Nothing is complete without a mobile application nowadays.
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The mobile app development industry has been expanding exponentially and proving to be beneficial for both businesses and consumers. This does not mean that we are motivating you to start the mobile app development without planning, you need to do your research before jumping into the development process and understand your target audience inside out.
There are plenty of successful and innovative mobile app ideas such as Instagram, WhatsApp, and Twitter, these are proven to be a big hit among people. You just need to understand the concept that how your idea stands on the same path.
If you already have a running business, you are initially required to analyze the worthy reasons to build a mobile app for your business. But whether you are a startup firm or a successful organization, the bottom question never changes – how much investment is required to develop a mobile application?
Every application has a different answer for the cost involved and this could be depending upon multiple reasons such as the number of features, expertise, number of pages etc. To illustrate this, let’s assume that you are planning to buy a car, so you would look for the car which would suit your requirements such as the size of the car, automatic or manual transmission, the engine power and so on. A mobile application cost is also established with the similar logical aspect. The combination of features, the mobile app developer skill set and the project lead, UX/UI and many other factors would change from one idea to the other.
Costing of the mobile application varies from smaller apps to moderate and moderate level to complex. No one can quote a fixed price without analyzing every part of the development process. Your app will cost you for app maintenance even after the completion of app development.
Since there are various factors which are influencing the cost of developing a mobile app, these factors make it easier to understand the worth of hiring an external agency.
Every wise person has started the mobile application development process with the plan and then moved to the actual developing stage. There are various steps in the mobile app development process such as planning, designing, development, app infrastructure, testing, app maintenance, mobile app marketing and much more, these steps are required for the success of your app. Every step requires an allotted budget for delivering the required expectations and if you haven’t planned your budget strategy beforehand, you might end up with no money in the mid-way and this will be bad for your business. This could possibly prove to be a simple recipe for disaster.
Cost plays a major role in making the decision of an in-house or outsourced mobile app development. We have tried to divide the factors influencing the mobile app development budgeting and this will make it easier for you to take the decision of developing an app either with an internal team or with the outsourcing agency.
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Employee Cost
This is the first step where the company financial budgets influence the decision making which is either creating an internal team or hiring a mobile app development company. Creating an app is everything to most of the businesses today and it comes with the involvement of financial commitment whether it is an expensive or reasonable app.
If you have an organized infrastructure with an IT department of iOS and Android developers along with a marketing department, then it shouldn’t be a challenge for you to develop your mobile app.
On the other hand, if you are a startup and barely have a team of 4 to 5 people, then it becomes a huge burden of hiring a number of people for the app development. This won’t end at one-time investment, you will be paying a monthly or a weekly salary to these people. You also need to recruit somebody to the app maintenance post-production and launch which could be a full-time position. A successful application needs constant updates and improvements with time, and you would also need someone to fix the random glitches and bugs to make your app smooth. Continuous mobile app marketing is also necessary as you won’t get downloads without letting the world know that it exists, right?
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Simple or Complex Mobile App
The complexity of your app defines the final cost of your application and not just the cost, but it also tells the timeline of developing an app. How would you know whether your mobile app is simple, moderate or complex?
In a simple mobile application:
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API integration is not given
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It does not require a back-end
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Standard UI components
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Normal features like social login, email subscription, calendar, etc.
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It requires close to 400 hours to develop this app
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The cost varies based on the team’s skill set, but this could be the cheapest development
Moderate mobile application:
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API integration
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Responsive screen feature
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Back-end server
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Needs close to 500-800 hours for development
Complex mobile application:
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Multi-language support
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3rd-party integrations
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Custom animations
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Complicated back-end
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Professional design
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Real-time features
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Needs close to 800-1500 hours for development
The above details would guide to put your mobile app idea into a right category.
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Operating System
Your choice for the operating system frames your budgeting plan for mobile app development.
Native app development:
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Focus on the user experience as they are quicker and have optimized performance.
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Multi-feature friendly
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Expensive than any other operating system
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Easy to search in Apple and Google play store
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Mostly common among educational, entertainment and corporate apps
Hybrid app development:
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Designed to approach a bigger pool of target audience
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A single code for all the platforms solves the financial game and it costs lesser to launch on this operating system
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User experience is less appreciated in comparison to native apps
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Mostly used among gaming, lifestyle and communication apps
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Who will develop the mobile app?
People mostly explore two options at this stage: a freelancer or a mobile app development agency.
Outsourcing your app idea to a professional agency could be heavy on your pocket, but it has proven to be the most successful approach when it comes to creating the great ideas into reality. The outsourcing agencies are completely reliable as they have a strongly skilled team of developers and designers. You get a ready-made teamwork with the amalgamation of great talents, such as programmers, project managers or designers, who have been working with each other and comfortable with the environment.
These agencies are the one-stop solution for your worries as they provide end to end assistance throughout your application development and even, after the launch. Most mobile app developing vendors follow the timeline and deliver the final product within that timeframe.
On the other hand, freelancers work remotely, and their cost varies based on the location or the experience. Freelancers could be comparatively cheaper while developing an app as you mostly end up working with one or two developers, and you are still worried about the other salient decisions of your mobile app ideas.
You can choose the freelancing route if you aren’t creating a high-quality application and you have a crystal-clear strategy.
However, there are various factors which might prove this route a bit chaotic. While freelancing, there are only one or two members are working on the app which delays deadlines of the development date. The lack of communication and skills are also claimed to be the common challenge.
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Hidden Cost
Apart from this, there are hidden costs on things like a legal assistant who helps in securing your copyrights, content, intellectual property, trademarks and lot more to make sure that you haven’t infringed anyone else’s business idea or content. Then, you also need to set aside an amount for the external subscription costs as well, for instance, push notifications, email etc. You should always keep some extra dollars for the hidden costs.
In conclusion, it becomes a very subjective decision of the stakeholders as they understand their situation and budget the best. Although there are many factors that influence the decision-making process clearer such as maintenance, employee cost, the complexity of the mobile app, the choice of the operating system and so on. If your expectations match more with the agency route, then you reach out to us. BluEnt is a mobile app development outsourcing company with a skillful team to cater the custom-made mobile application for the success of your business. Our assets are our eagerness to learn more and stay updated with the latest trends. Get in touch.
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