2022 Insights: The Costs of Developing a Mobile App
Table of Contents
Marketing technology evolves directly as a result of trends in consumer behaviors and preferences. When the first official app stores began to emerge for smartphones and mobile devices in 2008, marketers and advertisers took note and started focusing their efforts on capturing the attention of consumers through online channels and websites. In the last several years, retailers and service providers on both the B2B and B2C sides of the economy have realized that in order to capture the attention of their customers and maintain top-of-mind brand awareness, increased engagement, and retention, they would have to create tools for engaging their share of the more than 6.4 billion mobile devices in use today.
To support the growing number of customer loyalty programs, eCommerce platforms, and other methods for engaging customers and gaining their business, businesses have turned to marketers and IT teams to build customized mobile applications. Depending on how this process is approached and how much customization is required to meet the needs of your brand, this can be an affordable and profitable undertaking or a budget-busting project. As a platform designed to connect B2B service providers with those in need of their services, UpCity helps to connect businesses in need of an app to support their brand to design teams and programmers that can provide these services. As a relevant topic to a number of our readers, we engaged with Pollfish to conduct a survey of 300 United States-based developers who specialize in creating mobile apps to give their insight on the costs and processes involved.
We’ve organized the Pollfish data into discussions of the costs a business should expect, broken down into the following topics:
- Discovery Phase and Project Size
- Design Stage
- Mobile App Features and Capabilities
- Testing, Deployment, and Maintenance
- Development Company Metrics
To support the statistical feedback gained through the Pollfish survey, we engaged with mobile app developers across industries to gain their boots-on-the-ground insight into the myriad of costs and considerations a small business or corporate entity should keep top of mind when outsourcing to or contracting with an app development company to build out a customized application in 2022.
Discovery Phase and Project Size
50% of development companies require a discovery phase before they proceed with a mobile app development project
The app development process is complex and requires a number of steps throughout to ensure the app built covers all of the customization requirements laid forth by the client. These requirements are not always completely clear at the start of an engagement. Our survey shows a majority of our respondents either used a discovery phase with every client or with those clients with unclear expectations. During a discovery meeting, an experienced development team can help their potential client properly identify the goals of the application and the role it will play in their business, both of which are required pieces of information to create an effective tool for the client.
Throughout the process, taking this step at the initial stages of engagement embeds an overall sense of efficiency and open communication into the customer-vendor relationship. The roadmap laid out in this meeting can help to save valuable time and resources by ensuring the initial planning stages have established the path forward. It will help the team determine what functionality in the application brings the most value to the client and therefore prioritize the development process. This minimal viable product can then be honed over time to offer further functionality and enhancements aimed at expanding and improving customer engagement.
50% – We require a discovery phase before moving forward with every project
37% – We only require a discovery phase depending on the client or project
13% – We don’t require a discovery phase to move forward with a project
29% of companies noted that the app development discovery phase costs $10,001-$15,000
There’s not a small business out there who hasn’t reached out to a developer friend to ask them if they can build a mobile app quickly and easily to help enhance client services. The fact is that application development is a complex and multistep process involving multiple departments and can take many months, even upwards of a year depending upon the scope of the project. Given the return and ongoing value customers expect from such a tool, it’s likely that the mobile app development process will be ongoing in order to keep it functional and responsive to the client’s evolving business needs, and so any discussion of the cost of the application must include ongoing support. However, at the front end of the development process, many don’t realize that it takes a significant amount of research and planning in order to establish the requirements of the application the client needs to be built.
16% – Less than $5,000
28% – $5,001-$10,000
29% – $10,001-$15,000
16% – $15,001-$25,000
11% – $25,001+
Depending on the purpose of the application, research can entail competitive and opportunity analysis to position it versus competitors and establish a number of important concerns. Included at this level is establishing who the intended users are and the app’s value proposition to those users. What problem or challenge does the application help to solve? The competitive analysis explores how competitors are addressing those pain points, and how to create a tool that provides more value and better features in how it addresses these challenges. Once the research phase has been completed, the team will build out the minimum viable product (MVP) discussed above and start the iterative development process of working through user stories in order to hone and refine the tool.
