App Development Cost Calculator

It wouldn’t be shocking if we told you that mobile applications take up over 90% of internet time. That’s right! Studies show internet users prefer using apps for fun, education, location booking, and even remote healthcare services. That’s why many companies opt to develop mobile applications or work with an app development company.
It’s practical, caters to the target audience, and is essential at this point!

When they want to develop apps, many companies ask for rough estimates for the basic features, the development time, and the development process itself. This information is essential to plan the budget and start developing any type of software. That’s why we created a cost calculator to help determine the initial price before you jump right into signing the contracts.

In this article, we want to guide you through the complexities of the cost of app development, the whole process, and how to use cost calculators to estimate your budget accurately.

How Does an App Cost Calculator Work?

App calculators are great if you want to have a ballpark of how much your final product will cost. It’s not an exact science, but it gives company owners a bit of reassurance and support to allocate the resources and start the app development process without unpleasant surprises.

Many development companies have created their own app cost estimator programs, but not all are made the same. In this section of the article, we’ll explore how exactly a mobile app cost calculator can predict average costs and how to obtain detailed cost estimates.

Now, app development cost calculators don’t provide exact numbers. Instead, they estimate your project budget based on the data that you input. For this to happen, you must have a simple plan for your app development project and be prepared to answer questions or push on pre-written suggestions in the calculator form.

Guide through our app development cost calculator

Glorium Technologies has been helping companies build mobile applications for over 14 years. We’ve worked with various clients from all over the world and industries. Estimating the cost of app development has been an issue for many of our clients. That’s why we created an app cost calculator to help them and provide rough estimates based on the type of app, user interface, basic and premium features, and more.

What cooperation model would be the most comfortable for you?

Our app development company offers comfortable and flexible collaboration models. For example, you can choose to outstaff your in-house team, hire developers, or work with us on a project. Our calculator will allow you to choose between team and project-based collaboration.

That’s why having a simple plan and knowing what kind of collaboration you’d prefer is essential. Not sure which one you’d prefer? Here’s a little table of benefits for each collaboration model.

Benefits of Team-Based Collaboration	Benefits of Project-Based Collaboration
A deep understanding of your app over time	A clear, focused approach to achieving specific goals and deadlines
Ongoing support and flexibility as your project evolves	Right experts with the skills you need for each project
Strong communication and working relationships	Allows flexibility in assembling the perfect team for each task
Meets future growth and new feature needs	Ideal for short-term projects with a fixed budget and development time
Continuously improves processes	Quick delivery with a focus on goals

Choose your industry

The next step is to indicate the industry you’re working in. It’s essential to receive an accurate estimation since different industries have unique requirements, regulations, and complexities. For example, healthcare mobile applications will require HIPAA compliance and secure patient data handling. E-commerce apps will need quality payment gateways, inventory management, and flawless user experience.

All of this is essential for the app development company to know since these features require expertise, time, and a professional workforce.

Let’s say you want to develop a simple chat app with basic features, no extra user interface requirements, and a short development time. Almost all developers, freelancers, and newbies can handle that. It doesn’t cost too much, and you can even use the off-the-shelf solutions. But what happens when it turns out that you need additional features required by your industry?

Here’s a more detailed table that includes the price ranges, development times, and other information for the cost differences:

Type of Development	Estimated Cost Range	Development Time	Typical Tech Stack
Mobile App Development	$30,000 – $150,000+	3 – 9 months	Swift, Kotlin, React Native, Flutter
Mobile App and Web App Development	$50,000 – $300,000+	6 – 12 months	React Native, Flutter, Node.js, Python, Angular, Swift, Kotlin
Web App Development	$20,000 – $120,000+	3 – 8 months	React, Angular, Node.js, Ruby on Rails, Django
General Software Development	$50,000 – $500,000+	6 – 18+ months	.NET, Java, C++, Python, Ruby, SQL, Kubernetes

Choose the solution type you want to develop

Mobile app development costs are also influenced by the type of solution you choose.

