Low to medium complexity: In South Africa, a quality low to medium complexity mobile app would cost between R225,000 and R650,000. A start-up will most likely spend between R0 to R225,000 to create an app with a minimal feature set for a Minimum Viable Product (MVP).
High complexity: Apps for firms looking to simplify internal processes or interact with other systems should cost between R450,00 and R1,250,000.
WHY IS THE PROCESS OF CREATING APPS EXPENSIVE?
An app takes 5-20 people roughly 3-6 months to build on average. Designers, developers, and business analysts must have the correct tools for the task as well as the necessary experience.
That takes years to learn, and as a result, an average cost for an iOS developer with 5+ years of experience might be R2,000 per day or more. It is also dependent on the platforms you select. If you want both iOS and Android, you’ll need more personnel, a bigger budget, and a superb team to pull it all together.
Here’s a rough estimate of how much your app concept will cost and how much time it will take.
Time: A basic app is an application with limited functionality that takes 350-700 hours to construct.
A medium-complexity app takes 700 to 1,000 hours to develop.
In most situations, a sophisticated software with a backend and API interfaces takes more than 1,200 hours to construct.
WHAT FACTORS AFFECT THE COST OF APP DEVELOPMENT?
The cost of app development is determined by more than just development time and hourly rates. It is determined by a variety of criteria, including the technical complexity of the product, the size and expertise of the app development team, the platform used, and post-release support costs.
Factors influencing the cost of developing an app include:
a variety of platforms (iPhone, Android, Web)
amount of screens in the app you’re creating
app development app integrations
amount and complexity of app features backend development needs
post-release costs
