How Much Does it Cost to Build a Clubhouse-like Social Media App?

Published on November 27th, 2023

There was hardly anything that made sense during the infamous Covid-19 era. Metaphorically, the whole world had turned upside down. Fear engulfed us and listlessness became the new normal. While the whole world was crumbling, the one thing that invoked some sense in the senseless situation was social media applications. 

Those who were hitherto ignorant of social networking apps also became its active users because let’s just accept it – no one wanted to face the horrendous situation alone. In such circumstances, the one social media app that became a saviour for many across the globe and has been a boon companion for a lot of us since then is none other than the popular Clubhouse app. 

The Clubhouse app caused a significant disruption in the way social media applications work as it became the first ever platform to facilitate audio-based conversations. Using the dynamic platform, most of us have got the opportunity to indulge in riveting conversations and broaden our network, personal or otherwise, just via audio. 

More so, the incumbent giants of the social networking domain, Facebook and Twitter, had to initiate similar audio spaces to keep pace with the tight competition Clubhouse brought in with itself. Such has been the dynamism of Clubhouse, that has so effortlessly brought the audio digital spaces in vogue.  

Therefore, if you are someone who is yearning to create an audio-based platform just like Clubhouse and is looking for guidance, we welcome you with open arms. The first thing that can bother anyone with such a venture in mind is finance, or more specifically, the app development cost, which is quite understandable. 

But do not worry! We have got you covered. In this blog, we are going to discuss in quite a detail all aspects related to the cost of developing a social networking app like Clubhouse. All you need to do is to read the blog thoroughly, contact our experts, and ask questions. (We would make sure that you are not left with many.) Let’s get started. 

Why Clubhouse?

While we might have alluded to the insane popularity that Clubhouse has garnered in a short span of time, we believe that we did not do much justice to the introduction that Clubhouse deserves.

Well, to begin, Clubhouse was established in the year 2019 by its notable founders, Paul Davison and Rohan Seth, as ‘Talkshow’. It was of course loved and used by an adequate user base. Then, the year 2020 arrived when the startup was rebranded as ‘Clubhouse’ and released on the App Store. It was then in 2021 that Clubhouse reached pinnacle with a whopping 10 million users. Since then, there is no looking back. 

But why build a social media app like Clubhouse? Because the numbers say so – 

• Clubhouse has officially become a unicorn startup with a $ 4 billion net worth.
• Clubhouse has registered more than 20 million downloads on its application. 
• Clubhouse is financially backed by more than 180 reputed organisations world-wide. 

Numbers tell you something, but not everything. And when it comes to us, we want to deliver you as much information as possible so that you could begin your Clubhouse-like app development journey with as much informed mind as possible. So, here we go!

What are some of the Exemplary Features of Clubhouse?

The key to know an app in a greater depth is by knowing its remarkable features. Therefore, it becomes our duty to apprise you of the great many features that renders the users of Clubhouse a phenomenal experience. 

The features of the Clubhouse have been lined up below. Read carefully – 

• User Profiles – 

Believe us when we say that creating a user profile on Clubhouse is as easy as ABC. All the users have to do is provide their name and phone number for the profile creation. They must also lock a username, without which invitations cannot be sent to them. 

Obviously, there is no bar to editing a profile. The users can always make amends to their profiles as and when they feel. 

• Audio Streaming – 

It kind of becomes the core responsibility of the makers of Clubhouse that they provide top-notch audio quality to its users because Clubhouse is an audio-based platform. And Clubhouse fully ensures that!

It not only provides an exceptional voice-streaming, but it also makes certain that it provides the owners and participants with adequate tools to elevate the app experience. One of the various tools is the mute/unmute button.  

• Clubhouse Hallway – 

The Clubhouse app has a dashboard space, named as Hallway. Like the hallway in the hotels, the Clubhouse Hallway provides you information with regard to Clubhouse live discussions or podcasts (also called Clubhouse Rooms). 

The Hallway delivers information with regard to the upcoming rooms (date, time, and topic of discussion) and the rooms that are currently live. You can always search for the clubs and topics you are interested to know about in the Hallway. 

• Clubhouse Rooms – 

The hallway is bound to have rooms and the rooms in case of the Clubhouse Hallway are various podcasts or group discussions. You can create your own room or get to join someone else’s room. 

As you enter a room, you get to know who all are participating in the room. You get to listen to the discourse taking place and can add to the discourse or mute yourself, as you like. 

• Clubhouse Invitation – 

We know that you do not want your friends and family to be bereft of this dynamic app. Do not worry! They will not be as the Clubhouse app allows you to invite them to join the app. 

