The cost of mobile application development

One of the most common questions we hear from clients is, “How much does it cost to build a mobile application? Mobile applications vary in complexity, purpose and functionality, so it’s impossible to give a single price. Only ready-made applications have a fixed price, but if the product is developed on a custom basis, the price of mobile application development is calculated individually. The cost depends on many factors

• The tasks to be solved by the application;
• Operating system (development of applications for iOS, Android, cross-platform)
• Complexity of functionality
• Scope of work – implementation of a turnkey project or development of individual sections;
• Composition of the project team and country of development.

How much does a mobile application cost is the most common question when contacting a mobile development studio. The price for such a product cannot be fixed because applications can be different – in terms of complexity, type, design, functionality and many other parameters. The cost varies widely and depends on a number of factors. For an accurate calculation, you need to

• Analyze the business and the product;
• Study the customer’s needs, goals, and objectives;
• Agree on the concept;
• detail the requirements for functionality, structure, logic, and design.

Analysis allows you to form a reasonable price that is understandable to the customer. These are the principles of open and transparent pricing that we follow in mobile development.

How much does it cost to build a mobile app – what influences the price?

The cost of a specialist hour

Creating a mobile application is a complex task involving a team of specialists. Each specialist performs his part of the work and spends a certain amount of time on it. The cost of an hour depends on the qualification of the specialist, and the number of hours is determined before the start of work, when a price offer is made. The scope of work is distributed in such a way as to optimize the workload of each participant and reduce the overall project implementation time. The approximate composition of the project team and the price range for each participant’s services:

For example, the cost of developing an application depends on its type and purpose:

• for education;
• for business – finance, corporate tasks, start-ups;
• for the service sector;
• for hotels, restaurants;
• for transportation;
• for online stores;
• for medical institutions;
• for sports and tourism;
• for gaming and entertainment.

Each area has its own peculiarities and requires the development of a certain set of functions that make up the cost price.

Functionality

To calculate the cost of an application, you need to determine what functionality users need. For example, to select goods, make purchases, and pay online. Or to search for services, create online records, and receive advice. The basic set is expanded and detailed so that the application solves the maximum number of user tasks. The most common functions:

• Registration and authorization, creation of a personal account;
• Catalog of goods and services;
• Searching, sorting, filtering of items;
• Product card – description, characteristics, photos, buy button, rating, reviews;
• Loyalty program tools – push notifications to inform about promotions, calculate discounts and accumulate bonuses;
• Adding media content – photos, videos;
• Shopping cart, online ordering, online payment, delivery tracking;
• Feedback forms, chats;
• GPS navigation, geolocation tracking, map integration;
• Multi-language support.

Difficulty level

Depending on the complexity of the functionality, all applications can be divided into three categories.

Development timeframe

The timeframe for developing a mobile application depends on the complexity of the design and functionality. On average, it takes 1.5 to 6 months to develop an application.

The fastest way to develop a simple business card application is to use a few screens and a minimal set of features without complex design and logic solutions. Development time increases if, for example, you need to integrate third-party services, implement online sales or online ordering functionality. The most time-consuming is the creation of a more complex product with a unique concept.

Some work is done in parallel to optimize development time. Intermediate results are delivered to the customer at each stage. With tight deadlines, when the customer wants to get the application in a short time, the cost increases because more specialists are involved in the work, working in parallel.

Mobile application development – price on various platforms

The audience for mobile applications is divided into two groups – iPhone users and Android smartphone users. The choice of application platform depends on which category predominates among your company’s target audience. There are several options:

Якщо аудиторія користується різними гаджетами, розробляються два нативні або один гібридний додаток. Нативний варіант – дорожче, але враховує особливості кожної операційної системи. Кросплатформні рішення потребують менших витрат, але вимагають певного компромісу у дизайні та юзабіліті, щоб адаптувати один інтерфейс під вимоги двох операційних систем.

When you need a quick and inexpensive solution – MVP for an easy start

Can a high quality mobile application be cheap? Yes, if it is developed in the “minimum viable product” format – a minimum viable product that solves basic user tasks but does not have complex advanced functionality. This format is most popular among young companies, small businesses, and startups:

• Do not have large financial resources;
• Are not sure if the application will “work” for the audience, but want to try it;
• plan to launch the product and test its viability with minimal risk;
• Testing hypotheses and searching for the right concept.

An MVP application has a basic set of features and a laconic design, so it does not require large development costs. The program is built in the shortest possible time to move quickly from hypothesis to action – to launch the application and attract the first users.

• If the MVP becomes interesting to the audience and clearly demonstrates its prospects, you can go further – develop a plan for scaling, developing, and improving the application. The profit from the minimal version will be used to complete the project.
• If the app idea does not seem viable at first, you can make adjustments, redirect the product to other tasks, test different scenarios, and search for an effective concept – all without excessive financial investment and risk.

What if a freelancer is cheaper?

If you analyze the prices on the market, you can see completely different figures: offers from freelancers are more budget-friendly, while services from companies are more expensive. What’s the difference? A freelancer works for himself, interacts directly with the client, implements the entire project or performs only certain work. There is no guarantee that the specialist is a professional and will be able to handle the task, that he or she will not disappear in the middle of the project, that he or she will work quickly and conscientiously. And if the project is complex, you have to look for several freelancers for different sections – all the above risks increase proportionally. The result is very questionable savings. Having experienced such nuances at least once, clients decide to work exclusively with companies.

