We all have seen a shift from offline to online mode. This conversion has impacted the education and learning industry. Increased screen time has reduced the interest in reading and learning via books. Then why not make education fun through an app?
If you are confused about the cost to build an Educational App?
Here we are to help you. Cost is a matter of fact to create an app. Moreover, when it comes to an already well-established education industry, cost estimation becomes a challenge.
An average cost to make an educational app is $25,000 to $350,000.
Well, a cost guide to build an educational app will work effectively to address such a challenge. Learn more and read till the end to know about the average cost, need, types, and factors affecting the cost of making an educational app.
All You Need To Know About the Current Educational App Market
How Much Does It Cost to Make an EdTech App?
The answer to the question can be found with a single line of cost estimation. However, before that, it is essential to study the top trends in the educational industry as well as in the educational app industry.
The Online Education industry has increased over the years and it is estimated to excel within the next couple of years. Let’s know some stats regarding the same.
- Revenue within the online education market is expected to increase by $87.51 billion in the year 2024.
- The number of users is projected to be 82.7 million by the year 2028.
Do you know, online colleges enrolled 1.1 million students among all U.S. postsecondary learners?
Have a read over the educational apps now.
- Based on the worldwide educational apps report, Duolingo was the most popular learning app with 98 million downloads in the year 2022.
- The global educational app market reached $43,830 million in the year 2022.
- 23% of consumers spent on mobile educational apps in the U.S. between January and August.
- Subscription-based ABCmouse was the most downloaded app for children in the U.S. with 2 million downloads in 2023.
What is the Average Cost To Build An Educational App?
Eager to know about the cost to create an educational app? You can find your answers in this section.
The average estimated cost to build an educational app can be $25,000 & $350,000. You can check the table below to learn about the detailed cost structure.
| Step | Features | Cost Range |
| Initial Development | UI/UX Design, Content Management, User Authentication, Learning Content | $5K – $100K |
| Enhancement and Engagement | Gamification, Progress Tracking, and Communication Tools | $5K – $50K |
| Platform and Integration | Platform Support and API Integration | $10K – $80K |
| Quality Assurance | Testing & QA, Maintenance & Updates | $5K – $70K |
The cost of creating an educational app goes through a detailed process and each step requires a cost. Hire app developers to get an awareness regarding the same.
Types of Educational Apps & Cost
Educational mobile app development cost depends on the type of app that you have decided to create. You can go through the list below to learn and decide about the types of educational apps.
A] Educational Games App
The educational app built with the game application is one of the important and interesting education app ideas. Such apps are designed to make education more engaging as well as entertaining by using game elements including rewards, challenges, and competition. These apps engage a larger number of students and help them to learn more interactively. The average cost to build an educational app for games can be $50,000 to $200,000.
B] Flashcard Apps
Flashcard apps are the simplest way of education and learning for candidates who are preparing for competitive exams. With the assistance of such apps, students can take notes of all the essential topics that are related to the specific subject. These apps are designed to help the students to make customized flashcards and to share them with friends. It can take $10,000 to $50,000 to develop such an app.
C] Dictionary Apps
Dictionary apps are useful apps for students of every age group. It is useful for teachers as well. This kind of app is created on the basic idea of education. Such apps make it simple for people to search for a word without carrying dictionaries with them. Investing in these apps can help your users in word search. You can make such an app in the range of $20,000 to $80,000.
D] Language Learning Apps
These apps are built to learn multiple languages or any particular new language. You can create an app like Babbel to enhance proficiency with the help of interactive lessons, grammar exercises, and speaking practice. Such apps can be effective in knowing the vocab and setting phrases along with grammar to keep the conversation ongoing. Language learning apps can be built for $50,000 to $200,000.
E] E-Book Reading App
E-book reading apps are built to help users to read and learn diverse books online easily. Here the additional download module can be included in the app or can also be charged extra through which the users have an option to save the book or PDF offline. The development cost of an e-learning app can be $75,000 to $250,000. You can also develop an audiobook application if you are interested in making such apps.
F] Skill-Building Apps
Skill-building apps are created and designed to assist users in improving and mastering a specific skill. Edtech app development cost to make such apps can be $50,000 to $200,000. To make such apps you need to identify the skills that will help your user to improve their overall professional impression serving users the benefit of your educational app. Such apps also help the user to enhance their skills in order to build their profile.
G] Private Tuition Application
During the pandemic, when the offline classes have almost closed. Parents have started to provide online services to fulfill the educational necessities of their children. These apps are effective for parents and students to connect with the best tutors via an online education platform. The overall cost to build an e-learning app for private tuition can be $80,000 to $300,000.
Popular Educational Apps and Cost to Develop Them
Well, now you might have got a clear picture of the educational app cost estimation. Identifying the exact cost is not always easy, for that, you need to have a defined scope to build an educational app.
Let us help you improve your transparency of scope and cost by building an educational app by listing the popular educational apps along with their estimated cost.
Duolingo
Duolingo is by far and most popular app for learning to speak a new language. The app contains a game-like exercise along with a user-friendly interface that has massive popularity among all ages of people.
