January 23, 2023
How Much Does it Cost to Make an App in 2023 | Details, Factors & Stages Affecting the Final Price
Co-Founder & CEO
January 23, 2023
Loading...With all tasks that CEOs & CTOs have to handle at once, they may also wonder what is the average cost to develop an app. Technically, it is the first question you will ask when you want to digitize your business and keep up with the speed of the market in 2023. Many factors affect the cost, like the complexity of an app, technologies used, cooperation model, location of the team, and so on. Taken 40$ per hour for all specialists involved, the average cost might be:
- Simple App Development – $30,000 to $60,000
- Average App Development – $50,000 to $90,000
- Complex App Development – from $150,000
Although this cost might be expected in most cases, you can customize the development based on your needs. We created this guide to help you get information about the factors that affect application costs, including hidden app development costs, while also sharing tips on finding a quality yet cost-effective app development approach.
Want to strike a balance? Read on.
Cost of App Development by App Type
| App Type | Estimate Cost | Time |
| Healthcare App | $60,000 to $400,000 | 6-18 months |
| Blockchain App | $40,000 to $300,000 | 10–18 months |
| Game App | $40,000 to $150,000 | 6-13 months |
| Retail App | $50,000-$150,000 | 6-10 months |
| Augmented Reality App (AR) | $80,000-$250,000 | 8-15 months |
| eCommerce App | $60,000-$250,000 | 6-10 months |
| Social Media App | $50,000-$200,000 | 6-12 months |
| Video Streaming App | $80,000-$300,000 | 8-15 months |
| Food Delivery App | $40,000-$150,000 | 6-10 months |
Let’s explore what app types were most popular during 2022.
- Gaming Apps
There’s no secret that the gaming industry is currently the most popular one, sharing first place with the healthcare domain. Google Play, for example, gained 37.3 billion U.S. dollars in gaming app revenues in 2021. And with the adoption of blockchain and NFT in the gaming industry, the space has become even more profitable and famous in 2022.
- Health and Wellness Apps
Unsurprisingly, wellness and healthcare apps are gaining momentum right now. Although the huge boom was in 2019, the industry is still expanding and will remain popular for the next few years for sure. According to the report, the global mHealth market size was valued at USD 56.8 billion in 2022 and is suggested to reach USD 63.5 billion in 2023.
- Finance Apps
Finance applications, especially dApps, have risen in popularity over the years and are being used for many reasons. They work as mobile payment apps, asset management apps, mobile banking, and personal finance apps. Thanks to their versatility, the finance app market grows 115% each year.
- Grocery Apps and Food Delivery
This app type is an excellent solution for a restaurant owner or a business wanting to reach a vast target audience. The report shows that 67% of people in the U.S. prefer to order food directly from the restaurant’s application.
- E-Learning Apps
E-Learning applications have also grown during the last few years thanks to restrictions worldwide. Although these apps have first been developed for schools and universities, now they are highly used by other people looking for new skills. For example, Duolingo, a mobile app allowing people to learn new languages, had a 148% monthly increase in new users in 2020.
Cost Based on Type of Mobile App Platform
| App Platform | Average Cost |
| Native apps (Android & iOS) | $50,000 to $100,000 |
| Cross-platform apps | $50,000 to $60,000 |
| Web apps | $25,000 to $50,000 |
| Hybrid apps | $30,000 to $150,000 |
It is worth considering that Android is the most popular mobile O.S. with 85% market share and worth 5 million apps in the Google Play Store.
Cost of App Development Based on Region
| Region | Cost (Hourly) |
| USA | $40-80 |
| Western Europe | $50-80 |
| Australia | $80-100 |
| Eastern Europe | $40-80 |
| India & Southeast Asia | $25-30 |
Although India has a lower cost for mobile app development, it offers poor-quality services. Opting for the cheapest option usually means investing much more in fixing bugs later. Luckily, the U.S. and Western Europe usually provide the best services for a good price, allowing you to avoid unwanted spending later.
Cost of App Development Divided by Stages
- Discovery or Pre-Research
This stage involves Business Analyst from your development partner. This stage ensures that you and your provider are on the same page and have the same goal. Here you can get a clear budget estimation for development after analyzing your needs. The average cost of this stage is usually $8,000 or 15% of your total cost.
Insight: More than 70% of app development agencies provide a discovery stage, and over 50% of clients spend less than $5000 at this stage.
- Design
The design stage is next and affects the app’s success. Let’s take an app with 11-20 screens – the average design cost will be around $2000-$10,000 or 15-25% of your total cost.
Insight: Gartner says that quality UX is one of the three elements that leads to a mobile app’s success.
