February 12, 2024
In today’s fast-paced technological environment, establishing a mobile application is a process that may provide great rewards while also requiring significant expenditure. Estimating the cost of ios app development is critical for proper budget management and determining the project’s scope. It gives a realistic assessment of the resources necessary, assures economic viability, and aids in the avoidance of unanticipated costs. This blog seeks to provide extensive insights into the cost assessment process, ensuring that your endeavor into mobile app development is both educated and financially sensible.
A quick overview of the question of how much it costs to build an iOS app, the answer will be that if you are developing it in the US, the iOS app development agency will charge between $ 15,000 and $ 450,000. On the other hand, considering to design it in other countries, the cost will come down to $ 10,000 to $ 20,000.
Experts typically advocate outsourcing mobile app development since it is critical to the creation of high-quality iPhone apps without losing performance or quality.
Aside from the projected pricing range provided above, you must also grasp the hidden components and background to correctly estimate the total cost of your iPhone app development project.
Factors That Influence the Cost of ios App Development
The features, functionality, and cost-affecting elements ensure that your app can suit the needs of both users and your company. Additional features can be added to the app to fulfill the users need. As a result, your iOS app should have more business-oriented functions, such as navigation and payment gateways.
The business-oriented characteristics with the elements outlined below, play a significant role in calculating your iOS app development costs.
iOS App Development Cost Depends on Size
The number of screens and features in your iOS app rises as it grows, resulting in a longer development time and expense.
There are several ways to identify the features and functions for selection. You can begin by verifying the app concept and features before beginning the app development process.
Also, perform extensive market research, including competition analysis, emphasizing on areas such as user devices, features they value, and characteristics that impede a positive user experience, among other things. All of this is accomplished by analyzing similar applications to the app concept.
The cost and time taken to develop an iOS app depend on the size of the app. Typically, it comes out as
- Small App Development costs between $ 8000 to 25000 and takes 2-4 months to complete.
- Medium App Development costs between $ 25000 to 50000 and takes about 4-8 months to complete
- Complex App Development costs between $ 50000+ and takes 8+ months to complete
Complexity of the iOS application
An app is efficient if it has a wide range of functions. We have now separated and organized these elements into five categories that play a significant role by estimating the cost of developing an iPhone mobile app.
Apps Complexity Levels
1. Simple Apps
- Basic features
- Standard UI components
- Simple backend with predefined templates and analytic features
2. Mid-level Apps
- Integration with APIs
- Custom UI
- Real-time messaging
- Simple backed for mild complexity
3. Complex Apps
- Custom Animation
- Media Processing
- Real-time Sync
- Complex backend with various database relationships
Architecture Deployment Model
Backend development comes in two types:
Custom and BaaS. Custom software has a completely new backend architecture. On the other hand, BaaS development offers ready-made backend architecture.
Admin panel development:
It is the heart of the project designed to check app statistics, monitor app activities, and change app content at any time.
Third-Party App Integration:
Your app will inevitably interface with other third-party apps to fulfill specific activities, such as signing up with Facebook or Google or dealing with a monetary app for transaction operations.
Inclusion of In-App Purchase:
Many apps now offer in-app purchases to increase revenue.
Use of Device features
Your app will require the usage of technologies such as GPS, Bluetooth, etc, from time to time, in which case you must incorporate these capabilities in your app.
Here is a checklist of how much it will cost to design an iOS app based on its complexity:
- Simple iOS apps have simple user interfaces and functionality and cost between $10,000- 20,000
- Medium and sophisticated iOS app. are apps with significant backend and custom UI and cost between $ 50,000-250,000
iOS App Category
With so many various types of iOS mobile applications accessible, the pricing of each is impacted by its category. Each category has unique set of characteristics, demographics, and security criteria. Here are some typical iOS app categories and the cost breakdown for developing an iOS app based on them:
Types of iOS App Categories
1. Gaming app
- Average Development Time: 4-20 months
- Average Development Cost: $30,000-250,000
2. Business app
- Average Development Time: 2-10 months
- Average Development Cost: $ 5,000-150,000
3. Travel app
- Average Development Time: 2-8 months
- Average Development Cost: $ 5,000-50,000
4. Shopping app
- Average Development Time: 3-8 months
- Average Development Cost: $ 5,000-50,000
5. Education app
- Average Development Time: 2-10 months
- Average Development Cost: $ 10,000-80,000
6. Entertainment app
- Average Development Time: 3-15 months
- Average Development Cost: $ 15,000-100,000
7. Social networking app
- Average Development Time: 5-8 months
- Average Development Cost: $ 10,000-60,000
8. Health and fitness app
- Average Development Time: 1-15 months
- Average Development Cost: $ 10,000-250,000
9. Medical app
- Average Development Time: 2-6 months
- Average Development Cost: $ 30,000-90,000
iOS app design
Another thing to consider when answering the question “What is the cost of developing an iOS app?” is the app’s design and animation process. It is acknowledged that various designs, animations, and drawings will result in varied expenses for the same software.
