A Brief Look at iOS App Development Costs

One of the most frequently asked questions by business owners is: how much does it cost to make an iOS app? The answer: it varies from case to case.

Developing a mobile app is a tricky process. Data obtained by Clutch reveals that the average cost of app development in the US is around $75,000. The cost of iOS app development in countries like India and Ukraine is much lower than in the US. The same rule applies to Android app development.

The key deciding factor for app development cost is the size and scope of the project. App development is more than just programming. If you want to go the extra mile, you’ll need to invest in things like:

• Animations
• Custom solutions
• Solving unexpected problems during app development

A properly-functioning iOS app will take two months to develop and cost around $5,000 to $500,000. A complex app with lots of features requires more than two months of development and about $240,000.

Enterprise software will typically fetch a price tag of around $140,000, with typical development times of 26 weeks.

Here’s a rough break down of the timeline:

• Business analysis: 3 weeks
• UX Design: 3 weeks
• UI Design: 4 weeks
• Back-end: 8 weeks
• Front-end: 8 weeks
• Testing and launch: 3 weeks
• Support and maintenance: ongoing

Total time to launch: 26 weeks

You can get a rough idea about cost estimations with our online calculator here.

What are Marketing Costs for App Development?

Now that you’ve built your app, you need to know how to increase your user base and downloads. This is where app marketing comes in. You can do this bit yourself, but it’s probably better to hire an agency to do heavy lifting for you. The typical cost for marketing agencies goes anywhere from $25k to $50k and beyond, depending on the services they’re offering. For instance, if you want to hire an influencer to speak about your app, consider shelling out an additional $10k for extra exposure.

The marketing budget includes SEO, social media, PPC campaigns, traditional ads, content marketing, and word of mouth advertisement.

How to Hire an App Development Team?

By far the biggest factor that goes into the overall cost is the team you hire. Imagine hiring a contractor to renovate your house that has 10 rooms in it. Different contractors will quote different prices, which means you’ll have to do a fair bit of research along the way to get affordable estimates. It is also worth noting that hiring an offshore team from India or Ukraine is a lot cheaper than hiring a local team.

A typical team structure for app development includes a solution architect, a business analyst, a few developers (depending on the size of the app), a quality assurance specialist, UI and UX designer, and a project manager. And even if you do decide to skimp out on the budget for the user interface (such as animations and fancy colors), you must provide good user experience for success on the App Store.

Why is Backend Development Important for App Design?

You’ll need considerable backend development if you plan on launching a dynamic app with a market for millions of users who will exchange huge amounts of data in real-time. More so if the data is to be backed up on the cloud and synchronize with other platforms.

Think apps like SoundCloud, Facebook, Quora – all these underwent extensive time spent on designing a complex architecture before they were ready. Furthermore, such an app will require multiple languages for success, which means you’ll have to hire multiple teams of professionals!

Are There In-App Purchases?

Many organizations also include in-app purchases for extra content and features. In this case, many users don’t like escaping the relatively safe ecosystem of your app. This is why in-app purchases are so useful. The application has to be strong enough to store and process sensitive information like credit card numbers, SSN, addresses, etc.

Your costs will also increase depending on each payment option, such as PayPal, Google Pay, Stripe, 2Checkout, and more.

Which Devices Should My App Support?

Compatibility is arguably the most important factor when developing an app. The iOS app should be compatible with both the latest and previous vision of iPhone and iOS alike. This is why you should run an analysis on your target market to gauge demand for the app. An app that is compatible across various platforms will require a greater budget.

Are There Any Extra Costs?

All developers are not necessarily good designers. That is an extra cost that depends on the size of your app. Prepare to spend costs on hidden expenditures such as legal fees, server costs, startup fees, and more when you’re turning the app into a business.

Since running an app is an on-going process, you will need to provide regular updates to fix bugs, security loopholes, and add new features. This means added maintenance costs after development is done. As a general rule, the industry norm is to allocate about 20% of development costs towards maintenance.

So, if your app costs around $100,000 to develop, then you’ll need to pay about $20,000 every year to maintain it. If you’re dealing with legacy costs, then you’re looking at 50% of your original app development costs. This means $50,000 per year of support and maintenance!

If you’re ready to build your iOS app and want to know how much it costs, get in touch with our team ns804!