In the past two years, the app market has taken a huge turn, and for a good reason too. Having an app for your company or advertising campaign has grown to become a necessity to drive traffic and profits. Even those offering free apps still generate profits through ads and in-app purchases. Now this is bound to make you wonder: what is the cost of designing a mobile application?

If you are wondering about generic or custom app development cost, there are five factors that can help you budget this upcoming venture of yours.

• The Amount and Duration of Development – Mobile App development is an ongoing process that will continue even after the first release. This is because you need to fix any bugs your clients find out and keep them engaged with new features and updates. So the more time the app needs, the more it will cost you.
• Stopping at the Minimum Viable Product (MVP) – There is normally a cost to get the Minimum Viable Product (MVP) and then an additional one to take the product to the next level. If you’re a small business owner, MVP may be sufficient until your business starts growing and your customers start reeling in.
• The Project’s Scope – If you plan to have your mobile app for the long haul, your developers are bound to set a high amount for the infrastructure and investment required for the app. However, you may also get discounts for being a loyal customer from some developers.
• Integration Capacity – Integration with other systems is an important factor that drives the cost of app development.
• Number of Platforms Supported – The amount of platforms the mobile app can support is also an important factor in determining its cost. For instance, while Android is relatively cheaper, iOS can be pretty expensive. Therefore, developers will add any costs they incur.

To help you crunch the numbers, you can expect a very basic mobile product to cost from $20k to $35k. A more robust app could cost anywhere from about $50k to $75k. At enterprise level an app, on the other hand, could cost anywhere from $50k to $500k if not more. How much you pay depends completely on the reach of the enterprise app and the number of its functions.