Together, these processes take significant manpower and resources to accomplish, as well as the time taken in meetings to review progress and prioritize and craft results into a path forward. As services, it follows that the initial expenditures for a majority of app development projects can run anywhere between $5,000 and $15,000. This ensures that not only will the project have the strong data-focused foundation it needs to succeed but also improves the chances that the developer will develop a long-term relationship with the client. Projects priced at this range are not usually one-off projects, and an experienced developer can help the client understand the true value of improving the tool over time.
The scope of the project can greatly impact the costs and even the necessity of a discovery phase. For small businesses, the discovery phase might not be completely necessary if the scope of the application is standard to the industry and the goals and requirements are clearly laid out during the consultation. As the size of the organization increases and the complexity of the services on offer expand, more complex software applications are necessary to fully meet the needs of the company contracting the work. More complex projects at this level require a level of research and discovery that necessitates extensive planning upfront, leading to costs upwards of $10,000 or more.
(Breakdown by business size)
| Primary Client Sizes | Discovery Phase Requirements | Most Common Cost |
|---|---|---|
| Small Businesses (2-250 employees) | We only require a discovery phase depending on the client or project | $5,001-$10,000 |
| Mid-Sized Businesses (251-1,000 employees) | We require a discovery phase before moving forward with every project | $10,001-$15,000 |
| Large Businesses (1,001+ employees) | We require a discovery phase before moving forward with every project | $10,001-$15,000 |
With the results of our survey showing a correlation between a client’s size and requiring participation in a discovery phase before moving forward with a project, we wanted to gather insight from the developer community on how they determine the necessity of a discovery phase.
“Yes, a discovery phase is required. Our discovery phase is typically an intake form that we use to prequalify the potential client—if they do not fill out this form, we do not work with them, period. It weeds out the window shoppers or those who are not serious. We also ask for a budget range on that form. This required information accomplishes two things. First, it sets the minimum expectation of our services, and second, it anchors them to a project that will be no less than $10,000, which is our minimum engagement for mobile apps.
From there, we schedule an intro/discovery call and talk the potential client through our process, get some information about their app idea or situation in order to determine if we’re building new or if they have one already that needs work, and finish up with very clear action steps to move forward. The discovery phase is critical and there is no way we would get into a project without it. The discovery phase also allows us to build rapport and give the potential client an opportunity to pick our brains and ask any questions they may have about us or our processes.”
—Will Manuel, President & CEO, Core Media Concepts, LLC
“Yes, we require a project exploration phase. This improves your knowledge of the market, potential clients, and your product. It assists you in determining which characteristics are in demand and what your product can be. It is important to get a good understanding of your potential customers because it is going to help you decide what features you should put in and what your product can be. Given that, if you don’t have a good understanding of your potential customers, you will have to try lots of different features and ideas until you find the one that is going to work best.”
—Kevin Levinson, Mobile App Developer, Smart Sight Innovations
“Yes, we have a discovery phase, but we handle this phase differently than most development agencies. Most clients do not have the time to create a requirements document or do not understand how to do so or how to conduct a concept analysis properly. Aside from the requirements documentation, wireframing is an important step in the discovery phase. Wireframes allow the client to visually see the layout of the app, and also allows the client to see what features/specifications can be achieved with various layouts and UXes.”
—Brent Hoskins, Full-Stack Developer, Three29
43% of development companies also require a minimum project size to move forward
The discovery process reveals the overall scope of the project, and establishes the long-term roadmap of how much a project might cost due to the resources and manpower necessary to execute the project. At this stage, many developers make the choice of whether or not to move forward with a project. According to our survey respondents, a majority of developers have minimal cost thresholds that a project must reach in order to take on a contract. An additional 42% assess the potential clients in conjunction with the scope of the project and its costs to decide whether or not to take on a project.
This is an important statistic in that it shows that many developers are unwilling to take on small-scale projects that are likely to be one-off projects that don’t require future updates. With a more complex project on the table, there’s a chance for the firm to create a long-term relationship with that client because the project will require ongoing support. Setting minimum project sizes is further a way for developers to protect their long-term fiscal health. Even low-cost projects require the full deployment of developer teams and can slow down the workflow, so setting minimal cost points for development projects increases the return on time invested in projects and increases the overall bottom line.
