How Much Android App Development Costs?

9 min readOct 30, 2019

You may come across the name “Android” or even “Google” at least once a day, if not more. This is the extent of its popularity.

Table Of Content:

A Vast Customer Base

You are definitely not a stranger to the popularity of the Android platform among the users. This fame is justified by the fact that the app downloads of Android for 1H 2018 and 2019 increased by 16.4% amounting to 41.9 billion downloads. This signifies that as a business, your app can enjoy the exposure to million users and will eventually attract higher ROI.

Highly Cost-effective

Easy Integration

The android platform grants inner app integration along with effective customization matching the requirements of the business by providing appropriate tools. These apps are easy to integrate with third-party APIs which helps in reducing the development time.

Compatibility with Devices

Highly Customizable

To effectively calculate the cost of Android app development, a formula has been curated. It involves the amount of time (in hours) taken in the Android app development , which is then multiplied with the billable hours of the resources spent in the whole .

Process of App Discovery

This is the initial and also a crucial stage in the process of app development. App Discovery is the process of justifying and validating the app idea . There are several ways and methods used by the Android app builders to complete this task, and one of them is Design Sprint. This process can last upto 5 days, if not more.

Let’s have a look at the methods employed in the leading up to the final Android app development cost .

Research and Analysis of the Market
By examining the applications similar to the app idea, here we establish our expectations regarding what features may get included in the application.
Setting User Personas
Creating user personas is an important cog in the machinery of effective Android app development. By determining the reasons behind the actions and decisions of the users, it will become easy to establish factors such as app size, UI/UX of the application, must-have features and a lot more. Doing this incredible helps in the Android app development cost breakdown.
Market Capitalization
It is at this stage we put an estimation on the app idea, in terms of its market value. Some of the major contributors in determining the market value of the cost are:
The potential of the app to attract users
Generate revenue and higher ROI
The amount of funding it can raise.

In short, the whole process of App Discovery is wrapped around the features and attributes any Android application must have to outshine its contenders.

Android Application Scoping and Analysis

Moving forward in the process of Android app development, this stage consists of all the solid decisions that are made about the application such as its features, functionalities, tech-stack, etc.

Level of App Complexity

One of the qualities which contribute to an application being considered as “Efficient” and incredible is the diversity of the features it has. So, let’s have a look at some prominent features that add up to the Android app creation cost.

Model of Deployment Architecture
Speaking of backend development, it consists of two types — BaaS and Custom.
In the Baas development, you will be given a readymade backend architecture, allowing less room for change. On the other side of the table, Custom backend development provides an architecture that is made from scratch complementing a particular application.
Integration of Third-Party App
A lot of times, applications need to interact with other third-party applications to perform specific functions. These functions can be anything from using Google or Facebook to sign up to interact with a monetary application for in-app purchases. Functions such as these make integration third-party apps a crucial feature.

Type and Category of App

M-Commerce Apps
M-Commerce applications are at the peak of their popularity and continue to rank high in the market. These applications have diminished the need for brick and mortar stores and websites to a great extent.
Now, all this was possible because these applications are loaded with tons of features that enable the applications to perform effectively in real-time, handle millions of users at once, and have robust security. It is understandable that due to such features the cost for m-Commerce is a little steep.
Stand-Alone Apps
Stand-alone applications are the ones that do not need third-party integration, meaning they are not dependent on any device’s functions and features. To state an example, apps like Clock, Calendar, Calculator, and more come under this category. These applications are very simple in nature so by default the cost of app development is low.
Enterprise Apps
Enterprise applications are more specific in nature. It is because they cater to a specific user demographic, i.e., employees of any organization to act out certain functions. These applications highly require scalability and scope for changes and have to be in coordination with the changes in the organizations. Due to this, the cost of enterprise apps tends to be on the pricier side.
Social Networking Apps
No wonder social networking applications are all the rage nowadays as they perform several functions phenomenally. They are developed with third-party integrations and are given the ability to access hardware functions such as Cameras, audio recorders, etc.
What is more, social networking apps are highly scalable in nature for they have to support millions of users at a time. As a result, their cost tends to be higher than the cost of less complex Android apps.
On-demand Apps
Even the simplest of on-demand applications has three versions- for users, for individuals offering services, and for the business.

