How Much Should An App Cost

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When I first got into mobile app development, I actually wasn't a 'coder' or even technical by any means. I was just looking to build a product that I had raised some money for. I was naive, optimistic, arrogant of my competence and all while being completely unsure of how I was going to do any of it. I reached out to several companies on UpWork (Or Elance as it was called at the time) and tried to source local talent to get a quote for the project. And the response was so bad, that looking back it was almost hilarious. I received quotes from $500 to $200,000. And if you're reading this article, there's a chance you've seen something similar. But why? Why are all these companies so completely unaligned for the cost of what seems like a pretty straightforward set of tasks? It should all be so simple. Right?

Well let's get to the meat and potatoes. You probably don't realize this but the reality is that there are hundreds of ways to build the same thing. Dozens of programming languages and tools to build the same thing. And they each come with very different pro's and cons to why you should choose them.

The cost of a mobile app really comes down to the hours and days a team feels they'll need to put in to get it completed. And even then, there are some caveats. Some teams are based in developing countries and you might have noticed they have much lower prices. But if you consider the time difference and the difficulty that brings to managing accountability, the language barriers that maybe intrinsic to getting something so complicated done right, and the cost to hand it over to new team members you may find that you're actually paying the same rate - you're simply paying the rest of it in time and headaches.

Something else to consider, you shouldn't overspend on your first version. And whatever your idea is, you should think of the 'initial' build as simply the first version. If you think there won't be tons of changes and iterations until you really start seeing a response from the market, well I can tell you from experience that you've already failed and that is a common mentality of every failed tech entrepreneur I've ever met. Make sure that the build is only around 20-55% of your first year's run-rate if this is going to be a new venture.

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With all the above said, don't spend more than $200,000 on your first version and don't spend less than $30,000 to $40,000 on you first version. More than $200,000 and you're probably unprepared for post-development costs. And under $30,000 and there's a 75% you're getting scammed. And by scammed, I don't mean you're going to get nothing and your developer is booking a flight to Hawaii. But I mean you'll likely have a non-committed team that will play phone tag with you 5 months past the agreed upon completion date. You'll probably get your product, but boy did you pay for it. And if you can't afford those costs, have someone build a UX/UI prototype (basically a graphic design of the product) and then find a tech person to join you (and commit to you) and get the job done.

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Looking for more info?

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Here at Lotus Technologies, I've put in a lot of work in the early days to eliminate these issues for upcoming start-ups and enterprises looking for some answers. You can learn more about pricing here: LotusTech.NYC/whitepaper

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Dream on,

- Dossey Richards, CEO of Lotus Technologies

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