Cost Estimation for Mobile Application Development

If you decide to digitalize your business, the first question you will face is how much it costs to create a mobile application. In short, the price tag will vary from $40,000 to 60,000 for a simple application, a product with a little more "advanced" functionality will cost from $60,000 to $150,000, and the price for a complex solution starts from $160,000. But in each case, the price will depend on several factors. Read more about it below.

How much it costs to develop a mobile app

Latest studies show the following data on the price and terms of the app development:

• The cost of mobile app development is on average from $40,000 to $60,000 for the simplest functionality, from $60,000 to $150,000 for basic products, and up to $300,000-$ 500,000 for complex solutions.
• Around 80% of mobile apps need as much as 3 or more months to be created, while it takes half a year or even more to develop approximately 40% of mobile apps.

Of course, the calculation of the cost of developing a mobile application may vary, which is determined by various factors. You will find more about them below. 

What factors influence the cost of a mobile app development

The base price of the application depends on the following aspects:

• functionality and purpose of the program; 
• location of the developer;
• specifics of the program of the development;
• qualification of the team of developers and its staff;
• complexity and functions of the application;
• internal architecture, connected APIs, and integrations;  
• the complexity of design UX/UI;
• additional visual components;
• the chosen approach (native, cross-platform, etc.);
• support for mobile platforms and devices;
• routine maintenance plan; 
• database complexity; 
• implementation of HIPAA or GDPR security protocols. 

The duration of the project and its cost depend on the complexity of the functionality. Obviously, the more complex and broader the products' capabilities, the longer it will take to work on them, which is directly related to the high costs. 

The geographical location of the development team determines the final amount that will have to be paid for the creation of a mobile application. The regions with the largest number of in-demand performers are the USA, Latin America, Eastern Europe, and Asian countries. Thus, the hourly rate of a business analyst in Ukraine is $30-50, while in the US, this figure is almost twice as high -— up to $75 per hour. A senior QA in Ukraine is ready to work for $30-45 per hour, in the USA — $75-90. The rates for performers from Western European countries are slightly higher than those for Ukrainian employees. 

Specific features of the development of the program, such as, for example, the integration of payments, routing, implementation of pop-up notifications, etc., also increase the final cost of the work. The budget for creating an application also depends on the development approach. The greater the number of platforms which you need to write adapted versions for, the higher the price tag. Therefore, writing a hybrid or cross-platform product helps save money. However, in choosing an approach, one should not be guided only by the financial aspect — in some cases, it is more expedient to focus on the native approach.

The cost of a custom application for iOS or Android is the same, and development schedules are similar worldwide. 

The simple design suggests using primitive, standard elements that are organic to a specific platform, which does not take much time to create. Supplementing the design with original elements and animations that complicate the structure significantly changes the application's cost. 
A mobile application that integrates modern security protocols or complex databases is not a priori evaluated as a basic program — it belongs to products of a medium and high level of functionality with an appropriate price. 

In conclusion, business owners should always remember that responsible executors perform an initial cost estimate, which generally corresponds to the final price. An extremely restricted budget for development submitted by the contractor might indicate low-quality services and the desire to sign a cooperation agreement as soon as possible. 

The cost of Software Development Hub services for developing mobile applications:

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