Quick Summary
Developing an iOS app needs a lot of thought and strategy as if you are going for native apps, you need to take care of everything instructed by Apple. However, the cost of develop an iOS app is the one thing investors worry about as Apple is thought to be expensive. So, here is all you need to about the iOS app development cost and process.
Choosing iOS as your mobile app development platform is a significant decision, and understanding the average cost of iOS app development is crucial. You might be wondering, “How much does it cost to build an iOS app?” Generally, the cost can range from $50,000 to $700,000, depending on various factors such as complexity, functionality, and features.
Determining the precise cost for your iOS app can be challenging due to the market’s saturation and the wide range of estimates available online. Additionally, the customer acquisition cost for mobile apps plays a role in the overall budget and should be considered when planning your investment.
iOS app developers significantly influence development costs. Their expertise impacts not only the initial expense but also the app’s long-term performance and maintenance costs. In this article, we’ll explore the factors that affect iOS app development expenses and provide insights into the investment required, including detailed dollar amounts and background information on cost drivers.
It is probably one of the most frequently asked questions everywhere today! The topic of the average cost of iOS app development is still the most talked about. The cost to develop an iOS App is higher than developing android apps.
As we know iPhone applications have increasingly integrated into our daily live. So first, you need to determine what features and functions you want to incorporate into your application.
iPhone users are increasing globally. with its ever-promising security and better quality, Apple never fails to amaze its users. Yes, the iPhone is expensive, yes cost to build an iOS app gets even more expensive but still, users prefer to own it. Let us show you a graph about how there has been an increase in Apple iPhone users globally.
As depicted in the graph, global users recognize the value of iPhone apps and prefer them for their quality and reliability. When planning for iPhone application development, understanding the budget is crucial. The cost to build an iphone app varies significantly based on the app’s complexity and features.
Research from GoodFirms indicates that the average cost to build an iphone app development typically ranges from $38,000 to $91,000. For a medium complexity app, the price might range between $55,000 and $131,000, while complex applications can cost approximately $91,550 to $211,000.
At an average hourly rate of $40, a simple app may cost around $90,000, a medium complexity app about $160,000, and a highly complex app can exceed $240,000. Additionally, when considering your budget, factor in the user acquisition cost for mobile apps and potential strategies to make money online with mobile apps through effective mobile app monetization methods. These elements are essential for ensuring a successful investment and maximizing returns from your app.
If you are confused about choosing between Android Vs. iOS app development, you can consider the pros and cons of each platform. It would depend on your choice of budget, business idea, time to market, etc.
You can go with iOS app development if:
- You wish to generate more revenue per user.
- You are tending towards a less complicated development process.
- Data security and privacy are your top priorities.
Apple’s business is rapidly growing and iPhone apps are loved by people. For new startups or businesses, it will be a lucrative deal to invest in iPhone application development. Let’s have a look at some of the advantages of the iOS app:
Even though having Android users as 75% of the smartphone market, iOS users are more willing to pay for an app than Android users due to the open-source heritage of Android. The average cost of an iOS app is $2.01 which makes a wide base of paying clients.
iOS app has become the first choice for a business app due to its perfect hardware, outstanding customer support, and flawless software. Apple has become a superior brand in the electronics world. Each iOS app works smoothly on an iPhone and that provides a great user experience which consequently increases the engagement rate between the app and the users. Therefore, a business needs to satisfy its users, and iOS apps justify that well by making its users happy.
Android app development is not very profitable for a startup as it generates less than 10% of the total expenditure on developing it. Whereas iOS apps can be profitable for a business by leading a company towards healthy finances with more revenue and increased ROI. The scalable iOS apps are capable of increasing the reach of a business.
Now that there are endless types of iOS mobile apps, the iPhone app development price depends on its categories to a significant degree. Each category has its own features, demographics, safety criteria, etc. Some of the iOS app categories are listed below :
These iOS mobile apps do not require the integration of third-party applications to be independent of any feature of the device.
Google health is one of the best examples of a standalone application.
Applications such as calendars, clocks, calculators, etc. enter data applications with low development costs. Therefore, this type of iOS application is less complex and inexpensive.
The app here is a customized app that is made for convention. As one can see it has a list of participants and a schedule for a convention named “Staircase Conference”.
Business applications need more room for change and improvement and should coordinate with changes in the organization. It is expensive to build an app that is dedicated to a particular purpose.
