Android App Development Cost: How to Budget an Android Project

Why develop an Android application?

Huge user pool

It’s long become a cliche to talk about how omnipresent mobile is. But we’ll do it anyway.

As of July 2023, there are 6.92 billion smartphone users in the world, accounting for 86.11% of the global population. Of those, Android makes up for over 70% market share, consistently towering over iOS.

Business of Apps gives some interesting insights into the current state of Google Play, Android’s official application store:

• Over 110 billion apps and games were downloaded from Google Play in 2022.
• Over the course of the same year, consumers spent $42.3 billion on Google Play apps and games.
• Google Play app downloads did slightly decrease in 2022 compared to 2021. However, the values were still higher than the 2020 total.

On a more general note, users spend an average of 5.5 hours a day on apps, according to App Annie. This is great news for anyone seeking to develop a mobile app, as well as for companies looking to get more eyes on their products via in-app ads.

The most costly developers hail from the USA and Australia, charging $50-150 per hour, followed by British devs charging $80-100 and Western Europeans charging $72-84. Are they this expensive because of next-level quality? Not really.

The high costs are a direct result of high taxation. And while the ease of communication and similar time zones are worth the cost to some US and Australian clients, many turn to cheaper alternatives.

Eastern European and Indian companies are the most popular choices. Despite costing $25-50 per hour, Eastern Europeans provide quality services on par with Western competitors thanks to lower tax rates (for example, Estonia provides significant tax benefits to local IT businesses).

Indian programmers are the cheapest of the bunch at $8-30 per hour. However, it’s best to be cautious when choosing an Indian vendor, since the quality tends to be hit-or-miss. It’s highly advisable to have a tech lead (or at least a fractional CTO) to evaluate their work, as reliability and code quality can suffer at lower price points.

Average App Developer Rates Worldwide (in USD)

Regional pricing per specialist

Team composition also affects the price tag. The costs of hiring other necessary specialists also vary region to region. According to the 2023 Global Software Outsourcing Trends and Rates Guide, the distribution between continents is as follows.

Average Specialist Costs Worldwide (in USD)

Now that we have things like approximate hourly rates, taxes, and country-specific fees out of the way, we can start estimating the overall price of your Android project. To do that, we have to go through a list of other smaller (but no less important) factors.

What are the main Android app development cost factors?

First, consider what you want to achieve with your Android application. Your goals will determine the app’s functionality, its size, and level of complexity.

1. App size

The larger the app, the more time developers need to complete it – naturally, more features will result in higher prices. The size of an app is determined by the number of pages and features it has. App sizes can be roughly distributed into three categories.

2. Application complexity

The complexity of your mobile application also majorly affects its development time. Depending on the type and intricacy of the app, the company might need to invest from 80 to over 700 hours into building it – that is, if we’re only talking about its basic code. An app with a complex backend that features many integrations can require over 1000 hours of development time, as well as a significantly larger team of specialists.

For example:

• A basic scheduling Android app will take about 80 hours to create, since it mostly consists of simple lists and menus, and can be constructed using templates.
• An e-commerce application will be more resource-intensive. It implies more sophisticated features, such as product listings, transactions, delivery, and shopping cart, as well as the help of UI designers. Overall, it could require over 300 hours of development.
• Something as ambitious as a messenger or a social network application can easily need 600+ hours of development time. Implementing cloud storage, various data formats, profile functionality, networking, newsfeeds, and other advanced features will require more than just copious amounts of time, but a team of extremely skilled professionals as well.

A simple breakdown of costs based on complexity will look something like this.

3. App category

App categories aren’t absolute, but there’s definitely a price threshold typically associated with certain types of apps. Don’t take these estimates as gospel, but consider them during the initial budgeting phase.

4. Native or cross-platform

Native apps are perfectly optimised to operate on a particular OS and provide a more polished user experience. Native Android apps are developed on Kotlin or Java. If you want to use the device’s hardware to the fullest and aren’t afraid of spending more money and resources, this one’s for you.

