Now that you are aware of the phases of an app development project and the cost associated with them, we can move on to the tips to manage and reduce the cost of your app development project.

Note down the essential features

It is a good idea to think about the functionality of your app before you start working on it. Understand the problems that you want to solve and list down the features that you want to include in the app.

While some of the features and functionalities are easy to implement, others will require considerable effort and money to implement. Since the cost of features varies with projects, it is difficult to put a price tag on them.

To build your app without exhausting your entire budget, only include the features that are critical to the functionality of the application. Once you have a Minimum Viable Product (MVP), which contains only the essential elements, you can test it and later add more features as an update.

You can also cut the development costs by using pre-built features. For instance, instead of spending your time and money on developing your own push notification functionality, you can simply choose a third-party plugin. Numerous service providers offer these pre-built solutions at a nominal price.

Consider the location of the app developer

Although, every company and developer charges differently, their cost massively depends on their location.

For instance, app developers from North America and Australia charge as much as $150/hour on average. In contrast, developers in Eastern Europe and the Indian subcontinent may cost as low as $30 per hour on average.

Choose cross-platform app

Businesses generally have two options to develop their app. They can either choose a native app development framework or a hybrid framework. The native framework allows you to create apps that operate on specific platforms like iOS and Android. Hybrid or cross-platform apps, on the other hand, run on various platforms without much variation in the code.

Since the native framework requires separate apps for different operating systems, their development cost is higher than hybrid apps. Also, it takes more time to develop a hybrid app.

So, if you want your app to be compatible with various devices, you should choose the hybrid framework. It will enable you to reach a broader audience through a single app.

However, the downside to cross-platform apps is that they may suffer from performance issues, app lags, and crashes. At times, the graphical elements may also fail to transform entirely to match the framework and result in various design defects. Hence, many app developers prefer native apps over cross-platform apps.

Agile methodology

An app development project involves different methods and processes. Some of these processes may seem simple, yet they need proper time and resources.

The agile methodology allows a team to break up a project into various small stages and complete them in a collaborative manner. 

In the agile framework, the app development team moves through a process of planning, development, and testing in iterative cycles called ‘sprints.’ This way, projects are managed better, and each stage is executed and tested efficiently. This significantly reduces app development cost and time.