How Much Does it Cost to Build an Android App from the Scratch?

Building an Android App can be a tedious affair, especially when you are unsure about the costs that are involved. Alongside, many enterprises are left stunned by the hidden costs that accompany the entire app building process. To begin with, the cost of building an Android App would vary according to the consultants being hired. If you are looking to seek the services of an established IT company against a freelancer, the costs are going to skyrocket in the case of the former. Quite often, startups have a tendency to engage with companies that have an extensive work experience. Also, many enterprises and young business ventures are focussing on app building as a critical aspect of their operations, thus allowing the collective price of building an app to shoot through the sky.

If one is to assume that a startup manages to raise $750,000 (the average amount within the market) in their first round of funding, a sixth of that would have to be diverted to legal affairs, accounting technicalities. Alongside, another $35,000 would have to be diverted for a team comprising of at least 4 people (includes developers and designers). It would be convenient to assume that the amount diverted for App Development salaries is going to increase in the first round as the startup would look to capitalize on a strong start through planned expansion of their App. As the experts from the App Domain suggest, it takes anywhere between 3-6 months for the first version of an Android App for business to be launched. Given the average cost is $35,000 for each month, one can expect the cost to revolve around the figure of $140,000 to $210,000.

Clearly, this is not a precise figure, and there cannot be one. The price is going to be dictated by the consultants you hire, their level of expertise, the requisites of your business, and their tendency to meet your expectations, and more importantly, the services you are going to offer. For obvious reasons, the cost of making an app that helps people with Dog-sitters is going to cost far less than what it would take to build along the lines of food delivery services.

It is important to note that even with all its advancements and surge in user base against iOS, it takes far longer to build an Android App, and thus the higher costs. Typically, most businesses are now looking to start with iOS before gradually moving on to Android. Does this influence their costing? Yes, turns out, the marketing budgets can be cut down if one happens to establish a firm reputation on iOS. Also, given how the iOS platform is unforgiving when it comes to App bugs, you will have a lot of room for improvement before debuting on Android.

As discussed above, the cost of building an Android App would be proportional to the consults. If you are looking to work with the giants of the App business, be prepared to shell out an amount greater than $500,000 without an upper limit. If you are looking to risk a smaller venture, anything between $150,000 and $450,000 should suffice, and for the ones who are looking to build their App the way Zuckerberg built Facebook, $50,000-$150,000 should get you through.

Turns out, there is not one single answer to the cost question of an Android App, as the marketing strategies, promotional offers, bugs, and unprecedented crashes are largely going to dictate the fate of your application and its cost. However, the above figures should help you get the basics right, and that is where the game begins.