Editor’s note: Features, backend, and team location shape the cost of any iOS app, and for apps that handle patient, insurance, or investor data, security and compliance also add to the scope. Specializing in software engineering for demanding industries, including healthcare, insurance and investment, ScienceSoft helps companies estimate and control their iOS app budgets.
After coming up with a concept of an app for iPhone, it is only natural to wonder about the budget for iOS development services. Will your business afford it? Will the investment pay off? Can you start with a smaller feature pack and then expand?
To learn the answers, you need to find out what exactly constitutes the price of the project, and this is exactly what we will discuss in this article. By showing major factors that affect iOS app development costs, we will hopefully help you understand estimates.
Development type
A common strategy is to go iOS first, and, if necessary, Android second. Developing an iOS app has long been considered cheaper, and launching the first version of a mobile app on less expensive terms is quite logical.
The price difference is not about brands (if that were the case, iOS would be a more expensive alternative), but rather about development time. Due to hundreds of third-party devices that each Android app should be adapted to, it usually takes 2 times longer to develop an Android app. With an iPhone or iPad, the variability of technical specifications is not as overwhelming, so it takes less time to develop an app. And the less time developers work – the less you have to pay. So if you chose native iOS over native Android, you made a smart decision.
Hybrid / cross-platform iOS
With hybrid development tools, iOS app development costs are lower due to shorter development time. However, you need to be careful about functional compatibility. You’ll save more than 60% of your native development budget with Cordova, but your app will only succeed if it has the most basic features, because Cordova can only handle so much. Alternatively, you can build your iOS app on Xamarin, saving about 10%-20% of the initial price, to get an almost native UI and robust functionality.
These two development options give you a chance to hit both iOS and Android with one codebase. In case you definitely plan to create an Android app sometime after your iOS debut, consider going hybrid or cross-platform from the start.
Complexity and functionality
While it may be obvious, let’s be clear: the more complex the app, the more time a developer will need to create it, and the more money they will pay. However, what exactly is complex and what isn’t? To expand, we now switch to numbers.
Please note that all estimates below refer to native development and are approximate.
To think of a simple app that will cost you the least regardless of the other factors, imagine a scheduler, a logger, an email client, or a calculator for specific variables (for example, daily water/calorie intake). Generally, these mobile apps allow a user to view a few items and perform limited actions on them. Although such apps can be useful, the price itself shows that this is not an app that will transform your business.
Intermediate: $10,000-$50,000
By raising the bar for the functionality of your iOS app, you also raise the budget. A log in Feature, for one, will cost you $500 – $1,000, but only if you offer a single login option. You probably want to give your users a wider choice (as they expect you to), so your spending on a login module via e-mail and various social networks will grow to $5,000.
Social sharing, Bluetooth transmission, messaging in the Push notifications are billed another $5,000. Since different services use different APIs, the more of them you want to connect to your app, the more you should be willing to pay. Also implement geolocationYou will spend an additional $2,000.
Prepare around $8,000 for the following monetization features:
- In-App Shopping Cart – $2,500
- In-app purchase implementation – $2,000
- Payment processing – $2,500
- Payment Analysis Module – $1,000.
Add User profiles, look for in the rate / review Options, as well Media playback as something to impress your users – and you have the last $10,000 in this level.
After implementing a feature pack like this, you probably want users with a trendy, professionally designed icon. The prices for an iOS app icon design range from $500 to $1,500 or even higher.
Top Tier: $50,000-$150,000
A backend can immediately double the initial iOS app development costs, but if your app has a lot of data to store or allows users to access it remotely, you definitely need it. Once integrated, an app itself remains lightweight and lets users view various data without downloading it to their devices.
Other features that can add a total of over $10,000 to the already existing price include:
- Cloud synchronization
- Data from accelerometer/gyroscope/other sensors
- Multilingual support
- QR code scanning
- Additional security.
On/off-shore collaboration
The third factor that can largely affect your iOS app development cost is the type of people working on your project.
The hourly rate of US-based iOS developers is the most expensive in the world – $ 150 / h. This rate can be higher if you work with a development agency, and even higher if you request development from a reputable industry leader. However, this collaboration is the most open of all options.
At the same time, the hourly rates of developers outside the US are lower: around $100/h in Australia, $70/h in the UK, and $50/h in Europe. The lowest rates are in Indonesia and India: $10/h and $25/h respectively.
As you can imagine, projects carried out by off-shore developers involve additional costs. You may encounter language barriers, time zone differences and cultural gaps. Be sure to check the background of your potential off-shore partner before launching a project with them.
Summary
To reiterate, the factors that can help you estimate an average iOS app development cost are the development type (native, hybrid or cross-platform), the complexity of your app (its features and presence/absence of backend integration), as well as your vendor position. By being aware of these factors, you can understand, predict and control your iOS app development project price to some extent.