43% – We always require a minimum project size to move forward
42% – We only require a minimum project size depending on the client
14% – We don’t require a minimum project size to move forward
26% of respondents note that their minimum project size costs $5,001-$10,000
Once you’ve paid to complete the discovery phase and established the proper scope of requirements and features, the cost to build out a project can vary greatly. According to our respondents, many of their organizations have established minimum project costs. As with costs related to the discovery phase, a large percentage of developer agencies prioritize projects costing between a minimum of $5000 to $15,000 to properly execute.
(Overall breakdown)
15% – Less than $5,000
26% – $5,001-$10,000
21% – $10,001-$15,000
18% – $15,001-$25,000
9% – $25,001-$30,000
11% – $30,001+
The number of hours required to build out features, the programming languages involved, and the back-end technology required for the app to function can all impact the overall costs of a project. Smaller clients generally contract out less demanding customized applications, and the projects they bring to the table are often assessed on a client-by-client basis. These projects generally run on average from $5,000 to $10,000. Interestingly, the projects brought to the table by larger organizations often have minimal costs imposed upon them, even for projects in the same cost range. This is primarily due to the increased complexity due to the number of resources that must be dedicated towards their completion and the return on investment for the developer on a given project that must be achieved in order to be profitable to execute.
(Breakdown by business size)
| Primary Client Sizes | Project Size Requirements | Most Common Cost |
|---|---|---|
| Small Businesses (2-250 employees) | We only require a minimum project size depending on the client | $5,001-$10,000 |
| Mid-Sized Businesses (251-1,000 employees) | We always require a minimum project size to move forward | $5,001-$10,000 |
| Large Businesses (1,001+ employees) | We always require a minimum project size to move forward | $10,001-$15,000 |
We wanted to explore if the developer community’s standards of setting minimum project costs matched up with our survey respondents, so we put the question wide to professionals in the field. While we didn’t receive much data in terms of hourly rates, many did provide information on overall project costs and scope.
“Yes, our company requires a minimum project size before proceeding with a mobile app project. This is to ensure that we are able to provide the best possible service to our clients and to also ensure that the project is feasible. We want to be able to provide our clients with a mobile app that meets their needs and expectations, and a minimum project size helps us to do that. Our minimum project size requirements before proceeding with a mobile app project can vary depending on the specific project and its requirements.
However, in general, a minimum project size requirement would be around 2-3 months of development time, and a budget of at least $10,000. This is to ensure that the project is able to be completed within a reasonable timeframe and with a high level of quality. This budget should cover the cost of development, design, testing, and launch. Of course, if the project is very simple or has a very tight budget, this number can be lower. Conversely, if the project is very complex or has a large scope, the budget will need to be higher.”
—James Jason, Founder & CEO, Notta AI
“Based on my experience and projects done, I can say that most of our projects last more than 2 months and cost above $30 000. These are just observations. Overall, we don’t outline any requirements for a minimum project size in order not to limit our customers. Usually, people come to us with an idea, we provide time and cost estimation, and from there we go.”
—Dmytro Laponog, Project Manager, Fulcrum Rocks
There are many Software as a Service solutions that operate as white-label platforms businesses can leverage to meet the mobile app needs of different types of client bases. There are times, however, that businesses of all sizes might require a more customized mobile app solution. In order to ensure that a client is coming to them with a true business need and to ensure the resources that go into building out the customized solution don’t negatively impact the bottom line, many developers set minimum costs for both the discovery phase and project size of projects. Once these thresholds are met, the development process starts and the real costs of development begin. In the next section, we’ll cover the design costs necessary to translate the findings of the discovery phase into a functional product.
Design Stage
Before development companies build an app, 21% of them have a design stage that costs approximately $10,001-$15,000 on average
The information gathered during the discovery phase includes feature and functionality requirements and other elements that must be translated into a usable application. These tasks are tackled during the design stage, during which developers map out user interfaces and functions, creating wireframes that link the interface to the intended user experience. The combined UI/UX elements determine the overall flow and structure of the app’s functionality. This is also the point where the development team decides on the right software architecture to support the front-end interface. At this stage, designers also match up the stylistic and visual elements to the branding and purpose of the application.