- Development
This is the most costly stage, where each feature of your app and its interface is coded and deployed. The average mobile app developer cost here is around $10,000 for a simple app. However, the cost can go up to $60,000 for a medium-complexity app making 25-60% of your total cost. App development costs significantly differ according to features and complexity.
Insight: High-quality apps that meet the latest users’ needs provide a quicker return on investment.
- Testing and Deployment
Testing your app after development is an essential stage. This stage mainly costs between $3,000-$10,000, making approximately 20-30% of the total cost.
Insight: Testing your app can help you avoid costly mistakes and keep you on the safe side of the law in the case of specific industries.
Cost Based on Development Model
We live in a world where founders can choose the development model that suits their needs best. They also differ in cost, so it is best to know what options you have before opting for the only one.
In-House Team
Even though creating an in-house team is always a long and costly process, some companies prefer to build their teams from scratch and lead the process alone. The cost of in-house development involves hiring, onboarding, health insurance, benefits for employees, and many other parts of any business. It usually varies between $80.00 to $150.00 per month.
Outsource
This is the most popular and long-exciting model for app development. It means you delegate the entire development process to an agency. This agency takes full responsibility for the process, including hiring experts and calculating issues and costs. This model requires you to pay for the entire process with costs for each team member. The cost can start from $50.000 and end up with $200.000 for the entire project.
Team Augmentation
Another popular option for mobile app development is outstaff. This model means you hire experts from an agency to extend your team or hire developers to build a specific feature. Here you avoid hiring, and other costs involved with in-house employees yet get full-time specialists on board. This model also means you have the entire control over the development. You pay for specialists only, and the cost can be somewhere between $40.000 – $80.000, depending on several factors.
Related: Your Definitive Guide to Resource Augmentation
Dedicated Team
A dedicated team is new to the market. However, it was able to attract lots of attention from companies all across the world. It works like team augmentation, yet it means you hire the entire team for your project. This model allows you to create the entire team from scratch without hiring, onboarding, or insurance costs involved with full-time employees. In addition, you can create the entire team within a few weeks, while in-house team hiring takes months. The agency helps monitor the team, but you have control over the project. The cost varies depending on team size but is usually somewhere between $60.000 – $100.000 for the project.
3 Hidden App Development Costs
- Third-Party Integrations
When you want to know how much it costs to develop an app, it is best to know the hidden costs. Most mobile app projects depend on third-party integrations to shape the features and user interface and be involved. Those integrations are added during the development project, starting from the default ones that come with the O.S. platforms like GPS and map services, calendars, photo apps, etc.
In some cases, mobile app development requires integrations with third-party web services like booking services, mobile payment, ordering, third-party project management tools, etc. Most of these third-party integrations can add up to the final cost of the app project.
- Paid Development Tools and Libraries
Most mobile app projects use many paid development tools for faster development and required output. Even though some companies already have access to those tools, so you don’t have to pay for them, some don’t, and some projects require unique ones. There are several widely popular tools, including Appcelerator, IBM MobileFirst, Kony, Kinvey, and some others, that can add cost to the development.
- App Maintenance & Administration Services
Although most think that app launch is the last step of the process, the truth is that app maintenance is a constant process that also requires money and time. Once an app is launched, you need to collect and analyze user feedback to make the app as convenient and useful as possible. In addition, you always need to update the app so users continue to use it when their system updates.
To handle all those tasks, you may need the help of additional tools and your development provider to reap the benefits of your app presence without fighting constant issues. These tools and services of the provider also add up to the overall project cost, and they cannot be avoided or counted at the start of projects as they come up over time.
How Can Interexy Help?
Interexy is a mobile & web development company offering IT staff augmentation services, a dedicated team, and outsourcing services. We specialize in many industries, yet our current focus is in blockchain and healthcare domains, offering clients experts in these fields with unique skills and backgrounds.
Being a modern and flexible agency, we let clients choose the development model that suits them best. Our clients can hire specialists within 10 business days after the request, hire the entire team with needed skills for a specific project or delegate the whole development for cost-effectiveness.
Closing Lines: How Much Does it Cost to Build an App?
Collecting all the information we mentioned above, most mobile app development prices in 2023 will likely be between $50,000 – $80.000 for a simple app. Medium complex apps could cost around $50,000-$120,000. And apps obtaining the latest technologies that gain attention from the market can cost somewhere between $100.000 – $300.000. Calculate the cost for your project to see how it works for you with our team!
FAQs
How much does it cost to build an app?
Depending on several factors, the cost of developing a mobile app varies between $30.000 and $300.000. A simple app usually costs $50.000, more complex one $80.000 – $100.000. Apps with complex technologies and features can cost up to $300.000.
What factors affect the cost of mobile app development?
Many factors affect app development costs. These include the app’s complexity, the location of the provider, chosen development model, stages of development, the expertise of developers, and more.
