How Much Does It Cost To Build An App in 2021?- The Best Guide
Published: 2022-05-12 05:51:46

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title: How Much Does It Cost To Build An App in 2021?- The Best Guide
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date: 2022-05-06 07:35:46 UTC
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The market of [mobile applications](https://terasoltechnologies.com/features-that-make-mobile-apps-successful/) is at an all-time high and yes there is no looking back or halt for this market as it is on a booming spree. Many people are searching worldwide, they want to know how much is the app development cost to build an app. When most of us make use of apps for purposes like games, food, communication, lifestyle, sports, and much more, building an app is a serious business for many.

App Cost Calculator
To give you a brief idea of the estimation of your app development cost, the app cost calculator shown below will help. All you need to do is fill in the specifications of the app which you want to be developed. All the data collected on this tool would be transferred to our app development experts and the app development team will be in touch with you sooner than you can imagine with an exact price quote and tips on how to make the perfect app for your business.

When you have questions like: “How much is app development cost” and “What are the factors that decide the cost of an app” in your mind, it is important to go through the main driving forces of mobile app development:

List of Contents
How much is the app development cost worldwide?
Local or outsourced app development
Money & time required to create the app
Factors that affect the cost of mobile application
Features and Functionality
Visual Design Customisation
Application Platforms
Backend Infrastructure and App Administration
App Development Team’s Structure & Location
App Maintenance Cost
how much is the app development cost?
Our Cost Estimation Approach
One latest study pointed towards the fact that the average price of a straightforward app ranges somewhere between $50,000 to $70,000. While a medium one costs between $71,000 and $85,000. When we look at a complex app we see that it might cost anywhere between $85,000 to $200,000.

Therefore, we can provide an answer to the much-asked question: how much does it costs to build an app, we can on average take it to be $60- $70 per hour. So a base version of an application would be costing $30,000 approx. The apps of medium complexity would be costing anywhere between $50,000 and $80,000 and a complex application would generally be beyond $100,000.

Today, if we search the internet we find that a huge number of companies globally declare themselves among the best app developers while promising the best app solution. You can find some companies that are big names and are around for a very long time, some would-be newbies, some locally based while some foreign ones, many of them would be large and some of them would be small. Well! A tough choice for many! Isn’t it? To make a selection would be mind-boggling not only for experienced businesspersons but for start-up owners equally. 

A very common doubt among them would be whether a high price guarantees them a top-quality app or whether the new names in the app development market would be competent enough to deliver high-quality products. So when we keep all that in our mind, we would head back towards our impartial scan of the app-building costs where we will first see what is the average cost of app development worldwide and how it changes as per the geographical location.

The table down below will give us a quick idea of the hourly rates of app creation worldwide :

Region	Android ($/hr)	iOS ($/hr)
Australia	100	100
North America	168	150
South America	37	43
Eastern Europe	40	40
Indonesia	35	35
India	26	30
UK	71	71
Our Approach : Local or Outsourced App Development?
When we look at the above table we get an idea that the costliest region for app development in North America. The lowest app development costs are in India and Indonesia.

To be frank there is only one attractive feature to consider local app development which is, the physical presence of the app development team that makes communication among you and the team extremely seamless.

Otherwise, the app developers who are foreign-based have great expertise in their work and they perform a whole lot better too when compared to the local ones. App development outsourcing cost is much flexible and has lower rates. You have already seen the above table indicating the hourly rates per region so taking the decision wouldn’t be tough!

