The digital world we have today is one that’s fast evolving. And as far as apps go, users are a lot more attracted to visual content.

They pay far less attention to long pieces of written content and are leaning towards high-quality images and videos a little more every day.

Instagram, one of the most popular apps in the world, is an app that houses all these features and is built solely for editing and sharing pictures, videos, and other visual content.

Instagram has taken over visual streams and was recently named one of the top ten most downloaded apps in the world.

Since its inception, Instagram has reported huge success leaving many app developers with dreams of building a similar app that performs almost all the same features.

As good as this idea is, creating an app like Instagram involves a lot of features—all of which have different cost implications. These factors are highlighted below:

App Size

App size refers to the total amount of both the features and functionality.

To keep costs reasonable, especially for a new app, tech experts advise that developers maintain a reduced app size.

In the first version of the app, it’s recommended to only add the most important or core app features. This is also known as a minimum viable product (MVP). After the MVP is created, you and your developer can decide to add other features in subsequent versions of the app.

Available Platforms

For an app like Instagram, you’ll need to consider the platforms on which your app will be available as the price of development differs from platform to platform. For example, creating a mobile app on the iOS platform is rather expensive compared to the Android and Windows platforms, both of which come at a relatively lower rate.

Design

The design and interface play an important role in pricing because, in the end, those two aspects are what engage users and keep them connected long-term.

[clickToTweet tweet=”If you’re looking for a sophisticated design, be prepared to pay a bit more.” quote=”If you’re looking for a sophisticated design, be prepared to pay a bit more.” theme=”style3″]

And while simple designs are available, it’s better to stick to a look that’s a more unique to set your brand apart. Once you hit the design phase, the app designer can provide a multitude of bold, eye-catching, or even minimalist designs for you to choose from.

Developers

To create an app like Instagram, you will need to hire the services of an app developer. These developers charge a fee, but it varies depending on their location, years of experience, level of expertise, etc.

New developers in the business won’t charge as much as developers who have been in the game for years and have extensive experience with a variety of platforms and have built a solid base.

App Features

Filters, background music, comments, live feeds, video length, etc. are all considered app features. These are the functions of the app your users might be most interested in.

As a general rule, the more features you incorporate into the app, the higher the cost of the final product.

Features like newsfeeds or activity feeds, user profiles, image manipulation, ratings, barcodes, reviews and QR codes also increase the costs as they require a lot more coding to ensure your app is functioning properly.

You can decide to add more advanced features like data synchronization, an in-app camera, push notifications, geolocation, and geotagging for a better user experience. Apps at least partially dedicated to communication can even house external features like in-app calling and messaging, secure data travels, and connections to third-party API and OTP readings.

Depending on your goals, they’re all worth considering. These features can make your app more sophisticated than those of your competitors and give your brand a competitive edge. Your options are nearly limitless, but remember, more features means a higher price tag.

Safety

To earn the trust of app users, it’s important that you protect their personal information from hacking by cybercriminals. Access control methods like email ID’s, social media or one-time passwords can be a good way to keep the users’ information safe.

[clickToTweet tweet=”The more you invest in security, the safer the app is for your users.” quote=”The more you invest in security, the safer the app is for your users.” theme=”style3″]

In fact, internet and online safety can be an app’s biggest and most valuable asset.

App Interaction

Interactive measures like instant messaging or direct message option, social sharing, and universal linking should be incorporated into the app. These enhance the overall user experience and attract more prospective users.

The Final Price

A combination of all the features above and their functionalities play a role in the final cost of building an app like Instagram. And as you might imagine by now, the complexity of all the individual features makes giving an exact price a tad difficult.

Though it is a complicated question to answer, it is possible to obtain a close estimate.

Without considering the mobile platform of your app, a typical base starting price would be somewhere between $10,000-$15,000. This could potentially cover everything from support, to maintenance, to the overall performance of the extremely content-driven and automated processes found in an app like Instagram.

Once we finally factor in the cost of the mobile platform it will launch from, the price varies a bit more.

Based on research, design, technology, and business logic, an app like Instagram can run as low as $7,000 to as high as $15, 000 for Windows phone.

This is by far the cheapest option possible after all its features are considered.

For Android devices, an app like Instagram can cost about $32,000.

As for the iOS counterparts, development would be at least $40,000.

Given that most iOS supported mobile apps are heavier than their Android and Windows counterparts, the price of the iOS version shouldn’t come as a shock.

If you’re planning on making your app available on all platforms, your final price can end up at about $100,000 to cover all the key features Instagram-like app.

Needless to say, building an app like Instagram requires quite the investment to ensure excellent quality and a strong network of users. Once your app is finally complete, it’ll need a good maintenance team to constantly update and improve its features.

Find out how much it cost to build your app using our Mobile App Cost Calculator.

Let’s make great things happen!

Handy

The post How Much Does it Cost to Build an App Like Instagram? appeared first on Dynamik Apps | AI Automation that Grows Your Business.

The giant strides in technology have ushered in a new era for businesses everywhere.

Before the advent of mobile technology, the only digital means most brands had to generate sales was through social media platforms and websites.

Today, evolving times have made building custom mobile apps the go-to method for businesses to experience profitable success. Studies show that just last year, smartphone users downloaded almost two hundred billion apps!

In fact, the amount of time people spent on using apps has almost tripled as apps are now central to users, prompting entrepreneurs to transform their ideas into apps.