Achieving the visual and functional efforts through the design process puts multiple disciplines in play, and the expertise to pull it off correctly can become a costly process, especially in the case of more complex larger scaled projects. As with the discovery stages, the design phase for most projects can run in the range of $5,000 to $15,000 depending on the depth and complexity of the app. A significant percentage of project design phases also fall below the $5,000 threshold, as smaller projects don’t always necessitate the undertaking of a massive, multi-tiered design phase.
19% – Less than $5,000
20% – $5,001-$10,000
21% – $10,001-$15,000
12% – $15,001-$25,000
14% – $25,001-$30,000
7% – $30,001-$50,000
7% – $50,001+
Depending upon the app being built, the developer team can prioritize different elements of the design process at different points in the app-building process. We wanted to get a better grasp on what components of an application the design teams employed are prioritizing in the build process.
“In the design stage, experienced UX designers are worth their weight in gold. As they’re anticipating what the end-user wants and needs, they’re also setting the product up for success. Creating an app that gets the job done means nothing to the end-user if the app isn’t also intuitive, attractive, and easy to use.”
—Vlad Dzhidzhiyeshvili, CEO, Ventive
“The most essential elements of the design stage involve organizing content, defining aesthetics, and tailoring features to meet the needs of your user. The way content is presented impacts the user’s ability to use the app, and the aesthetic influences how they feel. This can be achieved by simply understanding your target audience and taking a user-centric approach to design. Special attention to accessibility and responsiveness are important when designing a mobile app.”
—Sara Battles, Program Manager, CrossComm
“In my opinion, Icons are essential aspects of mobile design. When creating a mobile app’s user interface, those small graphics are more crucial than you might think. They have a significant impact on users’ overall perceptions of your app. There are many different sorts of icons, however, I will only present the most common ones: First, App Icons are used to represent an app. Second, Clarifying Icons, are used to describe specific tasks. Third, Interactive Icons, are primarily used for navigation. And fourth, Decorative Icons, are used to give an app a more appealing appearance.
Whatever type of symbols you use, bear in mind that they must be unambiguous and indicate precisely the type of action you want your clients to take. Avoid any app user interface similarities that could cause misunderstanding or hesitancy.”
—Bram Jansen, Chief Editor, vpnAlert
The most important goal of the design process is to create a synergy between the intended user experience and a properly structured user interface. Proper optimization of the UI design prevents the need for extensive revisions and changes made to the structure and foundation of the application later in the process, and the team can instead focus on features and functionality.
Mobile App Features and Capabilities
51% of respondents noted that their development company builds hybrid apps most often, compared to native apps and web apps
As software development platforms become increasingly focused on building tools for mobile devices, the demand for adaptable customized mobile app solutions grows. Because of this need for compatibility, applications come in one of three types, based on where and how users are anticipated to use the tool.
Native applications are designed and built to operate on a specific operating system or mobile platform. For example, the applications that can be downloaded through a specific mobile developer’s app store are considered native to those platforms. Purpose-built for their native platform, these applications don’t rely upon code reusability to offer functionality and often outperform hybrid and web apps. Native applications are not accessible through the web browser.
Web applications are browser-accessible mobile responsive websites that can be accessed from workstations as easily as a mobile device in the field and offer the ability to access with an online connection without having to download any software. Easier to maintain, web apps are built on lightweight frameworks and are often less expensive to build. Popular platforms used for web applications include Django, Ruby on Rails, and AngularJS
The type of app most companies are interested in building right now are Hybrid Apps. Hybrid applications take a mixed approach to development with features and methods pulled from native and web apps. Because they are built from the foundations up to work across multiple platforms, developers are able to leverage the reuse of code segments throughout these applications without having to make platform-specific adjustments to scripts or functions.
Hybrid applications are more popular in the modern economy because users are accessing brands from numerous devices and platforms. The same user might interact with a brand on their home laptop and then follow up with customer service from their iPhone after their service experience. By building out the experience as a hybrid application, the user can easily access brand assets without having to rely upon a specific device or web browser.
51% – Hybrid apps
22% – Native apps
27% – Web apps
Does this focus on hybrid applications extend beyond our study? This was the question we posed to the community, in order to get a better understanding of the mix of applications clients are contracting.
“I focus on progressive web applications. These are websites that leverage modern technology to deliver a 1:1 parity with native applications. Their advantages are the ability to work on every device without the friction of app stores that hinder business development.”
