Experienced Web Developers: The cost of developing a social network

by thn87
25 replies
Hello Warriors,

Can you please provide me with estimates on developing an entire social network from scratch?

The estimate needs to include graphic design, web page design and programming (PHP, MySQL, AJAX, JQuery).

Social Network Features:
- Registration form and process
- Create and edit profile
- Message members
- Rate members and photos
- Search members
- Upload photos and post videos
- Activity based rating system
- Affiliate online shop
- A seven page tour of the website
- Anti-spam/abuse system
- Q and A section similar to a forum (With less features, from scratch)
- Simple blog platform (From scratch)
- Contact and support section

I want to get a rough estimate for the cost of developing the network. If possible can you break down the estimate in terms of graphic design, webpage design, and programming.

Thank you,

Thaer
#cost #developers #developing #experienced #network #social #web
  • Profile picture of the author Neil Morgan
    Hello Thaer

    Welcome to the Warrior Forum.

    While it's not a market I've ever researched, I'd be very surprised if you couldn't source an off-the-shelf package that does what you need. For example, there's quite a market for Facebook and Twitter clones.

    Cheers,

    Neil
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    • Profile picture of the author thn87
      Originally Posted by Neil Morgan View Post

      Hello Thaer

      Welcome to the Warrior Forum.

      While it's not a market I've ever researched, I'd be very surprised if you couldn't source an off-the-shelf package that does what you need. For example, there's quite a market for Facebook and Twitter clones.

      Cheers,

      Neil
      Thank you Neil,

      I'm looking to develop this social network from scratch, as it's going to be targeted towards a specific audience. The network is going to have specific features that may not be accommodated by the prepackaged software.

      Using a generic social network script is not an option for me no matter how flexible the script is.

      Thanks again,

      Thaer
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  • Profile picture of the author Neil Morgan
    Cool.

    There's loads of places online that your can post your spec and programmers will bid for it. Google that. And there's a sub-forum right here too...

    Warriors For Hire

    ...if you want to keep it in the family.

    Cheers,

    Neil
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  • Profile picture of the author Steve Solem
    I had a friend of a friend that wanted a website like Facebook but for just a certain niche market. Of course she was oblivious to the hundreds and thousands of hours and dollars that went into developing FB and she wanted it all for next to nothing - no more than a grand or two.

    lol

    Sorry, I'm no programmer so I can't give you an estimate here, but if none of the existing "off the shelf" systems works for you, I can only imagine you're looking at tens of thousands of dollars to develop a social network from scratch.
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  • Profile picture of the author Neil Morgan
    As an experienced programmer myself, one thing I would suggest you do is separate the graphic design and web page layout side from the programming aspects.

    The skills required are very different.
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  • Profile picture of the author Stephen Lessey
    Hey there, I have dealt with clients asking for the same effectiveness. I've worked with an outsourcing agency in India before so I can give you a fair estimate.

    If you want to implement this from scratch you will look at anywhere from $13,000 - $15,000. But understand that is the high end. I personally know developers that will charge $5000 for this work. But understand that what makes a website valuable is its branding and useability.

    Most of your expenses will come in securing and maintaining staff to operate the social site. Also, there are CMS engines that offer the same features, but are not so customizable.

    As a previous warrior noted. design, development and layout is all different fields. So definitely go with a group or firm, than a single provider.

    Hope this helps :-)
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    • Profile picture of the author awebforyou
      My company specializes in custom websites. Please PM me and I can give you a quote. It will not be the cheapest but we do good quality work that should not need to be redone when you grow.
      I think the $13,000 to $15,000 is on target but would like to discuss all the details.

      Esther
      www.awebforyou.com
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      • Profile picture of the author thn87
        Originally Posted by Steve Solem View Post

        I had a friend of a friend that wanted a website like Facebook but for just a certain niche market. Of course she was oblivious to the hundreds and thousands of hours and dollars that went into developing FB and she wanted it all for next to nothing - no more than a grand or two.

        lol

        Sorry, I'm no programmer so I can't give you an estimate here, but if none of the existing "off the shelf" systems works for you, I can only imagine you're looking at tens of thousands of dollars to develop a social network from scratch.
        Thanks Steve, I have enough resources dedicated to this project. This why I decided to go with building the network from scratch. I know a few grands wont get me anywhere.

        Originally Posted by Neil Morgan View Post

        As an experienced programmer myself, one thing I would suggest you do is separate the graphic design and web page layout side from the programming aspects.