The mission of the company is to make education free, fun, and available to all. It is designed to feel like a game and scientifically proven to be effective. The cost to create an app like Duolingo can range from $15,000 to $150,000.
Khan Academy
Khan Academy is an app that is based on a non-profit educational organization to provide free online courses in different subjects comprised of science, math, history, and economics.
The app offers a wide range of practice exercises and instructional videos to help the users so that they can master the project. Khan Academy has been developed in a range of $55,000 to $210,000.
Udemy
Udemy is the most popular resource that offers thousands of online courses. The course is developed by the individual instructors in the subject matter of the user choices.
Create an e-learning platform like Udemy, where students can post questions on the cover page that can be answered by the instructor. Users are able to buy courses on a pre-course basis and are able to purchase a monthly subscription. The cost of building an e-learning app is $60,000 to $270,000.
Coursera
Coursera is an online learning platform that features courses, certificate programs, degrees, and tutorials. This platform is developed to offer courses from top universities along with organizations around the world.
It is a platform developed with a vision of providing life-transforming learning experiences to learners. The cost to develop Coursera can range from $65,000 to $250,000.
edX
edX is an online learning app that offers high-quality courses from the world’s best universities. The app is popularly known for the Massive Open Online Courses (MOOC). It is a profitable online application focused on managing a variety of offerings.
A major focus of the platform is to manage different offerings comprising elite brand boot camps. Here the user of the app can also find the top courses from some famous universities including Oxford and Harvard. The cost of educational app is $100,000 to $290,000.
Factors that Affect the Cost to Make an Educational App
Well, we have stated earlier that estimation of cost to build an educational app depends on different factors that play a major role in improving the downloads of an app. Shall we study the factors? Check the list below.
1) Tech Stack
The technology that can impact the development of an app is technology. The cost of developing an e-learning app is impacted by the languages selected, frontend, backend and a lot more.
There are certain technology platforms that contain a higher preliminary cost, although they are futuristic platforms that ensure that the application doesn’t go obsolete in the future.
| Technology Stack | Description | Cost Estimation |
| Frontend: React Native | Cross-platform development framework for building mobile apps with JavaScript and React. | $25,000 – $100,000 |
| Backend: Node.js (Express) | Server-side framework for building scalable and fast web applications using JavaScript. | |
| Database: MongoDB | NoSQL database for storing flexible, JSON-like documents with dynamic schemas. | |
| Frontend: Flutter | Cross-platform development framework for building mobile apps with Dart and Flutter. | $50,000 – $150,000 |
| Backend: Firebase | Mobile and web application development platform with cloud-hosted backend services. | |
| Database: Firestore | Flexible, scalable database for storing and syncing data for client- and server-side development. | |
| Frontend: Angular | Frontend framework for building single-page web applications with TypeScript and Angular. | $100,000 – $250,000 |
| Backend: Django | High-level Python web framework for rapid development and clean, pragmatic design. | |
| Database: PostgreSQL | Open-source relational database system known for its reliability, robustness, and performance. | |
| Frontend: Vue.js | Progressive JavaScript framework for building interactive user interfaces and single-page applications. | $150,000 – $300,000 |
| Backend: Ruby on Rails | Full-stack web application framework using Ruby for back-end, HTML, CSS, and JavaScript for front-end. | |
| Database: MySQL | A popular open-source relational database management system known for its ease of use and scalability. |
You can check this guide to select a suitable tech stack for an educational app.
2) Complexity
More features in an app invite more complexity. Additionally, it will incur more time and resources to develop an app. The cost to create an educational app is impacted by complex features including real-time chat, geolocation, and augmented reality.
The given table will help you to decide the type of cost and complexity in app development.
| Complexity Level | Description | Cost Estimation |
| Low Complexity | Basic features, minimal design, simple functionality | $10,000 – $50,000 |
| Medium Complexity | Moderate features, custom design, some integration | $50,000 – $200,000 |
| High Complexity | Advanced features, custom design, extensive integration | $200,000 – $1,000,000+ |
3) Platform
On which platform do you think your app will work better? The answer can be based on your target audience. Selecting the right platform for mobile apps directly affects the development cost and can be a wide issue.
It can be addressed by hiring Android developers and iOS developers. You can also check the table below to identify the right platform with cost.
| Platform | Description | Cost Estimation |
| Web | A web-based app accessible via browsers on desktop and mobile devices. | $25,000 – $150,000 |
| iOS (Apple) | Native apps developed specifically for iOS devices such as iPhones and iPads, are available on the Apple App Store. | $50,000 – $250,000 |
| Android | Native apps developed specifically for Android devices are available on the Google Play Store. | $50,000 – $250,000 |
| Cross-Platform | Develop once and deploy everywhere using frameworks like React Native or Flutter, compatible with both iOS and Android. | $50,000 – $300,000 |
4) App’s UI/UX Design
With an engaging user interface design, the user experience can be speed up. It can help to engage new users and can increase the loyalty of the customers towards the app. Additionally, it offers a competitive advantage in retaining users.