If you’re an entrepreneur looking to build a mobile app, you’ll need to know how much the process can cost.

But first, you will need to decide which type of app you’re building for your business.

1. What type of app do you think would be reliable for your business?
2. Will the app be public or exclusive to internal users?
3. Will it be simple and informative, or interactive with customer care agents?
4. Will the app serve a long-term or short-term purpose?

And the list doesn’t stop there. All the questions above and more need answers to determine your requirements and the cost of the app.

Your developer can provide you with estimates, but it’s nearly impossible to quote a fixed number at the very beginning of your project. This is majorly due to the complexity of app development process itself.

Throughout the course of any project, there are several factors that all ultimately affect the final cost.

Before your estimate can begin, a developmental cost breakdown is necessary to determine what kind of features your app will need. The breakdown also dives into some of the major aspects of your app that will help decide its final price.

Some of those factors may include:

• Supported platforms
• App Purpose
• App Type: Native or Hybrid

Supported Platforms

Perhaps the most important factor, deciding the platform you want your app to run on is a huge factor in determining price. You need to decide if the app would be supported by Apple, Android or Window platforms or a combination of all three.

The cost of each platform varies as it ranges from $5,000 to $15,000 . If the app will be available on all the platforms, you can generally expect a higher price tag.

Purpose

Your app needs to have a specific purpose. If you’re on a tight budget and want to cut costs, we recommend a single purpose app.

For example, if the app is meant for online financial transactions alone, it would cost less than if it is built for multiple financial functions.

While multipurpose apps are more versatile, they will undoubtedly cost more to develop. Depending on how engaging you want your product to be, it’s an investment worth considering.

Native Vs. Hybrid Apps

Deciding between either a native or a hybrid app also affects the final cost of mobile app development.

Native apps are apps created for a specific operating system like Windows, iOS or Android.

These apps are “native” to the platform you intend them to run on. If you plan on targeting all three platforms with your app idea, your developer will need to build separate apps, each native to a specific platform.

Alternatively, a hybrid app is one that’s “wrapped” in a native framework built with strong languages like JavaScript and HTML.

These kinds of apps work on multiple operating systems and make it so your developer only needs to build one. However, they don’t function as well as native apps, and by comparison, they load much slower.

Most apps developed by businesses are native apps given how much better they function. However, it’s best to consult with a tech expert as to which app type suits your business the best.

After you’ve decided on an app type, your developer can finally start to craft an estimate for your project.

Actual Cost and Price

If you’re considering bringing your mobile idea to life with an app, it’s important to note that the cost of building the app depends its overall complexity and robustness. Other influencing factors include the app design, native versus hybrid platform, development life, and so much more.

That being said, the cost of developing a mobile app largely depends on its features, its uniqueness, the location, as well as the skills, expertise, and efficiency of the team of developers.

Though it isn’t possible to give you an exact price as to how much your project will cost, an estimate can be provided.

Here are a few ballpark numbers you can use to get an idea of how much it’ll cost to build an excellent app:

• For native apps, you’ll need to hire at least two native application developers for both the iOS and Android platforms at no less than $120,000 per year. That is about $10,000 per month.
• A UI/UX designer is also necessary on either on a part-time or full-time basis. These designers charge as high as $6,500 per month which can cost as much as $80,000 a year.
• To be able to correct any problems the app may run into, you should also consider hiring an Engineer. Their services cost up to $80,000 per year ($6,500 per month).
• And finally, an efficient team to manage the application costs about $120,000 in a year which is about $10,000 in a month.

These above  costs also vary on how complex the app will be.

“A simple app would take less than ten weeks to build while complex apps can take over 28 weeks to develop.”

For iOS-enabled devices, general prices might look like the following:

• Simple Apps: $1,000-$4,000
• Game Apps: $10,000-$250,000
• Database Apps: $8,000-$50,000

For Android devices, the numbers are a bit different:

• Elementary Apps: $25,000-$35,000
• Standard Apps: $45,000-$55,000
• Complex Apps: $55,000-$100,000
• High-tech Apps: $75,000-$150,000

The development of mobile apps doesn’t end after they’re launched.

There are other maintenance costs that are incurred almost immediately. Things like bug reports, suggestions, etc. all require ongoing maintenance to make sure your users get the best service at all times. And although a team of app developers is technically optional, tech experts recommend securing a team at least until the application bugs are fixed, and the product is stable.

Once that stable version is in place, you can hire the developing team on a contract basis to keep the app running smoothly for your consumers.

Though professionally built apps can be expensive, it doesn’t necessarily mean that the best way to build a successful app is to spend tons of money. Rather, your best bet is to hire a competent team that’s willing to do the extensive work to make sure your mobile app runs smoothly.

The right team will learn about the app goals, analyze several case studies, watch videos, read books, and talk to the appropriate experts to ensure you get the best product.

The process takes a while, but it is always well worth it in the end.

Remember, it takes a series of consistent steps to get this done. After all, Rome wasn’t built in a day and total cost of developing the app largely depends a lot of closely related aspects.

The important takeaway message here is that app costs given at any point in time are almost never final. App costs are subject to change as your app progresses and your product is brought to life.

Find out how much it cost to build your app using our,

Mobile App Cost Calculator.

Let’s make great things happen!

Handy

The post How Much Does It Cost to Build A Great Mobile App? appeared first on Dynamik Apps | AI Automation that Grows Your Business.