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Blog Summary:
This blog helps you explore the complete cost breakdown for outsourced app development and prepare your budget accordingly. We also guide you through the key factors of outsourced app development costs, selecting the right development partner, hidden app development charges, and the entire development process.
Table of Content
Mobile app development has become a necessity for businesses across various sectors, enabling them to redefine their operations and deliver a more enhanced customer experience. Meanwhile, it’s also true that app development is an expensive deal and certainly not affordable for every business.
Therefore, outsourcing app development is the right solution, not only for minimizing costs but also for expediting the development process and ensuring on-time delivery.
According to Statista, the global IT outsourcing revenue is expected to reach $588.38 billion by 2025. It reflects the growing demand and popularity of outsourcing among businesses seeking to develop apps. So, how much does outsourcing app development cost?
This is a crucial question that often comes to mind for everyone planning to outsource app development. We will discuss the Outsource App Development Cost to give you an idea of the investment required for your project.
Outsourced app development has been in higher demand for the past few years. Several factors contribute to this, including cost efficiency, rapid go-to-market strategies, access to specialized talent, and others.
Statista predicts that the global IT outsourcing market is expected to grow at a 6.51% rate during the forecast period from 2025 to 2030. It also results in an overall market volume of $806.55bn by the year 2030.
Web apps and mobile apps appear to be the most in-demand outsourced services in the coming years. Outsourcing app development has become the most suitable option for businesses of various sizes, including small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs), as well as established market players.
When outsourcing your projects, it is crucial to gain a thorough understanding of the factors that directly influence app development costs. We will discuss many of these factors that have a major impact on the cost:
Outsourcing app development is a multi-phase and fully structured process, rather than being a single-stage task. The costs often vary based on the app development cycle, which typically includes discovery, planning, UI/UX design, front-end and back-end development, testing, deployment, and support.
Every step of the app development process requires time investments, diverse skill sets, and collaboration efforts. All of these factors have a significant impact on the overall cost of outsourcing app development.
Apart from numbers, the complexity of features also has a significant impact on the cost of app development.
For instance, an app with simple and basic features often costs less than one with complex features and a multi-functional platform. These complex features mainly include GPS, real-time data sync, role-based user access, AI/ML, and integration.
When your app requires more backend support and custom logic, it necessitates a higher level of expertise and more development hours. As a result, it ultimately increases the overall costs.
This is the initial phase of project development, which involves defining user personas, objectives, and discussing app architecture. It becomes highly important for minimizing long-term risks and costs, even though it is often overlooked. The charge for the discovery phase generally ranges from $2,000 to $6,000 for outsourced teams.
They are responsible for conducting complete discovery workshops and documentation. It depends mainly on two important factors: scope and industry. The major advantage of investing in this is that it allows you to overcome rework during the development process.
When it comes to increasing user engagement and usability of an app, prototyping and design play a crucial role. Costs for this rely on numerous factors such as the number of screens, design customizations, micro-interactions, animations, and user testing iterations.
When you need a pixel-perfect UI or interactive prototype, it often costs more, ranging from $5,000 to $10,000 or even more. It can increase, especially when you require a distinct design for each platform, such as iOS or Android.
This is the main and resource-intensive phase of app development. It encompasses all types of development, including backend, frontend, API integrations, database architecture, admin panel development, and more.
Factors that influence cost in this phase include code quality standards, the technology stack, the use of pre-built or custom coding, and third-party integrations, among others.
The development of a simple app typically takes between 300 and 600 hours. On the other hand, complex apps can take even more than 1500 development hours. To calculate the total cost, multiply the hourly rate of your app development partner by the number of development hours.
The level of app development expertise your developers possess also determines the overall cost. The per-hour cost generally varies based on the specialization and seniority of developers. Let’s understand the charge of development based on their skills:
| Developers | Range of Hourly Cost |
|---|---|
| Junior Developers | $20 to $50/hr |
| Mid-Level Developer | $50 to $80/hr |
| Senior Developer | $70 to $150/hr |
Those projects that demand advanced security, scalability, or integration with enterprise systems may need high-level expertise. This increases the hourly rate.
Deployment requires a lot of preparation. It involves several important steps, including preparing app store listings, conducting final QA checks, setting up CI/CD pipelines, submitting the app to the app store (Google Play Store/Apple Store) for review, and resolving any persistent issues before launch.
The total cost may range from $500 to $2,000. Though it has a small budget, it’s indeed a vital part of your entire budget.