In our calculator, we offer these solutions:

• SaaS application
• Marketplace application
• E-learning platform
• Fintech platform
• CRM software
• Telecommunication software
• Other

If you see a solution you’d like on the list, you can select it, or you can select the option “other” and tell us more about your project.

What are your first steps?

Your mobile app development costs will be influenced by what you have in mind. Some clients approach us with a simple idea, some of them have already done a little research, and some have custom design ideas for their product listing pages. It’s different for everyone

The calculator will let you decide what you want:

• Build a full product
• Start with a minimum viable product
• Update already existing software

The cost of app development significantly depends on your answer in this section.

What do you already have, and when do you want to start?

Finally, before the last step, you’ll have to indicate what you already have. There are options for everyone:

• Choose “I Have Idea” if you’re just starting your app development project and haven’t planned ahead
• Choose “I Have Brand Design” if you already have your app’s visual identity
• Choose “I Have MVP” if you’ve already developed a minimum viable product and want to try a whole app
• Choose “I Have All of It” if you’re ready to add premium features, do some quality assurance, or just improve your existing product

After this, you’ll be able to choose the timeline of your project.

What happens next?

The final step of our software development cost calculator is to provide a bit more information about your product and wait for our experts to contact you with estimated project costs and suggestions.
You can use this opportunity to ask as many questions as you like about our company and the development team, our experienced developers, and our wide range of services.

Factors Influencing Mobile App Development Costs

Understanding the factors will not only help you budget effectively but also make informed decisions about which features to prioritize. In this section, we’ll explore the key elements that influence mobile app development costs, helping you gain clarity on what to expect financially when bringing your app idea to life.

App complexity

App complexity can sometimes even be a deciding factor for the final price of your project. An experienced developer can make a simple calculator application in a few hours. A complex app with video and chat options, app purchases, and other extra features? It’ll take a bit more time and money to finalize it.

Keep in mind that your application may start out as an easy one, but with your company’s growth, it must be updated with backend services, custom animations, and advanced technologies.

OS platform

The choice between the iOS, Android, or both platforms will directly impact your project cost. If you develop the app for one platform, you’ll find it significantly cheaper than creating an app for both. Studies show that Android has 69.9% of the world’s population and it is a bit pricier to develop applications for iOS. However, the App Store generates more revenue than Google Play, according to the report by Business of Apps.
You also have the option to create cross-platform applications using React Native and Flutter, which can reduce development costs and timelines.

UI/UX requirements

User experience and interface make the application worthy of going back to. You can offer your app users a wide range of services, but they’ll still find it better to use a competitor’s solution if it has better design elements and UI/UX.

The type of design elements you choose will influence the final cost of your app since the design stage takes 20-30% of the whole development process.

Development team location

Pricing also depends on the geographical location of your development team. If you hire an in-house team, you’ll be spending a lot of money and time on recruitment processes, salaries, benefits, infrastructure, and more. Often, hiring a development company from a country with high living costs can also result in high development costs.

Features and functionalities

This subject goes hand in hand with the app’s complexity. The specific features you choose for your application will influence the price of your project. If you want a simple login or basic content display, that won’t ruin your development budget. However, advanced technologies like AI-powered recommendations or assistants can increase the final price.

Security and compliance

If you’re working in an industry where you handle sensitive customer data or your application requires users to enter such information during registration or app use. You’ll have to consider the price of security and compliance.

Third-party integrations

Last but not least, third-party integrations and APIs will significantly affect the cost of your mobile application development. Whether it’s a payment gateway or a community-based feature you want to integrate into your application, it’ll affect the final cost, so consider this when planning the budget.

Takeaway

Cost calculators are an excellent way of estimating initial costs for your app development project. It’s essential to come prepared and know what you want. In case you’re unsure or need some extra help with budgeting or have questions, you can contact us and our professionals will be in touch with you as soon as possible.