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With the advent of mobile technology, people can no longer imagine their lives without using smartphones daily. That’s why many businesses are striving to reach their key customers with the help of mobile applications. Since the price has always been one of the main concerns for many companies, in this article, we will talk about the mobile app development costs and how it is possible to reduce it.
The app economy is definitely flourishing, and in such circumstances, launching a mobile app for your business seems to be a nice plan. In this article, we will study the app development lifecycle, and consider the points that the customer needs to take into account for cost-effective mobile app development. What can you do at every project stage to save your money? See below for the details.
If you want to stay on top of the competition and reach out to your target audience more efficiently, you need to adopt the latest trends in technology. According to the latest report by Statista, approximately 3.5 billion people are using smartphones today. So it’s no surprise that a lot of companies are spending a decent part of their budgets on mobile development.
How Much Does It Cost to Develop a Mobile App?
Several surveys suggest that the average cost of mobile app development can vary from $10,000 to $500,000 per application. That’s why businesses are searching for the most effective way of spending their money on building an app.
The cost for mobile app development depends on a great number of factors some of which are:
› Analytics
The pre-development stage requires additional research on the client’s needs and strategy. It helps developers to make sure that the future application corresponds to the key needs and goals of the company and thus is important for determining the cost of the product.
› UX/UI design
The cost of the app depends on how complicated and diverse its design will be. The more feature-packed your application is, the more pricey it gets.
› Mobile framework
The choice of a certain framework for designing an app depends on what features and functionality you need and also on what devices your target audience uses. The cost of native application development is generally higher as compared to cross-platform solutions because it requires a different tech stack for each app whereas a cross-platform solution can be developed with one set of skills.
› Ongoing support
Upkeep and maintenance for your application is an extra expense.
› Promotion
Every new product needs a good promotional strategy to engage new users and reach the target audience. Marketing is not exactly a part of development costs but it should be accounted for too.
How to Lower the Cost for Mobile App Development
There are some ways to decrease the average cost of developing a mobile app any company can use without compromising the product’s quality. Here are some tips to follow if you want to reduce the overall app price.
› Outsource Mobile Development to Experts
As soon as you decide what application you need, it’s time to choose one of the two following options - either hire a team for in-house development or outsource your project to another company. If you want to significantly reduce the overall mobile phone app development costs, it’s recommended to consider outsourcing the development process to a dedicated team. We at Qulix have years of experience in delivering mobile app development services and can provide you with the solutions best suited for your requirements.
› Don’t Fall for Cheap Prices
As we’ve mentioned before, any way of reducing the overall mobile dev costs will do good as long as it does not compromise the application’s quality. It happens sometimes that companies promising you the lowest price are not experienced enough, that is, they either do not have the necessary expertise or don’t have a streamlined process for managing projects and communicating with clients, both of which may result in missed deadlines, unmet expectations as per app functionality, non-satisfactory UX, or simply a buggy app that is expensive to keep up. Choosing a mobile app development partner is a very difficult task since a lot is at stake.
› Go for Cross-Platform Development
Cross-platform solutions are another cost-effective mobile app development option to consider. When you choose developing two separate native applications for iOS and Android rather than creating a single cross-platform solution, you pay the double price. Modern mobile frameworks such as Xamarin, React Native, etc. allow decreasing the time spent on the application development thanks to code reusability. As a result, you can reduce up to 40% of the overall project cost. It goes without saying that going cross-platform may not be an option for applications that require intense use of native functionality, so it is necessary to make a decision based on the requirements of each specific app.
› Consider MVP Development
Minimum Viable Product is the savior for many small and medium-sized businesses seeking basic functionality in their applications. These apps feature a simple design and the most important features required to cover key client needs. It allows for speeding up the process and reducing mobile app development costs. Besides that, new features can be added easily in the future if needed.
› Invest in Quality Assurance
The quality of your application is not something to save money on. Testing is one of the key steps in the development process that helps to make sure your app works perfectly under any circumstances on every chosen platform. Quality assurance experts will identify any bugs and errors before the initial release to ensure a high-performing end product. Yes, it means you carry some additional costs now but you will save money on maintaining your product in the future. It’s highly recommended to perform continuous testing during every stage of the development process.
Conclusion
Despite the fact that mobile app development can be pricey, there are some ways you can reduce the overall costs without compromising the application’s quality.