Your decision to develop an app on a particular platform also impacts its overall cost. Developing an app on a single platform is less expensive than developing one for multiple platforms.
Meanwhile, businesses often opt for cross-platform app development using multiple frameworks, such as React Native or Flutter, to achieve cost savings. Consider the following important scenarios:
| Platforms | App Development Cost (Starting Range) |
|---|---|
| iOS | $20,000 |
| Android | $15,000 |
| Native (Both Platforms) | $50,000 |
| Cross Platform | $20,000 |
Therefore, when selecting a platform for your app development, you need to make decisions based on your device usage patterns, target audience, budget flexibility, and other relevant factors.
Selecting the best outsourced app development partner is crucial for increasing ROI. Any incorrect selection can lead to numerous repercussions, including budget overruns, delays, poor product-market fit, and other adverse consequences. We discuss some of the factors you need to consider to make the right selection:
A right outsourced development partner should possess a proven track record and technical expertise to deliver top-quality work. You should never forget to verify technical certifications, case studies, portfolios, client testimonials, Clutch ratings, and other relevant information.
Ensure your development partner has sufficient experience in leveraging the required technologies, such as Node.js, Flutter, and AWS, among others.
Additionally, they should be versatile enough to cater to various domains, including fintech, healthcare, e-commerce, and others. You need to understand that quality comes not only from coding but also from building secure, scalable, and highly maintainable solutions.
Highly effective communication is quite essential to make your outsourcing successful. You should always look for an outsourced app development partner who promises to offer clear documentation and utilize cutting-edge project management, among other benefits.
Meanwhile, you can also check whether they provide a point of contact to remove confusion or a dedicated project manager. Whether it’s a lack of transparency or delayed responses, they indeed affect both ROI and project timelines.
With agile project management, you can be certain that your outsourced team delivers solutions within budget and on time. They help you in many ways, such as defining milestones, offering agile-based delivery, and monitoring progress with detailed reporting.
The major advantage of a well-managed project is that it addresses any unexpected roadblocks and also provides the opportunity for iteration and feedback, even without incurring cost escalation.
The next consideration is whether the development partner you hire has a tech-savvy team. The reason is that a tech-savvy team brings technical vision and innovation,
In addition to producing high-quality code, these developers create apps that are fully functional and future-ready. You should always look for an outsourced app development partner that suggests better, more affordable, and faster ways to craft features.
Additionally, they should also recommend frameworks, APIs, and tools to enhance the app performance. Ensure your development partner commits to staying current with ongoing trends, such as Web3, AI/ML, Cloud-native apps, and more.
Since you outsource mobile app development projects to developers located in other countries, it is essential to consider factors such as cultural alignment, working across different time zones, and other relevant aspects.
It’s advisable to prioritize those teams that have already served customers in your region, have flexibility with overlapping working hours, and offer other benefits. Any mismatch in expectations or communication styles affects the progress and also boosts the cost of correlations.
Ensure your app development company has market awareness and a user-centric approach. It’s necessary to minimize the gap between usability and functionality.
You need to select a team that has a good understanding of regional compliances, conducts usability testing, user research, considers accessibility standards, and more. They should also have an understanding of how to develop features and why those features are important for your target audience.
Ongoing support is something you can expect from only a reliable mobile application development outsourcing partner. Therefore, you should ask your development partner whether they offer this support. You need to ask details about the following services from your providers;
Ongoing support is highly important for long-term ROI, especially in today’s time, where improvements and updates are continuous.
Outsourcing app development also involves various hidden costs, which the majority of businesses often overlook. These costs adversely impact their budget. Let’s examine several key areas to consider before outsourcing.
When you decide to develop your app for a single platform, it initially appears to be an affordable choice. However, it may allow you to reach a wider audience. It can be possible only through multi-platform support.
Whether you opt for native or cross-platform app development, you will need additional optimization, QA, and design adjustments to ensure consistent performance across different OS versions, devices, and screen sizes.
These additional efforts increase the overall cost. Apart from this, any future additions or updates also need to be done separately for each platform.
You can take security as optional, especially when your app deals with confidential or sensitive data. To ensure the robust security of mobile apps, your outsourced development partner should implement only basic security measures.
However, implementing security measures like GDPR, HIPAA, or others can be more costly. Implementing robust features, such as end-to-end encryption and secure APIs, can increase the overall cost. It not only protects your apps from data breaches but also helps you avoid any regulatory penalties.