Android App Animation and Design

UI Design
is the type of design that is used for the Android app development to add the spirit of creativity and simplistic boldness in the . Whereas, for iOS, is more ideal. So evidently, the cost of Android app design is another notch in the belt that contributes to the final cost.
Wireframing
To create effective user experience features and maps, is employed by the developers. Special tools like MARVEL, Balsamiq, and Photoshop are used. What is more, wireframes are always client-approved to create an application screen flow.
Animation
has become a popular method to make certain aspects of any application interesting and intuitive. More often than not, gaming and social media applications employ animations to a great degree. However, the coding and designing in animations is a really complex process, marking a hike in the cost of any Android app that uses it.

App deployment on Play Store

Additionally, there is a one-time fee of $25 that Google charges for publishing applications.

Android App Maintenance

The process for app development does not end with the application successfully getting published on the Play Store, there is much more ahead to do, i.e., However necessary this step is, the maintenance cost of Android apps eventually adds up to the final amount of total cost.

Version Updates
Your app will become stagnant and essentially obsolete if it does not get updated with the latest updates in the operating system. Updating the application will ensure that it is compatible with the latest changes in the OS and is performing well.
Improvising App Design
With the changes in technology and also the preferences of the users, we tend to change a lot of things for the better, so why not app design? There is a high need for improving the app design in order to meet users’ demands and deliver the impeccable user experience.
Squashing Bugs
Bugs are the one sneaky element that can enter your application even when you take strict endeavors for prevention. In which case, it is important to constantly check for issues in the application that are becoming an impediment in smooth user experience and fix them as soon as spotted.

Size of Development Team

The total Android app development cost heavily depends on . There are two choices at hand — a proficient who you choose for the app development or a freelance developer. app development company

If you choose a startup development company or even a group of freelance Android app developers, the cost of the developed app will amount to be low. The reason behind it is they will entirely focus on enhancing their portfolio and monetary gains will come second in the priority list.

Opposed to this, a company with a bigger team size will focus on clients who can pay more as it has a lot of mouths to feed. However, the quality of the end product will definitely be worth it and will be superior to that of freelance developers. It is because an organization has access to the latest tech-stack and professionals who work diligently in making the applications the best it can be.

This is how a team size flow of large capital Android app development organizations looks like.

Android App Development Location

The location factor also plays a pivotal role in determining the overall cost of app development. The same services can vary vastly in cost and quality around the world, because of certain factors governing each region.

Cost As Per Hourly Rates

Well, the cost of any application depends on how much time it took to develop a certain application and also the technology used in the process. Now, Android apps are developed using the Java programming language, whereas iOS applications are based on Swift and Objective-C. It is observed that the developers of the latter languages can charge from 10% to 15% more in comparison to Java developers. This shows that Android app development is less costly than iOS in this regard.

App Designing

The difference between the time spent on developing engaging and intuitive UI Design for both Android and iOS apps is minimal. What is more, there is a lot of room for experimentation and innovation in the Android app development due to the flexible guidelines of Google.

Testing Process

App Launch

Due to the strict , it becomes arduous for developers to get the application cleared. Whereas Google does not have restricted entry. However, the may suggest some strictness in the process of app selection. Additionally, Apple charges a total of $99 per year, which is way more in front of $25 of Google Play as a one-time fee.

After witnessing all the factors majorly contributing to the final Android app development cost , we can see that it is not possible to have a one-word answer to the question “How Much Does an Android App Development Cost” . However, these factors are sufficient to some extent in explaining how the cost of any Android app is determined.

Q. How to Estimate the Development Cost of an Android App

There is a simple formula that is used to calculate the final cost of Android app development — Hours spent in development multiplied by the billable hours of resources spent.

Q. Why Startups Should Go with Android Application Development?

We could present a plethora of benefits that Android app development offers to startups. Some of the major points from the benefits are:

Exposure to a huge user base
Easy Integration
Cost-effective in many respects
Scalable and supports customization
Compatibility with a myriad of devices

Q. What Affects the Cost to Develop an Android App?

There are many factors that contribute to the final cost of Android app development. They are:

Application discovery
Market Analysis and scoping
Publishing the application
The maintenance cost of the application
Size of the development team
Location of developers

Continue exploring the landscape of product design with these helpful resources:

Originally published at https://appinventiv.com on October 30, 2019.