How Much Should You Budget for App Development?
Tags: mobile, programming
Published: 2022-11-30 07:53:50

Mobile apps have emerged as the most effective way to reach a wider audience. A TechCrunch report says that consumers spend 85% of their time on mobile apps. No wonder you want to take a pie of this growth regardless of the glaring app development cost. But how to take control of this cost? You need to figure out the budget first. 
 
Every successful app involves a development cost, so budget considerations are essential. But before you dive into the app development cost, it is crucial to understand how to plan the app budget. Leading app developers in India follow the time-tested budgeting guidelines to make this process easier. 
 
Here we will discuss how to do budgeting with a proper assessment of the cost factors for a mobile app. 
 
##Figure Out App Project Requirements and Goals 
 
The first and foremost important thing is to agree on what the app is about, its feature set, the benefits for the users and your business, project timelines, and the development resources required. 
 
By putting all these aspects in a comprehensive document, you can quickly figure out the [mobile app development cost](https://www.indianappdevelopers.com/blog/app-development-cost-india/) factors and ensure better budgeting for the project. The project requirement document will give you a good idea of the resources and skills you need for the project. 
 
##Prepare for Unforeseen App Development Costs
 
The hourly rate multiplied by development hours mostly gives an idea of the total mobile app development cost. On top of this, you have hours taken by the designers and quality testers in an app project. As a basic rule, you must allocate a budget for each of these areas. But there are several others you need to consider besides these. 
 
The course corrections and modifications in the middle of the project can also add to the app development cost. This is why you need to set your priorities right and have a clear path to develop the app with ample scope for an iteration. 
 
##Choosing and Prioritizing Features
 
Whenever a function or app feature is added, it increases the app development cost. On the other hand, instead of going for a feature-heavy product without having market feedback is always risky. Hence, you must emphasize elementary features first, at least for the initial release.
 
##Choosing the Right Platform 
 
The choice of platform can also impact the app development cost to a great extent. Since iOS and Android together hold nearly the entire worldwide mobile app market, it is wise to develop and launch simultaneously to save the cost of future extensions. 
 
If your app niche in the overall measure does well with [cross-platform apps]() and the leading apps of the place embrace a cross-platform approach, you can follow suit. 
 
##Budgeting for Mobile App Development Hours and Resources 
 
Lastly, for budgeting, the most important thing is calculating the development hours and the number of hours your app will likely need. Many factors impact the development hours, such as the complexity and size of the app, required tech stack, developers' experience, skills, etc. 
 
When you figure out the hours for development, design, and QA testing, you need to calculate the app development cost based on the rate these professionals charge. Now, this hourly rate varies based on the location of the app project and the development company. 
 
##3 Major Ways to Reduce App Development Costs
 
Now that you have a budgeting idea for the app project, we will proceed to the important ways to reduce app development costs. Below, we explain three ways most app development projects can save costs. 
 
###Aligning your Requirements with Budget 
 
Businesses often start with the product vision keeping the results in mind. But when the development process continues, the original product idea may change, resulting in more excellent development time and cost. This is why aligning the project requirements with the budget from the very beginning is essential. 
 
How make this alignment possible? Well, here below, we mention some time-tested means. 
 
• Make a priority list of features that you must need for the app. 
• Figure out UI and UX design requirements. 
• Define timelines and app development cost milestones for development steps.
• Create estimates for every development stage.
• Determine the development platforms suitable for the app.
 
Apart from ensuring that the project requirements are detailed, meticulous, specific, and understandable for all stakeholders, you must also align the budget impact with each consideration.
 
###Outsourcing Development
 
Most app projects do not have in-house development teams, so they must look up remote resources to determine the budget. When you have an in-house development team, the budget gets under control. But that is, unfortunately, going to be different for most projects. 
 
On the other hand, with outsourcing, you can get a better cost impact by hiring skilled resources at half the price from remote locations. By outsourcing experienced teams from cost-competitive regions like East Europe, the Philippines, or India, you can reduce the app development cost to a great extent.
 
But, outsourcing, apart from competitive cost, offers an array of advantages such as the ability to reach out to a global pool of talented developers, reduced overhead cost and HR burden, scalability of resources as per evolving needs, etc. you can part leading outsourcing development companies who are going to take care of the support and maintenance of the product as well. 
 
###Build an MVP Product 
 
Finally, developing an MVP or a minimum viable product can reduce the initial app development cost. All you need is to release a basic version of the product with the elementary features and, based upon feedback, upgrade the app with value additions and changes. 
 
This will ultimately help launch the app early, besides ensuring significant cost savings. Many leading app success stories are shaped after this MVP model. 
 
**Taking A Point Home**
 
Finally, as a piece of advice, we must tell you to focus on the cost part only after ensuring optimum product quality. App development costs should always be considered when all the necessary development quality is fully secured. Your app budget should always uphold quality considerations.