What Does App Design Cost Consist Of? - Components of App Development Pricing

According to Statista, the number of smartphone users worldwide today is 6.648 billion people, meaning 83.72% of the world's population owns a smartphone. This figure is significantly higher than in 2023, when the number of users was only 3.668 billion people, or 49.40% of the world's population. And what comes with smartphones? Mobile apps. And with mobile apps comes the cost of mobile app design, because such apps need to be developed somehow.

Today there are mobile apps for almost everything imaginable: scheduling meetings, ordering food or taxis, buying groceries, learning languages, exercising, and so on. And considering how profitable this industry is, it's no surprise that almost every brand wants to have its own smartphone app. However, before starting to design an app (or outsourcing it to a software development agency), you need to ask yourself the main question: how much does it cost to develop an app?

No matter how complex this question is, we will try to answer it in this article – so if you are thinking about getting your own new mobile app soon, keep reading.

Why is it so hard to determine the cost of creating an app?

Of course, it would be much more convenient if you could just write to an app development company, ask about the cost of your new app, and get a fixed price in return, right? Unfortunately, app development is much more complicated. The cost of creating a new app can vary greatly depending on factors like:

The number of features in the app.
Design requirements.
How many integrations do you want to add?
Type of app (native or cross-platform).

In general, the more complex the future app, the more developers will be needed on the team – and the more time they will spend making everything work smoothly. Add to that the cost of testing, bug fixes, maintenance, and hosting, which can vary depending on the company, and you'll understand why it's so difficult to even roughly estimate how much funds you'll need for an app.

Another issue is selecting a team suitable for the task. It's tempting to choose the cheapest mobile app development company hoping to save part of the budget, but it may turn out that you actually spend twice as much. If you hire people without the necessary skills or extensive experience with mobile apps, aside from wasting time, you will later have to pay extra for rewriting or fixing a non-working app. Experienced app development teams cost more, but for that price, you get their help with research, planning, development, and subsequent updates.

What is the difference between creating an app and redesigning it?

One of the main things that plays a big role in how much your app will cost is the scope of work. If you need to create an app from scratch, that naturally costs more than if you approached a development team just for a redesign of an existing one. What exactly do developers need to do before the app is ready for launch, and how does that affect the cost? Let's look at what goes into the cost of your new app.

Custom App

A custom app (or bespoke app) is built from scratch according to your business needs and requirements. Obviously, this option takes the most time and costs the most – because app developers need time to design the UI and UX of the app, implement the necessary features, and then test the app to ensure it works as intended.

But before starting development, a lot of research is needed – gathering requirements, validating the app idea, analyzing which specialists and tools are best suited for the project, and then creating a plan for the entire app. Typically, before development begins, you will also get a preview of the initial layout and interface of the app. After the app is ready, developers also have to spend time testing and fixing possible bugs.

This is why it's hard to determine how much a custom app will cost: the final price can range from $20,000 to $500,000. But the more complex the app needs to be, the more time developers will have to spend on the research phase, which will certainly increase the cost.

App Redesign

What if you already have a mobile app but want to update it? Then redesign might be the best option. In this case, the final cost will depend on what changes you want to make and how many screens developers will need to work on.

If your app just needs a new skin (for example, when your brand changed logo colors) and a few interface tweaks, you can get a new app pretty quickly without breaking the budget. If the app feels outdated and requires a complete overhaul or the creation of entirely new functionality, then complexities and higher costs arise.

Drastic changes in the app can lead to performance issues or conflicts between old and new components, meaning developers will have to work even harder. If you want to make significant changes to the look and functionality of an old app, it might be better to create a completely new app, especially since the cost of a new app may be similar to the cost of a full app redesign.

Two types of apps: desktop app + mobile app, or two apps for different platforms
Another factor that can increase the cost of a new app is the need to create two or more different types of apps, for example, one app for iOS and one for Android. In the past, the only way to ensure an app worked on a specific device was to create a "native" app designed to run on the chosen platform. However, it is now possible to create a cross-platform app that can run on multiple platforms at once.

How do these two types of apps differ?

Native Apps: Cost of developing apps for Desktop, iOS, and Android

Native apps are created for a specific platform (Desktop, iOS, or Android) using development tools and languages specific to that platform. Because such apps are optimized to run on a particular platform, they tend to be more secure, faster, and perform better. Additionally, native development gives developers full access to the capabilities of the specific device – from the camera and microphone to various types of sensors. On the other hand, cross-platform technologies like Flutter also provide access to device capabilities, but to a limited extent, meaning developers still need to write native code.

