Competition in the mobile app market grows tighter each year. You need to keep improving the quality of your app if you want to keep up with your competitors. But development usually comes with high costs. If you don’t plan ahead, you might end up spending more than you should. Fortunately, there are ways to reduce app development costs.
Prices for app development vary depending on multiple factors such as the category, platform, design, and features of your mobile app. For those wondering how much does it cost to develop an app, it can go anywhere between $15,000 to $100,000. It may even be more than that if you plan to add complex features and deep integrations in your app. The important thing is that these prices are still negotiable. So even if you are on a budget, you don’t have to worry about compromising the overall quality of your app.
With that, here is how you can reduce your app development cost.
1. Establish clear plans
Having an established plan for your app development can save you a lot of headaches and unnecessary expenses along the way. You need to have a clear vision of what you want to see in your app to avoid unwanted changes in your app development. Likewise, it is important that you set expectations and budget beforehand. This ensures that everyone involved in the development process is on the same page.
An effective plan must contain the following:
- Finalize the list of features you want to add/remove in your app
- Determine what platforms you want to focus on
- Create a template for your UI design
- Provide specifications for your product UX
- Set a timeline for the development process with specific markers
Moreover, you should also update your estimates for each stage of the development process to make sure that you are still on budget. Your use of accounting software can help you keep track of your app development expenses.
2. Choose cross-platform
Developing native apps for different platforms such as Android, iOS, and Windows, have their own perks. However, it will also cost you more. So another way on how to reduce development costs is to go for a hybrid or cross-platform app that can run on any platform available.
Cross-platform app development ensures that you can reach out to the customers on each platform. It makes your app accessible to all mobile users no matter what operating system they use. This also allows your users to seamlessly access your app in web browsers, giving them more flexibility in the process.
Having multiple native apps for different platforms makes it harder for you to update your app. You have to manually incorporate the changes, one by one. But with cross-platform development, you only have to do it once and your app will reflect the same changes across the different platforms.
3. Avoid expensive features
The most simple and effective way to reduce mobile app development costs is to avoid adding any expensive features in your app. Just focus on the essential parts of the apps. After all, offering too many features can just confuse your users and make your apps interface messy. Not only does it cost you more, but it can also make you lose profit in the end.
Integrate new features into your app that would increase its functionality rather than just for the sake of making it unique. In many cases, a minimal, sleek interface is more cost-effective for mobile apps.
4. Launch an MVP
It is always better to test the waters first before going all out with the changes in your app. Hence, consider launching a minimal viable product (MVP) first before releasing the final version of your app. It helps you a lot in a strategic way for on-time mobile app delivery.
MVP is an early version of your app that has a minimal set of features to attract enough customers to validate your product idea during the early stage of your app development. This allows you to receive user feedback as quickly as possible and incorporate them into the final version of your app. This way, you are certain that the changes you will be adding to your app are exactly what your target users need or want.
5. Use the right tools
Investing in the right tools can also reduce your app development cost. The tools you use to build your app will also be the same tools you will use to develop it. Hence, it is important that they add too much strain on your budget later on.
Nonetheless, if you start to notice that your current tools areas cost-effective as hoped, then it is too late to look for alternatives. You can check out these top tools for mobile app development for app developers and find which one would be best for your app.
In addition to this, Obstacles encountered by mobile application testers should be identified and addressed early on in the development process, which can prevent costly rework and delays down the line
Conquering the mobile app market
The mobile app market is booming. Just last year, there were over 119 billion apps downloaded from Google Play. The forecast also shows that the next few years will show the same upward trend. If you want to remain relevant and competitive in the market, you must make sure that your app can keep up with the changing demands of your users.
You might balk at the price of app development at first glance. But with the right tools and strategy and using different types of mobile app testing you can save up on cost without compromising your app quality. Keep these tips in mind the next time you develop your app. This way, you can spend less while also adding more to your app.
