Mobile apps are an integral part of our daily lives, so it is quite reasonable to launch an app startup these days. When Apple introduced the App Store on July 10, 2008, there were 500 apps only. Today, approximately 1,800,000 different apps are available for users to download. Wondering how to build an iOS app for your business and how much it may cost? The online self-improvement community SelfGrowth experts will help you find it out.
To start with, the cost to create an app is not easy to estimate and the sum can vary from $5,000 to more than $100,000.
There are a few relatively constant factors that influence the cost of mobile app development:
• the platforms you want your app to be available on;
• the complexity of functions and features;
• the level of user interface and design;
• the backend infrastructure;
• the size of the iOS development team and its location.
Platforms
Although the cost of developing an iOS app does not differ much from creating an app for Android, as long as you pick only one of these, the situation gets more complicated and expensive when you’d like to have both. As they require different programming languages and use different and varied development tools, you will probably need to hire two different development teams and, basically, double the cost of app creation.
Complexity of functions and features
Features and app structure determine whether the app is considered to be ‘basic,’ ‘medium’ or ‘complex’. A simple product with only core features is described as a basic app. App functionality as well as the number and complexity of features are one of the biggest cost generators. All features like screens, buttons, fields, integrations, and logics required to create it will affect the time and money spent on app development.
User interface and design
To estimate the price of your iOS app design, you have to know its complexity. Design is a crucial part of app development. While custom design requires a unique architecture of each element, it is typically more expensive, as it needs to be made from scratch and requires additional work hours. Native designs, meanwhile, can accelerate the development process and lower the cost of app development, because designers can use templates and ready-made designs.
Backend infrastructure
Backend is software run on a server that allows the app to communicate with an external data source. If your app has features that require syncing with the internet (e.g. user accounts, tracking progress linked to an account, uploading images, text, etc.) this usually means that you need a backend as well.
IOS development team
Last but definitely not least – the people working on your product. The size of the iOS team will influence the cost. The roles of mobile app engineer and quality assurance engineer are extremely important for the process. A business analyst and a project manager might also be essential for the planning and execution phases of app development, respectively.
The location of the team also matters. The average cost of app development varies depending on the hourly rates in the chosen world region.
The region considered to be the most expensive is definitely North America. The pricing of iOS app development there is $150 per hour. Eastern European and UK developers tend to charge from $40 up to $70 per hour, while in Indonesia the hourly rate is the lowest – approximately $10 per hour.
App development duration is as important as the hourly rates of IT-specialists. To create an iOS app a programmer spends a definite amount of time, and the simpler the project, the faster its implementation. To count up a preliminary price, you have to multiply the hourly rate of an IT-engineer by the time consumed.
According to the functionality, the apps are divided into basic, medium-complexity, and complex ones. It takes up to 2 months to build a simple iOS application, with basic functionality, which usually costs $5,000-10,000. It takes more than 2 months to develop a complex app, and it will cost approximately $10,000-30,000.
Development of iOS apps of high complexity; with an extensive database, and perfect design, can last for more than 6 months, and the expenditures will be $30,000-50,000.
How much does it cost to make an app on iOS for your business? Get a free estimate right away — use LITSLINK app development cost calculator with the help of which you can estimate your next killer application and get a free app quote immediately. It takes only a few multiple-choice questions and four minutes to get the rough cost of creating an app by the best specialists of LITSLINK – a forward-looking software development company headquartered in the US that utilizes the power of innovation to create state-of-the-art solutions for businesses worldwide.
I am Alex Writer at PAK Seo.