How Much Does it Cost to Develop a Business App?

As the internet of things (IoT) expands and mobile devices continue to proliferate, the demand for quality mobile apps continues to increase. For businesses, developing an app can yield significant value. But it also costs significant money.

The Cost of Mobile Apps

With the growth that’s occurring in the mobile app marketplace, there’s an increasing demand for businesses that have their own mobile apps that are designed to engage users and move them to action. The question is, can you afford to develop a business app?

The question of affordability isn’t something that’s cut and dry. It’s a lot like a family asking, can we afford to buy a house? The answer depends on numerous factors.

If you’re looking for some rough numbers and estimates, BuildFire has some average app development costs for you. While you can technically build an app for $1,000 or less, it’s probably not going to be a very good app. For a high quality app, you can expect to incur a number of costs, including visual design ($5,000+), UX design ($10,000-$25,000), icon branding ($2,500 to $10,000), and copywriting ($1,000 to $5,000).

When it’s all said and done, the bottom floor for high-quality app development is around $20,000. Many businesses spend around $100,000. Large organizations with massive user bases – such as social media platforms – can spend as much as $1 million on the original development.

If you’re looking for a more specific answer – and have an idea of what you need – there are plenty of online tools and calculators on the internet that will give you an estimate. But again, remember that these are just rough figures. You’ll have to shop around and get quotes from multiple app developers before you can fully understand the marketplace for your needs.

Is it Worth It?

As you can see, high-quality, custom apps aren’t cheap. They require an investment of time and capital. So before you decide to dive in and build out an app, you need to determine whether it’s worth it in the first place.

The first thing to consider is whether or not the app will be monetized. And if so, how will it earn revenue? This can happen through the selling of physical products or services, add space, or even monthly memberships for premium features and content.

If the app won’t be directly monetized, what sort of benefits are you gaining from having an app? Will the brand exposure and marketing opportunities be enough to offset the cost of developing and maintaining? Some rigid cost analysis will help you determine the financial feasibility of such a project/

Budgeting for Your Mobile App

You never want to go into a mobile app development situation without a concrete plan of attack. As big of an investment as it can be, it’s imperative that you develop a budget to guide your decision making and execution.

A mobile app budget serves a couple of purposes. First off, it prevents a situation where you develop an app and are suddenly shocked by the final price. By figuring out a budget ahead of time, you’ll have a rough idea of the cost and there will be fewer last-minute surprises. Secondly, an app gives you more control over the scope of the project. As challenges are encountered, you’ll have an idea of where you can spend more, shore up costs, or tweak the approach.

Every mobile app budget will look different, but make sure you account for the following factors:

• Platform(s). Which platform will you be developing your app for? Is it an iOS-specific or Android-specific app – or will you be creating the app for both mobile operating systems? You’ll need to adopt the latter approach to reach a wider market, but it also incurs a greater expense.

• Integrations. Each integration you include in your mobile app comes with an added cost. You can lower the cost of design by using some pre-existing plugins and features.

• Customization. Will the app be the same for all users, or will you offer the ability for each user to customize according to their preferences?

• Scalability. Even in the early stages, you have to consider scalability and what will happen as your app grows over time. It’s far more cost-effective to develop an app that can grow with you, as opposed to one that needs to be redone every few years.

If you’re unsure of how to proceed with budgeting, consider speaking with entrepreneurs, business owners, and developers who’ve been down this road before. They may be able to provide some keen insights.

This article does not necessarily reflect the opinions of the editors or management of EconoTimes.