On the other hand, cross-platform development is a cheaper and faster alternative for those that wish to deploy on both the AppStore and Google Play. However, it comes at the cost of performance quality. Cross-platform apps are usually developed on Flutter or React Native.

A PWA (progressive web app) is an even cheaper option that provides an experience comparable to native apps.

Read our guide to PWA development to learn more.

5. Payment model

Software developers tend to give customers a choice between two standard pricing methods: Fixed Price and Time and Material (T&M).

Fixed Price

The name is self-explanatory: the full price is set before the development cycle begins, and will not change regardless of what happens during the project’s implementation. This model is less stressful for the client, but it includes all possible losses and risks into its initial estimates; because of that, Fixed Price usually ends up being more expensive than the T&M approach.

T&M

T&M provides a rough estimate of what the full cost might amount to, but the actual price changes depending on how many resources are spent during development. This model is seen as riskier for the client, since they may need to cover some unforeseen costs. Nonetheless, given everything goes according to plan, Time and Material is the far more efficient option.

It’s especially advantageous for complex development projects. T&M is more adaptable, so it’s a safer choice when you’re not 100% certain about how many resources each aspect of the solution will require. Plus, not having to account for purely hypothetical losses and risks often results in significantly cheaper prices.

6. Number of integrations

Another aspect that needs mentioning is whether your mobile application will have integrations or be self-sufficient. The latter is able to use the full array of its functionality without needing to connect to any external devices or databases. In the majority of cases, this is a much cheaper option.

However, some applications may require server-side integration to be viable; some apps have to integrate with CRM, HRM, ERM systems, and so on. Naturally, more integrations result in higher Android app development cost.

Third-party APIs

If you want to add functionality from a third-party service, you’ll need to integrate their API. These usually have a monthly price tag. Some of the most commonly implemented APIs are:

To add to that, the actual process of integrating a single third-party API will typically cost up to $1000. Luckily, that’s a one-time payment.

Payment processors

If your solution will support in-app payments, you will most likely need to integrate a payment processor. Here’s how the most popular options stack up.

Integrating one payment processor will usually add at least 50 hours of development time, costing anywhere from $1500 to $7500.

7. Data security

One of the primary concerns for businesses that are new to outsourcing app development is data safety. According to IBM, the average cost of a global data breach in 2022 was $4.35 million – and it will only get bigger from there.

Some extra security measures you may want to implement in your app will mark up the price, such as multiple user types with different permissions, multiple layers of encryption, and app security certificates.

Furthermore, certain functionality will need continuous funding after the app release. For example, 2-factor authentication will cost up to $10 per one user, per month.

8. Updates and maintenance

When you hire Android developers, that partnership will continue after the end product’s delivery. Companies like Bamboo Agile provide regular updates, bug fixing, and maintenance services years after the app’s initial release, thus ensuring its lasting relevance.

That said, maintenance and the frequency and size of updates will inevitably affect your overall spendings. Depending on the app, you may also need to invest into a reliable hosting service. The price of that will depend on the type and amount of content you plan to store on the servers.

9. Other hidden costs

Hidden costs are not directly related to the process of software development, but need to be accounted for if you want to avoid unpleasant surprises. These include maintenance and hosting (which we’ve already discussed), marketing, licensing, notifications, and others.

App marketing in particular is a very important aspect to consider. In fact, it can potentially be one of the most expensive parts of the whole process. Business of Apps recommends dedicating at least $10,000 to marketing costs.

Notifications can also be quite costly, with some Push Notification services charging up to $250 a month.

How to reduce Android app development costs?

Watching your estimated project price get higher and higher isn’t the most encouraging thing in the world. But don’t be disheartened. There are several tried-and-true practices that will help you cut development costs without sacrificing end product quality.

We consulted Natalia Pukhalskaya, Bamboo’s Business Analyst, on the best cost-saving tips in Android development.