Due to this very reason, the iPhone app development cost for customized applications tends to rank high.
Social media applications like Instagram, Facebook, etc take different amounts of time to develop, which amounts to the different characteristics of each application.
Twitter is a microblogging and social networking service where users post and interact with messages known as “tweets”.
The fact that these applications need to have robust scalability to serve millions of users in a real-time and secure environment with the ecosystem in real-time is enough for us to assume that the average cost of your iPhone app development project in this category will be a bit more.
An application on-demand actually comprises three versions- one for users, one for the employees who deliver the service, and one for the business.
On-demand applications include numerous features such as real-time tracking, chat support, real-time payment of synchronization in the application, shopping, etc.
Uber was the original travel application that took the transport industry by storm and gave us an easier way to travel throughout the city. Before Uber, getting a taxi was to be in the middle of the street, whistling like a maniac, hoping a taxi driver passing attention.
Therefore, the cost of mobile app development automatically increases compared with other applications.
With the unprecedented growth of e-commerce applications like eBay, Amazon, and Alibaba and their popularity on websites these applications must have challenges to meet all functions related to shopping features.
It is inevitable for these applications to perform flawlessly in real-time, serve millions of users at once, have solid system security and a strong back-end, and have the ability to connect with third-party APIs.
eBay is one example. It’s an online mCommerce store that has an app. You can look for goods and shop them online.
These mobile application development cost are a bit compared to separate single applications for these require more time for development.
Outsourcing is a growing trend in software development. Success in outsourcing software development requires understanding the intricacy of what you are getting into.
Choosing an outsourcing software development company for any business involves a lot of risks.
With this in mind the following checklist will help you make the right decision.
It is always a dilemma whether to have an app on ios or android. Thus, you can go through the following considerations to develop your iPhone app.
The first and most important that any entrepreneur considers as a benefit of iOS application development is the amount of income you can bring to the table. the iOS operating system is quite rewarding.
Apple users spend more on performance and dimensions compared to Android. Next, pursuant to shopping and other monetization strategies you can add more revenue and deliver greater ROI.
You need to focus on security such that there are no casualties attained. Apple users expect their devices to be highly secured in terms of transactions or any business-related activities. Today, it is becoming difficult for companies to keep their operations online from prying eyes.
Apple provides robust security to users of business applications against data breaches through a security layer consisting of high-end data encryption. What’s more, iOS applications are highly secure in terms of application-based transactions.
The iPhone app developers may have to keep up with Apple’s obsession with perfection, but it pays well in the long run. High standards and selectivity in everything are what Apple Inc. strives for. This is how apple restores the faith of users in applications and also when it launches any new device.
The fact that Apple has a huge user base of as much as 1.4 billion worldwide is sufficiently attractive for employers to ask about the cost to build an iphone app .
Apple’s global presence is like the beneficial for business since its application instantly acquires exposure without any additional effort and with this comes many opportunities and an enormous potential user base.
High quality, either hardware, software, or customer support for the case is the specialty of Apple. Programming languages for iOS App Development is such that it gives unbeatable UX.
Thus, applications developed for iOS perform wonderfully because of the solidarity between software and hardware applications. Both elements work in harmony representing an amazing user experience.
It shows that iOS applications, with details and similar features, take much less development time compared to Android applications.
The time difference can be as large as 28% for Android applications to be tested on various devices to check the resolution and speed of implementation.
Whereas, Apple does not have a huge variety of devices, so applications work just as effectively on each device. Now, this is crucial when deciding which platform to choose for the application development element.
Everyone is interested in finding out how to earn money in applications by developing free apps. Business owners can significantly enhance their firm through the use of mobile apps, and if you believe your app concept has the potential to become as successful as Instagram or Snapchat, mobile apps are the ideal platform.
Whatever your motivation for making an app, I’m sure you and other potential developers share a common goal: to make money online with mobile apps. However, it’s crucial to plan your app’s revenue strategy before you start development. Properly addressing mobile user acquisition and deciding on effective mobile app monetization strategies will help you avoid wasting both time and resources, and ensure that you maximize your earning potential.
Now that there are endless types of iOS mobile applications, the cost to develop an iPhone app depends on its categories to a significant degree. Each category has its own features, demographics, safety criteria, etc. Some of the iOS app categories are listed below :
Discussing the project is the initial stage of the iOS app development process. We will have a short and casual conversation on a phone call, just to know that if we can assist you is we can take this project forward.
