Mobile app development is a thriving market, and it is predicted that in 2023, the global mobile app revenue will amount to $935.2B.
With the advancing technology and emerging trends, mobile app development is reaching new heights.
Today almost every business has its mobile app for better customer experience as well as for attracting new customers.
Moreover, many teenagers and evolving developers are keen on developing mobile apps as part of their career.
Moving to the point, every developer, developing an app individually or for a business, always needs to plan the total mobile app development cost before starting the development of a mobile app.
This post will help developers learn what factors they should focus on while making a budget for their mobile app development.
Let’s move forward and start by discussing why determining the total mobile app development cost is imperative.
The need for evaluating mobile app development cost
As Market research is crucial for mobile app development so is budget evaluation.
The platforms on which mobile app is to be launched, type of app, number of features, etc. depends on the budget.
The higher the number of features more the funding required for developing the mobile app.
Moreover, for better and faster performance, too, a healthy budget is needed.
The developers should predetermine the cost that would be needed at every step of the app development process.
They should plan the capital required for each feature, for testing, on additional developers, marketing and advertising, etc.
separately. This will help developers evaluate the total budget that they need to maintain for developing a mobile app.
Now, let’s take a look at some factors that impact the overall mobile app development cost.
#1 App idea and functionality
App idea and functionality are two core factors on which the total mobile app development cost largely depends. Based on your concept or idea behind the app, the development cost varies.
For example, developing apps that offer single functionality and don’t need permissions to use native features like cameras, GPS, etc. will cost less.
But an app like Facebook requires permission to use many native features of the device, thus building these apps is expensive.
Generally, the apps that offer multiple functions and features are costly to develop. We can say that the mobile app development cost highly depends on the complexity of the app. Less complex apps are cheaper as compared to complex apps.
#2 Type of App
There are three types of mobile apps: native, hybrid, and web apps. Based on the kind of app, the mobile app development cost varies.
For instance, Native apps are platform-specific and written in the platform’s preferred programming language.
For developing individual native apps for more than one platform, an additional development team is needed for longer development time, thus adding to the cost.
Whereas hybrid apps are not platform-specific, and the same codebase can work for multiple platforms. Therefore, hybrid app development is comparatively cheaper, as the development time and the requirement of developers is significantly less.
Out of all of these, web apps are the cheapest to develop. They don’t have any platform-specific requirements and are accessed via the device’s web browser.
Hence we can conclude that type of app is a major factor influencing the mobile app development cost.
#3 Number of Platform and device
Every developer should consider the app platform and type of device while evaluating mobile app development costs.
Here we’re talking about iOS, Android, and other such platforms. Designing for a single platform, Android or iOS, is cheaper than developing for both of these platforms.
To attract a wider audience, many developers prefer launching their apps on multiple platforms. Thus depending on the number of platforms, the app needs to get launched on, the development cost varies.
A range of devices like iPhone, Android phones, Windows phones, Blackberry phones, iPad, Tablets, etc., are available in the market.
All of these devices have different app integration and optimization requirements. Moreover, the operating system and generation or version of the device can also be different.
Thus depending on these factors, relevant modifications need to be carried out in apps. Consequently, the cost for app development and further improvement differs depending on the type of device.
#4 API Integration
API integration is a very good practice for easing developers’ burden of developing multiple functionalities and saving time.
The integration of APIs enables developers to accommodate certain functionalities to their mobile apps without creating them independently.
APIs stand for Application programming interface and allow two applications to communicate.
API integration allows the apps to use external services or the functionalities of a 3rd party.
Thus it saves time and often costs by eliminating the need to put additional hours of work on building these functionalities.
You have to pay for these APIs, and there can be many API integrations in a single app.
Therefore it’s advisable to consider the costs for API integration and also the sum that can be saved by this integration while evaluating the total app development cost.
#5 Testing and Maintenance
It is recommended that every developer must conduct extensive mobile app testing to ensure that the apps run error-free and flawlessly.
Testing after every step of the mobile app development process eliminates any last time modification necessities, which are generally tedious and complex.
Testing is also needed after the launch of the app at times when certain modifications are being made.
Thus developers should keep the cost of multiple testing in mind while making the budget for app development.
Next comes maintenance, which is an unavoidable factor for any developer. Regular maintenance of the app after launch, which includes timely updates, fixing bugs and errors, etc. is vital.
These updates require extra capital, which is termed as maintenance cost. Thus a different budget should be made for future maintenance-related activities.
#6 App security
Impeccable security is a feature that every mobile app should offer to its users effortlessly.
App security is very important to protect the user’s sensitive data and the device against cyber-attacks and malware.
There are multiple security testing tools available in the market that can ensure apps’ security against any threats. Hence a good amount should be kept aside for security tools and other related activities.
There are many more factors like the number of developers, total development time, region of development, etc. that play a significant role in determining the complete mobile app development cost.
Wrapping up
For every business or any significant investment, budget planning is very important.
The same thing goes to mobile app development; every business or an individual developer should have a pre-planned development cost estimate. The post highlights several important factors that should be considered while evaluating the total mobile app development cost.
The estimated value must be as accurate as possible to mitigate exhausted budget chances before completing the project.
To conclude, every developer should keep in mind the factors mentioned above while planning the budget.
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