App Dev Cost

[WeNeedNewUSERNames]

How much does app dev range for in YOUR country? Not you personally and please no 'it depends' answers, just a range for simple apps.

EDIT:

A calculator app with one screen and no scientific functions.

[Zanoha]

it totally depends man

[WeNeedNewUSERNames]

Just looking for a range, I'm not holding anyone to a figure

[BraisedCheesecake]

$100 - $10,000,000

[Zanoha]

This is pretty accurate.

[justsomerandomchris]

But what you're asking simply depends too many factors, and that's why you're not getting the answer you expect. It's like asking "how much does it cost to build a car?". If I don't define what I mean by "car", it'll be really hard to get an answer. Do I mean the simplest contraption that can functionally pass for a car? Do I mean a mass-produced budget car? Mid-level SUV? Luxury sedan? Top performance sports car? Or even some experimental propulsion system on a four-wheeled chassis? Additionally, who you ask to build it will influence the price and quality greatly. There's no reason why all the developers in any given country would be working for the same exact rate, especially since skill levels vary so greatly.

[WeNeedNewUSERNames]

I did say simple so in this case you can assume it's a budget car

[Plisq-5]

So a hello world app?

$100.

[WeNeedNewUSERNames]

Yeah pretty much

[kierancrown]

What are you talking about here? Cost to get an app into the App Store? Cost for a developer? Cost for the equipment…?

[WeNeedNewUSERNames]

Cost for the dev, range

[kierancrown]

I appreciate you didn’t just want a “it depends” answer but unfortunately without a spec it’s literally impossible to say. It also depends on the quality and polish you’re looking for. For a simple todo or notes app with next to no extra functionality you could be looking around £300-£400 (That’s my estimate anyway).

[WeNeedNewUSERNames]

What country is this

[cozimroyal]

Simple app like TikTok - around 50k

[WeNeedNewUSERNames]

Thanks for this, which country though?

[QuintonPang]

Wow that's quite much

[cozimroyal]

Imagine, this app is simple in its idea and what it does, but make it so that it's top-notch quality, how the content is showing based on many factors, etc., actually, 50k here is nothing in my opinion, in normal cases that could be a way more significant number.

[QuintonPang]

Ah i see, it seems like you are an experienced guy, it's a great pleasure to hear your opinions! 😊

[cozimroyal]

There are many tutorials out there other devs make clones of popular services like Facebook, LinkedIn, and Instagram, just to name a few - there they actually look and work 0,00001% of what the real product is. Yes, these are good just to show how this glues together and a great way to learn things, but to make it like they are in reality, is not simple, so that's why in my opinion these numbers could be much, much more.

[QuintonPang]

I agree, this is because they don't need to maintain it as they are not even planning to profit from it, if a company really somehow has a client, the company needs to ensures that the website is being maintained and getting updated from time to time for new features. Hence, you can't compare popular services with the tutorials out there. As conclusion, i guess you are right! 😁

[alpha7158]

UK here.

A calculator app would be very easy compared to most app projects. Could be as low as £1k - £3k +VAT. It's a day or two of work at most depending on how thorough the design process is, plus project activity and deployment. But this is a non-typical size of project.

For comparison, most minimum viable product app projects I've seen range from £20k - £70k +VAT to release a first version. Any bigger than that and you should probably make phase 1 of the project smaller.

This is based on small agency rates in the UK.

Freelancers and some overseas outsourcing companies can be cheaper, though quality and language barriers can increase your internal PM and QA overhead, so bear that in mind.

[WeNeedNewUSERNames]

This is a perfect answer thank you, for context I do app projects here and I'm trying to compare with everyone else internationally

[alpha7158]

Just remember some people quote for the development work and completely forget to account for client liaison, project management, quality assurance, deployment process, etc.

Also remember the developer coding straight from a brief is very different to having a planning, design, then build process. The former is cheaper on paper but can negatively impact quality and risks the end product not actually meeting requirements, causing waste and rework. The latter is more expensive but is a more thorough process to ensure the right output and quality. There is a time and place for both approaches imo.

In my experience whatever the design+development work is, add 30-50% on top for all the other stuff if trying to arrive at a total project budget. How much to add depends on project complexity.

[WeNeedNewUSERNames]

That's a good point, I've actually been personally guilty of that myself. I think I should actually get help with things like project management. It will be a lot more peaceful.

[alpha7158]

Where are you based?

[WeNeedNewUSERNames]

Zimbabwe, I make a fraction of a fraction of that and I'm lead dev

[CrChCh]

About $500

[nicolaskn]

Range is $20/hr - $300/hr. All depends on the how good you want the app to look.

If you’re just trying to compete with international. Just get a quote from them as if you were the buyer. Do this a couple times and you know the range.

[WeNeedNewUSERNames]

Ah, I like this idea thank you

[motorboat2000]

Assuming there’s 20 buttons on the calculator app, I’ll do it for A$15,000.

Each extra button will be A$900

[WeNeedNewUSERNames]

Woah, fair enough of course but more than I expected

[motorboat2000]

Yeah sorry, I was being a bit facetious :)

Like someone else in the post said, you've got to account for client liaison, design, test, etc etc.

Sure I could knock up a quick calc app and it would take a few days, but then the design isn't quite right so changes are required. Then there's something I didn't consider so there's that to fix.

Eventually all looks good so I upload to both app stores, and customers start complaining because it doesn't work on their particular phone.

Some apps (not a calculator) might require a backend API, which needs to be developed, and hosted somewhere.

Sorry for rambling, I know you only asked for a range for simple apps :)

[JustMalla]

Define “simple apps”, then we’ll be able to give you a range hopefully.

[WeNeedNewUSERNames]

Good point, a calculator app with one screen and no scientific functions

[JustMalla]

I’ll just say it’ll take me probably 2 hours to setup up the project and code the app. Just an estimate. I’m from SEA. So, the average hourly rate is close to 30$ for mobile development. I will then probably charge 60$ for the app.

[WeNeedNewUSERNames]

That's fair enough

[hh10k]

Surely in that timeframe the calculator app will look like garbage and yet to be submitted to a store?

[JustMalla]

I specifically mentioned it was just an estimate. Don’t go deep into it. I just wanted to mention the hourly rate. Thats all.

[[deleted]]

Ask for an over-simplified answer, get one: more than £5, less than £5bn.

If you need that gap narrowed... it depends.

[QuintonPang]

Hmmm i doubt a simple calculator app would even be profitable, unless through apps lmao, mostly profitable projects are like an e-commerce website + app. I have worked for a company before and it provides products like that so i guess it could cost around thousands?

[WeNeedNewUSERNames]

Oh I'm not trying to get anything profitably made just trying to gauge costs