        The skills required are very different.
        Thanks Neil. From your experience, an estimation, how much would you charge a client for programming a website like this?

        Originally Posted by Stephen Lessey View Post

        Hey there, I have dealt with clients asking for the same effectiveness. I've worked with an outsourcing agency in India before so I can give you a fair estimate.

        If you want to implement this from scratch you will look at anywhere from $13,000 - $15,000. But understand that is the high end. I personally know developers that will charge $5000 for this work. But understand that what makes a website valuable is its branding and useability.

        Most of your expenses will come in securing and maintaining staff to operate the social site. Also, there are CMS engines that offer the same features, but are not so customizable.

        As a previous warrior noted. design, development and layout is all different fields. So definitely go with a group or firm, than a single provider.

        Hope this helps :-)
        Thank you Stephen. That's exactly what I'm looking for just an estimation of costs of development. Do these outsourcing agencies take care of the graphic design aspect of the project? what is the quality like?

        I appreciate it

        Originally Posted by awebforyou View Post

        My company specializes in custom websites. Please PM me and I can give you a quote. It will not be the cheapest but we do good quality work that should not need to be redone when you grow.
        I think the $13,000 to $15,000 is on target but would like to discuss all the details.

        Esther
        Thanks Esther, I'm currently looking for more estimates so I can decide on which direction to go.


        Thank you,
        Thaer
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  • Profile picture of the author RajaRajan
    i googled " how much does it cost to build a social networking website "

    and it gave me this link How much does it cost to build a social networking platform from scratch? « How to start and run a social network

    which the author gave another link in that article which broke down the costs....
    Social Networking Platform Development

    its 3 pages of breakdowns, lists and costs.

    oh forgot to mention this link http://blog.guykawasaki.com/2007/06/...#axzz1OR0icFCt

    its a presentation on how a guy did it step by step


    hope that helps
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  • Profile picture of the author Fernando Veloso
    My 2 cents, without any math:

    10-30K and at least 3-5 months to bring your own script live FLAWLESSLY. 3-5K per month to keep it safe/working/updated with a in-house team.

    Low ball here. If you're really into something safe/workable/upgradeable it will be more, but in the end it depends on what you want.
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  • Profile picture of the author Ralf Skirr
    I'd guess somewhere between 10 and 20 K could get you a custom solution.

    But I hardly doubt that your specifications are so weird that you couldn't adjust an existing solution, and save yourself 15 k in the process.

    You should really evaluate if the custom stuff you want is crucial for monetizing your concept. From a business point of view: does it really give you a ROI that you absolutely could not generate with one of the available solutions?

    From my customers I can say that most ideas they come up with usually are just something they fall in love with, but it's rarely essential for the business.

    Evaluate your idea as business.

    Ralf
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    • Profile picture of the author thn87
      Originally Posted by MarcoJardel View Post

      Of course the only way you can really find out is to give your exact spec to a few providers and see what they come back with. However as a rough estimate from my dealings with outsourcing web work i'd say roughly £8,000 - £12,000.
      Thanks Marco. The pound is $1.64527, so 13K to 20K, is this if the website is made locally in the UK or outsourced?


      Originally Posted by RajaRajan View Post

      i googled " how much does it cost to build a social networking website "

      and it gave me this link (URL Above) How much does it cost to build a social networking platform from scratch? « How to start and run a social network

      which the author gave another link in that article which broke down the costs....
      (URL Above)

      its 3 pages of breakdowns, lists and costs.

      oh forgot to mention this link (URL Above) How to Change the World: By the Numbers: How I built a Web 2.0, User-Generated Content, Citizen Journalism, Long-Tail, Social Media Site for $12,107.09

      its a presentation on how a guy did it step by step


      hope that helps
      Thank you Raja, your post is extremely helpful. I did some search on Google and I got some numbers too but I wanted to ask the warriors because they know best.


      Originally Posted by Fernando Veloso View Post

      My 2 cents, without any math:

      10-30K and at least 3-5 months to bring your own script live FLAWLESSLY. 3-5K per month to keep it safe/working/updated with a in-house team.

      Low ball here. If you're really into something safe/workable/upgradeable it will be more, but in the end it depends on what you want.
      Thanks Fernando

      Originally Posted by Ralf Skirr View Post

      I'd guess somewhere between 10 and 20 K could get you a custom solution.

      But I hardly doubt that your specifications are so weird that you couldn't adjust an existing solution, and save yourself 15 k in the process.

