A Complete Breakdown Cost to Build a Mobile App [Updated]

Last updated on August 1st, 2023

Many companies will need to Cost to Build a Mobile App and hold on to customers in 2022 when most people will be accustomed to using them. How much money does it take to make an app, though?

It’s safe to assume that even the simplest apps won’t cost less than $15,000, with the most complex costing $240,000 or more. Depending on the complexity of the problem, the answer to that question can be very different.

Those are some pretty significant gaps, to be sure. Think about the platform’s intended use and the level of complexity and number of features to help you decide. The quality assurance cost, marketing cost, the cost of a truly original design, the cost of shipping, and the cost of using a particular IT provider’s services, will all play a role.

Now, let’s dive deeper into a complete breakdown of the costs of developing a mobile app.

What Affects the Cost to Build a Mobile App

The final price tag for your mobile app will depend on a variety of factors, as is the case with any complex app development process. The price of creating a mobile app depends on a wide range of variables. The major ones deserve our attention, so let’s get to it.

Possibly Mobile OS

Android and iOS are the two most popular mobile operating systems. They’re not alone, but as of 2022, Android held 69.74% of the mobile market share and iOS 29.49%.

You and your project manager will investigate potential development platforms as part of your initial rough app estimate. Which smartphones and tablets do your ideal client use? While iOS is used by 55.26 percent of mobile users in the United States, this number is less than 10 percent in Poland. It is imperative to research the target market before settling on an OS.

Important Article: How Much Does It Cost to Hire Mobile App Developers in the USA?

Types of mobile applications: Native, Cross-platform, and Hybrid

The primary variable in determining app pricing is the nature of the app being built. To begin, what exactly are these software programmes?

• Native

Apps that are “native” to a mobile platform are designed and developed exclusively for that platform. No regular user can open an IPA file (iOS executable) on an Android device, and vice versa.

Java and Kotlin are used by Android, while Swift and Objective-C are utilised by iOS. To reach your audience on Android and iOS devices with native apps, you’ll need to create 

Two separate apps: one for Android and one for iOS.

• Cross-Platform

But there are ways to create a single app that works on both platforms (other than a web app or a responsive website):

An App That Works on Multiple Devices

• Hybrid app

Apps for multiple platforms can be coded in C# with JavaScript or Xamarin with React Native, while hybrid apps use AngularJS and the Ionic framework. All of these choices are compatible with both iOS and Android gadgets.

What It Costs To Make An App?

It’s no secret that design can affect how much it costs to create an app; after all, stunning visuals are the backbone of any worthwhile app. Making icons and graphical elements (like screens, logos, and buttons) will be lengthy and expensive. And every single app screen has to be hand-drawn. Creating your animations is a new set of difficulties, but they can pay off in the long run.

However, sophisticated visuals are optional for great design. Often, the simplest solution is the most effective: Depending on the nature of your app’s functionality, you may be able to use pre-built, OS-provided components that are easy to put together.

A game’s design is a significant factor in the cost of making a mobile app, of course.

Features

The number of features is a significant factor in determining how much money will be spent on an app’s development.

In some cases, the complexity of those characteristics has a more significant impact. Some functionality can be achieved using nothing but standard software building blocks. Some need external application programming interfaces integrated. There’s also a third kind that needs one-of-a-kind algorithms.

It’s become something of a norm in the mobile app industry to classify apps into one of three levels of complexity:

First, these apps don’t have a tonne of bells and whistles, and the ones they do have are either fairly standard or easy to build. This type of app can be thought of as a minimum viable product (MVP), or a product with just enough features to get the ball rolling in terms of collecting feedback and validating the app idea. Some completed apps are similarly elementary in design. A simple app can be built in around two to four months, costing anywhere between $18,000 and $60,000.

The development time for a mobile app with medium complexity is typically between six and ten months. Apps of a medium complexity level have more screens, more features, and more complex features than those of a superficial complexity level. For instance, if a simple app has a standard login option, a moderately complex app would also support social login through a platform like Facebook. That’s a simple illustration, but you should get the point. Apps with a medium level of complexity can expect to pay anywhere from $50,000 to $130,000 to develop.

Third, the most complex apps include cutting-edge capabilities like bots, NFC, payment integration, augmented and virtual reality, and media streaming. When such sophisticated features are included, time to market can range from seven months to over a year. Developing a feature-rich app typically starts at $130,000 and may go as high as $500,000 or more.

