Updated for 2024 trends and pricing.
We are often asked “How much does it cost to develop a mobile app?”. It is a difficult question to answer because of the variables and complexities involved, it could be anywhere between £25,000 and £100,000+.
This article will guide you through the required processes, provide some important questions to ask your developers and, in turn, hopefully help you come up with an accurate estimate of how much it will cost to bring your idea to life.
We’ll talk you through the most expensive features and functionality, choosing the correct technology and platforms, as well as a few ways you can reduce the cost of your app.
The complexity of your app idea
What is the purpose of your app? What are the key features? How will you manage the success of your app development project?
There is no exact figure for how much each feature will cost, it will depend on the individual developer you are using due to the time it takes to build and implement each feature. Here are a few of the features that we find the most expensive to build:
• E-commerce: do you need to process payments?
• CMS (Content Management System): do you need to manage the app content in-house?
• Databases: will you need to access/store user or third-party data?
• Security: what level of security does your app require?
The platform
The choice of platform(s) has a significant impact on the cost of your project. Native apps on iOS and Android use different programming languages, so it means creating two versions of your app.
But why not build for both? You may have heard of cross-platform technologies that can be used to build one app that works across both platforms. We often use React-Native which is a mobile application framework that allows you to develop an app for Android and iOS using a single codebase, reducing the overall development costs.
Ongoing costs
Ensure you have a set plan in place for the costs post-launch as, once live in the store, it will need updating regularly. Even if you do not change or update any functionality, your app will still require tweaks to ensure it is compatible with the new iOS and Android software updates (these usually occur yearly). Without these, your app may become outdated or inoperable for users who have already updated their phone’s operating systems.
TIP: You want to keep your users as engaged as possible; we would suggest creating a plan for future improvements and updates to keep the users active and satisfied.
Examples
Here are some rough ballpark figures based on some of the main app types:
• Calculator – a few user inputs and a simple calculation engine – £25,000
• Brochure app – to showcase a range of products – £25,000 to £40,000
• News app – view articles and receive push notifications – £35,000 to £50,000
• Event app – including agenda, speaker lists, social feed, venue information etc – £35,000 to £50,000
• Coupon app – ability to earn points and claim rewards – £60,000 to £80,000
• Social app – a feed of user-generated content and the ability to interact with it – £70,000 to £90,000
• e-commerce – browse products, order and pay directly from the app – £100,000+
Now that you know roughly what sort of app you can get for the price, come and chat to us about starting your development process! We will help you define your scope for your project so you can get an exact figure.