      You should really evaluate if the custom stuff you want is crucial for monetizing your concept. From a business point of view: does it really give you a ROI that you absolutely could not generate with one of the available solutions?

      From my customers I can say that most ideas they come up with usually are just something they fall in love with, but it's rarely essential for the business.

      Evaluate your idea as business.

      Ralf
      The business aspect of it is taken care of. A complete feasibility study is being done. That'll make the picture clearer. Thank you Ralf.

      Please keep the numbers coming.

      Thank you, you've been very helpful,
      Thaer
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  • Profile picture of the author John Romaine
    Seriously, why?

    I dont know how many times Ive been asked to take on something like this over the years as a developer.

    99% of the time clients have absolutely no idea of the amount of time, money and resources required to put something like this together. Theyre typically niave, have no business plan and barely a budget to speak of.

    To suggest something like this would cost $13-$15,000, and that would be "high end" is almost laughable.

    To replicate something like Facebook would cost hundreds of thousands of dollars and require a TEAM of developers.

    Save yourself the headache.

    Either buy turnkey software OR forget about it, seriously.
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    • Profile picture of the author CDarklock
      Originally Posted by ramone_johnny View Post

      To replicate something like Facebook would cost hundreds of thousands of dollars and require a TEAM of developers.
      In general, a major web application will cost a quarter of a million dollars a year and need to be developed for three to five years before it is ready to "go wide" to a global audience.

      If you cut corners to get it up and running faster, you are actually building a fake application beforehand, while postponing the same real application I mentioned above.

      If you pay $13k-$15k over a 4-month period, what you are really doing is buying a prototype mock-up which you can show people while you scrape up the million bucks and the team of programmers who will be building the real project.

      Bear in mind that this assumes you know how to run a software development project, which most people don't, and that a decent project manager will be another $100k or so annually. So figure on $1.5 million and shipping in Q4 of 2015.

      And, finally, I am talking about a social network on the order of Facebook and MySpace - something that will handle millions of hits a second, a perpetual series of aggressive hack attempts, and a global mass-market audience.
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  • Profile picture of the author sodevious
    You'd need at least 2-3 people. One graphic designer, web designer and developer. You're looking at thousands of dollars.
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  • Profile picture of the author Johnny Slater
    I have to agree with ramone_johnny. You would be looking at hundreds of thousands of dollars to have it done right.

    Any script kiddie could slap something together for a few thousand that on the surface looks like it works but there are so many details where even the smallest mistake or the smallest detail not thought of could collapse the entire thing.

    These types of systems are not built quickly or cheaply. They require hundreds of hours of code time and a team of not just programmers but you will also need someone to design the user interface to make it consumer friendly, someone to design the graphics, someone who understands workflow dynamics to make sure it all plays well together, and thats just as a start.

    I've charged next to nothing for the rare paid coding I have done and I wouldn't touch this for less than $50k. A serious programmer who makes their living doing paid coding and cares about his/her work would more than likely charge 4x that.
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    • Profile picture of the author thn87
      Like I mentioned before, the business aspect of this project is taken care of, so please just let me know how much you'd charge to take on a job like this. I'm not interested in turnkey websites or scripts.



      Originally Posted by ramone_johnny View Post

      Seriously, why?

      I dont know how many times Ive been asked to take on something like this over the years as a developer.

      99% of the time clients have absolutely no idea of the amount of time, money and resources required to put something like this together. Theyre typically niave, have no business plan and barely a budget to speak of.

      To suggest something like this would cost $13-$15,000, and that would be "high end" is almost laughable.

      To replicate something like Facebook would cost hundreds of thousands of dollars and require a TEAM of developers.

      Save yourself the headache.

      Either buy turnkey software OR forget about it, seriously.
      Ramone, Thank you. How much do you think it costs to get a site like this up and running?



      Originally Posted by sodevious View Post

      You'd need at least 2-3 people. One graphic designer, web designer and developer. You're looking at thousands of dollars.
      Thanks

      Originally Posted by Johnny Slater View Post

      I have to agree with ramone_johnny. You would be looking at hundreds of thousands of dollars to have it done right.

      Any script kiddie could slap something together for a few thousand that on the surface looks like it works but there are so many details where even the smallest mistake or the smallest detail not thought of could collapse the entire thing.

      These types of systems are not built quickly or cheaply. They require hundreds of hours of code time and a team of not just programmers but you will also need someone to design the user interface to make it consumer friendly, someone to design the graphics, someone who understands workflow dynamics to make sure it all plays well together, and thats just as a start.

