Develop an App like Careem – Know The Cost and Other Details

Last updated on June 26th, 2023

Gone are those days …

We are of the opinion that the writers-kind should renounce this phrase forever because literally no one has a vivid reminiscence of those days when ride-booking apps didn’t exist. Was it till the first half of the first decade of the twenty-first century? 

Literally, no idea. Oodles of things have transpired. A lot of them have revolutionised the universe, one of which is ofcourse the ride-hailing apps. It must have been ages ago when you had waved and screamed desperately at the indifferent taxis while the sun was exhaling balls of fire. Now, it is just an easy ‘book, wait, aboard’, one of the reasons why ride-hailing apps are effusing multi-million profits. 

Let us get it straight. We are not the kinds who run around the bush. We know that you aspire to develop an app like Careem, one of the ground-breaking ride-hailing apps in UAE. That is why you have visited this blog. So, allow us to tell you all you want to know. 

Why should you develop an app like Careem?

From a metaphysical point of view, you must know the ‘why’ because “when the ‘why’ is clear, the ‘how’ is easy.” Therefore, let us start with the ‘why’ first. Why should you be at all excited about developing an app like Careem?

• Careem and its likes are making millions – 

Numbers. Only numbers are able to douse doubts of a rational mind. Take a look at the numbers concerning taxi-booking apps and we are certain that you will be rest assured –

• Statista has estimated that the compounded annual growth rate of ride-booking apps will be approximately 3.46 % for the time period of 2023-27, which is kinda very cool

• Following the current trend and other variables involved, the number of users will come close to 1.45 billion as we approach the year 2027

• Nah. not just the number of users, but also the revenue generation per user will also soar and will amount to $ 247

• By the way, the revenue estimation for the year 2023 is no less than $ 330 billion

• Close to negligible investment – 

Careem and Uber, which has bought Careem, follow the same business model – the aggregator model. Under the aggregator model, you simply develop an app with three distinct modules – consumer module, driver module, and admin module.

You approach drivers with their own vehicles to offer a ride on your app. You are not spending any money on mass vehicles. Rather, you earn a massive commission without having to make a single purchase.

Could you find a singular reason to not develop the Careem app?

• No manual  management = no headache – 

Just the app is doing the ‘consumer management – driver management’ thingy. It is the app which will book the ride. It is the app which will inform the nearest driver about the ride. It is the app who will locate another driver , in case the nearest one is unavailable.

All you have to do is to develop an app with the features, framework, and architecture similar or better than the contemporary ride-hailing apps. Is it too much to do for making money, a lot of it, in the impending future?

What are the essential features of an app like Careem?

“When the ‘why’ is clear, the ‘how’ is easy.”

However, between the ‘why’ and the ‘how’, we have clearly neglected the ‘what’. What all must your app have in order to be or better than Careem? 

Do you remember the three modules that are going to form the core marrow of your app? Consumer module, driver module, and the admin module. Instead of giving you a collective, colourless, and chaotic list of features, we decided to be a bit more creative. We are going to sketch all the three modules of a ride-hailing app such as Careem and list the features of each module distinctively –

1. Passenger Module – 

This module on your app is entirely dedicated to your passengers. This is the place where your passenger will do all the work – set the location, choose a ride type, book a ride, and provide feedback. Also, you can converse with your passengers by sending them push notifications via this module only.

We have listed below the diverse features of passenger module below –

• Registration of Profile – 

Mobile Number, email ID, Facebook, Instagram – the more the registration options, the more the comfort for the passenger. Hence, get as many relevant integrations for the purpose of registration on the app as possible.

• Ride Booking – 

It is a ride-hailing app. It must facilitate users to easily book from A to B. Ascertaining the pick-up location and the destined location will be taken care of through the integration of suitable maps APIs with the app.

• Ride Cost Calculation – 

It is not a ride-booking app if it cannot calculate the estimated cost of the ride. Therefore, make it a super-duper mandatory point that your app has a fare calculator integrated within it.

• Driver Tracking – 

The only feature of your app which will prevent your users from losing their minds. Again, a pertinent mapping functionality is necessary to help your users to keep an eye on their drivers.

• In-App Messaging – 

Another functionality that can keep your users calm. Talking always helps. Therefore, do not forget to add messaging and calling functionality to let your drivers and users talk. But keep it discreet.

• Payment Integration – 

‘The more, the merrier’ situation arrived again. Just make sure that you offer your users diverse payment gateways so that their ride ends on a happy note.

• Push Notifications – 

      Notify about the real time information of the current ride. Notify about the offers and discounts for the future rides. Notify to simply remind to ride. But do notify.

2. Driver Module –

This is the module where the drivers hold the rein. The driver module on your app specifically caters to the needs of the drivers on your app. Therefore, it has perks that specifically serve the purpose of drivers. 

We have listed below the features that constitutes the driver’s module –

• Profile Registration – 

Like the passenger module, profile registration is the beginning of everything in this module. Give your drivers a chance to register and make a profile, giving all the necessary information about themselves and their vehicles.

• Activity Status – 

Would it not be great if you can know whether your driver is active or inactive? We know that it would be more than great and help you avoid all sorts of goof ups.

