If you’ve been asking around, or talking to developers to get an app development quote, you might have noticed that app development prices vary depending on who you ask. Why does one company say $10,000 and another $100,000+?
There is often good reason for this wide variance in app development prices. I’ll explain.
Prices for app development will vary depending on factors such as:
- where the developers are located (ex. India vs the United States)
- whether the work is being done by app-specific developers
- how much detail the developers you talk to have about the project
Let’s take a deeper dive into this topic with 8 reasons app development quotes vary so much.
8 Reasons App Development Quotes Vary
1. Offshore vs Local Teams
Some app development companies have their entire team in the United States, others have a project manager in the United States and the rest of the team overseas, and others offshore everything except their US-based sales reps.
Where the development team is located might not make a difference to you so long as you have a local point of contact…but it may be impacting the price estimates you receive.
Cost of labor overseas is substantially less than the cost of labor here in the United States.
Sometimes companies that offshore all or part of their work, pass on the cost of labor savings to their customers. Sometimes they don’t. If they do, you may notice lower app development quotes from companies that work with offshore teams.
2. Incomplete Project Specs
If two onshore (i.e. their team is located in the USA) companies give dramatically different app development estimates, there’s a good chance they aren’t estimating the same thing.
The reality is, until you engage a company in a detailed discovery process, they have a limited idea of what you need (and want) and will apply some guesswork. Yes, even if they’ve done projects that sound similar to yours and they base their estimate on those projects.
This is why some app development quotes vary. The developers may be making different assumptions about how your project will go and what it will involve.
3. Experienced vs Inexperienced Developers
Experienced app developers aren’t the easiest to come by. They also get paid higher salaries because of their specialized expertise.
There are lots of web development companies and marketing agencies that love to get their hands on an app development project…but have little experience developing mobile apps.
It may seem like a good developer can easily switch to different programming languages. And yes, once you know one language it’s easier to learn others. But that is really simplifying what it takes to bring a great app to life!
Building an app requires an understanding of more than just a programming language. Both iOS and Android have specific nuances, software development kits, design standards, etc. that a skilled developer and designer needs to stay on top of.
And then there are all the App Store Guidelines that must be adhered to, lest your app wind up rejected or banned by Apple.
Developing your business-critical iOS and Android apps is not for the faint of heart, or a developer in learning mode.
Another reason why you may receive a higher quote from a more experienced developer is that they have more experience quoting app development projects. For this reason, the quote might be more realistic. For example, an experienced developer may more accurately predict the true time it will take to a build a certain feature, while an inexperienced developer is guessing.
4. Agency Overhead
If the price estimates you receive for app development vary widely, another reason why is that you might not be comparing apples to apples with respect to the types of agencies you’ve been talking to.
You’ll have agencies that run leaner with smaller teams, less overhead and lower hourly rates, and agencies that have a large executive team, multiple layers of management and time spent flying around the country to visit their clients in person.
The style of service you receive will be different (not necessarily better or worse, depending on your preferences) and so will the price points.
5. Custom Design vs a Template
The look of an app can vary greatly. Some are beautiful and consistent with Apple or Google design styles. Others are generic, and look more like a website.
Is the company you’re talking to basing their estimate off a generic app design template and style, or will your app have a custom design? Is their designer very familiar with designing for apps?
These factors will impact the cost. You might not care. If you do, be sure you know what you’re getting.
6. Custom Development vs Prebuilt
On rare occasions we talk to a company that has been unknowingly getting quotes from app vendors that are selling a license to their prebuilt software, rather than custom-developed software.
There is no comparison between the cost of a custom app built to your exact specifications, and the cost of prebuilt packaged software.
If you receive a rock bottom quote compared to others, check in with that company again and ensure that you’re receiving custom software. While you’re at it, ask if you’ll receive a copy of the source code when it’s done.
That said, if your needs are generic and your budget is too low for custom development, a pre-built mobile app might actually be a better fit anyway. But it’s always better to know upfront.
7. Low-Code or No-Code Apps
Low-code and no-code apps are custom apps developed using special tools that avoid the need for writing all the code from scratch. Once an app developer knows how to use these tools, they can build apps at a fraction of the speed of writing everything from scratch. As a result, it should cost less to have a no-code app or low-code app developed.
If you receive an app development quote that is substantially less than other quotes, it could be that the developer plans to use a low/no-code tool to build your app.
These tools are a great fit for some projects (especially MVP development), but not all. Here are some drawbacks to no-code app development:
- no-code and low-code solutions almost always tie you into the particular tool that was used (which isn’t all bad, but it means you won’t own the IP of what you build in its entirety)
- not all apps will be a good fit for no-code tools
- not all low/no-code tools will give you a copy of the source code, which means you may have to start from scratch in the future if you want to move off their platform
- monthly or annual license fees (but with custom code you will also have labor fees to maintain your code)
If you are needing to choose between from-scratch custom-built and a low/no-code solution it’s prudent to consider all these angles and talk to your developers about your long-term vision for the software.
8. Single Developer vs an Agency
There will be little comparison between estimates you receive from a single freelance app developer and estimates from an agency team. The agency team will include the full scope of what’s needed, such as app design, project management and quality control.
App development quotes from an agency team will undoubtably cost more than app development quotes from a single developer.
In addition to the cost of the app developer you are also paying for:
- the cost of design (so your app is user-friendly and looks great)
- the cost of project management (so that delivery is on time and on budget)
- the cost of quality assurance (so you or your team are not stuck with bug reporting duty)
An agency team will cost more than a single developer, but the additional support, quality assurance and adherence to schedule and budget can pay for itself.
Conclusion
In addition to helping explain why app development prices vary so much, these factors are also good to know when you’re looking for an app developer or agency. For one thing, they give you new questions to ask app developers when you interview them.
At Big Fish we specialize in developing custom mobile apps. If you have an upcoming project please reach out and request a call with our team. We’d be happy to discuss and provide an app development quote or estimate.
