a specific operating system whether it’s Apple iOS, Google’s Android, or Windows Phone. So, It’s required to build separate apps for users who are using different mobile platforms. Therefore, they are expensive. Business apps, entertainment apps, education apps are suitable to built-in native

Hybrid or cross-platform apps are the mixtures of native and mobile web apps. Though hybrid apps are not as fast, reliable, and overall optimization lack in performance compared to native apps, they are best suited to reach a bigger audience. On the other hand, hybrid apps are much inexpensive to develop. They are developed using multi-platform web technologies (like HTML, CSS, Javascript, JQuery), can usually access device utilities using an API, and are easy to build. Also, you can update your app as many times as you want, and all the users will get an update.

Web apps can be accessed through a mobile browser. They are usually written in most popular programming languages like HTML5, CSS, and JavaScript. These apps will offer you to redirect users to your site URL and give the option to install by creating a page bookmark. These types of mobile applications are simple web-pages, these don’t need to be installed to start using and they save device memory too. The drawback is access to not that many APIs for developers and performance depends on the network connection and browser compatibility.

• User Login:

Most apps have some sort of login to use it. Registration via simple username/password combination, email, or phone while the most user-friendly sign-up option is via social network. This is standard practice and basic implementation of the login feature takes around 20 – 25 hours. You’ll likely have to pay around $500-1,000.

• Database:

Database integration is key to successful mobile apps. Going along with offline mode, your app might require a database to store data locally on a device or for multiple applications. The integrated database can reduce the app size, query processing time, memory usage, and help in managing the application seamlessly. The cost of the project is around $700-1,500.

• CMS:

In today’s era, CMS is a commonly used function in mobile apps. It has many features for all platforms and is used to create and manage digital content for a mobile app. An API-based mobile CMS is a flexible, and agile way of working that doesn’t require much maintenance.

• ERP Integrations:

ERP integration in mobile apps is growing fast because nowadays business processes are conducted on smartphones and tablets rather than on personal computers. Transferring ERP feasible processes to a mobile device can be tailored to suit to control different business areas through mobile applications.

A custom-built ERP app helps you to create a platform that meets your precise specifications in terms of functionality, reduce compatibility issues, allows you to leverage mobile hardware and many more. It also contains flexible scalability that helps in business growth. There are a number of different factors that carry a direct impact on ERP software development cost which may range from $75,000-1,00,000.

• CRM:

This feature is another essential component of your mobile app. A mobile-capable CRM platform like Zoho, SalesForce, KaptureCRM, etc can pay dividends throughout your business.

A good CRM solution can give you a clear overview of your customers by allowing better tracking/management of salesforce to access real-time data, thus improving customer service and support. It offers faster deployment, time-saving, and profitability by enabling automation of processes, increased collaboration, and more. It can be quick and easy to implement.

• Mobile API:

For a superior mobile app experience, you need to make sure that you are creating the app with APIs. It allows users to easily interact with other applications and software; to create applications much faster. By integrating popular APIs in your app, you can enhance the user experience which in turn, makes your app more reliable and simplified. Such integration might take up from 10-20 hours and it costs around $800-2000.

• E-Commerce Integration:

Research shows that 67% of all e-commerce sales across the globe come from mobile devices. So, adding an e-Commerce feature needs to be a priority which gives you an advantage over other websites without one. Some widely perceived business models for e-Commerce mobile apps are – B2B, B2C, C2C, and C2B, you can choose according to your needs.

It provides personalized user experience, increases customer engagement and loyalty, higher retention rates, and helps in creating brand identification. This will help you to run your business more efficiently than before. A fully-fledged e-Commerce mobile app is quite expensive, but the cost depends upon the functions.

• Analytics:

Analytics is a dynamic feature in almost every app. It can analyze data from user activity which help you gain a good understanding of unique users, record their demographics & behavior and how you can come up with an action plan to reach your goals.

With mobile analytics, you can launch campaigns, and release new features, measure in-app payments and revenue, customize reports specific to your business, etc. This feature can be developed in 2-5 hours.

• Push notifications:

It’s the must-have feature for direct communication with users. There are several types of notifications: Alerts, reporting on new features, sending promotional offers, SMS notifications with relevant information. So keep your users informed about what’s happening on your app and service. It’s necessary for a minimum of 20-100 hours for development and cost less than $5000.

• Chat:

Chat or messaging is also an important feature for mobile apps. It may take around 50-65 hours to develop. Though the timeline mainly depends on the number of features you want to have like history, save messaging, auto-delete, offline mode, file transfer, etc. The cost will start at $2,000-4,000.

• Geolocation:

This feature is currently a core feature for taxi apps, dating apps, restaurant apps, business apps, travel apps, healthcare apps and many more. It is based on the phone’s GPS and helps in determining the real geographic location of the user device. Geolocation-enabled mobile apps offer robust benefits to improve targeting and better marketing. The development timeline is 45-50 hours and translates into $1,200-2,500.

• Google Maps:

Along with geolocation, Google Maps can be integrated into all types of apps to supplement geolocation features for navigation and routing. This feature can be developed in 30-35 hours, with a pricing of $1000.

• Multilingual:

This feature is mainly meant for e-Commerce businesses. It takes a personalized shopping experience to the next level as it supports multiple languages. So, business growth is guaranteed! It may cost around $350-750.

• Social Sharing:

Social media is everywhere these days. The integration of mobile apps and social media can enhance the app’s functionality, boost app visibility, increasing downloads, etc. It enables in-app social sharing about various events to remain users engaged with the app.

• App Design:

App design influences the whole process of creating an app. The more number of features, along with the process and complexity associated with each feature, the more expensive your application becomes. Designing an app involves a broad range of tasks: in-depth research and analysis, wire-framing, web and mobile app interfaces design, graphic design, app icon, and logo design, and much more. There are mainly three types of apps according to design complexity.