How Much Does It Cost to Develop an App Like X (Twitter)?

Do you want to make an app like X (Twitter)?

Before, initiating it you need to set a budget that can help you to invest in the app development. Social media have been in craze for the past few decades. And we think, to make an app, you should have an exact idea of the cost and its complete structure.

Want to know about the cost of social media app development?

Well, the average cost to make an app like X-Twitter is $100,000 to $500,000. This cost is impacted by certain factors.

Therefore, here we are with all that you need in one place. From market stats about X, cost, top features, and factors impacting cost, we will provide you with some monetization models that are an addition to your reading. Let’s proceed with the guidance over build an app like X-Twitter.

X(Twitter)- Power of 280 Character

Prior to proceeding towards the top features and cost, you need to know about X. Why?

Well, it will help you identify the current market of the app that will keep you updated about what’s happening in the social media market.

Twitter is the “word” that has the power to change perceptions of its users. Recently changed to X is a microblogging platform where users share thoughts, news, and opinions in short, 280-character messages called tweets. The social media platform contains millions of users worldwide and is a hub for real-time discussion and trends that shape perceptions.

• The global number of Twitter users is forecasted to increase by 74.3 million users (+17.32 percent) between 2024 and 2028.
• By 2028, the estimated Twitter user base is expected to reach 503.42 million users, marking a new peak.

• X Premium subscription service to X (formerly Twitter) costs users eight U.S. dollars per month.
• As of April 2023, there were approximately 640 thousand X Premium subscribers.
• In 2022, X (formerly Twitter) generated 4.73 billion U.S. Dollars in advertising revenue.
• By 2027, advertising revenue is projected to decrease to 2.7 billion U.S. dollars.
• Twitter’s advertising revenue constituted roughly one percent of the global ad revenue.

Know Features of X/Twitter

Learning about the market of X is just the beginning of capturing social media’s current environment status. We need to get a lot more to develop an understanding of cost.

One of the important parts of identifying the cost is to know the features that popular apps like Twitter contain. The reason is that features and their complexity are one of those elements that impact costs which we will study in the following sections.

Can we begin with the features of social media apps like X/Twitter, and Parler?

Yes, we can. Check the list below.

1. TweetDeck

What is TweetDeck? It is a dashboard application that makes social media management simple and also allows the user to see multiple timelines at one time.

This platform is useful for those who want to monitor specific keywords and hashtags in real time. TweetDeck offers its users multiple columns for organizing and observing different aspects such as timelines and more.

2. Pinned Tweets

Pinned tweet is one of the simplest and the most powerful features and can be implemented to grow users’ accounts. It will allow the user to pin one of the tweets and display it on the top of the page.

This feature can be referred to as a static tweet that stays on the top of the profile, no matter how old the post is, the pinned post will always remain first when a user opens the other account who has pinned their post.

3. Retweet

This feature is simple and used when the user wants to share a tweet with or without adding any of their thoughts. The user can retweet it by clicking on the retweet button.

Retweeting is a way for users to share the content they find interesting, relevant, and informative, and also helps them to spread information more widely across the platform.

4. Create Photo Collages

Photos are a very popular form to keep the audience engaged. Twitter is no different. The social media platform has a feature where you can add two or more photos and develop a collage.

It is very simple to add photos and collages, users need to create a tweet and are required to add a text update and then they can add an image by clicking to add an image.

5. Twitter Highlights Can Help to Track Followers

This feature is one of the efficient elements that help the user to keep informed on the latest trends and conversations. It is also helpful to identify the current demands of the users’ followers.

To implement this kind of feature, a user should go to the settings, click on notifications, and then enable the notifications so that the user can be able to turn this feature on while using the app.

6. Customize the Advanced Settings

Here, the user can customize the advanced settings and the notification feature after tracking the most pressing notifications.

This feature is developed to manage the customized experience of the user and also offer control over the present tweets. It minimizes distractions by customizing the notifications that the user wants to see.