But this, unfortunately, means they are quite expensive, since one app can only be used on a specific platform. So, for example, if you need a native app for Android, iOS, and desktop, you will have to ask the developer to create 3 separate apps.

Cross-platform App – Lower app development cost, BUT

The second option is creating a cross-platform app. A cross-platform app is a single app that can run on any system. In this case, you don't need to create three separate apps for desktop and mobile platforms; instead, you create one that works on all three platforms. If you want to release your mobile app on multiple platforms but are on a tight budget, cross-platform apps might be just what you need to reduce app costs.

However, creating a cross-platform app is somewhat more complex than a native one, so for some ideas, cross-platform apps may not be the best choice. Such apps cannot access some internal device features, have fewer capabilities, and may run slower than native apps. Additionally, you need to ensure you hire developers experienced in building cross-platform apps, as there are small but significant differences between operating systems that can make implementing complex interfaces and functions problematic for inexperienced developers.

What is included in the cost of app development?

Once you've decided whether you need a completely new app or just some changes to an existing one, it's time to formulate your app requirements. This step is very important because the more details you can provide to the development company, the easier it will be for them to estimate the cost of your new app.

Here's what you should specify:

How complex your new app should be
Which platforms the app will run on, whether it will be native or cross-platform
What features and integrations you need in the app
Who your target audience is
Have you already conducted market research, or do you need help from the development company?
Do you need someone to create the entire design for you, or do you already have a ready-made design and just need help implementing it?

After reviewing your requirements, the mobile app development company will give you an approximate cost and time needed to create the app. However, upon receiving the estimate, you might be shocked by how much your new app will cost and how long it will take to build.

You are not just paying for the developers' work – there are many other factors that go into creating a working and thriving app:

Research and planning,
Market research (is there a need for such an app),
UX, UI, and layout design (this can be skipped if you already have a ready-made design and only need it implemented in the app),
Selection of appropriate tools, technologies, and languages,
Creating a prototype or MVP version,
Comprehensive testing of the app (including user testing),
Deployment and support costs.

Can the cost of app development be reduced?

If you have a limited budget, you will likely feel disheartened when you see how much it costs to create an app. Maybe you just received a project estimate from a development company and are now doubting whether it's worth investing. Can you somehow reduce the final price without compromising?

The good news is that there are several ways to make the app creation project more budget-friendly – let's look at some of them.

Do your research – thoroughly studying what exactly your app should do is the biggest time (and money) saver. Besides helping you focus on the core aspects of your app, you can learn a lot by examining your competitors' apps, such as what issues their apps have. Moreover, if you provide the developer with a well-thought-out plan including all sketches, goals, and requirements, it will be easier for them to suggest how to complete the project faster or cheaper.
Start with an MVP version of the app – MVP stands for Minimum Viable Product, i.e., a fully functional app but containing only the core features. Since it doesn't yet have all the "bells and whistles" you want in your app, it can be built and tested much faster and cheaper. But that's not the main advantage – by launching an MVP app, you'll learn how well it performs in the market, what users think of it, and what additional features they would like included.
Don't try to customize everything – if you're building an app from scratch, you might be tempted to customize every element, even buttons. However, custom elements can significantly increase the cost. In this case, using pre-made buttons and similar elements can speed up developers' work and save you time and money.
Start with one platform – Yes, it would be nice to launch your new app both as a web application and as a native mobile app for Android and iOS. Unfortunately, this usually means the project cost will be much higher than you can afford. If you want to create an app that works on multiple platforms and a cross-platform app isn't suitable, it's better to build the app for one platform and add another later.

Book a meeting during a product design workshop – a product design workshop is likely the fastest and most effective way to share your vision of the app with developers and get their feedback. Together, you can determine which technology is best to use, how large a team you'll need, and how much time and money it will take to deliver the first version of the app to the end user. Thus, in just a few hours, you can find out whether your product idea has a chance of success and what the most efficient development path will be. Engaging development specialists also helps anticipate potential issues in advance, saving money, time, and stress down the line.

When should you not skimp on mobile app development costs?

You should also understand that there are some project stages where you shouldn't skimp, no matter how tempting it may seem. For example, choosing developers solely based on their (low) price might seem like a good way to save part of the budget, but a low hourly rate may indicate low qualifications – and double the expense for you later.

Market research, creating an MVP, and testing (including user experience testing) may also seem like additional costs, but you shouldn't cut corners there. Market research will help determine whether your app will be useful for the target audience and whether it's worth spending money on at all. Thorough testing ensures that the app will work on different devices without errors or crashes. It also allows for the best possible user experience.