—Chris Love, Owner, Love2Dev
“Most of the mobile apps we build now are cross-platform apps. With the expanding capabilities of hybrid frameworks, it’s getting easier to build complex apps cross-platform. Not to mention that hybrid apps are about 20% – 30% cheaper to build.”
—David Galownia, CEO, Slingshot
“Hybrid applications are without a doubt the most common type of mobile application we build to date. This is mostly due to how easy it is to build them by combining the features of a website with the features of a native application. However, it’s important to note that the number of hybrid applications we develop is roughly half of the number of native applications we developed. This is because a lot of companies are looking to create an experience more in-line with what’s available on a desktop application. This is done by using a combination of Swift, Java, and Objective-C. Native applications are the best way to deliver such an experience.”
—Maria A McDowell, Founder, EasySearchPeople
Businesses seek out the creation of custom applications, regardless of whether they are built as native, web, or hybrid, out of a need by the brand to provide users with a unique solution to identified pain points or challenges. Custom applications can be extremely focused on their purpose, but more often include multiple features and functionality. This means the development process is largely modular in approach. The ability to break an application development project into components has over time led to specific features coming at fairly well-established cost points, as the coding and methods to create specific features are well-documented.
Below, we’ve compiled data gained from our respondents to show the average costs of the most often requested features by clients when engaging developers to build custom applications and the prices that a majority of our respondents charge for those features. On average, most feature sets can be built out and implemented for between $5,000 to $10,000. Simpler tasks such as simple communications fall below this range, while extremely complex undertakings such as adding advanced security measures to an application, can run as high as $20,000 or more to implement properly.
App Feature Costs table:
| Feature | Most Common Development Cost | Percentage |
|---|---|---|
| Social Media Integrations | $5,001-$10,000 | 19% |
| Advanced Security | $10,001-$20,000 | 20% |
| User Feedback | $5,001-$10,000 | 20% |
| Advanced Analytics | $5,001-$10,000 | 21% |
| Push Notifications | Less than $5,000 | 30% |
| Payment Gateway | $5,001-$10,000 | 21% |
| Search Feature | $5,001-$10,000 | 23% |
Because applications are often designed to enhance and improve engagement with customers and build relationships with leads, it makes perfect sense that push notifications are amongst the most popular features, as this functionality is also easy and highly affordable relative to other features. Similar features such as user feedback also support the customer engagement trend. On the other end of the spectrum in terms of costs, advanced security features are highly sought after due to the increasing cybersecurity risks from threat actors. Analytics and payment gateways are also interesting entries on our list as more brands are embracing data-driven eCommerce platforms in the wake of the pandemic.
Are clients generally prioritizing these same application features in the field? We brought this question to the community of developers to find out what features their clients are requesting most often.
“In my opinion, the safety of information transmitted over the internet is quickly becoming one of the most serious concerns of our time, and the same is true for your application. Given the number of applications that hold personal and sensitive information, as well as specifics about credit and debit cards, there is an immediate and pressing requirement for security.
Hackers may try to introduce malware into apps and onto devices, where they can gain access to data and steal passcodes for screen locks. Malware can be used to gain access to data when it is on a device. Gain command of the sensitive data that is being transmitted over the network. Steal the data belonging to the consumers in order to engage in identity theft or fraudulent activity. Acquire command of the private company’s property and resources. In light of all of these potential issues, the safety of your application cannot be sloppy or an afterthought; rather, it must be impenetrable.”
—Gerrid Smith, Director of eCommerce, Joy Organics
“We see a lot of marketplace apps being built, as well as SaaS apps or ERPs for handling business processes. This means user profiles with varying levels of access, multi-sided payments, extensive databases, and calculations/graphs/reports are common features.”
—Kristen Youngs, Co-Founder, Coaching No Code Apps
“In addition to security as a priority for mobile function features, the search function feature is also a standard when we are looking for the basic feature for mobile apps. There are still numerous business apps that lack a search function. Regardless of how easy your mobile app is, a search function is vital because consumers have varying levels of technological proficiency.”