      I've charged next to nothing for the rare paid coding I have done and I wouldn't touch this for less than $50k. A serious programmer who makes their living doing paid coding and cares about his/her work would more than likely charge 4x that.
      Thank you John, so you're saying that most developers would charge an average of $200,000 ?
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      • Profile picture of the author John Romaine
        Originally Posted by thn87 View Post

        Like I mentioned before, the business aspect of this project is taken care of, so please just let me know how much you'd charge to take on a job like this. I'm not interested in turnkey websites or scripts.
        How much would I charge? Answer. Nothing. Because I wouldnt take a project like this on. It would be FOOLISH of you to even consider hiring a SOLE developer to take a project on of this size. Seriously.

        However that's a side thought, there's a number of other things in your posts here that raise immediate concerns for me.

        Firstly, the fact that you are asking on a public forum. I'm pretty confident that anyone who was genuine about taking a project like this on, would be undertaking meetings with stakeholders, investors, developers, programmers, graphic designers and marketers alike. Not asking "how much" on a public forum.

        As a web developer of 10 years, there are two questions that will have me running away faster than a rat in reebooks, from any project almost every time - and they are when a client asks .....

        1) How much will this cost?
        2) How long will it take

        ...before even discussing the requirements of the project!

        Would you call a builder and ask "How much to build a house????" without at least giving them details about whether its a split level, two storey, 3 bedroom, carport, garage, tiled roof, carpeted, brick, etc etc etc.

        Of course not. Its ridiculous.

        I mention this because they're the two most common questions given by complete tyre kickers. There aren't usually considerations given to anything else except "how much" and "how long". These people I tend to avoid, especially if they have no sense of a business strategy, a plan, a budget or set goals. In most cases they'll end up being nothing more than a complete waste of my time.

        Secondly, (as mentioned above) you're continual fixation on cost. If cost is your primary concern then that to me is an issue in itself. Let me ask you this - what's your budget?

        Thirdly. Have you documented a comprehensive needs analysis, or site requirements and covered EVERYTHING in DETAIL?

        This below is a list of "nice stuff to have" - and far from a needs analysis.

        Originally Posted by thn87 View Post

        Social Network Features:
        - Registration form and process
        - Create and edit profile
        - Message members
        - Rate members and photos
        - Search members
        - Upload photos and post videos
        - Activity based rating system
        - Affiliate online shop
        - A seven page tour of the website
        - Anti-spam/abuse system
        - Q and A section similar to a forum (With less features, from scratch)
        - Simple blog platform (From scratch)
        - Contact and support section
        Oh, and before you do anything - have you performed market research and done a feasibility study?

        There are literally HUNDREDS of questions that need to be asked, and answered ahead of anyone discussing "price".
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  • Profile picture of the author Mark Brian
    You can always hire a single person for a couple of thousands or take it like a serious business and spend 6 figures at least.

    Facebook's initial major funding was about $500k
    and even if it is already successful, it just receive about $1.5B additional funding early this year.
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  • Profile picture of the author Robert X
    One Hundred Billion Dollars
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    [

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  • Profile picture of the author MichaelG469
    This is an interesting topic, and I think johnny has a lot of valid points. Keep us posted on the outcome of this project, interested to see what comes out of it.
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    • Profile picture of the author awebforyou
      Code:
      You'd need at least 2-3 people. One graphic designer, web designer and developer. You're looking at thousands of dollars.
      that's why you can just hire a team.
      I am personally a developer but I have graphic designers and web designers working for me so that I can get the client exactly what he needs at good prices.

      Esther
      web programmer-eshops-custom database solutions-Awebforyou
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  • Profile picture of the author cma01
    Social Network Features:
    - Registration form and process
    - Create and edit profile
    - Message members
    - Rate members and photos
    - Search members
    - Upload photos and post videos
    - Activity based rating system
    - Affiliate online shop
    - A seven page tour of the website
    - Anti-spam/abuse system
    - Q and A section similar to a forum (With less features, from scratch)
    - Simple blog platform (From scratch)
    - Contact and support section
    I'm not sure why you would want to reinvent the wheel when pretty much everything you've listed could be done starting with a platform like Joomla or Drupal . . . even the Sugar network started on Drupal. (They had a staff of full time developers.)

    I guess I've received enough inquiries from flaky clients, that I'm a little skeptical of posts like this. If you really *needed* a custom solution and had a budget to back it, I just don't understand posting for input on the WF about it.
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