Money & Time Required to Create the App
It is important to note that all apps are made differently. While apps made for the iOS platform would have different features, the Android ones would be different. This difference would affect the requirement of time too for their development. However, we can certainly point out the approx time needed for different apps:

Basic App: needs approx 500-800hrs

Moderate Complexity App: needs 800-1200hrs

Highly Complex App: needs over 1200hrs

Cost Of App Development
Factors that Affect the Cost of Mobile App Development
You should never expect the app development company or team to give you an exact figure right at the time of the first meeting. Instead, you should know that various factors have to be considered before coming with the exact cost. These factors are :

Features & Functionality
Visual Design Customisation
Platforms
Backend Infrastructure and App Administration
Location and Structure of a Development Team
Price to pay for project management
Cost of Maintaining an App
Features & Functionality
To find out the cost of an app, it is also important to find out the complexity of the app. It is the functionality and the features like buttons, screens, and fields that have a lot of impact on the cost. First we will have a look at the time and cost with the basic features then go further to the more complex ones.

Simple Features :

User Login
Profile: Create & Edit
File Upload
Messaging
Push Notifications
Admin Panel
Payment
Here is the basic features app development cost breakdown, along with the time taken.

Feature	         Illustration	      Time/Cost(approx)$
Login	          With Email	            28 to 42 hrs/1100-2100
 	         With social media	 
 	         Forgot the password	 
 	          Log Out	 
File Upload	Photo upload                20 to 30 hrs/800-1200            
                Video upload	 
 	        Photo view	 
 	        Video playback	 
Edit Profile	 Info	                    47-62 hrs/2350-3100
 	         Edit	 
 	         Password change	 
 	         Add 
                 remove 
                 payment method	  
Complete Profile Info	                    24-29 hrs/1000-1250
 	         Photo	 
                 Messaging(basic)           
	         Status(online/offline)	    
 	         Conversation details	 
 	         Sent/Read status	 
Push Notifications	Receive notifications	25-30 hrs/1250-1600
Admin Panel:             User Management     66-90 hrs/2700-4000
                         List	 
 	                 Edit	
 	                 Block/delete user	 
 	                 Create User	 
Payment	           See a list of payments      23-44 hrs/1000-1700
 	                 Refund info	 
    	 
Also, make a note of the unprecedented changes which may pop up while developing the app thus affecting the cost and time. The app’s complexity and its features affect to a great extent the time taken and the cost for building the app.

Visual Design Customisation
When you think of an app design that has a unique user interface, also think of how difficult a task it is to create an app with that design feature. This will also add some extra cost to your app development project. But when you go for a lower-priced version that guides you to use OS furnished units, apart from making screens of elements that are standard the cost may decline. So the number of screens is n important decider here.

Talking about the design of the app, well! This impacts the complete app-building process. The more complex the design of your app is, the more will be the cost of the app.

A straightforward app design usually has the standard elements which are platform-specific and very easy to bring into effect. Not to forget a simple app design would take the least time too. When you add the personalized elements or even add animation to your app, they make the design complex thereby increasing the cost of app design.

Let’s look at some examples of app screens of various complexities. The first image shows what a simple app design looks like:

The more advanced design of your application can be as follows:

If you want to design an app in a very complex way, see the following example to understand what is meant by expensive design elements:

Application Platforms
Do you want to build an iOS app or do you want an Android one? Probably you are thinking of building an app that works on both platforms! Before making this decision try to study the market properly. Find out the app share as per iOS and as per Android. See whether the app will be successful among Android users or iOS.

Also, consider the pricing structure of iOS and Android apps. After carefully studying these factors make a decision on which platform your app should be built. In case you want to make the most of both platforms, then opt for a hybrid or cross-platform app development. Hybrid works better as there would be a single team working on the creation while in the case of cross-platform two different teams would be there!

Backend Infrastructure and App Administration
When we talk of mobile app development, the backend is the operating system that assists the app developers on the API part. It helps in the exchange of data between the database and the app. The app comes equipped with analytics to carefully make use of user data.

You can easily keep track of the activity of the user and also see how your app is fairing in the market. Whether users are finding it easy to use or difficult to operate. When you want to keep track on such parameters through your app you should also know that these will also affect the building cost of your app.

There may be many useful tools to manage the contents on an app but undoubtedly, the top one is the administration panel. Yes! This tool helps to manage users, content, and statistics. Although there might be many existing administration templates searching for a good one will be tedious. So only build a panel that is in sync with all your needs. 

