Cost to Develop an iOS App – Complete Breakdown

The first question clients ask when developing an iOS app is “What’s iOS App Development Cost?”.

With the rise of iOS dominating a quarter of the world smartphone market and having more than 1.96 million apps, this is one of the most popular app development platforms.

And there are a lot of people who want to develop an iOS App. But there’s a small hurdle that bothers most people, the “Cost”.

If you are wondering about the cost of developing an iOS app, this blog is for you. Here we shall be going through a breakdown of iPhone app development cost and everything related to that.

Therefore, with this being said, let’s get right into it:

iOS vs Android: The Endless Debate

Mobile App Development is one of the biggest trends in industry 4.0. This technology has occupied almost every industry from on-demand to even logistics and commerce.

And by the end of 2023, mobile applications will be generating more than $935 billion. But how?

Well, if you don’t already know, almost everyone has a smartphone. On these smartphones, people use a lot of applications. In fact, millennials open mobile applications more than 50 times a day. In general, people do it, 11 times a day at least.

With the rising demand for mobile apps and different industries reaching trillions in value, a lot of businesses want to develop a mobile app.

One of the first choices you need to make when developing a mobile app is the platform. And this is where iOS vs Android debate comes in.

Now, both iOS and android are amazing platforms in their own right. But why do people love iOS? Well, there are some great reasons behind it.

• If you exclude mobile games, iOS applications generated 75% of $43.4 Billion dollars.
• When compared to android apps, iOS apps are much more likely to generate higher revenue.
• When it comes to iOS App development cost, it is much lower than the android app development cost.

These are just some of the basic reasons why so many people are interested in iOS app development. But this brings us to the main question, how much does it cost to make an iPhone application?

Let’s answer this question.

Average Cost To Develop An iPhone App

The average Cost To Develop An iPhone App ranges from $10,000 to $60,000+.

iPhone App development cost highly depends on several factors including complexity. For instance, the cost of developing iOS apps of different complexity is, as mentioned below:

• $10,000 to  $25,000 for standard app development
• $25,000 to  $50,000 for average complexity app development
• More than $60,000 for complex iOS app development

Apart from complexity, there are several other factors that affect the cost to develop the app. And due to these reasons, it isn’t possible to predict total development cost without learning about the project specifications and your preferences.

Now, if you want a more accurate cost estimation, it’s highly recommended that you consult an iPhone App Development Company. They will be able to give you a better cost based on your preferences, app type, and other factors.

Speaking of which, what are these factors which affect the iOS app cost? Let’s look at just that in the section below.

Factors That Affect the Cost of iPhone App Development

The average iOS app development cost ranges from $10,000 to $60,000. The reason for such a large range is, there are no two same projects!

Every project has its own specifications and every client their own preferences. These variables become the factors that affect iOS app development cost.

While it’s pretty difficult to estimate development costs, learning about factors that affect development costs can really help you grasp the concept better.

That’s why in this section of the blog, we shall be going through some of the top factors which affect total iOS app development cost. These are, as mentioned below:

Type of App

iOS is a platform. This is the mobile operating system on which apps can be run and used. What it is not is a type of app.

Rather, an iOS application can be anything from dating mobile apps to eCommerce mobile apps. Why this is important is: depending on the type of application you are developing, the cost can be drastically different.

The reason is that some types of applications are really simple, with basic features and not a lot of hard work. On the other hand, there are solutions that are highly complex with advanced features and top-notch technology.

As one might guess, iOS App Development Cost for the latter one is considerably more. Moving on, let’s look at some of the common types of mobile apps.

• On demand apps
• Marketplace Apps
• eCommerce apps
• OTT App
• Fantasy Sports Apps
• Music Streaming App
• Mobile Banking App
• Car Wash App
• Travel App
• Beauty Salon App

These are some of the common types of mobile applications you can develop in iOS. We have linked blogs related to the cost of these particular solutions and you can read more about the same there.

Moving on, let’s look at other factors which affect iOS Application development cost.

2. Features

The cost of iPhone app development highly depends on features.

Features are the driving force of any application and this becomes even more important in a highly regulated platform like iOS.

So, to create an app worthwhile and actually useable, you will add a number of features to it. Feature list will highly depend on the type of app and its function.

But, cost mainly depends on whether you are adding simple features or complex features. Then again, no app just has simple features or complex features, rather there’s always a combination of the two.

As the general rule of thumb goes, the more complex feature you are including the more expensive they will be. And simpler features will be cheaper to develop.

This is how features of the iOS app affect the total app development cost.

3. Size of App

IOS apps can be of varying sizes. Again, there are various factors that affect the size of the app or contribute to it. For instance, some apps like eCommerce solutions are inherently larger than let’s say on-demand ones.

But in any case, the size of the mobile application itself becomes one of the leading factors affecting iOS app development cost.

