Tips on how to reduce software development costs
Tags: productivity
Published: 2023-03-03 09:23:09

It shouldn’t surprise anyone that cutting costs in business is a tremendously timely topic in times of a worldwide crisis. At the same time, no company wants to inhibit their development or slow down processes, which might result in a high churn rate. Thus, considering the situation, looking for cost reduction can become the most clever maneuver. Today, we will show you how to do it in our pet area – software development. As they say, a penny saved is a penny earned. 

Might also interest you: [9 software development trends for 2023](https://neurosys.com/blog/trends-in-software-development)

## How much does it cost to create an app?

The cost of developing software depends on so many aspects that it would be impossible to calculate without knowing your project inside out. Given app type, its functionalities and their complexity, technologies, data storage, security, third-party integrations, QA, development process, and deadlines – they all have to be taken into account. The thing we can do, though, is to show you in detail how to reduce custom software development costs.

How to reduce the costs of software development?
Drastic times call for drastic measures. But as a matter of fact, we wouldn’t call savings an extreme move, just reasonable and worth considering no matter the circumstances. So, without further ado, let’s see how to reduce IT costs in the following five areas.  

## 1. Costs to create an app

Development incurs the lion’s share of the digital product cost. Thus, that’s the first area we’ll investigate. 

Find off-the-shelf solutions

We might be putting the cat among the pigeons by saying that, but first, ascertain if there are no ready-made solutions on the market that you could implement easily. It may be that modifying your processes to use an off-the-shelf software instead of developing one from scratch, and paying through the nose, is a more favorable option for your company 

Use ready-made blocks 

There’s nothing wrong with using off-the-peg components, libraries, cloud services, and open source, as long as they do the job. The approach can significantly reduce development time and, as a result, the costs. 

Build an MVP

If you want to build your application by the book, start with a minimum viable product or at least cut down on its functionalities and utilize reusable components. It isn’t trumped-up advice, for we had a client that wanted to build an immaculate product from the start, and their budget ran out before we had the simplest version of the system ready. Just remember, a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush, also in software development.

Choose popular technology 

By choosing popular programming languages, you can achieve significant technology cost reduction. The fact that a solution is widespread translates into providers’ competitiveness, more ready-made solutions available, and the freedom to change your development company if the cooperation turns out ineffective. A pro tip in crisis reality is to be mindful of what kind of developers are laid off most often and consider these technologies first. 

## 2. Labor cost

When the budget is unlimited, indigenous in-house developers are a favored option. However, if you aim at cost reduction in IT, you should also consider other options. 

Offshore and nearshore 

Take into account cooperation with a nearshoring or offshoring company. The development services will be more cost-effective, and you won’t have to foot the office, vacation, sick leaves, and other perks. Also, you will pay for what is delivered, either in time and materials (T&M) or fixed fee system. 

Automate developers’ work

Whenever it’s possible, automate the development tasks. It applies to, for example, automated testing, continuous development and integration, pair programming systems, such as GithubCopilot, or code analyzing tools that can help in weak point detection, such as CodeQL. 

## 3. Fixed costs

Fixed costs are predictable, but the problem is we have to cover them even if our app doesn’t earn. That’s why, cost reduction opportunity assessment will be indispensable in the case of any product. Below you can find some of the areas worth analyzing in the first place. 


Third-party solutions, such as development tools and libraries, often involve substantial monthly/yearly fees. We’re far from unequivocally stating that building dedicated tools will be less expensive, but it’s always worth calculating and comparing with extraneous costs.  

Infrastructural costs

Each element of the system like on-premise or cloud servers, CDN, data storage, third-party integrations, payment gateways, APIs, domain DNS, and SSL costs. Let’s not forget about infrastructure monitoring. You won’t be able to cut these expenses off completely, but over the years, we’ve learned that there’s always room for optimization. One of the ways can be cloud migration or cloud optimization. 

## 4. Your time

Last but not least, your time is beyond price, isn’t it? And it really makes a difference whether you spend it on defining the system features or trying to handle the team. Thus, a skilled product owner who knows the ropes and will take responsibility for the product backlog, goal delivery, and maximizing product value will be an invaluable part of your team. Acting as an intermediary between business and development, they will take an awful lot of communication off your shoulders. 

This way, you can focus on what is most relevant at your end: business development, monetization, or promotion, so your system becomes profitable as early as possible. But don’t get us wrong, a dedicated system will never be created without your active involvement, though hiring an experienced proxy will certainly help you focus attention on landmark issues. 

## Wrap-up

Instead of answering the question How much does it cost to make an app?, we choose to serve you with concrete tips on cost reduction, simply because you can implement them no matter the type of system you’re developing. 

Just remember that haste makes waste, so before you roll up your sleeves, devote considerable time to analyzing and planning. Cost savings at that stage may bring real trouble later on. 

In drawing things to a close, we’re always there to help you with app price estimates, so don’t hesitate to [contact us](https://neurosys.com/contact). Thanks for making it to the end, and see you in the next entry!