7. Polls

To make an app like X, you should include a poll feature that contains a native poll designed to collect feedback and to provide people the chance to weigh the questions on it.

Within Twitter-X, it is an essential feature that helps to gain feedback along with the opinions of their followers or the wider Twitter community on different topics that keep the user’s audience engaged.

8. Twitter Blue

It is important to introduce a feature like Twitter Blue to build an app like X-Twitter. This feature is advertised by the platform as a premium subscription service that improves the quality of conversations over the app.

To avail of this feature, the users need to pay $7.99 to unlock previous features along with the latest ones.

9. Twitter Communities

The feature is an organized way to engage with healthy and likely mindsets. It is developed by the organization to allow the user to start and join a conversation with the closed community.

In this app, the user can create a community event with the user itself and with another Twitter user to become an administrator or moderator.

10. Twitter Circles

It is an important feature developed by the company to help the user tweet something only to a portion of their tweeter followers. The feature is developed to ensure privacy among the users.

The feature can be useful in developing an app like X by offering the users a feature as close friends on Instagram.

Why Develop an App Like X?

Before deciding on the X app development cost, check on how to create a social media app and then why to develop it.

Well, the answer can be the benefits it offers to its users. It is one of the reasons behind app development. You can have a list below to know more about the need for app development.

A] Increasing Market Demand

The increasing user base of Twitter represents the current market demand for the social media app. While creating a social media app, you can tap into this market and attract a sizable audience. As of 2024, January, there were 619 million users on Twitter/X.

With the unique micro-blogging feature and real-time updates, the app has engaged a significant user base. You can also drive into this market and capture audience interest.

B] Provide Monetization Advantage

One of the important benefits of developing a social media app is it offers diverse monetization opportunities that range from advertising and sponsored content to premium subscriptions.

Twitter has earned over 4.73 billion U.S. dollars in advertising revenue. Hence, this app can help you tap into such revenue streams and generate income via targeted advertising campaigns, promoted posts, and partnerships with brands.

C] Allows Users to Build Networks

Social media apps are developed to connect the users. You can also develop a social media app to help the users connect and build a community where they can share their views and thoughts. WhatsApp has 2 million active users that acts as a reason to make an app like WhatsApp.

The creation of this app can help people to remain in touch with friends and family. With a platform, you can help users build social connections that improve mental health and relieve stress.

D] A Business of Innovation

X (Twitter) is a successful platform; still there always remains room for innovation. You can create a unique app with an idea in order to attract a wider user base.

Developing a Twitter-like app can provide you with an opportunity to explore new features, functionalities, and user experience. This can include advanced content creation algorithms, multimedia integration, etc.

E] Open Sources for Business

Create an app like Twitter that assists businesses to spread awareness about the brand. It can also help you to create a marketplace for businesses to connect with the target audience. The average engagement rate of brand posts on Twitter was 0.4%.

Thus, you can also engage businesses by creating an app like Twitter. The app can serve as a platform for businesses to engage with customers, supporters, fans, and brands to cultivate deeper relationships.

F] Data and Insights

If you develop X app you open a way to collect a large amount of data. After developing a social media platform, the data gathered can help you perform targeted advertising, content personalization, and user engagement optimization.

It can enable you to collect and analyze valuable data points including user demographics, content consumption patterns, and more.

Average Cost to Develop an App Like X (Twitter)

Now, you have well understood the reasons to develop an app along with the Twitter market stats. You can have a complete process with the guide cost to create a social media app.

Till you check the guide, we will answer the question how much does it cost to develop an app like X (Twitter)?

The average cost to build an X (Twitter) clone app is $100,000 to $500,000. However, you need to study certain factors impacting the overall costs of your app. We will study them in the following section.

Factors That Affect Twitter (X) Like App Development Cost

Now, that you know the cost to build an app like Twitter it’s time to identify the factors that impact costs.

Why? These factors will help you to analyze the estimated cost figure of Instagram like app development. Let’s head to the factors one by one.