Advantages of cooperation with a mobile development studio:

• We work according to the terms of reference and the contract;
  Organize work processes clearly;
• Provide detailed reports;
• Provide services with a guarantee;
• We approach the project in a comprehensive manner, taking into account further promotion and development;
• We have a large team that covers all types of work of any complexity;
• We justify our prices and meet deadlines.

“Free Apps – What you need to know about constructors and no-code technologies

There are many tools that can be used to quickly build an application without programming skills. These include simple constructors and no-code services, where applications are built without code from pre-built components. At first glance, such methods seem attractive, but there are nuances that every customer should be aware of:

• The functionality is limited, the architecture is difficult to adapt to specific needs;
• The design is based on existing templates, so forget about uniqueness and individual approach;
• The possibilities for integration with third-party services are minimal;
• A template application usually has performance and speed issues;
• You are completely dependent on the capacity, rules, technical support of the builder platform or no-code service;
• It is extremely difficult to develop and scale a product composed of pre-built components;
• It’s not free, almost all rapid application development services are paid.

Any template solution is a temporary option that can become an interesting “toy” but is unlikely to bring real business benefits. Therefore, if you have high expectations for your mobile application, plan to get real business value from it, solve complex problems, develop and scale it, choose only full-fledged development with the participation of experienced programmers and designers.

How to avoid unnecessary costs in mobile development?

The key principles that allow you to optimize the cost and time of application development, avoiding hidden and unplanned costs:

• Analyze. Pay maximum attention to business analytics, product and audience research, so that the functionality clearly solves user problems.
• Develop a detailed technical task. Accurately describe the structure, functionality, logic, and usability of the application without missing important nuances.
• Make accurate calculations. Evaluate the project not subjectively, but according to the actual labor costs for each type of work.
• Approve the prototype. Prototyping allows you to avoid edits in the future, eliminates unnecessary time spent on processing nuances.
• Plan. Divide the work into stages, distribute tasks among specialists, create a calendar plan, and strictly adhere to it.
• Test. The finished product must go through testing stages to identify the smallest errors and eliminate them before the application is published in the desks.

Mobile as a profitable investment

The cost of developing a quality application is a profitable business investment. The return on investment comes from several factors:

• Direct monetization – paid features, sales of premium versions and subscriptions, in-app advertising revenue;
• Increase profits through business development – acquiring new customers, increasing sales, expanding geographically, etc;
• Reach a new level by increasing audience loyalty and popularizing a brand, product or company.

To get the most out of the app, you need to ensure the value of the app to the target audience, position the product correctly, conduct in-depth analysis before development, and create a detailed technical specification. Once launched, you cannot stop – the app needs quality technical support, regular updates, continuous development and scaling to meet the needs of users. Special attention should be paid to advertising and promotion of the app.

With a professional approach, the program will find its audience, take a place in the niche and eventually outperform the competition. This is not a quick process, investing in app development is a long-term investment, but the benefits and advantages for the business are obvious.

Why is it advantageous to work with Ukrainian developer?

It doesn’t matter where the developer is physically located to implement the project. The communication with the client takes place remotely – there are many technical possibilities for this today. This allows our company to maximize the geography of its activities – we work with clients all over the world.

Why do clients choose Ukrainian developers? The main reason is the high quality of development and professionalism of Ukrainian specialists. Another important reason is more affordable price. The average price of mobile development on the Ukrainian market is 2-3 times lower than abroad. For comparison, the cost per hour of development in different countries:

• USA, Australia. The cost of one hour of American and Australian programmers is 50-150 dollars. A simple application costs from 15 thousand dollars.
• Western European countries. The developer receives 60-70 euros per hour, and for a simple application you will have to pay 19 thousand dollars.
• Eastern Europe. The price is 25-50 dollars per hour, the price of an application with simple functionality – from 7500 dollars.

Thus, despite the significant difference in price, Ukrainian applications are not inferior to foreign products in terms of development quality, and often exceed them.

The process of calculating the price of a mobile application

Preliminary Assessment

Fill out the brief, tell us about your ideas, wishes and needs. Provide information about your company and product. Outline the problems you want to solve. At this stage we formulate a rough concept of the application and determine the rough price of development. You can do the calculation yourself using the calculator on the website, choosing the platform and the required functionality. But it’s important to understand that this is a preliminary cost that needs to be clarified after the technical task is detailed.

Accurate calculation after TOR agreement

We turn the generalized concept into a precise list of characteristics and record them in a document – a technical order. We agree on the functionality, structure, logic, number of screens, design solutions – only then we calculate the exact number of hours for each type of work, determine the price and fix it in the contract. What are the advantages of this method?

• The cost calculated after the terms of reference are approved is fair and transparent;
• The price reflects the real cost of the team’s work, not the estimated cost;
• The client sees what they are paying for and can evaluate the results of each phase of the work;
• The calculated price does not change until the project is fully implemented;
• There are no hidden fees, all prices are transparent and reasonable.

When you contact KitApp Studio, you will receive clear pricing and reasonable rates for development services. We work with customers in Kyiv, Odesa, Dnipro, Kharkiv, Lviv and all over Ukraine and have extensive experience implementing projects in Europe and around the world. Do you want to calculate the cost of your future application? Share your product vision with us – we will analyze your tasks and send you an attractive price offer.