The Hidden Costs of App Design: Factors That Influence Your Budget

Are you planning to build a mobile application that will help you grow your business? Well, that’s a good idea! Building an app is an investment. But beyond the obvious costs, there are hidden expenses that can significantly impact your budget.

You’ll find numerous hidden app design costs that can influence the overall budget of your app design. Every component, from unexpected technical issues to the always-shifting needs of your users, budget overruns can occur faster than you expect.

So, before starting to design your project, it is important for you to know the financial requirements. Here, we will learn some of the hidden factors that influence your budget design app and how to navigate them successfully.

10 Hidden Costs of App Design

You’re probably focused on the excitement of launch, but the reality of app design often includes unexpected costs. Hence, we have listed some hidden costs that can affect your final budget. Understanding these hidden costs allows for better financial planning and can lead to a more successful and sustainable app design project.

1. Ongoing Maintenance & Bug Fixing

If you want to give a better user experience to your customers without any glitches, then your app needs regular updates and bug fixing. All these are part of the maintenance of your app. However, you might overlooked post-maintenance costs in your initial budget, but for regular supervision, you need a separate budget. Prices for updates and fixing the bugs can be quite higher than expected.

2. Platform Cost

Both iOS and Android have different criteria for budget when it comes to designing an app. However, designing your app according to an iOS platform can be more expensive than Android. But if you are choosing complex UI/UX designing for Android then it can compete the charges with iOS. So, it is important for you to check and decide on the platform and type of design before you get into the design part.

3. Complexities of the App Design

The complexity level of your app design can affect your budget. For example, if you have a basic app design like a calculator or alarm, then the charges are low. But if you are choosing a medium app design like WhatsApp or complex designs like OTT platforms for your app, the cost will be slightly more.

4. Type of Team

When you hire team to design your app you need to choose between in-house teams and outsourcing agencies and freelancers. However, in-house teams are more expensive in comparison to local designing agencies and freelancers.

5. User Testing and Feedback

It is very important to run the app for user testing so that you have an idea about the performance of the app. The test run provides crucial feedback on your app, and you can also make the necessary changes before your app goes live. However, the test run can involve many processes, like hiring a team to check your app, conducting a survey, etc. All of these require a good amount of budget.

6. Server and Hosting Costs

The app also requires backend services and for that, you need to invest in good server and hosting solutions. For example, if you have a basic app with little traffic then you may have to invest around 20 USD per month, but if you have developed a complicated app with a large number of users then you may have to pay several hundred dollars.

7. Design Team Location

The location of the mobile app design company or the freelancers plays a significant impact on the final cost. Mobile app design companies or freelancers in different countries have their price structures, either charging hourly or per app. However, you can always opt for offshore teams to save money, but it can lead to other challenges like communication barriers.

8. Backend Infrastructure

For better performance of your app design, a healthy and strong backend infrastructure is important. For example, deployment tools, a framework for testing, databases, or servers, all support the functionality of the app. However, developing and maintaining the infrastructure of your mobile app can increase your app design cost.

9. Visual Design Cost

To give visual designs in your app, you need to create them from scratch or purchase them. Both situations require a high amount of budget. Visuals improve your user engagement and satisfaction, but making these visuals requires a lot of experience and hard work. Also, if you add too much color to your app then it may increase the prices.

10. Illustration and Animations

If your app includes custom illustrations and animations then these specialized elements for design can raise your budget. All the high-quality animations are there in the app to improve the user experience but to make these complex designs you need skilled designers and animators and they often command premium rates.

What is the Cost of App Design?

The cost of app design depends on various factors. However, the basic price for an application design might range from a few USD to 30,000 USD. The final price for your app design may change based on the type of complexity and features you are choosing. There are three types of application design in general, including basic apps, mid-level, and advanced apps. The more complex app you choose, the more your final budget will be.

Conclusion

When planning to design an app, it is important to consider the level of complexity required, as this will determine your overall budget for app design. You can first understand the various types of application design and their associated costs, then make final and more informed decisions for your budget. In this blog post, you can figure out hidden costs and save yourself from spending extra.

Additionally, it can help you make strategic decisions about your app design timeline, and you can also figure out if you want to hire in-house developers or outsource to a design agency.