1) Complexity

The more features you want to add to the app, the more resources and time it will take. The complex features including real-time chat, augmented reality, geolocation, and machine learning algorithms impact Twitter clone app development cost. Let’s have a view over the table to know more.

2) Platform

The number of platforms that you will select your app to be developed on, is another factor that impacts the cost to make an app like X/Twitter. Here you need to hire Android developers and iOS developers to identify the approximate cost it will incur. However, to make an app over a single platform, you need lower costs. Check out the table below.

3) Tech Stack

The tech stack along with the frameworks used in the app development can affect the ease as well as the cost to develop an app like X.

The more complex and specialized technologies require more costs that include a high budget due to expertise, type of technology, licensing fees, and development time. Let’s head to the table below to know more.

4) App’s UI/UX Design

UI/UX design is another parameter that can affect. The aesthetics and interactivity of the app is an important feature that helps in determining the success as well as influencing the overall app design cost. Here is a table that you can check to identify app design costs and their impact.

5) Development Team (Location & Expertise)

Two factors within the development team have a core value in identifying the cost of making an app like X/Twitter. These factors include the location and expertise of the team. Hire mobile app developers to know the exact cost scale in this regard. Here is a table that can help you in this process.

How Long Does It Take to Make Twitter/X Clone?

Factors have made you identify, the estimated cost figure. Now you must be bothered about the time, it will take to make an app like X.

To answer the question “How long does it take to make an app? Check the time durations here, however, the time mentioned is the approximate time taken to make an app like Twitter-X.

How to Make Money With an App Like X?

Cost is an expenditure that you will make to develop your social media app. But, one of the considerations you will need is how to overcome the cost and earn revenue with the app.

What if we tell you that, certain monetization models can help you to identify that you can earn revenue from the app?

Yes, you can earn money with the app and can stand out from the competitors by learning the app monetization strategies. Check the list below.

• In-App Advertising

The majority of the app downloads are free to use. Hence you can monetize a free app by in-app displays. This particular strategy is effective in cultivating a wide audience because there is no monetary app entry. You can display the ads by using banner ads etc.

• Using Freemium Apps

You can offer some features for free and can charge for the premium features. The model can be designed to assist the users in having a full app experience by paying more. This function can help the user to know the app more after experiencing its free features.

• Data Licensing

This type of monetization model can be effective as after developing a social media app, you will gather a vast amount of users’ data. You can convert this data to earn revenue by analyzing the data to get reports on time of usage, and number of usage. These reports can be sold to earn revenue.

• Blended Models

You can have business models monetization strategy as Spotify does. Here users can pay more to enjoy added free services within the app. This service can help you to have a revenue stream. It can also provide multiple opportunities for the users to enjoy uninterrupted services in the app.

• Charges for Businesses

After a free post by businesses over your app, you can charge for further posts and ads. It is a monetization strategy used by Instagram and other social media apps. If small businesses want more premium services like analysis of the data of users and others, you can charge extra for such a service.

• Affiliate Marketing

This type of marketing works with a process by which an affiliate earns a commission for marketing another company’s product. You can partner with other social media platforms and businesses to earn commissions to drive sales.

How Nimble AppGenie Can Help You Create an App Like X (Twitter)?

An app development requires a cost amount and to identify it, you need the right guidance. To have that, you must select the right team.

Nimble AppGenie is an experienced Social Media App Development Company. You can approach us with all your queries and issues and we will help you to make them solve. We can develop a social media app for you with all the required features.

We have already done it before. Want to check how?

MM Arcade– Social media app defines it all.

Conclusion

Developing an app like X (Twitter) necessitates strategic planning, particularly in terms of cost. Before heading to development, setting a budget is imperative to ensure adequate resources for the project.

Understanding market dynamics and competition is vital for crafting a successful app. With the right knowledge and development partner, you can create a groundbreaking app ready to make an impact in the social media industry.

FAQs

Niketan Sharma

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.