App Development Team’s Structure & Location
We discussed earlier in the article how the geographical location of the app development team is crucial in deciding the cost of the app. So when we look at app development in North America, the cost would be different here than in India.

App Development Team Members
Basic
Business Analyst: When you opt for app development, it is the business analyst who is responsible for studying and collecting all your needs. A business analyst takes note of your competition and helps a lot in the planning stage.
Project Manager: They ensure proper division of work among all team members and proper execution of responsibilities.
QA Engineer: it is a huge responsibility of Quality Assurance engineers to check the performance of the app before it lands in App store or Play Store.
Back End Developer: The developer works on various languages and database, API etc. They help to communicate database information to the browser.
UI/UX Designer:  A great design is always loved by users, that is why the UI/UX designers analyse similar apps, preferences of users and then create n attractive app.
iOS/Android Developer: They are responsible for producing apps as per the platform.
Complex
Business Analyst: business analysts produce a business solution. They help a lot in the planning stage by studying the competitors and producing the best solution as per market needs.

Project Manager: takes care of all the teams working on creating the app. It is the project manager who ensures that work is properly allocated among all and they are executing it properly.
QA Engineer: they check or test the app before it is finally presented to the users.
iOS/Android Developers(2 or more) : in case of complex app develop it is a team of 2 or more developers who work on the features as per the platform.
Back End Developers(2 or more) : the developer works on various languages and databases, API etc. They help to communicate database information to the browser.
Price to Pay for Project Management
This is one very important factor that is included in the cost of building your app. A very tedious task indeed. A project manager greatly helps and takes care of a lot of work like:

Budget of the project
Allocation of the correct duties
Scheduling
Quality
Risk Prevention & Fix
Proper Communication
Problem Solving
App Maintenance Cost
Before ending the points to be considered to decide the cost of an app, you also should know that after the app is created you also have to maintain it. So basically there is a maintenance cost attached to it. Maintaining the app is important if you want to or don’t want to add the latest features to it which will attract users to it. Maintenance is also needed if you don’t have plans for scaling up. Maintaining the app will protect it from :

Bugs
Will help in bug fixing
Adding new features
Optimization of codes
Controlling the stability of app
Scaling applications
Upgrade
To let you know about maintenance costs clearly we can say that this cost is approximately 15-20 percent of the total development price. It is critical for keeping the app up and running that you remain in touch with the app development team. The support of the team continues even when the app is ready and in the store.

Total Cost: How much is the cost to build an app?
The whole process of mobile app development goes through the following stages :

Planning
Design
Development
Testing
Deployment
Type
of Work	Basic
App	Moderate
App
Development
(Developers+ DevOps+ solution Architect)	$45,200+	$76,500+
UI/UX
Design	$4,000+	$7,200+
QA	$10,500+	$18,000+
Project
Management	$10,000+	$13,750+
Total
Cost	$69,700+	$115,450+
How Terasol Technologies Offers a Mobile App Development Estimate
With our calculator that tells you how much will it cost to build an app, you can find the cost in different zones around the world easily.

Let us take the example of building a business app in India :

Mobile Platforms    :        Both
App User            :        Log In Email
User Profile        :        Yes
Notifications       :        Push Notifications
Payments            :        PayPal
Administration      :        User Management & Reporting/Analytics
Location Services   :        Yes
User Messaging      :        Search, List of Chats
Multi Lingual       :        English
Quality: Moderate
Looking at the above features and requirements, a business app in India would take around 720 hrs with a development cost of $8639.

You can check the cost of building your app clearly by using our Mobile App Development Calculator.

Answer a few easy questions and voila! You have the estimated cost of building your dream app emailed straight to your inbox.

A well-designed app can bring a great return on your investment. So, If you have a dream App Idea in your mind, don’t wait let us know right away and we will make your Dream come True!