—Martin Lassen, Founder & CEO, GrammarHow
Not every off-the-shelf, white-label software solution is sufficient to meet the needs of SMBs across industries. Oftentimes, there are business-use cases and customer requirements that arise that necessitate the creation of a customized mobile application. You see from the data above, however, that while most features can be built by capable teams, the costs of implementing common features are fairly significant. This is a strong reminder that pursuing the creation of a customized application is an undertaking that should be preceded by careful planning, and then followed by testing and ongoing maintenance services, which we’ll discuss in the next section.
Testing, Deployment, and Maintenance
25% of development companies said that app testing and deployment costs them $5,001-$10,000
Throughout the application development process, there are multiple points where functionality must be tested to ensure added features work correctly without causing conflicts or errors in the existing code, all while meeting user needs and expectations. Keeping testing costs low requires the client and developer to spend adequate time on requirements during the discovery phase and scoping the project. Deployment costs will depend largely on how the project was coded and the technology required to support the backend of the application. Ongoing maintenance is also highly based on other factors, such as the ongoing need to adapt the app to customer needs or changing business practices, as well as how well it was designed and planned at the start of the engagement and how extensively it was tested live with customers.
The combined cost of app development phases, including the testing, deployment, and ongoing maintenance phases, can end up being significant, as some of these costs are designed to be ongoing in most modern software development projects. App development has become highly agile and iterative. As each phase and feature is built, it must be tested and deployed, and when subsequent updates or additions are made, maintenance ensures that the existing features continue to work with new code; the same holds true when software updates or security patches are released that might impact a specific application.
21% – Less than $5,000
25% – $5,001-$10,000
24% – $10,001-$15,000
16% – $15,001-$25,000
14% – $25,001+
26% of respondents charge their clients $10,000-$15,000 for mobile app maintenance services after 12 months
There are over 6.5 billion mobile device users globally that were released by competing platforms and powered by incompatible iOS. These devices themselves are forever being upgraded with faster processors, new and improved cameras, and other technology components. In order to provide clients with applications that remain accessible and functional over the life of the product, development teams will often fold into the contract an agreement to perform ongoing maintenance of the product.
19% – Less than $5,000
25% – $5,001-$10,000
26% – $10,001-$15,000
17% – $15,001-$25,000
12% – $25,001+
Developers handle the testing and deployment processes differently depending on the programming languages in play and the technology and resources required to carry out the project. Maintenance also varies greatly depending on how the contractual obligation following deployment is structured. We wanted to explore some of the specific reasons developers support and push for ongoing application maintenance with the clients, especially after the first twelve months the app has been live in the field, so we opened up the question to our community of programming experts to get their insight.
“Maintenance after the first 12 months is incredibly important as that is when the operating systems are being updated. It’s also a time when users are expecting your app to work flawlessly throughout the updates it’s making. For iris, we usually update our app twice a month so that we can continue to optimize the experience for our users. Our goal is to provide users with a seamless and efficient process to find a match based on mutual physical attraction—40x more effective than our competitors.”
—Igor Khalatian, Founder & CEO, iris
“App maintenance is vital if you want to conquer the app world. Users must be kept engaged and must not uninstall the app due to technical or other issues that maintenance can resolve. Further, offering an updated and latest version of the program should always be your focus, which can only be achieved if regularly updated.”
—James Crawford, Co-Founder, Deal Drop
“Updates and maintenance of a mobile application are critical. Maintaining the mobile app provides some advantages. But updates should be released regularly in order to prevent or at least minimize uninstalls. Updates help to provide improved user experiences, and over the long term, will result in a higher ROI on your investment in the application. Updates after a year are also vital to keep your mobile app safer from cyber attacks, as vulnerabilities will emerge after launch that you must address.”
—William Westerlund, Co-Founder, Almvest
Ongoing maintenance allows the same team to come back in and add functionality if a client adds services or products, rebrands, or otherwise has an event necessitating updates and work to be performed. This provides the development team with ongoing revenue streams and stabilizes profitability over time, improves overall customer satisfaction with the work being done, and helps to build brand reputation.
For the company contracting to have the application built, ongoing maintenance ensures their clients will have a stable mobile experience on the application, thus improving brand reputation, lead generation, client retention, and other factors impacted by the guarantee of a mobile application capable of always providing a consistently positive experience throughout the customer journey.