Software Engineers Working on Mobile Devices

When determining an app’s price, location is also a significant factor. The United States, Eastern Europe, Asia, and various regions of Latin America are among the most sought-after locations from which to hire and build development teams.

Explore our Android developer salary and iOS developer salary guides if you’re in the market for a new engineering team member. To save you time, we’ve included some numbers below.

In the United States, iOS developers charge an average of $46.72 per hour, with Android experts charging nearly the same. Throughout Western Europe, countries like Germany offer a median hourly wage of $42 for an iOS engineer and $40 for an Android specialist. There is a marked decrease in the numbers from Asia, particularly India. iOS and Android app developers make about $4.54 per hour.

App Maintenance Cost

An additional cost to consider is app upkeep. The average estimate is between 15 and 20% of the total cost of making the app.

Just what does the scheduled application maintenance entail? Let’s break it down into its parts:

• Hosting – Depending on the amount and type of data stored on the server, the annual cost varies from $840 to $3840.
• Monitoring – Any analytics platform, such as Google Analytics, can be used to track how well an application is performing. The price of such services is highly variable and cannot be estimated in advance.

We’re talking about Promotion and Participation here. The price tag for advertising services will change based on the mediums and programmes used. Apps for Apple’s iOS cost $3.60 per install, while those for Google’s Android platform cost only $1.22.

• Updates – If you make changes to the application, the price may change. While minor bug fixes can be done for $1,000-$2,000, adding a new feature can cost over $5,000.

Specifically, Permissions and Application Programming Interfaces. You will also be responsible for the costs of any third-party technologies used in your app. Price is established by the technology’s supplier.

Application Deployment and Testing

After you’ve built your app, testing is an integral part of the app development process because it verifies its quality. The time spent testing an app is proportional to its complexity and intended use. A more significant number of screens and more complex features will naturally result in increased development time and cost.

As a result of the QA team’s thorough testing, your users will encounter fewer delays, glitches, and bugs. Your app should go live with as few bugs as possible that negatively impact the user experience.

Related Article: How Much Mobile App Design and Development Does Cost

Do you want to know how much does it cost to create a Mobile App?

Industry studies show that the cost of developing an app can vary widely, from tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Similar studies found that development times could be anywhere from one month to nine months or more (for ongoing projects). Although the strategy and discovery phase is costly, it is well worth the investment because it determines whether or not the project will be successful.

You should be able to begin planning your budget and project now that you have a general idea of the variables that affect the price tag on mobile app development.

Frequently Asked Questions For Cost to Build a Mobile App

1. How much does it cost to build a mobile app?

It is slightly difficult to give an exact figure for the cost of building an application because there are a plethora of factors that have a direct influence on app development cost. They are as under –

• Size and complexity of the application – simple, medium complex, highly complex
• Number of features and functionalities that your app is going to have
• Category of your mobile app – gaming, ecommerce, travel, social media, etc.
• Design of the app – research, branding, animation, tech stack, etc.
• App development team – size, structure, and location of the development
• Platform for development – iOS, Android, or both (Native or cross-platform)
• Fees for the release of the app – App Store or Play Store

For your convenience, we have listed below a very generalised idea of how much    it costs to create an app. Take a look –

• Simple App – $ 25000
• Medium Complex App – $ 75000
• Highly Complex App – $ 200000

With iTechnolabs, you can make sure that the cost of the development of your app does not go far off your budget.

2. What is the mobile app development cost breakdown?

We have stated below a complete breakdown of your mobile app development cost. Here are the key constituents of your mobile app development cost –

• Planning Cost –

Before beginning with any sort of development process, your developers indulge in diligent research of the market and competitors to prepare an elaborate app outline

• Design Cost –

In order to create to an app design that appeals, your developers must conduct a structured branding and designing process based on the design research conducted

• Development Cost –

This cost is paid in exchange of precise and agile coding process for efficient development of app with all the core features and essential third-party integrations

• Testing and Deployment Cost –

The developers will need to test your app multiple times to take care that it runs without any hiccups and is deployed successfully

• Marketing Cost –

 Successful development won’t suffice if you have not planned a systematic and sensational marketing of your app before and as it gets launched

• Maintenance Cost –

Your app needs to be constantly updated in alignment with the latest technological upgrades so that your consumers enjoy a seamless user experience