The next step would be to short-list the features you require in your iOS application. This is considered a very important step in the iOS app development process.
To provide an easy and smooth user experience with a finished look is the aim of the iOS app design processes. The benefits and the ease to adapt to the features provided by the iOS mobile app by the users determine its success. An excellent user experience can be obtained from UI/UX design; it also makes your app user-friendly, interactive, and intuitive.
Prototypes are responsible for the user experience and the app’s workflows. But iOS prototype development is generally a time-consuming process. With this, it is possible to test your app’s design and functionality at the earlier stage to check modifications as per the app’s functionality.
The most integral part of the mobile app development process is planning. Before starting with the efforts on development/programming, you will have to:
- Describe the technical architecture
- Select a technology stack
- Describe the development milestones.
The back end/server technology, API(s), and the mobile app front-end are the three main integral parts of a typical mobile app project.
QA testing is a very important step in creating iOS apps. The app should be deeply tested for parameters like performance, security, UI experience, privacy, compliance, scalability, stability, energy and memory consumption, and multiple other guidelines laid by apple because of the strict submission policies that Apple provides. The app can be submitted for approval in the App store once the testing for all the above-mentioned parameters is completed.
The iOS app is successfully launched after the approval and submitting to the app store. This is the stage from where the journey for maintenance and support starts. The basics of the iOS app maintenance stage include analyzing the success of the app in the market, frequently updating the app with new and better features, generating customer feedback, etc.
You can monitor the usage of your app using mobile analytics platforms after it’s available in-app store. The app’s success can be determined using track Key Performance Indicators (KPIs). Keep a frequent check over user-reported issues and crash reports.
Feedback and suggestions for the app must be encouraged from the user’s end. To keep the users engaged, frequently patching the app with improvements and prompt support for end-users will play a vital role. You can stay on top of technology advancements and routinely update your app for new OS platforms and mobile devices using native iOS mobile apps.
You can monitor the usage of your app using mobile analytics platforms after it’s available in-app store. The app’s success can be determined using track Key Performance Indicators (KPIs). Keep a frequent check over user-reported issues and crash reports.
Feedback and suggestions for the app must be encouraged from the user’s end. To keep the users engaged, frequently patching the app with improvements and prompt support for end-users will play a vital role. You can stay on top of technology advancements and routinely update your app for new OS platforms and mobile devices using native iOS mobile apps.
The foremost factor that affects the iOS app development cost is the project complexity. The simpler the project, the lesser the cost. The cost of building an iOS app increases with the complexity of the project and the features implemented in the application.
Features are the most highlighting factor that significantly affects the overall cost of build an iPhone app. Implementing more features into your application will cost you more for your app development. To make your application successful in the market, you need to have more business-driven features such as navigation, payment gateway, and many more. You can discuss with an iOS app development company to understand more insights regarding features for your application.
Backend is a server where the software runs, and it enables the application to communicate with an external data source. You require backend infrastructure while developing your iOS application to sync the features with the internet. You can also build your backend by maintaining your server as an alternative. But it is more expensive with limited capabilities. Backend development is also known as side server development focuses on databases, backend logic, APIs, and servers.
The cost to create an iOS application might cost you more while working with a large mobile app development company, or an expert app development firm. Opting for a big organization might be more expensive as it involves separate departments for different tasks while developing an application.
Whereas, going for an independent iOS app developer may cost you less due to fewer people involved in the task. Along with this, the location of the development team working on your project affects the cost of iPhone app development. In case your project is complex then you might need a big workforce that will consequently increase the overall iOS app development cost.
The other major factor that affects the iOS app development price is post-launch app maintenance. You should not ignore this essential factor at all to make your iOS app more successful. Even if your application is complex or simple.
The cost to develop an iPhone app will include making your application bugs-free, code optimization, upgrading to the latest OS versions, monitoring app stability, the performance of servers, and updating to the latest versions of third-party services. On-demand services and ongoing support are the two app maintenance options. The iOS app maintenance cost for this factor will be higher because a development team invests their time and effort to monitor your app’s health.
Not just the above, a few hidden costs affect the iOS app maintenance cost, including:
- Hosting
- Monitoring
- Application Updates
- Architecture
- Licenses
- Third-Party API Subscription Charges.
The best available option is outsourcing your project for economical and fast options for hiring iOS developers.
