How much does it cost to make an app?
The No. 1 question we get is, “How much does it cost to make an app?”
First of all, this question is very ambiguous.
It’s like asking a builder, how much does it cost to build a building without saying whether it’s a 2 car detached garage or a 30 story sky scraper. That said, you can think of it like buying a car. Base models with no bells and whistles are around $5-10,000 - but if you’re interested in a model with every bell and whistle imaginable - well, these range from $50,000 to $500,000 and up. And size does count. The more screens, the more budget is required. If you need a ton of custom art and animations, this bumps up the cost too. Apps that are super smart (i.e. they take over a real person's job) these are the most expensive apps.
Why are apps so expensive?
Read this. http://www.hollance.com/2011/05/developing-software-is-expensive-because-it-i...
Still not convinced? Here's article that explains the cost of an app in more detail.
http://stackoverflow.com/questions/209170/how-much-does-it-cost-to-develop-an... (Please note, the first comment was down voted several times, this means that it was a crazy answer, probably by someone who doesn’t have much experience. Read the rest of the comments for a more detailed explanation of how much it costs to build an app.)
How do you decide how much an app costs?
Simple answer is time in. But this isn't always so simple to figure out if you don't have an app designed.
If you are firm on the scope and design of your app, we can provide an estimate through some awesome software John Pirie created for us. (He's one of the awesome talents you'll find at Robots and Pencils). The downside is, is that you have to know what you want - i.e. have the app designed to some degree. Not unlike building a house - it would be tough to price out a house without knowing at least the square footage of it.
That said, getting the app designed prior to coding is critical if you want keep the price of your app from excalating.
Since my background is in Architecture and design - I often compare app design to architecture design. When deciding on a kitchen layout, reviewing detailed drawings (plans and 3D images), renderings and material selections, before building begins is the norm. Changing the layout or other design materials after the building process starts can get really expensive as it can lead to reordering cabinets or other materials, which basically means you are paying twice.
This is the same with software.
Rework can't always be avoided, in some cases a certain amount of coding is necessary to get a real sense of how humans will interact with your app, especially with novel ideas. In the app space, there are many novel ideas.
So, if you want us to answer your question - how much does it cost to make an app? Having an idea of want you want is necessary for us to answer your question. :)
