7 Factors That Influence Mobile App Development Cost

How much does an app cost? This is the number one question that clients ask when the discussion around converting an idea into an application starts.

While there is no one by-the-book answer to this, there are definitely a number of factors that tells us what the app development costing would look like.

By studying these features, one would definitely be to answer the how much does an app cost question with a semi precise price tag.

Here are those features –

One of the most crucial cost determining factors in the mobile app development world is purpose or functionality of the application. The general notion is that the more an app caters to, the more is its development cost. For example, a calculator app will cost much less than a messaging app because of the sole reason that the app audience number in both the cases are very different.

Generally, the functionality of an app is the number one cost deciding factor that brands keep under consideration when the cost discussion starts.

While there is hardly any difference between iOS and Android app development, the platform wise development cost difference comes when you compare mobile apps with web apps or when the comparison is between native and cross platform apps.

Extending both the points a little further, cross platform app development is cheaper than native app development and mobile app development is much more expensive than web app development.

The mobile app features and the technology suite that it is based on is single handedly responsible for increasing its development cost.

The moment you decide to add in latest technologies like AR or Blockchain the price shoots up. When it comes to features, for an app to be considered as the one that is powered right, it has to be backed by NFC, GPS, Motion sensor, Face/Fingerprint recognition, and on a more high tech scale, it should also have the integration of Blockchain to ensure that is extremely safe to use.

As a general practice, when a company calculates its app development cost range, the app update or maintenance cost is not added in the mix.

If you are looking for a company to remain partnered with you till much after the app is launched, you will have to pay for the service. The cost would vary depending on the variations of the devices and operating systems your app is on and how frequently you are making updates in it.

The complexity of the look and feel of your app is also one of the prime factors that affects its pricing. An app with simplistic level of design and little to no animation or transition will cost a lot more than the one that comes filled with 3D or AR/VR facility.

The moment you decide to make your app more visually sound, you automatically increase the design and development efforts that brings a rise in not just the build hours but also the attached development cost.

6- App Development Agency

The app development cost would vary depending on your choice of whether you wish to go with a freelancer or a large cap app development company i.e. the app development agency size.

While, it has a lot of attached risks but getting an app developed through a freelancer is much cost effective than getting it developed by a company of more than 2k employees.

Extending the agency factor further, the cost also varies depending on where the agency is located. If you are getting an app developed in New Zealand, it will cost much more than getting one developed from India.

7- Third Party Integration

How connected your app is with the other apps or systems also affect the app development costing to a great extent.

Third party integration requires taking note of a number of security, API development and a series of technical formalities that come with a price tag.

So, here were the seven factors that tend to affect the app development cost from one extent to another. Talk to more than one app development company to get an idea of the different pricing structures in the industry.