{"id":5501,"date":"2013-02-11T14:18:41","date_gmt":"2013-02-11T20:18:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.mrc-productivity.com\/blog\/?p=5501"},"modified":"2022-11-22T10:53:17","modified_gmt":"2022-11-22T16:53:17","slug":"how-much-does-native-mobile-app-development-cost","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.mrc-productivity.com\/blog\/2013\/02\/how-much-does-native-mobile-app-development-cost\/","title":{"rendered":"How much does native mobile app development cost?"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"SaveCost is one of the reasons we advise businesses against building native mobile apps. Of course, there are many more reasons we advise against native apps, but I won\u2019t get into them in this article. You can always read this white paper<\/span><\/a> if you\u2019d like to learn more. <\/p>\n

Today, I\u2019m focusing on native app cost. Simply put, native apps are significantly more expensive to both develop and maintain than hybrid or mobile web apps. <\/p>\n

So, how much do they cost? I did a little digging and found a wide range of cost estimates, some of which may surprise you. I’ve listed four of these cost estimates below:<\/a><\/p>\n

Forrester Research<\/span><\/a> estimates the cost of a single enterprise iPhone app at $20,000 – $150,000. Of course, that range accounts for many factors, such as app complexity. For instance, a simple informational app will cost much less than a heavy duty app connected to a back-end database.<\/p>\n

What about tablet apps?<\/strong> Native tablet apps are even more expensive, as one mobile app development company estimated the cost of a single enterprise iPad app anywhere between $50,000 – $150,000. <\/p>\n

It\u2019s important to understand that those prices only apply to development. We haven\u2019t even touched on ongoing maintenance costs, which according to this article<\/span><\/a>, typically come in at 15% – 20% of original development cost, per application. <\/p>\n

Now, keep in mind that all of these figures apply to building a single native app. Since each native app only runs on one platform, you must develop multiple native apps to reach additional platforms…which exponentially increases the development price.<\/p>\n

Wrap up<\/h3>\n

High cost is one major reason we advise against building native apps for your business. If your company is considering mobile apps, I recommend investigating the mobile web app or hybrid app options. Not only are they cheaper to build, they\u2019re also easier to maintain. Those are benefits that any business will appreciate.<\/p>\n

Of course, if you are considering mobile business apps, we can help. The video below explains how our development platform (m-Power) simplifies mobile development and automatically creates cross-platform smartphone and tablet apps every time you build an application.<\/p>\n