If you are thinking of building an app then you should know that mobile application development cost is not cheap. The only thing you can do is look for ways to lower your expenses or cut back on a few things without affecting the features and quality of your app. This post will guide you on how to reduce your app development cost.
App Development Expenses
Before we talk about reducing the mobile application development cost, here is the list of all the expenses.
- Business Analysis: During the initial stage of building an app, you need a business analysis from professionals to create an in-depth roadmap of the complete process. The analysis will help you figure out your target audience, functional and non-functional requirements, business goals, and app design.
- Design and Architecture: Next, you have to pay to get your app’s UX design and user interface done. The more beautiful and smooth you want it to be, the more it will cost. After getting the design, you have to pay developers for coding, app architecture, and quality assurance.
- Project Manager: If you want to ensure that nothing goes wrong with your app development, you will need a project manager to oversee the whole process from initial development to app release. Once you hire a competent specialist, it will be his/her job to manage time and deliver the results you expect.
How to Reduce the Cost
Use an Efficient Framework
Suppose you want to develop an app for multiple platforms like Android, iOS, web, and desktop, but you don’t want to spend a lot of money to do it. If you develop the app in the native language, you will have to pay the whole cost for each platform. However, if you pick Flutter or any other cross-platform framework to develop your app, you can have a faster, more reliable, and higher quality app that will run on all platforms at a low cost.
Hire an Off-Shore Team
The best way to lower your mobile application development cost is to hire your development team from abroad. For those who live in the US, hiring a developer to build a high-quality app will cost a lot. But, if you hire an off-shore team let’s say from India or Russia, you will be paying less than half of the price you will have to pay for a US-based developer. This way you will get the best quality-value ratio for whatever you want to spend on the app.
Limit Old OS Support and Test with MVP
One of the main things to consider in mobile app development is the old OS or device support. Although most people update their devices when the new ones come out, many people stick to their devices for multiple years. Some people also use old smartphones with old operating systems. You can either spend a lot to make sure your app runs on all the old and new OS, or you can limit it to three or four years old operating systems. And, if you start with an MVP or minimal value product, you can test your app for less mobile application development cost.