The Cost of Developing a Mobile App in 2025: A Complete Breakdown

In this technologically advanced world, you must have surely examined that today we get an app for everything we desire. Based on the stats there are more than 5.5 billion apps in total. Among the total number of mobile apps, 3.3 million are Android apps listed on the Google Play Store and the rest of them are listed on Apple App Store. 

It’s not just that the number of mobile apps is increasing, but with this, the revenue generated from mobile apps is also increasing and is estimated to reach $567.19 billion by the end of the year 2030.

Mobile apps are experiencing downloads of 35-36 billion every year and still, the demand for innovative apps continues to grow. If you are among those who want to build a mobile application, ensure to get in touch with a reliable app development company. Companies like DianApps can help you know the exact cost of app development based on its Android or iOS platform requirements and the requirements of its features. 

This blog has been developed to answer the most common question of brands or businesses – How much does it cost to build a scalable mobile application? Here, you will also learn about the factors affecting the cost of development, monetization methods for mobile apps, and the ways to build a cost-effective application. 

A Rough Cost Estimation on Mobile App Development

Every business looking to enhance its digital presence first checks the mobile app development cost estimate. 

The average cost of developing a mobile app can be estimated to be around $25,000 to $150,000. The cost of development can also reach up to $300,000 in case of the complex apps. Though the prices given here are just a tentative cost structure, the actual price of custom app development depends on factors like features and functionality, development approach, and app complexity. 

If you do not know how the prices depend on these factors, no worries further we have explained all the factors based on their development cost estimation. 

Once you have understood all these factors you can analyze the cost of development with the help of a standard formula. This formula says to calculate the number of hours required for a single development process and multiply it by the billable hours of the resource. 

Now let’s move forward and learn about the factors affecting the cost of development. 

Top Factors Affecting the Cost of Developing a Mobile Application 

From the complexity of features to the expertise of the development team, here’s a comprehensive guide to understanding the key factors affecting mobile app dev cost. 

The final cost of mobile app development is dependent on various factors that play an important role in the development process. To make a cost-effective decision it is important to have a proper understanding of the factoid given below. Continue reading to learn about the major factors impacting the mobile app development cost:

Complexity of the Application

The complexity of the application is a primary factor that affects the cost of hiring an Android or iOS app development company. The cost of developing an application with basic features like a user profile facility, limited administration, and login system will be around $5,000 – $120,000. 

The cost of developing an application with moderate complexity will cost you around $50,000 to $120,000. Medium complex apps include features like app monetization and user engagement. 

Now, the cost of developing a high-complexity app ranges from $100,000 to $300,000 and above. These apps include all the latest technologies like AI and Machine learning, AR/VR. These apps also consist of features like high-end data logic and multi-language support. 

Below is the app development cost breakdown based on the complexity of the app:

App Features and Functionalities

The cost of mobile app development is also highly impacted by the features and the functionalities required for the development. Development cost keeps on rising with an increase in the features integrated into the software. 

So, if you are a startup and want to cut on the cost of development ensure to incorporate only the core features. This is considered as the option to build an MVP. it also saves time and cost, which can be used to garner valuable user feedback. Let’s take a look at the cost of app development based on the basic and the complex features and functionalities. First, let’s look at the cost of integrating basic features.

Now let’s look at the cost breakdown structure based on the advanced features Integration:

Development Cost Based on Specific Industry

The cost of developing every application varies based on the type of industry. It is difficult to transform from one industry to another as multiple factors need to be considered like security criteria, number of users, functionalities, etc. 

Let’s look at the development cost of the most famous industries:

E-commerce/M-Commerce Apps: Today e-commerce applications have become highly popular due to an increase in the number of people preferring online shopping systems. Some of the best examples of e-commerce apps are Amazon and Wayfair. These applications consist of features like real-time notifications, robust security, and a capability to handle millions of users at a single point in time. The approximate cost of developing an e-commerce application is around $50,000-$150,000 and it takes around 1,200 hours for the complete development. 

For instance, DianApps has simplified the process of jewelry shopping and provided a personalized shopping experience by developing an intuitive jewelry application Caratlane. 

Social Networking Apps: Another most popular apps are referred to as social media apps. These apps integrate third-party functions like cameras, audio recorders, and more. These apps are also considered highly scalable because they support millions of users at a time. Due to its third-party features, the integration cost of developing such apps is around $50,000-$300,000. 

On-Demand Apps: Every on-demand application must have three different versions for users, admins, and the individuals offering services. On-demand applications can be developed for different businesses like taxi booking, laundry services, and more. Its estimated cost is around $60,000 – $225,000. 

