How Much Does It Cost To Make Popular Apps Like Facebook, Uber, Spotify, Zillow
January 28, 2021
With over 3.2 billion smartphone users across the globe, it’s no surprise that the mobile app industry is growing at an incredible pace. Studies show that the average American checks their phone after every 12 minutes, and 10% of people check their phones once after every four minutes (Source: Statista)
We all use our phones at work, at home, and even while in bed. You might be reading this from your smartphone. What is everyone doing on their phones? Well, most of them are spending their time on apps. It is encouraging news for anyone who is planning to develop an app and take their business to the next level.
However, before jumping into the mobile bandwagon, we hear one question all the time and that is how much does it cost to develop an app?
To know more about it, we took a small survey among the IT professionals to know what they think about the initial cost of developing a smart yet intuitive mobile app application.
Over half of them reported that it takes more than three months and over $50K for developing an app, and nearly a quarter stated app development costs to go up to $100k. However, this is not true. In this post, we’ll discuss how much it costs to build an app like Facebook, Uber, Zillow, and more. We’ll also cover some other cost-related factors to give you a clear idea about the price of developing an app.
Since these popular apps contain different features that are common in various apps, understanding the cost of these features helps you know how much budget you require to build similar apps.
How much does it cost to create a social media app like Facebook?
Facebook is the world’s most renowned social media platform that has almost 2 billion monthly users globally. It is a user-friendly app that allows users to connect with family and friends regardless of their geographical location.
Number of Hours Needed for Facebook Like App Development
Registration Process – anywhere from 80 to 90 hours
- Name & Email ID
- Name & Phone Number
- Name, DOB, email ID
Access Control – above 100 hours
- Through email ID
- Through phone number
App Interaction – Above 450 hours
- Chat/messaging
- Social Sharing
- Video calling
- Universal linking
Basic Features – at least 450 hours
- Help forum
- Newsfeed/activity feed
- User profile
- Refer a friend
Advanced Features – about 200+ hours
- Data sync
- Push notifications
- Geolocation
- Image filtering
External Features – about 200+ hours
- In-app calling
- OTP reading
- Secure data travel
- Connection to 3rd party API
If we sum up, the total number of hours required to build a social media app is around 1800 -2100 hours. And an estimated cost to create an app like Facebook is approximately $364,000 to $403,000.
How much does it cost to create a taxi app like Uber?
How much it cost to build an app like Uber? It is the first question that comes to mind when looking to develop an on-demand taxi service app. According to Statista, the taxi app market generated revenue of $302 billion in 2019, and despite the effects of COVID-19, 2020, it generated around $192 billion. The market will pick up thereafter, clocking a healthy CAGR of 17.5% and generating $365.9 billion in revenue by 2024. The total project duration likely ranges from 2000 to 2500 hours and is typically accomplished with a team of 5 to 7 developers. While a developer residing in the US can charge up to $60 to $250 per hour and in India it costs around $10 to $80 an hour.
| Uber Cost
(Features) |
Backend
Hours (min-max) |
Android
Hours (min-max) |
iOS
Hours (min-max) |
| Passenger | |||
| Registration | 16-20 | 36-42 | 40-46 |
| Taxi Booking | 24-36 | 72-78 | 78-84 |
| Payments | 32-40 | – | – |
| Fare Calculator | 18-24 | 14-18 | 16-20 |
| Driver Tracking | 24-32 | 40-46 | 46-50 |
| Notifications | 16-24 | 22-28 | 22-28 |
| Ride History | 20-28 | 36-42 | 40-46 |
| Review & Rating | 16-24 | 38-44 | 38-44 |
| Profile Settings | 16-22 | 30-36 | 34-40 |
| Driver | |||
| Registration | 12-18 | 36-42 | 40-46 |
| Status Updates | 10-16 | 22-28 | 24-30 |
| Booking Requests | 24-32 | 38-44 | 40-46 |
| Booking History | 16-20 | 30-36 | 38-44 |
| Notifications | 14-18 | 22-28 | 22-28 |
| Admin | |||
| Dashboard | 60-80 | – | – |
| Total Time to build Uber like app | 444-602 | 772-908 | 788-944 |
How much does it cost to create a grocery app like GrubHub?
Grubhub is a Chicago-based online food delivery company. The company has more than 14 million active diners and approximately 80,000 partners. On average, 457,300 daily orders are placed through the app. To create a clone application for food delivery like GrubHub, the cost depends on the features you choose. The rough costing varies from $5000 to $50,000. Features in GrubHub are:
Customer Side:
- Login
- Search Menu
- Cart
- Payment Integration
- Order Tracking
- Rating and review
- Customer Support
Restaurant Side:
- Login
- Menu Management
- Push Notification
- Checking Rating and Review
Delivery Side:
- Registration
- Order Management
- Updating the Order Status
Admin Side:
- Admin Login
- Restaurant Management
- Application Management
- Payment Management
- Discount Offers and Coupons
- Technical Assistance
How much does it cost to create an entertainment app like Spotify?
