All of us know that most of the apps on the Apple Store and Play Store are free; but that doesn’t mean that they were created for pennies on the dollar as well. To create a fully functional app which can come prove to be popular in the market, a lot of things need to go right – robust foundation, well balanced ecosystem, diligent team and technically astute human resource. The cost of the app varies and depends on a wide array of parameters according to the application type that is being developed. There is no such average cost basically, depends on the timing and the concept.

So what should the app developers or business managers need to do to figure out the pricing? After all, in a market such as ours wherein the numbers are everything, pricing often is the deciding factor that could make or break the overall decision. Ergo, here a few factors which you need to consider before deciding the price.

This is the default step when it comes to app development. The overall project success depends on how well you’ve researched before coming up with a product. Good research doesn’t necessarily mean that the cost will increase; what you need to do is be smart about it i.e. keep market needs at the forefront and run not just one or two, but multiple data collection channels, so that you leave nothing to chance.

One-on-one with the audience is the ideal way; however, not many companies have the finances or the bandwidth to see this through.

Periodical Updates

Updating the app is a never ending process; there are no two ways about it. There are times when a user goes back to an app just because he/she saw that an update for it was available. This is one of the most significant factors while deciding the cost of the overall application and one which is most often overlooked.

Even an average maintenance cost can rip a hole in your pockets as technology is something which keeps on moving forward without any remorse. The size of the project in itself and the app cost go hand in hand. According to a survey, at least 30% of the companies update their apps once a month or more.

Mobile Platform Type

Defining the platform you’re designing the app for is another major factor which needs consideration. What might be expensive on the iOS platform might not be treated the same way on Windows. Every platform is different and supports integration processes of different complexities.

Also, it is worth considering that underneath the platform, you need to prepare your app with different sets of devices as well, which is why Android is the most difficult of them all; given that it supports more than 18,000 different device types. On the flipside, the number of Apple devices are all but numbered.

Time Taken

More time = More cost! You will need to define man-hours for your team i.e. the number of hours your team is working per man, and then define a per-man-hour cost, which will help you determine the overall app cost. Eg. If a particular IT individual is on a salary of 1000 INR per man-hour, that means he/she is costing you 1,40,000 INR a month on average. Apart from this, there are other resources and amenities to consider (power, Internet, hosting, etc.).

Other Important Factors
Other factors which demand your attention include the likes of the extent of testing, human resource expense and the app type (native or hybrid).