You think you’ve found the idea of the century and you’d like to create a mobile application to share it with everyone? Before launching into the development of a mobile application, how to anticipate the many costs involved? Here are several points to help you understand the budget needed to develop your beautiful project.
Define the needs of your mobile application
First of all, take a real time to think about these questions because they will be decisive for the validation of the concept of the app:
- The type of app: game, e-commerce, social network, collaborative platform, etc.
- Compatibility with different media or operating systems: mobile, tablet, iOS, windows, etc.
- Technical constraints: hosting, maintenance, third-party services, etc.
- Basic settings and features: multilingual application, integrated payment solutions, geolocation, etc.
- For which market/target is my application intended?
- Are there any competitors? And if so, what makes my application different from others?
While one might think that the bulk of the budget is devoted to the technical development of the application, it should be noted that this part finally represents around one third of the total budget. Indeed, many stakeholders and additional costs are necessary for the good development of your mobile application and will thus determine the real budget of your application:
- The server to host the data
- The developer account on iOS and Android
- The email and/or SMS provider
- The lawyer for the drafting of the TOS
- Services for the creation of the app design
- The marketing budget to make the app, the brand and its concept known
- The features of the app: no surprise here, the more features an app will have available and.or complex, the more it will cost to develop
Identify the level of complexity of your mobile app
We can distinguish several levels of complexity for a mobile application. Your application can use some of these features, we have grouped them from the simplest (therefore cheaper to develop) to the most complex (therefore more expensive to develop) :
- Simple features : (inexpensive to implement)
- a standard registration system (email / password) or via social networks: Facebook / Apple / Google
- Intermediate features : (medium cost to implement)
- make the application available offline (without internet connection)
- Complex features: (quite costly to implement)
- A complete custom design for the app
Establish your specifications
In order to shape your project and consolidate its structure, its functionalities, its deadlines and all the other important specificities of your future app, it is necessary to centralize all these elements in a specification. This will allow you to optimize the design of your application and to anticipate all the steps in an optimal way. The checklist for a solid specification can make the difference between the success and failure of your application. In addition to defining your project, the specifications will also allow you to share the overall vision of the project with all the stakeholders needed to create your mobile application.
Choose your provider
To develop a mobile or web application, there are several professionals you can turn to:
- Application generators which are often the cheapest but also offer the least choice
- Offshore agencies that can offer a cost effective service depending on the country where they are located. However, beware of possible problems with deadlines, quality, technical language (if foreign language) or time zone
- Freelancers represent an economical solution but are difficult to complete because the profiles are often experts in a specific field. Depending on your needs, be careful not to have to manage several freelancers for different skills
- Specialized agencies which represent the most expensive but most complete and qualitative solution
Your choice will depend on your needs, your goals and your resources. However, keep in mind that you will need five crucial skills to develop your application:
- A project manager / product owner to lead your project
- A UI/UX designer to create the design and ergonomics of the app
- An iOS developer for iOS mobiles
- An Android developer for Android mobiles
- A web developer to make the app accessible on the Internet
Get an idea of the cost of your mobile application
You’ve gathered the critical information you need to project your app development needs? Estimate today the cost of your mobile application project via the simulator developed by Squirrel agency, specialized in digital transformation. Take advantage of it, the simulation is fast and free.
