Consumer Electronics, Mobile Phones

How Much it Cost to Make Iphone App

Cost of Creating an Iphone Application

As just about anybody knows, the exploding markets created by mobile apps over the last several years are a veritable gold mine, worth upwards of $35 billion in 2014,  for anybody with a unique idea and the know how to get that idea produced.  For any would be developer there are two ways to go about getting your big idea into the market: doing it yourself or hiring the leg work out to a developer.  Just what does that production cost, though?  How big a financial risk must one take in order to have a shot at their payday?

Fees to Apple

First off, regardless of the method you choose to have your app developed, there is a $99 annual fee  to become part of Apple’s iOS Development Network.  This fee comes with a multitude of resources such as instruction manuals, sample codes and developer forums meant to aid you if you decide to program yourself.  The annual fee also allows for submission of as many apps as you like.

Educational costs

If you are new to app development but want to do it yourself, learning the language of app development and the many steps involved from conception to completion will be an obvious next step..  The costs here can be anywhere from the thousands of dollars you could spend enrolling at your local college and taking classes to the hundreds you could spend buying up books from your local bookstore or enrolling in specific online development and design courses taught at accredited universities by actual professors from places like Udemy to the $24.99/month you could spend on Lynda.com for access to their thousands of online classes covering hundreds of topics.  Your main cost here is time, as iPhone development is a multi-layered and highly technical endeavor.

Outsourcing costs

On the other hand, hiring out the design and development of your prized idea will run you into the tens of thousands of dollars for anything more than the most basic of apps.  Depending on your needs, you could be looking at one or two developers, a lead designer, and possibly a lead artist.  While the team you hire will manage every step of the process, including testing,  each of those positions, at costs ranging from $40-$120 per hour, working half- to full- time, can push your budget into the $25,000-$30,000 range.  Beyond even those numbers, the fancier and flashier games on the iPhone store have had known budgets of $250,000 and up.

Additional costs

Extracurricular costs, such as marketing or product management, have not been considered for the purpose of this article, but if you consider that the App Store now has over one million unique apps, spending a little extra in order to distinguish yourself quickly becomes a viable cost.  It is also worth noting that the highest grossing apps on the App Store have grossed over $100,000,000, making any possible costs well worth the investments of those companies!