An effective UI/UX design has a high correlation with the company’s growth.
| UI/UX Design Level | Description | Cost Estimation |
| Basic | Standard UI elements, simple layout, minimal graphics, and straightforward navigation. | $5,000 – $15,000 |
| Moderate | Custom UI elements, improved layout, enhanced graphics, intuitive navigation, and some interactivity. | $15,000 – $40,000 |
| Advanced | Highly customized UI, rich graphics, interactive elements, animations, immersive experiences, and branding. | $40,000 – $100,000 |
5) Development Team
Selecting the development team is one of the important activities to be considered. The expertise and skill of the mobile app development company with domain knowledge can deliver effective service for developing an app.
Additionally, the flexibility of the development team to adapt to the changing requirements with unexpected challenges is the most crucial phenomenon for the project’s success. The table below can provide you with a clear view.
| Development Team | Description | Location | Cost Estimation |
| Freelancers | Individual developers or small teams work on a contract basis, offering flexibility but potentially varying quality. | Global | $25,000 – $150,000 |
| Boutique Agency | Small to medium-sized agencies provide personalized services, often with specialized expertise and attention to detail. | Regional | $100,000 – $250,000 |
| In-house Team | Hiring and managing an internal team of developers, designers, and project managers, offering full control and continuity. | Local | $150,000 – $3500 |
How Much Time Does it Take to Build an Educational App?
There can be multiple factors that can impact the overall cost to build an educational app, as you read in prior section. However, the time is also an important concern to be considered. On average it can take 2-6 months to develop an educational app. You can check the table below to learn more.
| Development Phase | Time Estimate |
| Planning and Research | 1-2 months |
| Design | 1-2 months |
| Development | 2-6 months |
| Content Creation | Ongoing |
| Testing and QA | 1-2 months |
| Deployment and Launch | 1-2 weeks |
| Post-launch Support | Ongoing |
Effective Monetization Strategies for Educational App
In previous sections, you might have get an idea about the cost of developing an educational app and the approximate time it will take to build an app.
However, along with the cost invested to make an educational app, it is important to learn the app monetization strategies through which an app can generate revenue. Let’s understand how you can make money from an e-learning app.
1. Data Monetization
Data monetization can be defined as leveraging the user data obtained with the consent of the customers to generate revenue. Apps that collect user data through anonymized insight and targeted advertising can be a viable strategy. Here you can collect the user data and generate reports based on the student’s top course selection and competitive exams or courses that can be sold to earn revenue.
2. In-App Advertising
With the help of in-app advertising, you can reach the targeted audience successfully. This kind of advertising offers a platform to showcase the products and services within the app. Here you can generate revenue through the seamless integrated ads in the app interface. It can be an effective way to deliver competitive ads without compromising the functionality of an app.
3. Subscription-Based Monetization
The success of subscription-based apps shows the viability of this approach, but needs careful execution. It can be stated as the most suitable education app business model, where the users can pay recurring fees. The intervals within the subscription-based model can be annually or monthly to access the premium content, services, and features. A consistent and predictable income stream for developers can be identified with the usage of this model. Various popular OTT platforms use this framework to earn revenue by investing in educational app solutions cost.
4. Freemium Model
The freemium model is the most popular model for monetization. It permits the developers to offer the basic version of their app for free. It also permits the users to purchase the premium features through in-app purchases. This feature allows the users to experience the app’s core functionalities without the upfront costs.
5. Sponsorships and Partnerships
Sponsorships and partnerships are the best ways to cover the cost of creating an educational app. These are the lucrative avenues for app monetization that leverage its user base for promotional initiatives. The model fosters mutually beneficial relationships by offering the developers financial support along with brand access.
6. Pay-Per-download
It is a direct monetization model where a one-time payment is made to download the app. This approach also ensures immediate revenue for the developers on each installation. Here, the development cost of educational apps can be covered via pay-per-download as it eliminates the need for ongoing transactions and subscriptions.
How Nimble AppGenie Can Help You?
In the whole blog, we have mentioned that an app development team plays an important role in making your app to standout the competition in the educational app industry.
Are you facing an issue in selecting an app development company?
Nimble AppGenie is the best educational app development company that can assist you in launching an educational app under a reasonable process.
You can select us as we have already done it before. Check out our case studies that say it all. GLU is one of the examples of our work.
Contact Us to know more.
Conclusion
The increasing number of downloads can be the motivation to enter the educational app industry. Other reasons for launching an educational app are easy access to resources, remote learning, interactive learning, real-time feedback, and personalized learning. The building cost of an e-learning app is reasonable so you can invest in the app successfully.
Before investing in an educational app, you need to decide the type of app that you can build. There are multiple types of educational apps including flashcards, dictionaries, e-book reading, and many more. You can get guidance from the popular apps to improve the inbuilt features of the app.
Moreover, to achieve success in the educational app industry, you should consider the factors that impact the cost of building an educational app including complexity, app platform, and UI/UX interface. At last focus on the monetization strategies that can help you earn money from the app.
FAQs
Niketan Sharma is the CTO of Nimble AppGenie, a prominent website and mobile app development company in the USA that is delivering excellence with a commitment to boosting business growth & maximizing customer satisfaction. He is a highly motivated individual who helps SMEs and startups grow in this dynamic market with the latest technology and innovation.
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