The only thing required here is that the phone numbers of those people, whom you want to send invites to, must be saved in your contacts. While scrolling through your contacts to find their names, you can always get to know who all are already a part of Clubhouse. 

• Moderation Tools – 

Although social media spaces run by the doctrine of inclusivity, they can unknowingly become safe spaces for anti-social elements for violation of people’s dignity and vulnerability. 

Therefore, it becomes quintessential for you to necessarily include various tools for the purpose of moderation. The tools may be in the form of rights given to the virtual room owners to mute speakers, when they are seen involved in the acts of digital abuse in the ongoing Clubhouse room. 

• Notification – 

You cannot do without push notifications if you are thinking of building a social media application like Clubhouse. Push notifications are meant to prolong the users’ stay on your app and make their stay interesting. 

Push notifications would inform your user of any new follower. Your user would get to know when the person he/she/they are following is conducting a meeting, attending one, or speaking in one. 

• User Analytics – 

Your users would be absolutely happy if you could offer them a dashboard-sort of feature, through which they could keep a tab on their participation on your digital space. 

Give them a peak or detailed view (whatever you would like) in the number of followers they have or who they are following. They would be utterly satisfied to know the chat rooms they have been part of till now along with the total time they spent listening. 

How much does it Cost to Create a Social Media App like Clubhouse?

Let us now come to the main topic for which this whole build up was – the cost to create a social media app like Clubhouse. 

If estimated, the cost to create a social media app like the Clubhouse application ranges from $ 30000 to $ 240000. However, this is a very general estimate and is influenced by the diversity of factors that we will discuss in detail right now. 

The factors influencing the cost to create a Clubhouse-like social media app has been discussed below – 

• App Size and Complexity – 

The development cost of social networking apps like Clubhouse is influenced by the size and complexity of the app. The more the size and complexity of the app, the higher expertise you would need, resulting in a higher development cost. 

For your reference, we have presented below the app development costs on the basis of size and complexity – 

• Simple App – $ 30000 to $ 70000
• Complex App – $ 70000 to $ 140000
• Highly Complex App – $ 140000 to $ 240000

• Features and Functionalities – 

The number and complexity of features of a social media app like Clubhouse also affects the cost of its development. For example, if you have more features and most of those features are very complex to create, the cost of app development will obviously skyrocket. 

If you decide to tone down the features and functionalities of your social media application, it would be created in a shorter span of time and hence, would cost less. 

• Native vs. Cross Platform –

If you choose to develop your app natively for both iOS and android platforms, you would definitely get significantly better quality. However, you would have to loosen your purse strings a little bit as iOS as well as android native app development is kind of expensive. 

But if you chose to develop your social media app through cross-platform app development frameworks such as flutter and react native, you would definitely cut short a lot of your expenses. 

• UI/UX Design – 

Design is the core element of every app, especially the social networking ones. The design of the social media application coherently defines what the app stands for and intends to deliver to its users. 

Therefore, it is essential for you to invest sufficient time and energy into determining the UI/UX design. A simple design may be easy to use and cost-effective to build, while a complex one with animations and illustrations may deliver an engaging experience and be expensive to build. 

• Size and Location of Development Team – 

See, it is simple. If you do not have an in-house team already, outsourcing is a cost-effective and smart way to execute the development of your Clubhouse-like social media app. Obviously, if the features of your app and timeline of its development are such that they demand a big team, you would have to get ready to budget more and vice-versa. 

The location of the development team is also a crucial factor in deciding the cost of development of your social media app. All the workforce-intensive regions may offer you lower hourly rates of a development. For your reference, we have supplied you the hourly rates of developers on the basis of regions below. Take a look – 

• App Maintenance – 

Although not an obvious cost, the cost of app maintenance is a hidden yet relevant cost that adds to the aggregate cost of developing a social media app like Clubhouse. Maintenance and upgrade of any app, be it social media or otherwise, is necessary to raise the user experience with changing times. 

Therefore, you cannot avoid the maintenance cost and have to bear it if you want to develop an exemplary social media app experience. 

Are you ready to hire developers for Your Clubhouse-like social media app?

As a premier app development company, iTechnolabs has no bounds. We have built powerful mobile app solutions for clients across diverse business segments. We have especially built some very incredible social media applications that add immense value to our vast portfolio. 

Our highly skilled developers possess extraordinary acumen and experience and have an endless yearning to build something new and innovative. To ensure efficient development of your mobile app and give it a competitive edge, we put to use the most advanced technological tools at our disposal. 

We have devised very flexible hiring models. Our models allow our existing and potential clientele to hire professionals instantly without much hassle. To ensure that the development process is cost-effective, we keep the prices very reasonable. Talk to our consultants today and transform your Clubhouse-like social media app idea into a powerful reality.