Nowadays, there are apps available for almost every single thing. If you are feeling hungry, you can use an app to order food online, or if you do not feel like going all the way to the grocery store, you can simply order your groceries through an app.

Almost all businesses are shifting to online platforms by developing apps and websites. However, having apps developed for your business does not come cheap and can often end up being quite a financial burden, especially for businesses working on a smaller scale or startups.

There are currently thousands of different apps on the market that can help you with different tasks. Moreover, the two main platforms for mobile apps, Android, and ios, have around 5 million and 1.7 million apps, respectively. This collection of maps continues to increase, with approximately 1000-1500 apps getting added every day.

The cost of creating an app can vary from very high to fairly low. It is important to note that five main factors have an impact on the cost of developing an application. These factors have the ability to influence the cost of an application on a larger scale.

The cost of developing an app itself is not what makes up the majority of the cost of an app. The main percentage of the cost is made up of maintenance costs which you may pay on a monthly basis, and annual legacy costs, which can often take up 50% of the entire cost of your application. Another interesting factor is that developing applications for the Android platform can usually end up costing you 30% more than developing applications for the ios platform.

The trends that can influence lowering the costs of mobile application development are:

Outsourcing

Hiring in-house talent can be very expensive, especially when it comes to developing applications, and not many businesses, like startups, can afford the cost of hiring them. There are multiple different cost-effective app development opportunities nowadays, as it is easier to outsource your work to a pool of global talent.

The development cost of an app can also vary depending on what geographical region you are in. If your region is expensive, you can outsource your work to individuals from regions where the rates are less than where you live. A good example is that the average hourly rate for app developers in the United States charges anywhere from $50-$250 per hour. In contrast, app developers in India charge an average of $40-$60 per hour.

There is a common misconception in the market that the more you pay a developer or a group of developers, the higher the quality of your products will be. However, that is far from reality. Due to this misconception, many businesses often make the wrong decisions, which can drastically affect their apps overall budget.

Getting A Cross-Platform Application

If you plan to reach the maximum number of users with your app, it is important to target users on both the Android and iOS platforms. There are currently around 2 billion users on Android and around 3 billion on apple. Therefore, targeting users on both platforms is better than targeting only one platform.

Developing two separate applications for both platforms can prove very costly; thus, developing a cross-platform application can be much more cost-effective. Moreover, cross-platform apps have significantly lower maintenance costs as compared to maintenance costs for separate applications.

App Testing

Continuous testing of your app is a crucial factor in its success while it is in the production phase and after it is released. If the app is not well received by the users, it can end up increasing its overall cost.

For example, if your app’s interface is not user-friendly, the developer will have to update the app to satisfy the users. This constant updating can end up costing a lot of money over time. Therefore, it is best to constantly check the app for bugs to save money on the overall cost.

Moreover, since the market is highly competitive, you must always be up to date with newer features that users demand or more potential improvements that can be made. If you are not constantly checking your app, you will not be able to find new improvements you can make to your application.

Minimal Viable Product (MVP)

If you are unsure or confused over whether your app will be successful or if it is worth the investment, then the best solution is to release a minimal viable product. A minimal viable product is a functioning prototype of the application with all the key features still in it.

A minimal viable product can prove to be a good testing ground for whether or not your app is properly functioning. This can help identify problems with the application, which can then be fixed to improve the overall quality and experience of the app.

Moreover, since MVPs are cheaper to create, you do not have to worry about gathering a large investment. You can also test your app’s user interface (UI) to check how well the users will receive it and if there is any room for improvement.

Efficient Project Management

Efficiently managing your projects can be very handy when it comes to app development. It can help you manage your budget properly and increase your overall productivity while helping create a better final product.

Furthermore, having a good management team for your project helps improve the quality of your entire app because multiple people work on it, making it less time-consuming. Moreover, since there are multiple people working on the project instead of a single person, each area of the production can be completed to perfection.

Endnote

Having an application developed can be quite expensive and often does not fall under the budget of most businesses. There are five main trends that affect mobile development costs. If you can analyze and understand these trends properly, it can help cut a lot of the cost of the development of your app.