After launching your app successfully, you need its proper maintenance, which is ongoing, and thus your investment in this is recurring. Maintenance encompasses various activities, including OS update compatibility, bug fixes, security patches, performance monitoring, and UI/UX improvements, among others.
The majority of outsourcing companies provide annual maintenance contracts for maintenance services. And its cost generally ranges at least 20% of the overall development cost of the app every year. You can’t ignore maintenance. Otherwise, your app may face issues such as user drop-offs, crashes, and reputational damage.
The integration of third-party APIs and tools into advanced applications has become necessary recently to enhance their functionality. It becomes necessary, especially for integrating maps, payment processing, email notifications, analytics, and other features.
These services are available with usage-based billing or monthly subscription fees. Although third-party services are time-saving and convenient, they also increase the cost. Meanwhile, their cost depends on app scaling and usage.
To outsource app development companies successfully, you need to do proper planning, a structured development lifecycle, and make smart platform choices. The entire process consists of multiple steps that are as follows;
You first need to spend enough time understanding your target users before you reach out to your development service provider. The most important factors to consider include market demand for similar apps, user behaviors, demographics, pain points to address, competitor analysis, and more.
Considering these helps you understand the value proposition and also formulate your product strategy accordingly.
The selection of the right platform is directly related to the app’s reach and performance. You can either opt for iOS or Android, or both. Besides, you can also opt for cross-platform app development. Regardless of which platform you choose, it should align perfectly with your audience’s device usage and your long-term objectives.
Once you get a clear idea of the market and platform, you need to now look for an app development company.
As we mentioned earlier, several key factors should be considered when hiring a development agency, including verified client reviews, a well-structured portfolio, transparent communication, and clear engagement models. You can conduct a proper interview to determine whether they cater to you culturally or technically.
Now, you need to start your app development journey with a minimum viable product (MVP). It helps you validate your idea without taking too much time. Being cost-efficient, an MVP includes only the basic yet essential features that are crucial to resolving core user issues.
This approach is also necessary to minimize upfront investment, reduce time-to-market, and obtain real-world feedback. A focused MVP also prevents you from over-engineering, thereby keeping the entire development aligned perfectly with real demand.
Thorough testing is indispensable to ensure your app is secure, bug-free, and also performs outstandingly across multiple devices.
When selecting an outsourcing company, ensure they conduct a range of tests, including usability testing, manual testing, automation testing, security testing, and compliance validation. When you skip QA, it often results in high post-launch costs.
After completing the testing process successfully, it’s time to submit your app to app stores. You can, of course, expect complete assistance from your outsourced development partner.
They assist you in completing tasks such as preparing app store descriptions, screenshots, platform-specific guidelines, privacy policies, and final submissions. They also provide you with a guide through the approval process to ensure your app’s successful launch.
Once you launch your app, you need to integrate a tracking tool to monitor its performance. It also helps you capitalize on growth opportunities and enhance user retention.
The tool helps you analyze user engagement, feature adoption, churn rates, crash logs, app performance, and error reports. Additionally, you can gather feedback for your next iteration as well.
With over 16 years of experience, we are a trusted app development company, specializing in creating secure, scalable, and innovative mobile applications.
Whether you build an MVP or an enterprise-grade complex platform, we are your one-stop destination. From research to development and deployment, we provide end-to-end services.
Our developers have experience catering to multiple industries, including logistics, healthcare, fintech, and more. We create cross-platform, native, and custom apps integrated with cutting-edge features. We are committed to making your outsourced app development journey cost-effective and hassle-free.
Understand the full breakdown of Outsource App Development Cost and get expert guidance on smart budgeting strategies.
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Outsourcing app development is a strategic and cost-effective choice, only when you approach it with planning and clarity. You need to keep in mind that every decision you make directly impacts your ROI, from understanding genuine cost factors and selecting the right app development partners to tackling hidden expenses.
It’s advisable to follow a well-structured development process and consult a reliable development partner, such as Moon Technolabs. Get in touch to build a performance-driven and scalable app.
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Jayanti Katariya is the CEO of Moon Technolabs, a fast-growing IT solutions provider, with 18+ years of experience in the industry. Passionate about developing creative apps from a young age, he pursued an engineering degree to further this interest. Under his leadership, Moon Technolabs has helped numerous brands establish their online presence and he has also launched an invoicing software that assists businesses to streamline their financial operations.
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