Development Company Metrics
50% of respondents primarily service medium-sized businesses (251-1,000 employees)
Half of our respondents are servicing primarily small- to medium-sized startups and businesses, which shows the growing dependence by smaller organizations on managed services and technology vendors. Larger businesses often have the funding and infrastructure that is necessary to support application development services in-house or the means to bring in freelancers and consultants to do so. The cost of having an outside agency, even at each of the price points that we’ve discussed for every stage, still remains more cost-effective for smaller organizations versus hiring and maintaining the skilled staff to carry out these projects on an infrequent basis.
31% – Small Businesses (2-250 employees)
50% – Mid-Sized Businesses (251-1,000 employees)
20% – Large Businesses (1,001+ employees)
43% of development companies note that their client base consists of an even mix of B2B and B2C businesses
There has been a distinct shift by business-to-business (B2B) brands in recent years adopting tactics traditionally employed by business-to-consumer (B2C) retailers. This includes the technologies and engagement strategies, as B2B service providers have focused on building more engagement and boosting customer relationships by focusing their clients on the experience of being a customer and improving the customer journey. Mobile applications help to boost these interactions, just as they do for B2C companies, and help to increase brand awareness and drive overall sales by driving conversions and engagement.
32% – B2B Businesses
25% – B2C Businesses
43% – An equal mix of both B2B and B2C businesses
41% of development companies confirmed that 6-9 developers work on small-sized projects. In contrast, 47% of companies leverage 10+ developers for large-sized projects
Agile development approaches and the overall client-driven process of laying out requirements and features at the front end to minimize massive fixes and ongoing testing throughout the development process helps to keep modern teams smaller. The size of a team can greatly depend on the programming languages being used and the scope of the project being built. The more expertise and systems that are required to support the app design and deployment, the more individuals a development team will bring aboard in order to add the necessary competencies to the team.
| Project Size | Most Common Number of Developers | Percentage |
|---|---|---|
| Small-sized app development projects | 6-9 developers | 44% |
| Mid-sized app development projects | 6-9 developers | 41% |
| Large-sized app development projects | 10+ developers | 47% |
Development companies must be adaptable and have individuals on board with the skills necessary to meet the demands of client app development projects. They are often having to tackle projects in any number of industries and specializations, so it’s vital that development companies also employ programmers with a wide array of experiences. As more industries come to increasingly rely upon applications driven by big data and focused on user engagement and conversion, the types of applications across industries have started to become somewhat uniform, allowing smaller teams to often provide fast results on focused, small-scale projects. When larger teams are required, it’s often due to more complex applications being built, which can greatly increase the cost of a project, whether it’s for B2B or B2C clients.
Pay the Cost to Develop a Mobile App and Remain Competitive in 2022
The post-COVID business landscape has shifted the playing field for organizations across industries, both B2B and B2C, into the realm of online and mobile engagement with customers. In order to get ahead of the competition, many brands have embraced mobile app solutions to expand the reach of their products or services. In some cases, a white-label Software as a Service solution is sufficient, but increasingly, the case is that brands are looking for customized solutions to improve in-house task efficiency as well as sales-focused customer engagement. In this survey, we’ve revealed many of the costs SMBs and larger organizations can expect when engaging a developer in building a customized software solution.
To learn more about app development and how it can support your brand awareness and drive sales, you can check out our information hub on Development. Looking for an expert to help you tackle your own development project? Reach out to one of our many Mobile App Development service providers on the UpCity marketplace and initiate the discovery phase.
UpCity’s Survey Method
UpCity used Pollfish to survey 300 development professionals across the United States on their most common mobile app development costs in 2022.
A majority of respondents own or work for development companies with 501-1,000 employees (16%), followed by 51-100 employees (14%) and 101-250 employees (13%).
Fifty-eight of the respondents are male and forty-two percent are female.
About the author
David J. Brin
Having recently escaped a 20-year career in Food & Beverage operations management, David is now a Facility Director for a Code Ninjas franchise, a STEM-education concept that uses game development to teach children how to code in various programming languages. David got his start writing professionally as a communications assistant for the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond, and has been a freelance copywriter providing white-label services to clients since 2016. His clients operate in industries ranging from managed IT services and software development to marketing and advertising.