Spotify is a popular audio streaming platform based in Swedish. It rules in the music streaming digital market with more than 140 million users on board. Spotify runs seamlessly on all operating systems, including iOS, Android, and Smart TVs. The total cost of developing a music streaming app like Spotify is based on features, design, technology, and platforms. The average price to build for an Android platform is around $25,000, for iOS is $35,000, and for the web, it is expected to be $15,000.
Locations also make a big difference in the app development costs. For instance,
- US-based companies or developers cost- $150-$250, excluding QA.
- Western Europe based companies or developers cost- $100-$180, excluding QA
- Eastern Europe based companies or developers cost- $130-$210, excluding QA
- India based companies or developers cost- $20-40$, including QA.
How much does it cost to create a real estate app like Zillow?
The emergence of the on-demand market is taking the world by storm. Taking advantage to the fullest, real estate companies are growing at an exponential rate. The real estate businesses are hiring mobile app development companies to build intuitive and feature-rich mobile applications that become a go-to tool for users when finding their dream homes.
Let’s see why real estate app development?
The development of a real estate app or web development is a complex project. It is not just API integration but also because it includes different user roles such as buyers, sellers, brokers (agents), and admin. To save time and money, it is advisable to launch an MVP at first that gives you a clear idea will the end product proves profitable or not in the future.
We have gathered a list of main features that you can use in developing a real estate MVP.
| Features/ Screens | Functionality Required | Front-end
(Hours) |
Back-end
(Hours) |
| Architecture/DB | 16 | 40 | |
| Design | 450 | ||
| Deployment | 40 | ||
| Home page | Search by the address | ||
| Menu bar | Menu options | 8 | |
| Registration | – Account creation
– Registration |
16 | 16 |
| Login | – Login by Facebook, Google
– Restore password |
8 | 20 |
| Search Results | – List of properties with images | 24 | 8 |
| Search filter | – Search filters (rent, sale, budget, home type) | 16 | 16 |
| Map for search results | – Google Map API integration
– Define the user’s location |
16 | 8 |
| Listing information about house/property | – Fill the information about the property
– Insert images |
16 | 16 |
| Applications for listed property | – Application details for listed properties | 16 | |
| Property page | – Information (static)
– Features (static) |
24 | 8 |
| Static pages( About us, help) | – Static text (not editable) | 32 | |
| User account/profile | – Edit profile, account
– User settings – Applications |
16 | 40 |
| Contact Us | 32 | ||
| Admin | – Login | 4 | |
| List of users | – Manage the list of users
– Manage user information |
16 | |
| Property List | 4 | ||
| Property Detail Page | 20 | ||
| Total time to develop Zillow like app | Front-end from 786+ hours | Back-end from 332+ hours |
App Cost Calculator Formula
It is a smart way to calculate the cost of your app idea by looking at the costs of the most popular apps in the world. The simple and reliable way to estimate app cost is:
(Features*Time)*Hourly Rate = Cost
Another great way to calculate the price to build an app is by using an accurate app cost calculator tool. Many top mobile app development companies are offering this tool that helps you get quick quotes based on your requirements within minutes.
Other Factors Related to App Cost
- App Complexity
One of the main reasons that we cannot give you an exact number is that there are so many types of apps. Mainly divided into three broad categories:
- Apps without web servers
Apps without web servers often display data on different lists due to the lack of remote data servers. Some common examples of these types of apps are diet planners, calendar apps, or e-mail apps. The cost of developing such apps lies between $1000 and $4000. Some features, like social media integration, geolocation, or third-party plugins, can drive up the prices.
- Apps with web servers
These apps have their data on remote data servers. Since these apps require more sophisticated programming and API integration, thus, the cost could range from $8,000 to $50,000.
- Location of Outsourcing App Development Company
The hourly rates for mobile app development vary in different parts of the globe. With our recent research, it is evident that among six regions, India has the lowest development rate ($10 to $50/ hr), and the US has the highest app development rates ($60 to $125/ hr). On the graph, we represent three types of companies. Elite – highly professional companies, Capable – high-quality app development services, and Upcoming – that have recently came into the market to offer similar services.
- iOS Vs Android
Is the cost to build an iOS app is higher than an Android app? One of the most debated questions. The truth is that the cost per hour for developing both the apps is pretty much the same. Moreover, Android apps have more variety of devices thus, take a longer time to build than iOS apps so, you might end up paying more when developing Android applications. That’s why many choose to develop iOS apps before Android apps.
Summary
To end this post, it is worth mentioning that the cost to build an app will dramatically vary according to your business requirements. That’s why you need a reliable app development company that can guide you while choosing the best technologies, relevant features, and more. An experienced mobile app development team can help you achieve your goals faster and most cost-effectively and securely. Good luck!