How Much Does it Cost To Create an App
Creating a mobile app is one of the most common ideas for any business owner, aspiring business owners, or even those who have yet to take the first step in becoming their own boss.
The price of creating an iOs app or android app is where a lot of independent business owners get stuck. Not because they lack the funds or the time investment, but because the pricing can be confusing, vague, and often annoying. Every mobile app development company has their own way of doing things, but this should help you with the basics when choosing a developer.
You’ll probably see something like this when you are initially learning about app development cost, but soon realize that it’s a basic of a pricing sheet that you can find for an app design.
You can get most developers to give you a price right off the bat, but that doesn’t mean that its the final, out-the-door cost of the realization of your idea. What about app maintenance? We will teach you what to look for, how to find it, and the big difference between a red and green flag.
Your Priorities
What is important to you should also be important to your mobile app development team. If early on, before anything is signed, you guys aren’t seeing eye to eye, it won’t be a good fit, and will never make it to any app store. Because apps can be in “development stage” for so long, being able to a have a working relationship with a developer is vital.
One of the golden rules of software development is take three attributes: Good Fast, and Cheap. From there, you can pick two that you want your dev team to execute on.
If anyone comes to you and says that they can execute on all three attributes, it is a major red flag. If their work is both really fast and good, the app cost won’t be cheap. And if they are pretty cheap and do great work, this mobile application is going to take some time. They probably have countless clients they are working with to build other mobile apps. Remember, if it seems too good to be true, it probably is.
Waterfall vs Agile Development
Agile and waterfall development are the two most popular and prominent methods application development, but the two are two completely different methods.
The agile process will have very little documentation before you start the project. It’ll be 1-2 week sprints, followed by a review of the code and the next block to sprint to. This will allow your app to be more a consultive build. The waterfall process will have clear and precise documentation pre build, and few revisions through the process.
The waterfall method will have you knowing what the app and framework will look like by the end, the exact cost, but you are trading those “guarantees” for a lack of flexibility. This type of project will also take much longer to complete, as there isn’t room for a code change with the preset framework in the mobile app design. Even if you don’t like how a push notification appears, that will have to wait. Even a simple app can have problems. Any project manager or developer that likes waterfall likely will ask you to hold off on any suggestions during the basic app building.
The industry is moving towards the agile method. It keeps the app maker, app builder, and the customer on the same page, its consultive build, and always a much more hands-on process for everyone involved. On top of all of this, the agile process will allow you to release the bulk of the app, followed by incremental releases with added features following the original release date. This will lead to a much more smooth user experience.
Time-and-Materials Cost vs Fixed-Fees
The waterfall structure will almost always be followed but a fixed app design cost. The design and documentation will cost you a fixed amount, followed the by the cost of the actual development of your app idea. The problem is that once you see your finished project, you will want to refine and fix some problems. Because the developer could classify those problems as “features”, it is going to cost you an extra amount, even if isnt a complex app or hybrid app.
If you have a developer that you are considering for your project that prefers the waterfall method, there’s a few questions you’ll want to ask. Will all app maintenance requests be priced the same? Is there a correlation between the final project cost and the work order costs? Is one small app feature request going to cost the farm? Will this be a cross platform app? Does this package come with app marketing? How many of your current customers place work orders? Can you support app purchases and push notifications?
You’ll want to work with an agile-based development team.
The agile method will have you billed for the amount of work and effort performed. Most developers won’t bill you hourly, but if they do, make sure they have a way to track time while coding. If they don’t, suggest they find one. Most developers will already have a pricing sheet with set features and pricing available. Although it may be slightly different if you’re looking for a gaming app.
A fixed-fee method may seem more simple if this is your first time around the block, but it isn’t.
Like we mentioned at the top, its hard to know the final price. Even a developer, after they give the “final price”, knows that they is subject to change depending on effort and hours, app complexity, app maintenance, and work orders.
The best developers know to work in an agile format. The end goal of all of this is to bring a great product to the market.
Creating an Estimate
The last thing you’ll want to know about is the process of getting your estimate to get your app on Google Play Store or Apple App Store . Some things you’ll want to know is who is in charge of making the estimate? Does that individual have a great understanding of what the mobile app and the project is trying to create? Have you personally talked to that person yet? Is that the same person that will be app testing? Have they worked on any mobile app that is similar in idea and in technologies?
If either the idea of the app or the technology is foreign to the developer or the person that wrote you the quote, you may be misquoted. You’ll either get over-quoted, leaving you to have cold feet jumping into the project with that developer. Or you will be vastly under-quoted, leading to accepting the contract and price point, and a very bad relationship with your developer.
Assume that your development team will go anywhere from 15%-20% over budget. It’ll add some to the mobile appdevelopment cost, but that’s the industry average and anything less is not realistic. If you are wanting a web app or any hybrid apps, it’ll also add to your development cost.
If you pay attention to these things while picking a developer and team, you’re going to be well off. If a price or a promise seems too good to be true, it probably is.
App Launchers have helped everyone from a dating app company, all the way to a native app working with Apple Music. When looking to build a mobile application and your next mobile app developer, look no further!
The right app developer isn’t going to be cheap, but it is going to be well worth the application development cost. Refer back to this page when selecting an app development company!