Gaming Application: There are different types of gaming applications and each of them requires unique features during development. The average cost of developing such an application is $50,000 to $350,000. 

App Design and Animation

Another factor that affects the cost of development is application design. As we all know the first thing that attracts user attention is the UI of the application, so the app design needs to be perfect. 

Usually, app design can be of different types like custom UI and standard UI. Customized UI is more expensive because it is more difficult to design and implement than standard UI. 

App Platform

The cost of developing an application also depends on the platform of the application. While developing an application research your target audience and based on that select whether you want to build an Android, iOS, web, or cross-platform application. However, if you have a startup, ensure that building a single-platform application as a multi-platform app will be costly for you. 

Now let’s look at the famous app development platform option: 

Native App Platform: For iOS app development you should choose Swift and Objective-C and for Android app development you can choose languages like Java and Kotlin. Native apps can cost you around $50,000 to $100,000. 

Web App Platform: Progressive web apps are comparatively cheaper than native applications. The cost of developing web applications is around $15,000 to $50,000. 

Cross Platform: Cross-platform application works on both iOS and Android applications. These applications work on a single codebase and provide fewer development efforts. These applications are usually developed on Flutter and React native. Moreover, the cost of developing this application is $25,000 to $60,000. 

Hybrid App Platform: Hybrid apps are considered a combination of native and web apps. Though it is available on the Play Store it looks like a web app. The cost of developing such an application is around $10,000 to $150,000. 

App Maintenance

Though the cost incurred in app development isn’t at the last stage, once the application is developed it needs to be maintained and optimized to keep it aligned with the latest technologies. 

No software doesn’t require bug fixing as most of the bugs are identified once the application is published. App design also needs to be updated with time and redefined to the ones that attract user attention. 

There is no fixed cost required for application maintenance as it completely varies from app to app. But for an average estimate, we can say that it can cost you around 20% of the total mobile app development cost yearly. 

Code Reuse

It is one of the factors that also impact the mobile app development cost. Mobile applications can also be developed by reusing the code of the exciting application. So, the cost of developing such an application is lower as compared to a completely fresh application. 

Though developers at DianApps just prefer to incorporate only the basic features like login, contact us. For other features they recommend building an app from scratch to maintain differentiation. 

These apps approximately cost less than 20-30% as compared to the applications that are completely designed or coded from scratch. 

Size and Location of Development Team

The major cost of developing an app is dependent on the location and the type of the development team. You have got multiple choices like in-house development, mobile app development team in Australia, freelancers, local team.

Though the best option among those will also be a development company because they have experience and expertise in the particular niche. 

Now let’s get a complete bifurcation of the cost of mobile app development based on different regions:

These were all the factors that affected the cost of mobile app development. Now, let’s look at some hidden features that impact the cost of development.

Hidden Factors Affecting Mobile App Development Cost

We are here to cover all the hidden factors that somehow or the other affects the development cost. It is important to consider all these factors to save time and money. Without any further delay let’s move onto this section.

Quality Assurance

To ensure the quality of your software you need to hire a project manager based on the size of the project. You can also consider hiring a business analyst to manage your expenses and ensure you stay in your app development budget. 

Infrastructure Costs

Additional cost is required for data storage facility, app hosting, and data delivery. This factor is also considered as an add on for the complexity of the application. Some of the most common infrastructure cost items include development tools and libraries, data servers, and data storage. 

IT Support Costs

To build a high-quality app you need to invest some particular amount of cost on IT support services and technical support. Some of the examples of such expenses are API development, bug fixing, and iOS and Android Updates. 

Add Publishing Costs

Once the application is completely developed, it needs to be published in the Play Store. For listing an app on Google Play Store you need to pay a one time cost of $25 and for iOS App Store you need to pay $99 per year. 

App Security

App Security is the major concern of the customers as everyone wants to keep their information safe. So, while developing an application ensure to incorporate security related features. Other than this your application must be regularly updated to ensure privacy. 

Final Words

Finally, you must have come to know how to identify the accurate cost of developing using necessary factors like app design, development, maintenance, and more. By identifying and selecting all these factors you will get a chance to build an innovative application.

If you are still unable to make an accurate decision regarding the cost of mobile app development, you can connect with an expert at DianApps who can lead you through the complete process of development. 

Experts here are proficient in developing an efficient application with innovative features and functionalities. We have helped multiple big brands like Caratlane, Minimalist, and Uber Eats to build scalable solutions for them. Therefore, you can think about getting a rough estimate for the cost of custom software development from us.