How Much it Costs to Build an App and How You Can Cut Back

The mobile app industry is reaching new levels of prosperity by the year, making it essential for businesses to have a mobile application. The statistics of mobile app users are encouraging, but on the other hand, developing software by hiring a development team can be disheartening. Not only is it a long process, but making an app demands spending a large budget as well. This article will show how much it costs to build an app with the numbers. Then, we will discuss the cheap alternative that enables you to develop your app with a fraction of these numbers.

How Much It Costs to Build an App When You Hire A Development Team

Primarily, the cost ranges from $10,000 to over $300,000. It’s a wide range, and there’s no fixed price. Below are the factors that come into play, along with examples of some popular apps’ development costs.

It’s worth noting that additional services may require extra fees, like third-party integrations, as well as management and support costs.

Factors That Affect Cost

The App’s Complexity Level

The first factor is related to how complex the app is. In case it’s a simple app with fewer features and a basic design, the pricing will range from $40,000 to $60,000. For the most part, time is the influence here. Provided that the price is $40 per hour, it takes 2-3 months to build a simple app. If the app has a moderate number of features and an average design, it will cost around $60,000 to $150,000, seeing that it takes 3-6 months of development. Developing a more complex app that is feature-rich ranges from $150,000 to over $300,000.

The App Category

Given that an app has different designs, features, and functions depending on its category, some app categories are more expensive than others.

For example, a dating app like Tinder is not complex in functionality but calls for some features like authorization, creating a user profile, GPS location, push notifications, and matching algorithms. Each core feature has an estimated duration and cost to develop. The starting range of building a dating app is $45,000, which takes about 1000 hours.

Another example is the popular booking app: Airbnb. Creating a similar app entails more advanced core features. The most important ones are a search engine, an advanced booking workflow, and an in-app chat. Additionally, the users should be able to create a list of favorite places and co-plan a trip. Subsequently, building a booking app costs $75,000 as a starting price and takes around 1600 hours of development.

The Platform Where the App Runs

Initially, you have three options when it comes to the platform:

• Develop a hybrid app: By blending between a web-based and a native app, you can save on cost but forfeit full functionality and strong performance.
• Develop a cross-platform app: the second option is to create an app by coding once and then reuse the code on other platforms. It’s another budget-friendly option with fewer limitations than a hybrid app.
• Develop a native app: A native app is made specifically for an operating system, like Android or iOS. Even though it’s the most costly option, it gives you no limitations regarding performance and functionality.

The Alternative: Easy and Cheap

As noted above, you could invest thousands of dollars in creating an app—if you hire a development team. Fortunately, you can use a no-coding app builder instead. The process takes an hour on average and costs a monthly or annual subscription. The pricing scheme varies from one app builder to another. For one, the nandbox app builder has three pricing plans. If a business is starting out, the first plan is cost-effective. Likewise, the third plan offers scalability solutions while still maintaining affordability.

nandbox: The Best of Both Worlds

Right away, when you sign up for nandbox, you can create an Android and an iOS app at the same time without extra fees. Usually, an Android app costs the same as an iOS app, but the latter takes more time significantly, to develop. Android apps get more exposure as they have a higher market share percentage. Publishing charges are another factor, as it costs one fee of $25 to publish an Android app but an annual fee of $99 to publish an iOS mobile app. It’s not an easy choice, but with nandbox, you can create both simultaneously on the same subscription plan. And when it’s time to publish your first app, you won’t have to pay a publishing fee for either version when you sign up for a store verification account.

Moreover, whether you want a native app or a web-based app, both options are available for nandbox users. Furthermore, there’s no extra cost to create a fully-functional native app. All options considered, using a no-code app builder will save money, time, and effort. Become a nandbox user to create your app without breaking the bank.