January 19, 2022

What Affects The Cost Of Developing An Application

A young boy wearing a white VR headset

In today's world, developing an application can be a critical step in achieving business success, but it's not always an easy or cheap process.

There are numerous factors that can influence the cost of developing an application, from the complexity of the project to the level of expertise required to create it.

As a result, it's essential to understand these factors to ensure that your development project remains within your budget. In this blog post, we'll explore the main factors that can affect the cost of developing an application and provide tips on how to manage these costs effectively.

Whether you're a business owner, a startup founder, or a developer looking to build an app, this article will provide valuable insights into what you need to know about the cost of developing an application.

Probably the most frequently asked question in app development work is how much will it cost?.

The main concern of consumers is price, as the final product is highly dependent on their budget.

How many features will be included in the application? Which ones will be included in the initial release? Is it going to be a cross-platform application or a native mobile application? iOS, Android, or a combination of both?

Which development team, in terms of size and composition, is required for the project: software engineers, project managers, quality analysts, and designers, for example? Each of these elements has an effect on the cost of mobile application development.

The cost of developing mobile applications varies significantly depending on the customer's requirements, the complexity of the project, the cost of staff, software, hosting, and other factors.

cost of developing a mobile application

The list is lengthy and encompasses the team's collective efforts: planning and management operations, marketing research, design customisation, and so on. However, what are the primary elements of the cost of developing mobile applications?

Thus, there are numerous elements that influence it, but the primary ones are as follows:

Complexity of the Project - App Functionality

The cost of developing a custom mobile application is highly dependent on the scope of the project. How many features will the product include? How many panels, buttons, and fields will be included? Which level of logic is required?

App functionality represent a large portion of the total cost of mobile app development, typically between 60% and 80%. Thus, in order to create a successful application, it is vital to understand the business process, specify how the future product will streamline workflow, and establish the objectives it must achieve.

Additionally, you should undertake competitive research and determine the application's unique characteristics that will set you apart from your competitors. This critical stage enables the app's functionality to be defined quickly and correctly.

However, they are not all equal. Probably the most complicated and costly are those that need the use of new technologies. Additionally, such tasks as payment processing need considerable work to develop.

Platform Type and Quantity

The second critical element to consider is the type and quantity of platforms. Would you rather design a cross-platform application or a native one? If you're developing a native mobile application, which platform should you target: iOS, Android, or Windows Phone?

The selection is based on a variety of criteria, including the functionality of the app, the audience you wish to attract (kind and size), and the available budget.

Thus, it requires conducting a target audience analysis: if most of your consumers use Android, you should develop Android apps; similarly, if the majority of your customers use iPhones (iOS), you should develop iOS apps.

If the percentages are identical (or around 60/40), and you have ample funding resources, native mobile app development for both platforms is the most cost-effective option.

When you want to reach the widest audience possible but lack the funds to develop native apps, you should consider cross-platform application development.

Typically, developing a native mobile application for two operating systems is more expensive than developing a cross-platform application, as a cross-platform solution usually requires only one team to work on both products and involves writing only one piece of code for both platforms.

As a result, it enables time and money savings. However, because native apps are often of higher quality, you should select native app development to differentiate yourself from competitors and deliver superior customer service.

However, cross-platform mobile application development tools and technologies are constantly evolving, increasing the potential for creating a successful, high-quality product.

Infrastructure and API for the Backend

A big component of the total cost of custom mobile app development. Implementing a third-party service to enable a certain product feature may result in a price rise.

Frequently, an application retrieves data from or interacts with web-based APIs. For example, a PayPal payment made within the app will communicate with the PayPal APIs to authenticate the payment, avoiding the user from leaving the app.

When there is a lack of clarity on technological specifications, it can become quite time consuming and costly to determine the best approach for implementing certain information in the app.

Additionally, maintaining the backend of any APIs, as well as releasing new material and managing various app users, is a hard and costly exercise.

Security of the Application

A high level of security is a primary need for our clients and a must-have for enterprise applications. Access to firm data, which may comprise of a large number of documents, financial transaction records, structured and unstructured data saved on the device, user information and location, and so on. And all of this requires hacker protection.

Developing a secure application capable of identifying suspicious activity and vulnerabilities demands a financial commitment that has an effect on the overall cost of mobile app development.

Quality Assurance & Stabilisation

Another factor that contributes to the expense of custom mobile application development is testing the programme for any bugs. QA is a critical component of the overall development process and demands significant work. After locating bugs, stabilisation is carried out, followed by product introduction.

To keep the app running, it's also vital to do quality assurance activities, collect user feedback, and make application updates on a regular basis. This stage is critical to the project's performance and has an impact on the cost of mobile application development.

quality assurance activities

Final Thought

The cost of developing a custom mobile application is highly dependent on the scope of the project. There are numerous elements that influence the cost, but the primary ones are the complexity of the app and the level of detail required for it to be successful.

Each of these elements has an effect on the cost of mobile application development. If you're developing a native mobile app, which platform should you target: iOS, Android, or Windows Phone? If you lack the funds to develop native apps, you should consider cross-platform application development.

Contact us now with full information relating to your project requirement for Mobile App Development Project.