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What do businesses generally pay for an app?

by Josh MacDonald
10 replies
Sharks Tank last night: some guy pays like $2,000,000 to have an app developed.

What are these businesses (small, med and large) generally paying for an app?

Anyone have experience with this?
#app #businesses #generally #pay
  • Profile picture of the author jamesfreddyc
    A well optimized website will work across all sorts of programs, operating systems and devices. I suppose there are some very specific needs (like a SaaS) that may require app development to optimize it, but I think for most businesses their sites will simply "just work" well if built correctly. No app needed.

    Edit: in many cases you could even argue that a business that requires a customer to download/install something is disadvantageous to just having a really good website that is optimized to work on mobile devices.
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    • Profile picture of the author Josh MacDonald
      Originally Posted by jamesfreddyc View Post

      A well optimized website will work across all sorts of programs, operating systems and devices. I suppose there are some very specific needs (like a SaaS) that may require app development to optimize it, but I think for most businesses their sites will simply "just work" well if built correctly. No app needed.

      Edit: in many cases you could even argue that a business that requires a customer to download/install something is disadvantageous to just having a really good website that is optimized to work on mobile devices.
      I'm not looking to argue app vs mobile website. If you're looking to compare that, compare the numbers of big, well-tested apps like Facebook's app vs Facebook's mobile site.

      It's not about requiring them to do anything, it's about establishing your presence on their phone, so they can browse your real estate listings or order a taxi easily.
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      • Profile picture of the author jamesfreddyc
        Originally Posted by Josh MacDonald View Post

        I'm not looking to argue app vs mobile website. If you're looking to compare that, compare the numbers of big, well-tested apps like Facebook's app vs Facebook's mobile site.

        It's not about requiring them to do anything, it's about establishing your presence on their phone, so they can browse your real estate listings or order a taxi easily.
        I wasn't arguing. I was giving you my experiences as you asked in your OP. But i see i missed the $ amount.
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  • Profile picture of the author kbrady
    In my experience I have seen businesses pay between $1500 to $5000 for an app (iphone and Android) that provides basic local business features. I don't see small businesses pay much more than that and as mentioned, mobile websites have many of the same features.
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  • Profile picture of the author CageyVet
    Zero to Unlimited...

    Apps are just programming. So it depends on what the business will pay to get an application developed....does not matter if it is for the PC, MAC, Mobile Device...it is all still just programming an application.
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    • Profile picture of the author BenHowie
      I co-founded and ran a mobile apps business in the UK for several years and the cost of development for a native iPhone or Android App can vary a lot depending on how complex the app is.

      A simple app with limited interactivity and complexity might start at £5,000 ish (~$7500) by a professional studio, or perhaps cheaper if using a freelance developer. You can save money by getting it developed by freelancers/smaller teams on oDesk or freelancer.com for as little as £2000 but the quality might not be as good.

      Complex apps that interact with cloud services or have lots of interactivity (e.g. games, social networks, etc) will not be cheap. Probably upwards of £30k.

      Most people will hesitate to give a ballpark cost until fully understanding the brief.. as this will always guide the price.
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  • Profile picture of the author BillyParadise
    People seem to be missing your point. I suppose the best answer to your question is "clueless businesses"

    We have a similar program up here in Canada and quite frequently they will show some business owner who has spent stupid amounts of money developing their product - sometimes an app, sometimes injection molds. The Standard reaction from the investors is omg you moron.
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  • Profile picture of the author ballparkbob
    My company develops apps and this is a common question. I always answer it with: "that's like asking how much it costs to build a house." Ask the customer to provide you with written specifications and then we can make a meaningful estimate.

    To give an estimate, however, app development is more difficult than web development. I think the cheapest one we've ever developed was $3500 and the most expensive exceeded $250,000.
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    • Profile picture of the author Josh MacDonald
      Originally Posted by ballparkbob View Post

      My company develops apps and this is a common question. I always answer it with: "that's like asking how much it costs to build a house." Ask the customer to provide you with written specifications and then we can make a meaningful estimate.

      To give an estimate, however, app development is more difficult than web development. I think the cheapest one we've ever developed was $3500 and the most expensive exceeded $250,000.
      I've developed 3 so far. Thanks for your help.
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  • Profile picture of the author AlphaSirius
    Yes I totally agree with CageyVet. Whatever he said is absolutely right. App is a software and the cost of those app will different as per it's capacity.
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