Startup Hack: Mobile App Development Price Reduction Tips

The cost of the app

Mobile app development costs can be a killer of many app entrepreneurs’ dreams due to the lack of money.

Check how much famous companies spend: 

• Instagram’s initial development cost was around $50,000 for a single platform.
• Uber raising $250,000+ in revenue, was started with an investment of $60,000 in custom app development services.
• WhatsApp’s initial version for iOS was built for $45,000.

No worries! We’ll find some ways to reduce the cost, but let's start with the theory. Mobile app development costs can be a killer of many app entrepreneurs’ dreams due to the lack of money.

You need to consider various factors for determining the cost of creating an app, like business model, app development company location, app type, platform (Android // iOS), design, features, and functionality.

Here you can see the median cost of mobile app development services per app type.

Source: Medium​

IoT and custom apps by US-based agencies are the most expensive. However, offline app by the offshore agency is the cheapest. 

Just look at how the price per developer's hour ranges in different countries:

Source: Medium​

Mobile App Development Stages

1. Discovery Stage
   Market research, analysis of problems, and other methods are used in the planning and analysis stage. The price range for this is $5,000 to $25,000.
2. UI/UX Design
   The price will be between $5,000 and $15,000, depending on how many displays there are.
3. Development Stage
   The price range for developing an app is $20,000 to $70,000, with a possible increase depending on complexity.
4. Testing and Deployment
   The budget will range from $5000 to $10,000 for this purpose. You also might like Mobile App Development Process guide. 

Tips for reducing mobile app development cost

• Product Requirements 

This method of calculating mobile app development expenses aims to include all feasible possibilities in your spending plan and, whenever possible, prevent unforeseen expenditures.

A product requirement document, or PRD, is a well-organized enumeration of the features of your app and the anticipated tech stack. Here are several essential PRD elements:

1. Project objectives and idea
2. Company background
3. Deadlines
4. Features
5. Android // iOS app development
6. UX/UI design 
7. Budget

For example, that's how the app's cost differentiates within the features:

Source: Medium​

• Outsource 

Outsourcing development jobs is that it can cut costs by up to 50%. The key benefits include not wasting time looking for the appropriate professionals, hiring them, and covering their salaries, insurance, and other costs. We wrote about outsource specifics and all the tricky points here.

You should be aware of the pricing models while outsourcing:

1. Fixed Price
   You and the contractor coordinate the task scope and determine the precise price and completion date before the start of the development.
   But if you modify the contract's terms you must again organize the technical effort and sign new contracts. Developers are frequently compelled to increase the pace and put quality on the back burner to avoid dragging things out and paying penalties for work completed after deadlines. The cost rises because revisions have been permitted.
2. Time and Materials
   The alternative to the first choice is Time and Materials. In this case, you are charged for the time used to create your software. This system's adaptability enables you to develop the product while you're on the go, customize it to meet your needs, and concentrate on market demand and customer preferences.

Time & Materials is the best option if you:

1. have a medium- or high-complexity project;
2. no specific terms of reference or a clear understanding of the application;
3. no hard deadlines or budget constraints;
4. the need for ongoing maintenance and development of the product.

I advise you to choose the T&M format, as you receive pricing without markups, and you may keep track of the budget at each stage. Because you can establish priorities and control the costs at every stage with this method, you get the application you imagined at a more reasonable price.

When choosing an outsource mobile app development services provider, always ask for estimations to plan your costs wisely. Our team works on the T&M scheme to save you from additional spendings and provides potential clients with estimations. 

​Book a call to get your first estimation for free.

• APIs

There are certain situations in a mobile application where using APIs is a much better option than writing the connection in code.
A few instances where APIs can be pretty helpful are social login, email integration, in-app payments, form submission, etc.
So choose these to limit your cost range.

​Here, you can find a lot of different APIs.

• Prototyping and MVPs

Your app model should be prototyped to help you find faults early, clarify needs, and increase teamwork internally.

Launch it into production after prototyping is complete to establish a Minimum Viable Product (MVP). MVP enables iterative product development by gathering insights from the product's early adopters. If your app has already been created, obtain information by doing a mobile app audit.

How can you make the cost of creating an MVP as low as possible? Create an MVP, research user behavior and feedback, list and prioritize features based on an analysis of your competition. Try Lean Startup methodology:

Source: The Power MBA​

Check out more about Lean here.

• Design

Users can move between screens easily with a simple design because it retains their focus and prevents from being distracted by superfluous animations and designs that serve no practical use.

Let's examine the primary elements that drive up the price of creating an app:

1. Integrating and using specialized functional services (push notifications, camera integration, or GPS)
2. Establishing a customized app infrastructure (corporate servers and custom CDNs)
3. Unusual buttons, forms, and other components as a result of the intricacy of the UI Design (motion graphics and 3D effects)

I advise that you keep your app as straightforward as possible, clearly separating what components are essential from those not, to reduce the cost of mobile app development without sacrificing the app's appeal.

• Cross-Platform App Development 

Investing in cross-platform application development is one of the tried-and-true methods for reducing the cost of developing mobile applications.

You simply need to pay for creating one application's code, which runs on Android and iPhone, and the entire spectrum of devices covered by the two platforms, rather than having two app versions built.
In this approach, not only does the cost of creating mobile applications decrease in half, but so do the costs associated with design, testing, and maintenance.

• No code solutions

The two most popular options are:

1. Bubble
   The fact that Bubble has no functionality restrictions sets it different from other no-code builders. Instead, it provides you with a blank slate on which to construct anything you can think of.
2. Wappler
   Wappler offers you access to your application's code at any time, in contrast to other no-code builders that abstract the code away from you. Because of this, it is ideal for application developers that wish to control their code and make personalized adjustments.

Other tools:

1. Adalo is perfect for creating multi-page apps and is user-friendly for non-technical users.
2. Appgyver is praised for its capacity to create intricate apps and interact with outside data sources swiftly.
3. Retool is suitable for developing and launching internal business solutions, while Glide is perfect for constructing straightforward and user-friendly mobile apps.

In a nutshell

So, we covered 7 ways to reduce your mobile app development cost. They are:

1. Setting clear product requirements;
2. Outsourcing instead of developing in-house;
3. Using APIs to ease development;
4. Prototyping and creating MVPs;
5. Choosing simple and clear design solutions;
6. Developing cross-platform;
7. Using no-code solutions;​
8. Make wise decisions to save your money and develop qualitatively, though cheaply.