• Activity Alert – 

 Your driver needs to be alerted as soon as they receive a request for a ride in their vicinity. This can be achieved via the functionality of activity alert.

• In-App Message/Call – 

Again, like the passenger module, the driver module also possesses an in-app message/call functionality whereby the driver can call or message the passenger before the pick-up, without having to reveal any personal details.

• In-App Navigation – 

Get your app integrated with apt map APIs and assist your driver to know the location of the passenger, get there, pick him up, and drop him off at the destined location.

• Reports  – 

Earnings, performance, rides, and whatall – give your drivers an access to precise and concise information concerning their app activity and assist them to make significant improvements.

3. Admin Module – 

In the admin module, you are the king. You see, the admin module is a remote-control through which you oversee and manage the activities taking place over the passenger and the driver module. It is the place where all you cherished data is saved.

Given below are the features of the admin module. Take a look –

• Billing and Invoice – 

This is the place where data with regard to the rides, daily revenue and invoices are stored and examined.

• Vehicle Management – 

Only here you get access to data with regard to the types of vehicles and other related information is saved simultaneously.

• Grievance Redressal –

Every single feedback of every single passenger is stored here. You can go through them and single out the issues that have been a major nuisance for your passenger. Knowing so will help you find insightful solutions.

• Vehicle Tracking – 

Through the vehicle tracking functionality, you can locate all the vehicles at the same time and make decisions with regard to allocation of rides. Also, safety of the passengers can be fully ensured.

• Promotion and Discounts Management – 

What best use can you make of the vast available data if not for devising a suitable marketing strategy? Decide the rate of discounts that you can offer your passengers and simultaneously earn profits.

• Ride Management – 

Who best can allocate rides if not you who have the extensive information with respect to the location of the available drivers? No doubt, it’s you.

What are the factors that influence the development cost of an app like Careem?

Another aspect of ‘what’ is yet to be discussed. We must discuss what factors influence the cost component of an app like Careem.

We have listed below the factors in detail. Take a look – 

• Numbers of Features and Functionalities – 

In the previous section, we have discussed the features and functionalities in quite some detail. Keep in mind that you need a specific expertise to develop a particular feature and functionality and accordingly, the cost can be estimated.

A point to be noted is that ‘the more, the merrier’ principle does not apply in case of features. Although every single feature mentioned in the previous section is indispensable, you can complicate your mobile app and make it dysfunctional if you add additional unnecessary features.

The crux of this point is that the more the features and the more their complexity, the higher will be the price of the app development process.

• Platform –

Whenever an app has to be developed, this becomes a major point of query for a person. You have three options here – either you build a native Android app, or a native iOS app, or a cross-platform app. Keep the following pointers in mind before you make a decision 

• The cost of developing a native iOS app is more than the cost of developing a native Android app
  
• The cost of developing a cross-platform app for both the platforms is lesser than the total cost of developing native apps for both the platforms

• The user experience of a native app is much more stimulating than that of the cross-platform apps

• Technology Stack – 

Clearly, the technology you use to develop an app like Careem will also have an impact over the cost of the app development process. For your reference, we have listed below all the technology and tools that are mandatory to build a ride-hailing app like Careem –

• Android app development – Java, Kotlin
• iOS App Development – Swift, Objective C#
• Backend Development – MongoDB, MySQL, Database, Node.js, 
• Firebase – For building robust application
• Twilio – For SMS integration
• APNS – For push notification
• Map APIs – Google Maps/MapBox
• Payment Integration – PayPal, Braintree
• Amazon S3 – For cloud storage
• Amazon EC2 – For cloud hosting
• Business Tools – G Suite, Asana, OneLogin, Zendesk, Delighted
• DevOps – Terraform, Sentry, Naglos, Puppet Labs, Grafana, Graphite

• Design – 

Design is the soul of your app. Therefore, you need to take immense care when making a hiring or any other decision with regard to it. 

The designing process of an app involves the following tasks –

• Research
• UI/UX Design
• Branding
• Animations & Illustrations

The cost involved to perform every above-mentioned task puts a direct impact on the total app development cost of an app like Careem.

• App Development Company – 

Which app development company you will choose for the purpose of developing your ride-booking app plays an important role in determining the cost involved in the app development process. 

Also, the location of the app development company significantly influences the cost of the app development. For instance, the cost of developing an app in developing nations such as India will be lesser than that of developed nations such as the USA. 

Again, the number of roles hired for the purpose of app development will have a direct influence on the price of the app development process. The more the roles, the greater the cost and vice-versa. 

Keep aforementioned factors in mind before you make a major hiring decision for developing an app like Careem.

Are you ready to develop an app like Careem?

If you want your riders to not overthink when booking rides from your app, then unhesitatingly book iTechnolabs’ app development services. As a premier app development company, iTechnolabs is all that you need to develop a world-class app like Careem. With an ultra-modern tech stack and highly experienced developers, we have the ability to develop all that you dream of. 

We have a very simplified hiring process through which we make sure that you hire the right developer instantly. Our streamlined app development process takes care that your quality app is timely delivered to you within no time. Book iTechnolabs’ app development services today and get started.