Not to mention that interesting app designs may help you improve engagement and conversion rates.
Additionally, these are the top three iOS app design methods that you should be aware of:
Wireframing:
Wireframing is used to design the user experience map and features. This process is completed with software like Photoshop, Balsamiq, and Marvel.
UI Design:
When creating an iOS app, a flat design provides clarity and depth. In contrast, with Android, material design is the top choice for displaying inventiveness and simple boldness. For further information, see the variations in app design between iOS and Android.
Animation:
Animation is an optional but essential element for various apps, such as social networking, restaurants, and games.
Here’s a thorough breakdown of iOS app development costs based on your app design specifications:
App Process Tasks, Average Development Time, and Cost
1. App design research
- Market research
- ü Competitor analysis
- ü Market trend analysis
- Selecting ideal solutions
Based on niche and available resources, the time is calculated while the averaged development cost ranges between $100-$350
2. UX design
- Rough sketches
- Low fidelity wireframes
- High fidelity wireframes
Time taken for simple design is 10-14 hours, for Medium design- 50-60 hours, and Complex design takes 150+ hours while the average development cost ranges between$2000-$8000
3. UI design (Visuals)
- Mood boards
- UI mock-up samples
- Final UI mock-ups
Time taken for simple design is 14-20 hours, for Medium design- 80-90 hours and Complex design takes 100+ hours while the averaged development cost ranges between $ 10000-$40000
4. Branding
- Creating a brand identity
- Logos, icons, and social media
The average development cost range between $ 5000-$20000
5. Animations and illustrations
- Visualizing user and on-screen content
- Direct manipulation
- User action visualization
Based on the animation levels, the time is calculated while the average development cost ranges between $1000-$20000.
iOS app development team size
The cost of producing an iOS app varies greatly depending on whether you hire a freelance iPhone app developer or a professional iPhone app development service.
Here is a breakdown of iOS app development costs based on individual skill size:
Development Role and Global Avg. Development Cost (hourly)
- Project manager $12-$40
- iOS app developer $20-$100
- UI/UX designer $15- $50
- Business analyst $60-$150
- Scrum master $50-$150
- QA engineer $30-$70
As you can see, finding individual expertise may be expensive. Hence, it is recommended to engage a full-stack iOS app development team from a reputable mobile app software development business at a reasonable price.
ios app development companies’ location
Location is essential in determining the iPhone app development pricing; for example, the price of iPhone app development in India differs from an iPhone app development business in the United States.
It is well-known that the quality and cost of services vary world over. And the difference is noticeable when we compare the west to the east.
With location in mind, here is a cost breakdown of iPhone app development:
Region Wise Cost of App Development
- India $20-40/hour
- the United States $80-170/hour
- Ukraine $30-100/hour
- Australia $80-200/hour
- Russia $60-150/hour
The above cost break shows the overall cost estimate of an iOS app development, there are also post-development processes, such as the launch and maintenance of the app, which play an integral part in the final budget.
iOS application launch
One of the main goals of developing an iOS app is to effectively launch it in the App Store. You cannot just do that. An app is only accepted on the App Store if it follows all the rules. It is a primary reason why releasing apps on the App Store is considered a difficult task.
iOS app maintenance
The job does not cease when your app is released in the store. Other factors contribute to the increased cost of designing an iOS app, such as app maintenance.
There is a specific iOS app maintenance cost to pay for the following services:
- Regular updates
With constant technology changes, your app requires to
be updated as soon as a new operating system update is released. Doing so will guarantee your software compatibility with the most recent version, allowing you to give a hassle-free experience to your consumers.
- App design upgradation
With constantly changing technologies and trends, you must always be on the lookout for opportunities for improvement. Constant revisions to your app’s design will undoubtedly increase your typical front-end maintenance cost for iOS app development.
- Troubleshooting bugs
You can never be too vigilant about bugs in your app. Bugs may be detected in any software, whether it has been released or is still in development. So, it is evident that maintaining a bug-free program is not free of charge.