Software outsourcing companies provide following cooperation models:
You can hire a full stack iOS app development team as you want and pay them on an hourly basis. This option is known as a dedicated developer team.
You can get in touch with the top app development company in Malaysia, Canada, USA project manager, let them know your requirements in detail, and the expert iOS app developers will execute your project from scratch. Every responsibility lies on the company from design to the launch of an application.
- An Outsourcing company is one of the best options as they keep an eye on their employee’s skills and train them to keep their industry standards high.
- There is no hindrance in project development because of vacations, dismissals, recruiting, etc.
- Communication and discussion become easier.
- The rates of hiring an iOS developer are reasonable and vary regionally.
- Less extra expenses as you don’t have to pay for takes.
- The company’s project manager holds all the responsibilities of all the organizational issues.
Most of the users will expect to have a healthy eating helper rather than just a calorie calculator in your app. This may be a great advantage for them if you offer them a personalized experience.
It depends totally on you. Whatever you make or you will choose the diet plans screen will look quite the same.
- It is a challenging task to choose the right freelance iOS developer for your project.
- It is a cheaper option as compared to others.
- You are not required to pay a freelancer if you don’t have any task available for them.
- No worries about taxes, office space, vacations, sick leaves, etc.
- Freelancer fails in cooperating with other developers in a team taking part in a project.
- Hiring a freelancer does not give you 100% assurance that the employee won’t ghost you leaving the project unfinished.
- Finishing projects on time is a globally known issue among freelancers.
- There is a cultural gap among freelancers which results in a language barrier.
- There is no assurance that the freelancer you hired has no side project and is only devoted to yours.
- A Freelancer might switch his project if he/she is facing any issue in the present one.
For a startup business, outsourcing software development and gathering the in-house team is preferable when the viability point is achieved. The viability here means when the goods are deployed to the market, and users or sponsors or in some cases both are indulged in it. This might result in profit in the future.
Therefore, you can start hiring dedicated iOS developers to work in-house. It is a good option although it is not a universal plan.
Let’s have a look at the pros and cons of in-house app developer:
- Enables your team to work together 24/7
- Communication becomes easier
- Dedicated developers focus only on your project
- You need to pay your in-house iOS development team even if you don’t have any tasks available for them.
- It is a tough task to select the right employee as they might get a new opportunity and leave anytime they wish to and then you have to look for a new employee for your project.
- You have to pay for extra expenses such as taxes, hardware, software, office space rent, etc.
- You need to pay your employees even if they are on vacation, on sick leaves, etc.
The average cost to hire offshore developers may vary based on the geographical location of the company. Let’s have a look at the table in detail based on hourly rates for both the platforms i.e. iOS and Android for different geographical locations:
| Region | iOS (hourly) | Android (hourly) |
|---|---|---|
| North America | $150 | $150 |
| Australia | $92 | $92 |
| UK | $71 | $71 |
| South America | $43 | $43 |
| Eastern Europe | $40 | $40 |
| India | $25 | $26 |
| Indonesia | 28 to 60 USD/hour | 39 USD/hour |
| Germany | $35 | $35 |
Some can charge as little as 30k for an app that’s offshored to Latin America or Eastern Europe, while others will charge 300k for the same.
At the end of the day, there are many factors that come into play for iPhone App Development costs. However a good iPhone app development company will have oversight, they’ll help you make hard product decisions, and they’ll bring you down to earth on some asks because they will not be necessary for your product.
Last but not least, the iPhone app development budget depends on the features you want to add to the final product. At Echoinnovate IT we can help you with your iOS app development. Contact Us Today!
Why should I outsource services to Echoinnovate IT?
Echoinnovate IT is one of the top web and mobile app development companies in India, the USA, the UK, and Canada. We have a proficient team of developers and programmers holding years of expertise delivering the most complex web and mobile apps on time without compromising quality.
Outsourcing development services can offer many benefits:
- Low development cost
- Flexible time zones
- Access to experienced developers globally
- On-time project completion surety
Do you offer a project manager?
Yes, certainly. For each project, we offer a dedicated project manager to handle the entire development process and maintain regular communication.
How do you ensure the security of our project ideas?
Our team uses the best security practices while writing the codes. Secondly, we sign an NDA to keep your business data confidential and private.
Will you work according to our time zone?
Yes. We have our clients in different countries from across the globe and we offer flexible services in the time zone that works for you.
