How Much Does It Cost to Hire Experienced App Developers in 2020?

‘Mobile app development cost’ and ‘cost of a mobile app development’ are two of the most searched keywords in the USA. The reason is simple- from startups to SMEs, every enterprise wants to jump on the app bandwagon in today’s mobile-driven environment. Still, the growing cost of developing a feature-rich, enterprise-grade mobile app keeps many entrepreneurs on the fence.

A seamlessly-performing mobile app with desired features can increase the ROI and provide many benefits to the enterprise. Therefore, it is better to know the approximate cost of a business app for companies. Here is a concise yet complete guide to getting an estimation of the mobile app development cost in 2020. Before going through the key factors that affect the cost of app development, let’s have a glimpse of the types of apps.

• Types of Mobile Apps

Native Apps
Apps designed for a specific OS like iOS or Android OS are known as native apps. They can be downloaded from the app store and you can address a specific audience consists of particular OS-based smartphone users.

These are complex apps and take more time to develop. However, when it comes to the user experience, native apps are way ahead of hybrid apps.

Hybrid Apps
These apps are developed by combining the concepts of a web app and a native app. Hybrid apps can be downloaded from app stores like native apps and are built by using HTML, CSS, and JavaScript like web apps.

Hybrid apps can be seamlessly run across various platforms and you can readily address a huge audience with the help of hybrid apps. Startups and SMEs can leverage the benefits of hybrid apps as a cost-effective way to implement mobility.

• Web Apps or Responsive Websites

A web app is nothing but the mobile version of your website. As Google promotes ‘Mobile First’ policy, a mobile-friendly version of a website can boost your business. A web app enables you to reach a huge audience while increasing the ranking on SERPs. Statista has mentioned that users spend more time on apps than mobile websites. In such a scenario, you can strengthen the online presence of your business with the help of a web app.

• Top Factors Affecting Mobile App Development Cost

Customized mobile app development solution is essential to drive your business toward growth. But, at times, startups and SMEs find it pricey and miss many opportunities and benefits of having a mobile app. Thankfully, advancing technology has opened the doors of new hopes for them and cross-platform app development frameworks like Ionic and PhoneGap can help enterprises come up with feature-rich apps in a cost-effective way.

Considering mobile app development cost, we need to take various factors into account. Here are a few noteworthy aspects that determine the cost of your app in 2020.

• Functionality and Objective
This is a core question- For which audience you’re making an app? In other words, you need to identify market trends and make a clear roadmap. App’s objectives will decide its complexity and functionality that affect the development cost. More complex functionality can take more time and you need to pay more.

• Complexity
A feature-rich app with excellent visual objects can provide a pleasant user experience. Mobile app development services can assist you to come up with appealing yet complex visuals, but it comes with a price tag. For example, if you want to integrate features related to AR or VR technology, the cost of your app increases significantly.

• Third-party Integrations
Third-party integrations are aimed at bringing desired functionality in the business app. This is also an important factor that impacts the app development cost. Third-party integration needs API development while following standard safety measures that eventually increase the mobile app development cost.

• Team Size
You can hire mobile app developers through various engagement models offered by the top mobile app development company. Apart from having complete control and secure development environment, hiring models offer many benefits and assist you to manage the app project in a cost-effective way.

Here, you have the flexibility to select your team and various options like an hourly model and fixed cost model are available.

• App Maintenance and Support
Mostly, mobile app development companies provide app support and maintenance services. However, they do not mention them in the quote because these are additional services. Companies can opt for maintenance and support services to keep the app up-to-date with a seamless performance.

• Duration
App development duration largely depends on two factors- app’s complexity and necessary features. Here is a table of popular app types and their development time. As the mobile app development cost is directly proportional to the duration, we can easily make out that the app with a longer development duration costs more than the app with a shorter duration.

Here, you can readily notice a fact- Android mobile app development process is a bit longer than that for iOS. It is because many devices work on Android OS and the mobile application development company must test the app for all major devices.

Also Read- Big Mobile App Development Trends Set to Rule in 2020

• How to Hire Mobile App Developers

Well, as an entrepreneur, you will agree to the fact that finding the right developers for your upcoming business app project is like finding a needle in a haystack. You may rely on a typical selection process that consists of looking at the portfolio, asking other entrepreneurs, and arranging interviews with shortlisted app developers. Any top mobile app development company can certainly help you select the most suitable app developers.

Here we discuss the hiring options for mobile app developers. You can either hire an in-house team of developers or a couple of app developers depending on the project scope and size.

The team of developers consists of a project manager, a programmer, a UI/UX designer, and a QA executive. The team size can be increased or decreased as per changing project requirements.

Here, the mobile app development company calculate the charge of developers on an hourly basis. But, these hourly rates are greatly varied across the world.

For example, the US and Canada-based developers can ask you for as high as $150-$200 an hour, whereas Indian app developers charge anywhere between $25-$50 an hour. This variation has a significant impact on mobile app development cost.

Related Reading- Five Mistakes that can Increase Your Mobile App Development Cost

Another cost-effective option for enterprise mobile app development is outsourcing your project. Here we are not going to make a list of the benefits of outsourcing, but it is fair to mention that it can help startups and small enterprises to hire mobile app developers at competitive rates and complete their projects on time.

You can always consult a mobile application development company to get a quote based on your project requirements and development duration.

However, most such development companies consider support and maintenance cost as an additional cost, and therefore, it is better to discuss the same while taking a quote.

Also, companies should keep provisions for app marketing if they want to come up with customer-centric apps and address a huge audience.

Parting Notes
On one hand, developing a complex business app is a costly affair, and on the other hand, it can simplify the complex business processes and offer a high ROI over the period. SMEs or startups can also opt for an MVP (Minimum Viable Product) or a simple app if they have budget constraints.

It is possible to bring updated app versions with necessary features in the later stage. In a way, small enterprises can also leverage the benefits of mobility.

As a leading mobile application development company, we offer flexible engagement models for any size of app projects. We also assist startups and SMEs to come up with a unique and user-friendly mobile app cost-effectively.

Do you want to give your company a mobile app advantage in a highly competitive business scenario? Simply drop us a line at sales@solutionanalysts.com. Our consultants will get back to you shortly.