The concept behind this is simple, the smaller the iOS app, the cheaper it is developed. And on the flip side, the larger app you are developing the more expensive it is going to be.

The reason is that larger solutions will require higher resources, more time, a larger team, and more experienced developers, among other things. All of these will add to the total cost to build an iPhone app.

4. Tech Stack

Tech stack, what is it?

Well, the term tech stack, or technology stack as some like to call it, refers to the set of technologies used for mobile app development, iOS app development in this case.

Now, there are a lot of different development technologies out there ranging from stand-alone programming languages like SWIFT to full-on frameworks and code editors like CodeX. Apart from these, there are a number of iOS app development tools too.

In layman’s terms, some of these technologies are open-sourced, meaning anyone and everyone can use them free of cost. And there are some other technologies that are not all that affordable.

That’s why based on the technologies being sued to create the app can affect iPhone App Development Costs.

So, these were some of the factors which can affect the total iOS app development cost. And with this out of the way, we shall be looking at another major contributing factor to the total cost i.e. your development partner.

Cost To Hire iOS App Developers

To create an iOS app or any mobile app for that matter you need to hire mobile app developers. Now, this is no rocket science, there are various wants to find an app developer in 2023. And it only takes about 10 minutes or so.

But the real question is, how does your choice of developers affect the total iOS app development cost? Well, here’s how.

Cost To Hire Developers Based on Mode

The cost to hire iOS app developers is mainly affected by how you hire them. There are various ways to do it and the cost associated with them is also different.

These are, as mentioned below:

• Freelancer
• Outsourcing
• In-house team
• Staff Augmentation

The cost of hiring freelancing developers is anywhere from $15 per hour to $95 per hour. On the other hand, every other option highly depends on your project.

With this out of the way, let’s look at another big factor that affects the cost to hire developers.

How Much Does It Cost to Develop an Mobile App?

Experience of Developers

It goes without saying that there are some things that you can only learn with time. And this is the reason why experience is valued so much in every field including app development.

Now, if you want to hire iOS app developers, they will give you a quote based on their experience in the field. In the same flow, the more experienced developers you hire the costlier they are going to be.

This is how the experience of the developers affects the total iOS App Development Cost.

Location

Well, well, location is one of the biggest factors when you are discussing the cost to create an app for iPhone. Let us tell you why.

When you jump from one location to another, there are a lot of things that change. This includes skilled labor, currency strength, competition, and so on.

Moreover, considering the fact that with help of WWW and global communication, you can hire a company from any part of the world, this is a strong factor.

In any case, the cost to hire iOS app developers in different parts of the world is, as mentioned below:

• North America – $45/PH to $105/PH
• Europe – $25/PH to $95/PH
• Asia – $15/PH to $85/PH

In other words, if you want to hire iOS app developers in/from the USA it will be much more expensive than when you do it in Asia.

Therefore, keeps this in mind calculating the total iOS app development cost.

How Long Does It Take To Develop An iPhone App?

The second most asked question after “how much does it cost to make an apple app?” is, “How Long Does It Take To Develop An iOS App?”

Much like the iOS app development cost, the time too highly depends on various different factors. While the mobile app development lifecycle is almost identical, there can be some major differences based on preferences.

Therefore, the average time to develop an iOS app ranges from 4 weeks to 40 weeks. In any case, if you want more insight on the same, it’s highly recommended that you consult a mobile app development company that will help you with the same.

Is Android App Development More Expensive Than iOS App Development?

This is one of the big questions that a lot of clients ask, is it cheaper to develop an android app or an iOS app?

Well, contrary to popular belief, iOS app development cost is actually lower than android. And here’s why:

Android as a platform dominates about 75% of the market. Meaning there are billions of people who use this OS on their phones.

Coming to the phones, the smartphones that use android are developed by a lot of different companies ranging from Samsung to Huwaei. While they create their own UI like One OS or Color OS the base for them remains the same.

Some of these companies offer updates for 1 or 2 newer versions, however, after that phone is stuck on one older version. And what this does is, create a market where android users are scattered on different versions of the OS.

So, how does this affect the cost? Well, when the developers are creating an android app, they have to make it compatible with a lot of different platforms.  This means longer development time, more work, and thus higher development costs.

 On the other hand, iOS as we know it is only used by one company and that is Apple. Smartphones using iOS i.e. iPhones are only sold by apple and the OS is highly regulated.

Consequently, most of the users are relatively newer versions of the platform. This saves a lot of time in development, making it cheaper comparatively. This is how iOS app development cost is lower than android.

Conclusion

Android vs iOS has been a debate for a long time now. And now coming to an end in near future. But as of now, the scale is tipped towards iOS and a lot of clients are considering this option.

If you too want to develop an iOS app or want to learn more about it, we highly recommended that you consult an IT firm.

FAQ

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.