Let us continue discussing the hidden expenses associated with developing iOS apps.
Unknown iOS App Development Expenses You Should Be Aware Of
A few secret requirements for iPhone app development may escape your notice when creating your iOS software, but the previously listed cost variables are too obvious to ignore. Fear not—we have outlined those requirements below so you will not miss anything.
Hidden Cost Factors and Average Cost per Year
- Monitoring and maintenance-$4,000-12,000
- App developer account -$99
- Annual iOS updates-$1000
- Data storage-$500
- CDN-$150
All this information was sufficient to create an iOS application for your company. Still, it will not harm to compare the creation of apps for iOS and Android.
A Comparison of the Development Costs for iOS and Android Apps
Let us compare the differences in developing mobile apps for iOS and Android to give you a better understanding of the development process for iOS.
1. Design
The amount of time needed to create an intuitive and functioning user interface (UI) for Android and iOS is roughly the same. Still, it is thought that iOS app design is better than Android app design. We may conclude that the App Store’s high criteria are cause of this little but important difference.
2. The Duration Of App Development
It is difficult to determine how long it takes to design an Android app vs an iPhone app. The time efficiency of process is determined by several factors.
Compared to Swift (used in iOS development) or Objective-C, Java and Kotlin (used in Android development) are heavier languages in terms of coding and have more lines of code. Thus, when Swift is used, iOS offers a quick development process.
Furthermore, fragmentation is a factor in determining the price of developing Android and iOS apps. You must be ready for the wide variety of Android devices available, each with a different screen size and operating system.
In contrast, Apple has more than twenty devices that simplifies the process of fragmenting its device base compared to Android. As a result, the development time and some expenses associated with creating an iPhone are minimal.
3.Testing Duration
Determining whether iOS or Android app development is superior requires careful consideration of testing, as it is an inevitable aspect of the development process.
Given that, iOS devices fragment more quickly than Android devices, as was already established, testing on iOS devices also becomes more condensed and straightforward. Android testing takes a long time because your app needs to run on one hundred different devices, each with a different screen size, resolution, operating system, etc.
4. Hourly rates for developing apps
The language used in the development processes for iOS and Android forms the basis of this differentiation. As was previously noted, iOS apps are developed in Swift or Objective-C, which is more expensive than Android apps developed in languages like Kotlin and Java. This is because iPhone app developers who use Objective-C or Swift programming languages charge between 10% and 15% more than those who use Java.
5.Launch of the App
Getting your app authorized is a bit of a job because Apple has stringent requirements for app submission and release. After it is finished, you pay a yearly fee on the App Store. On the other hand, Play Stores have simple rules and restrictions and need a one-time cost.
As you are aware, several development expenses are to be considered while making an iOS application. To obtain useful and affordable options for more efficient development, it would be prudent to collaborate with an established iPhone app development business.
How Can Primotech Help You?
Primotech is a well-known iPhone app development company in the industry for over five years and provides bespoke app development services. They can assist you with any industry, whether healthcare, education logistics, gaming, finance, dating, or any other. Their solutions are durable, scalable, and inventive and serve a global clientele.
Primotech combines agile methodology with the technical process to help you grow your company. As seen above, app development can be costly. Primotech can be a more cost-effective option, since it offers end-to-end mobile app development services.
Their decades of experience developing iOS, Android, and cross-platform mobile apps can help you be successful with your mobile strategy, regardless of how many apps you build in your first ten years. Primotech provides elegant and functional iOS app development services. Their vast knowledge in iOS mobile app development and Swift, from API connection to ARKit solutions, will enable you to satisfy the demanding needs of your clients.
App porting and migration services are an additional value-added offering. Coding may be difficult and costly to write and rewrite. 70% of companies search for services related to app migration. Before beginning to port an app from one platform to another—from iOS to Android or vice versa—it is typically necessary to plan and address any platform differences. By porting your app to the platform of your choice, Primotech’s mobile app professionals may help you save 40–50% on costs while also boosting processing speed, productivity, and information security.
Conclusion
Apple devices have swiftly risen to essential items in our daily lives. Applications for improving or making the world smarter are available, as well as apps for amusement, business solutions, automation tools, and chances for small and large companies to develop their income streams. All the resources we require are provided by Apple products.
Hopefully, you now have a solid basic understanding of the reasoning for, programming languages used, and stages involved in developing an iOS app.
Developing an iOS application is a highly challenging endeavor. To expand your company to its greatest potential, it would be beneficial if you consider any reputable iPhone app development services.
