How Much Does iOS App Development Cost?

There’s a lot that needs to be considered when determining how much iOS App Development may cost, this post will help you estimate your costs before starting.

How Much Does iOS App Development Cost?

Apart from various operating systems, iOS has become a leading choice of various users worldwide. As of now, there are more than 1.4 billion active Apple devices along with iPhones, iPads, Macs, Apple TVs, iPods, and Apple Watches.

 

This indicates that there is much demand for iOS Apps. The features and Apps present on various Apple devices are excellent, and abundant, but businesses are finding ways to keep creating new and relevant Apps for iOS.

 

Savvy business and startups have understood the importance of iPhone App Development, and while there are more than 2.2 million apps available on Apple’s App Store — there is room for yours too.

 

So, if you are planning to build an iOS App, you need to be familiar with iOS App Development Costs.

In short, the price of an iOS App ranges between $2,000-$250,000.

I don’t know if you noticed, but that a pretty big price range? In this blog, we will list out all the factors responsible for iOS App Development Cost.

What Factors Determine How Much iOS App Development Costs?

 

The cost of an iOS App is calculated based on the number of hours required to develop an app multiplying it with the total number of resources spent.

 

iOS App Cost Estimation Formula

 

UI/UX design hours [(iOS App Development hours + Backend Server hours )X Hourly rate of developers]

 

You can also use this handy online App Development Calculator.

Apart from this, the cost of an iOS App Development also depends on the location of the developer. I’m sure you’re familiar with outsourcing… often times, especially in the eCommerce industry there is a negative association with ‘outsourced developers’. Some of the Worlds best developers come from India, Bangladesh and Eastern Europe just to name a few.  One of the biggest hurdles going this route is communication. Not only is there a massive time difference to deal with, there is most likely a pretty big language barrier that can lead to a Lot of miss-steps and additional costs.

 

List of hourly rates are given below:

North America (the US and Canada): It is the most pricey region for iOS App development. Cost ranges between $20-$250 per hour.

South America: The cost of iOS app development ranges between $25 to $120 per hour.

Australia: Developer charges from $35-$150 per hour.

United Kingdom: Developer charges between $35-$175 per hour

Eastern European: Developer cost ranges between $20 to $110 per hour

India: Developers charge ranges between $10 to $75 per hour.

Indonesia: Developer charges maximum $20 per hour

 

What to choose? Outsourcing or In-house Team

 

After you have decided to develop an iOS App, the next thing that you’re going to need to decide is whether to go with the In-house team or outsourcing team.

 

The main benefit of an in-house team is a physical presence that helps in quick communication.
Here, you can easily share your requirements with the development team. However, outsourcing your app to an iPhone app development company is not annoying as it looks.

Communication with the outsourcing team is sometimes difficult, but it is possible. Remote teams always make possible arrangements to fulfill any organization’s needs.

 

With the skill and talented team of developers, outsourcing firms can provide you a great app at a lower price when compared to an in-house team. Moreover, the cost of hiring an outsourcing team as compared to an in-house team is much less because you don’t have to purchase any hardware or software.

Factors that determine the overall iOS App Development

Process to Find App

 

It is a challenging process to visualize what you want the app to be and flushing out a solid map of how to achieve it. A development company follows different ways to validate the idea. The methods below are used to identify the cost of next-gen iOS apps.

 

  1. Competitor Analysis & Research

 

The first thing, an agency will do is a competitor analysis and keeps an eye on things like devices that are popular in the market, features liked by users and factors that hamper the user experience.

 

  1. Establishing User Personas

 

Identifying why and how users will react to some decisions helps listing overall iOS app development cost.

This step helps to identify things like app size, UI/UX of the app, features, and other things.

 

  1. Value of App in the Current Market

 

Various elements used to identify real app value are the ability of an app to captivate users, total revenue it can produce, and funding the app can generate in the near future.

Determining the Overall Extent of an App

 

In this step, all the features, functionalities, tools and technologies that are useful in the app developed are decided.

 

Complexity of App

 

An app becomes popular if it contains a wide number of features. App features are divided into 5 main categories.

 

  1. Back End Model

There are mainly two types of back end architectures: Custom or BaaS. In the Custom model, the development team builds the entire backend architecture. While BaaS development consists of an inbuilt architecture.

 

  1. Delivering Admin Panel

It is the most essential part of an app. It is developed to keep an eye on activities done on the app, view its statistics, and modify content from time to time.

 

  1. Third-party App integration

It is crucial for an app to incorporate third-party apps to carry out certain tasks. For instance, a user should be able to sign-in through different apps such as Facebook, Twitter or Google with ease.

 

  1. Integrating In-App Purchase

Adding an in-app purchase feature will ultimately increase the cost of development.

 

  1. Utilizing Devices functions

Sometimes an app requires to utilize the phone’s inbuilt functions such as camera, GPS, etc.

 

What is the complexity of the app?

 

The cost of the iPhone App also depends on the complexity level. They are divided into three parts:

 

Simple: An app without UI, standard UI elements, social login, etc.

Medium: An app with custom UI, API integration, payment features, simple backend, etc.

Complex: App with custom animation, 3rd party integration, complex backend, real-time features, etc.

Type of an App

There are a wide number of iOS apps available in the market. Therefore it is crucial to identify in which category your app falls. This includes mCommerce, social media, data-driven, enterprise, on-demand, stand-alone, etc.

 

Designing an app

App’s design and animation are some of the most vital factors in determining the cost of an iPhone app.

 

  1. Prototype/Wireframe

 

It is built for user experience maps and features. It can be done using tools such as PhotoShop, Mockplus, Balsamiq, etc.

 

  1. UI Design

 

For developing an iOS app, mainly flat design is considered.

 

  1. Animation

 

The animation is not required in the majority of apps expect gaming and social media. It consumes a lot of time and effort, hence increase the overall iPhone app development cost.

Launching an App

After an app is developed, the task of a developer is not over. The most difficult part is to release an app on the App Store. A developer should follow App store guidelines before submitting the app. As it performs the most crucial role in obtaining approval.

 

App maintenance

After successfully listing your app on the App Store, work is not completed. For an app to remain in the market, a developer has to update the app, fix bugs and design as per feedback.

 

Size of the team

This depends upon who you are choosing, a freelancer or an iPhone app development company. A startup firm or a group of 4-5 freelancers would charge less as compared to a large company.

 

Therefore, the cost of an iOS app largely depends on the development team.

Conclusion

By considering all the minute details, you are now familiar with various factors that increase the iOS app development cost. Based on your selection about technology, geolocation, UI/UX design, etc, are the things on which the entire iOS app will cost.