{"id":13657,"date":"2018-08-22T07:05:19","date_gmt":"2018-08-22T11:05:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.techwalls.com\/?p=13657"},"modified":"2019-08-27T22:09:04","modified_gmt":"2019-08-28T02:09:04","slug":"cost-to-make-iphone-app","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.techwalls.com\/cost-to-make-iphone-app\/","title":{"rendered":"What Does It Cost to Make an iPhone App?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

As the owner of an app development agency, this is the question I get asked more than any other – by far.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

Unfortunately, it’s also almost impossible to give a direct answer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The reality is that not all apps are created equal, and development costs can vary dramatically depending on the type of app you want to build, the feature set of your app, and what kind of developer you work with. I always tell my clients that it\u2019s like asking how much a car costs: are you looking for a \u201898 Corolla or a Ferrari? You do the math.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

An app could cost $10,000, it could cost $100,000, or it could cost $1,000,000 or more. It all depends on what you\u2019re looking to build and how well you want it built.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Low End of iPhone App Development Costs<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

First, let\u2019s look at the lowest possible range for app development costs. $25,000 is on the very low end of the spectrum, but if all you\u2019re worried about is conserving costs, it\u2019s possible to get an app built for as little as $10,000 or even $5,000. But going that cheap comes with drawbacks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With this kind of budget, it\u2019s only possible to build the very simplest of apps: I\u2019m talking apps with only a single feature; not more than 3 or 4 at the most. This isn\u2019t necessarily a bad thing. More features don\u2019t necessarily make an app better, and if the feature provides value to users, keeping it simple is often a good idea. Still, though, building this cheap is restrictive in terms of functional capability.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The other part of the equation is the cost and quality of the developer you\u2019re working with. There are about a million developers on Upwork who will charge you $5\/hour for full-stack mobile development in, say, Bangladesh. I\u2019ve seen them. It\u2019s a far cry from what you\u2019d pay for mobile app development in Los Angeles or a similar market. With that kind of rate, you can build an app for $5,000. The problem is what happens once you start trying to use<\/em> that app.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Paying that little for app development is dangerous because there\u2019s no guarantee of even basic code quality. Chances are, that $5\/hour code they ship you back is absolutely crawling with bugs. They may not pop out at first. But down the line, you\u2019ll be finding buttons that don\u2019t work, menu items that crash the program, and features that freeze a user\u2019s phone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Often, fixing these bugs ends up costing more than it would have to go with a reputable developer in the first place. I\u2019ve seen that, too – at my agency, we call them rescue missions. They\u2019re not pretty.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The High End of iPhone App Development Costs<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now we\u2019ve seen the low end. But what\u2019s the high end? How much can it cost to build an expensive iPhone app?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In short, a lot.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For the most premium apps built by the most premium agencies, you can easily spend $1 million, $2 million, or more on an app. At these prices, we\u2019re talking about bulky, feature-rich apps with lots of back-end, server-side development.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Think of an app like Uber: the customer-facing UX isn\u2019t even half of what went into development for that app. The majority of development costs would happen on the server side: the algorithms for matching users with drivers, determining surge prices, ensuring there are enough drivers on the road to meet demand, plus all the back-end tech that goes into coordinating it all. No wonder some estimates say it cost $1 to $1.5 million<\/a><\/u> for Uber to launch their minimum viable product.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s also easy to rack up costs if you\u2019re engaging super high-end, large agencies for development. At the highest levels, meaning some of the biggest agencies in the world, you could be paying hundreds of dollars an hour for development talent. This guarantees a certain level of reliability and code quality, but unfortunately, you\u2019re not always getting what you pay for. Often, the biggest agencies will simply subcontract their work out to smaller, cheaper dev shops, then enjoy pure profit on the margins.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How Much Does It Cost to Make an iPhone App on Average?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The reality is, though, very few apps cost as little as $25,000 or as much as $1 million. Those are the outliers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In my experience, the \u201caverage\u201d cost to make an iPhone app, built by a solid developer, runs between $75,000 and $250,000. Again, it\u2019s difficult to pin down a number here: costs vary wildly between apps, and it all depends on what you need in your feature set. But speaking generally, $75\u2013$250,000 is a reasonable range, with the average falling around $150,000. And personally, I\u2019ve never seen an app succeed without a budget of at least <\/em>$150,000.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Hidden Costs of Mobile App Development<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Finally, it\u2019s important to note here that if you\u2019re trying to determine the budget for building an iPhone app, development is only a piece of the puzzle. There are a lot of hidden costs you\u2019ll need to factor in: marketing, user acquisition, logistics and operations, and all the other costs that go with starting a business. You\u2019ll also need to maintain and update your app, and annual maintenance costs usually run at about 20% of your initial development budget.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But even more than understanding the costs of developing an iPhone app, it\u2019s critical to understand why <\/em>you\u2019re building an app in the first place. Too often, I see founders get an app idea, rush into development, and assume that once their app is finished, they\u2019ll be reaping in the rewards.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This couldn\u2019t be farther from the truth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While the Apple Store generates about $40 billion in revenue<\/a><\/u> every year, most apps never reach financial solvency. Often, it\u2019s a result of a failure to think and plan ahead. No matter how much you\u2019re paying to develop our iPhone app, that money is an investment \u2013 and you need to do the research to understand whether or not it\u2019s a good one. If you\u2019re not clear on your value proposition, don\u2019t understand your target user, and haven\u2019t tried to validate our app idea in the marketplace, you\u2019re setting yourself up for failure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But if you\u2019ve spent the time testing your idea with users and are confident that there\u2019s a wide base of customers just waiting for your product?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then no matter how much your app will cost, chances are, it\u2019s worth the price.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Author Bio<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ben Lee is a tech influencer, one of Inc.\u2019s 30 Under 30 Most Brilliant Entrepreneurs, and co-founder of Rootstrap<\/u>, a digital creative studio that helps clients including Fortune 100 companies and early-stage startups with strategy, development, and growth. Rootstrap\u2019s award-winning flagship service, Roadmapping, has helped over 500 entrepreneurs and startups hone their digital product for development & market success, with alumni raising an average of $250,000 in seed capital. Rootstrap regularly works with clients to develop mobile apps, web platforms, chatbots, and emerging tech projects, and past clients range from Snoop Dogg to Google and Spotify.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As the owner of an app development agency, this is the question I get asked more than any other – by far.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":89,"featured_media":13659,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[32,20],"class_list":{"0":"post-13657","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-gadget","8":"tag-app","9":"tag-iphone","10":"entry"},"yoast_head":"\nWhat Does It Cost to Make an iPhone App? - TechWalls<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The reality is that not all apps are created equal, and development costs can vary dramatically depending on the type of app you want to build, the feature set of your app, and what kind of developer you work with. 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