As you might know, the need for developing the Magento app/ mobile app has increased sharply in recent years since online shopping on mobiles has gradually overtaken desktops. Besides, there are more and more types of mobile apps that are innovated to serve different demands of both store owners and users.
Whenever we are setting up to build a Magento app, the first and primary question that might come to our mind is the cost it takes to create the app. However, no one can give you an instant answer since there are a variety of factors deciding the cost; and we can only estimate it in each specific situation.
With more than 10-year experience in Magento app development, it’s our responsibility to make a plan of “To do” tasks with a clear timeline and then give a quotation for our clients. In this article, we will reveal some tips that we usually apply to anticipate the cost of mobile development projects.
First and foremost, you should understand the core stages in the app development process:
- Discovery stage – “Break the glass”
- Magento App Design stage
- Magento App Development, Testing, and Deployment stage
- Support and Maintenance stage
Each stage will take a certain amount of time and therefore trigger different fees. Now, we will go deeper into these stages and find out the associated costs.
1. Discovery stage – “Break the glass”
At this stage, we will work closely with our customers so as to clarify all fundamental elements involved in the mobile app development project. For example, we need to know which type of app they want to build, the supported platform(s), their audience size, the expected app design and functions, and so on.
If the customer has already come up with specific ideas of how their app would be, the discovery stage would take no longer than 2 weeks. Otherwise, it would last up to 1 month to analyze the client’s needs and project requirements explicitly. While many companies might charge you for a consultant and detailed quotations, Tigren offers it free.
2. Magento App Design stage
After achieving agreement on project specifications and costs, we will move to the second stage – mobile app design. There are two possible options. If the customer has their own designers and provides us with available website design themes and templates, we just need to review them and make some suggestions for improvement (if any). In contrast, our team will design their app from the scratch based on the client’s expectations.
The more sophisticated the app design is, the more time and effort we have to put into it. In general, the app design phase will last from 2 weeks to 1 month and cost you $1,000 – $3,000. Since a great design always comes at a cost, you should understand deeply your intended market. If the audiences are very design-sensitive and UX-driven, you should invest more in the looks of the app and vice versa.
3. Magento App Development, Testing, and Deployment stage
The type of app and the complexity of the app functionalities will make up the most in the total costs. In the previous article, we helped you to estimate the time it takes to build a Magento mobile app, which also is a base to define the possible costs.
Firstly, if you want to build a Magento native app, it might take up to 6 months to complete a version (for Android/ iOS/…) and cost you $10,000 – $20,000. Consequently, to build mobile apps running on both Android and iOS platforms, you have to double the investment.
Secondly, if you need to build a Magento hybrid app, it would take 3 months on average and cost you about $4,000 – $5,000. Compared to native apps, hybrid apps are more suitable for a limited budget since you need to build only one app but they can work on multiple operating systems. If you can accept page loads at moderate speed and don’t require so many complicated features, you should go with the hybrid apps.
Besides, the number and difficulty of all functions required also affect the costs. A Magento app that includes just simple features such as user login, product ratings, reviews, and push notifications will definitely be cheaper than the one offering complex payment systems, web portals, and more native features.
After going through the mobile app development phase, our QA team will make in-depth testing to ensure that the number of possible glitches or lags is minimized.
4. Support and Maintenance stage
All Magento apps will need maintenance and regular updates to function on the latest operating systems. From our experience, the support and maintenance cost is approximately 50% of the app’s initial price in the first year, 25% in the second year, and between 15-25% for every year after. At Tigren, we offer 3-month free support after launching your Magento app and can provide instant support whenever you want at a reasonable cost. You can turn to us for help when a problem arises or buy our monthly support package to save the total cost and prevent all possible issues.
As you can see, it’s very costly to build a Magento app (at least $5,000 – no maintenance fee included). Moreover, these costs will be doubled, tripled, and even more, if you hire developers in Europe, the US, the UK, Canada, or Australia, etc. Since Tigren is an outsourcing website and mobile app development company (with cheaper labor costs), we are able to offer much better prices while the product quality is still guaranteed.
What If You Can’t Afford to Develop a Magento App?
We understand that the cost of building a Magento mobile app is huge. If it becomes a burden on your financial ability, we would like to suggest 2 alternative options:
- Using our Ultimate Magento 2 Mobile App Builder to build your Magento hybrid app at no cost.
- Applying the latest technology – Magento 2 Progressive Web App (PWA) to bring about an app-like experience to your customers by spending at a much lower cost.
We are very proud of these two products, which would be perfect solutions for e-commerce businesses with constrained budgets.
For more information, please send your queries to our support team: [email protected] or send us a contact form.
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Progressive Web App for Magento 2 – Everything You Need To Know
