How much does a Mobile Application Cost?

The mobile applications market is heavy: 188.9 billion dollars in 2020.

This figure shows the interest that professionals have in creating a mobile application.

Indeed, we see that more and more companies are planning to develop a mobile application.

However, just like with social networks or creating a website, developing a mobile application is not free.

The question of the Mobile Application Cost to develop is all the more important as it depends on what a mobile application must be able to do.

Where a website is used to give visibility to an activity, the creation of a mobile application makes it possible to go much further in the functionalities offered to users.

In this blog post, we present the different factors that influence the design and price of a mobile app.

What criteria influence the price of a Mobile Application?

Let’s get to the heart of the matter (create a price application) and talk about the cost of developing a mobile application.

The price for creating a mobile application is divided into two parts:

Pre-production and development of a mobile application.
Maintenance and updates of a mobile application.

These two parts do not require the same budget depending on your expectations and the features of your mobile application.

Likewise, before investing in the development of an application, consider the alternatives to mobile applications that exist:

Do you really need an app?
Doesn’t a website, web application, e-commerce website, customised software,social media or other online platform already offer what you are looking for, at a more affordable cost?

If you have the answers to these questions and want to get started with building a mobile app, there are several factors that will influence its price, creation, and cost of development.

1- The type of application

This is the most important criterion, along with features, in determining how much a mobile application costs.

Indeed, depending on the type of application and the functionalities, the costs of creating an application can vary by several thousand dollars.

Developing a social network and creating a video game on mobile do not incur the same development costs. We will see the different types of applications and their prices later in this article.

The type of application also determines the technical level to be implemented for its creation. Here again, from a purely technical development point of view, social networks are much easier to create than video games.

It makes sense that the development cost will not be the same depending on the project you want to accomplish.

2- The technologies used

Depending on the type of application, development involves using more or less advanced technologies. A game will need a graphics engine for example. This engine cannot be handled by just anyone and requires specific skills.

The same goes for some applications, which use the cloud to perform calculations remotely.

If your application is complex, you will have to choose a service provider and assign developers capable of meeting your needs. For example, a project on ios or on a windows phone will not require the same skills, because your mobile application will not be used on the same operating system.

These specialists often have an additional degree of mastery which justifies higher rates.

Conversely, for a simple app with few features, development costs should be lower.

Indeed, as mentioned above, making your application available on Android and/or iOS will have an impact on the final cost because we are not talking about the same operating systems and the same mobile support.

3- The content to be hosted

What function do you want to make available to your users?

Videos, photos, text, anything else? What support do you offer?

All of this content needs to be stored somewhere, especially if many users are going to want to access it simultaneously.

Storage does not have a big impact on the cost as long as there are few users of your application.

If you gain popularity, you may need to consider larger hosting systems.

4- Graphic design

Even if many applications adopt similar codes, you still have the possibility to work on the graphic design of your application so that it sticks to your visual identity.

Colors, some animations, fonts, and icons are all ways to make your app unique.

If you already have this content, you can have it integrated into your application. Otherwise, it will be an additional cost to be expected from a graphic designer or an ergo-designer.

5- User experience

How will your users navigate your app? For each feature, how will they be able to use it?

These questions of flow, presentation of information, and fluidity of navigation are grouped together in the category of user experience. This is an extremely important subject.

The two main players in the mobile market, Apple and Google, even offer their best practice guide that all mobile application developers should know.

Naturally, the more complex and innovative your application, the less it will meet mobile ergonomics standards. It will therefore be necessary to provide for a cost to work on this subject if this proves to be necessary.

6- Available features

Last point, that of functionalities. Put more simply, it comes down to wondering what your application is for:

Does it allow communication with other people?
Is this a game?
Does it have more than one main feature?

The calculation is quite simple: the more features, the higher the cost. For each functionality, the complexity also impacts the final cost. It is to be kept in mind to estimate the prices of the developers that you will choose.

Take the example of a social network.

Connecting with a friend and sending them a message containing only text and emoji comes at a modest cost. Sending photos or videos through this messaging system will cost you more.

Price Depending on the Type of Application

Now let’s take a look at the prices and budgets to be expected depending on the type of application you want to develop.

Obviously, we give here an estimate depending on the type of mobile application you want to create. Ultimately, the cost of a mobile application will also depend on the provider you choose.

1- Development of a video game

It is by far the most expensive product to produce. Technically advanced, video games call on extremely varied and often expensive skills.

It is necessary to envisage the technical part but also the visual and audio of the game. A standard mobile game costs between 40,000 and 80,000 $ in all.

Do not compare your game project to that of a player like Supercell or Epic Games, the budgets, objectives, and areas of expenditure of these companies are very specific to their market.

2- E Commerce

How much does an e-commerce mobile application cost to sell your products?

You will need to plan between $ 20,000 and $ 35,000.

It all depends on the number of items sold and the logistics allowing you to manage the products offered as well as custom orders.

An application of this kind can easily be replaced by a Progressive Web App. You should take a look at this technology allows you to easily embed a website into a mobile application.

This could help you lower the price and cost of your project.

3- Provision of services (marketplace)

Amazon, Airbnb, Alibaba are very good examples.

You can sell new or used products as an individual or professional. Marketplaces are legion, especially on mobile.

So be careful not to reproduce a service that already exists by doing market research beforehand.

Count a budget between 15,000 and 25,000 $ to complete your project.

4- Event

Maybe you need an app for a very short period of time. This app will support users during an event or be the center of attention for a short period.

Either way, your budget will surely be between 3,000 and 10,000 $ to achieve a satisfactory project and functionality.

5- Development of a social network

Very popular too, social networks continue to multiply.

Creating your own isn’t difficult in and of itself, but you’ll need to be careful not to aggregate too many features to keep costs reasonable and keep your spending under control.

Count between 20,000 and 35,000 $ depending on the complexity of your social platform.

6- Internal development of the company

Do you have a specific need for your company?

An application could improve the productivity and quality of work of your teams.

In this case, the project scope is different and you will not make any profit on your application.

The impact will have to be measured differently but the interest remains high if an application can overcome certain problems that you encounter.

How much does it cost to develop an application in this situation?

This type of project usually has a cost of 15,000 to 30,000 $.

Conclusion

In this article, we wanted to answer the question of how much does it cost to create and design an app.

The answer to building an app is that you can bring any project to life with a sufficient budget and a good understanding of the factors that influence design costs.

Take the time to study your needs, choose a project manager and simply formulate your expectations.