There’s a new tool for all you startup founders out there, and it will tell you how much it costs to build the app of your dreams.
It’s called How Much to Make an App, and it asks you a series of questions:
- Platform: Will your app be iOS, Android, or both?
- Login: Will users login with an email address or social network profile?
- Profiles: Will users be entering information about themselves that may be viewed publicly?
- Monetization: Will the app be free, paid, or with in-app purchases?
- Reviews: Will users be rating and reviewing things?
- Integration: Will your app communicate with your website via an API?
- Design: Do you want something beautiful and custom? Or can you deal with stock imagery or a bare-bones design?
- Icon: Do you need an app icon? (They usually cost $500 to $2,000 on their own.)
I suppose it’s a good sign that How Much to Make an App is beautiful itself?
For example, a free iOS app with social login, no profiles or ratings, and a bare-bones design and app icon runs at approximately $23,600.
How Much to Make an App is built by Crew, a Montreal startup and a marketplace for designers and developers. In effect, it’s a great marketing tool for them – when you arrive at the end of the process, they of course recommend that you head over to Crew to actually get that baby built.
The numbers are based on development fees of $60 to $100 per hour. If the number doesn’t seem quite right to you, there are a few other cost calculators out there:
- Otreva lets you select from even more features you might want to include, such as photos, geolocation, a shopping cart, messaging, and maps; and administrative features like feedback and a content management system.
- Tus Nua Designs also takes into account how complex the app is, whether you need to store and sync data, and whether you need security.
- HowMuchCostAnApp.com factors in whether your app needs to be multilingual and what stage of development you’re in.
Of course, you won’t know the true cost until you speak to some developers and designers – and projects notoriously run over budget. But these tools are a useful starting point now so you don’t get sticker shock later.