Compile a requirements document

“Always keep in mind that saving costs starts with clear app requirements,” says Natalia. “Thoroughly defined app requirements and functionalities before the development starts help to avoid unnecessary changes and reworks of any app you’d like to develop.”

A typical requirements document, a.k.a. software requirements specification, details the purpose of the solution and lists the precise specs, needs, and restrictions the devs need to follow. Competent software vendors will gladly help you with compiling it, but it’s advisable to have at least something of the sort prepared beforehand.

Sort features by priority

Understanding which features are essential to the app’s core functionality and which aren’t will definitely help you cut some unnecessary expenses. This concerns both original functionality and third-party integrations.

Natalia comments, “Thoroughly consider which integrations your app actually needs – payments, GPS, messengers, social media, and even connectivity with other devices such as sensors and smart watches. Just keep things simple. If you can do without an integration, don’t add it.”

Choose your Androids

Android fragmentation is another factor you want to consider. The OS is currently used by over 18,000 different device models, which makes accounting for every single possible system variation a costly endeavour.

“Despite the fact that the average price of creating an iOS app is usually higher, testing for all the different Android versions will often result in higher costs,” Natalia says. “With this in mind, I’d suggest defining your target Android devices and OS versions right away for the sake of lowering the quality assurance budget and reducing overall project costs.”

Go MVP

If you want to speed up your time-to-market and reach your first customers ASAP, look into MVPs. An alternative to full product development, MVP development is a significantly cheaper option that allows you to roll out an app for $50,000 or less.

The catch is, it can only contain its most essential functionality. You build the absolute minimum necessary to make your product useful to the target audience. Hence the name, Minimum Viable Product.

However, once the barebones version of your product becomes available to the public, you can start collecting feedback, gathering money from investors, and iterating on it. Eventually, you’ll end up with a fully-fledged solution that offers a robust set of features.

Don’t reinvent the wheel

It’s great to have an app that is unique, but sometimes it’s best to stick to conventions. Natalia advises paying close attention to the app’s UX design and defining what the solution is meant to look and work like in advance.

“Users have certain expectations for standard features like buttons, navigation bars, or notifications – you need to meet those expectations,” she says. “Android OS also has its own guidelines to make designers’ work easier and less expensive. So think of reusable components or open-source libraries that you can apply in your project.”

Consider offshoring

If you’ve read the regional pricing segment at the start of the article, you should already know what we’re getting at. The costs of living and taxes vary greatly from country to country, which makes outsourcing a very popular money-saving tactic.

Read more about the pros and cons of outsourcing in 2023 in this article.

Conclusion

Android app development cost is dependent on a variety of factors, including:

• development team location;
• application size, complexity, category, number of integrations and security measures;
• native or cross-platform development;
• vendor’s payment model;
• hidden costs (maintenance, updates, hosting, marketing, etc.).

The minimum possible total will be $5,000-$10,000, and the maximum can surpass $300,000. These costs can be reduced in a number of ways, which include prioritising features, choosing which versions of Android to target, using templates, and choosing MVP development, among others.

About Bamboo Agile

Bamboo Agile is a software development boutique located in Tallinn, Estonia. With over 20 years of expertise behind its back, the team has mastered the domains of Telecom, Healthcare, Education, ERP, Finance, and others. If you still feel unsure about your Android app development cost, don’t hesitate to reach out for a free consultation with our experts – we’ll be happy to help.

FAQ

What is the average cost of Android app development?

The cost of Android development varies greatly. A simple or average Android app will cost around $50,000. A complex Android app will cost $100,000+, and can surpass $300,000 in some cases.

How much does it cost to publish an Android app on the Play Store?

It costs $25 to publish your first application on the Google Play Store. You won’t need to pay anything for subsequent publications.

Do apps cost money to run?

In theory, it can cost nothing. In practice, you will need to at least keep your app updated, which won’t be free. If your app uses paid APIs, integrations, and cloud services, you’ll also need to pay a monthly fee. And you may need to pay a subscription for hosting services.