How Much Does It Cost to Develop a Mobile App in Singapore? A Price Guide | ThunderQuote

Mobile apps are now integral parts of life and Singapore reports the highest smartphone penetration in the world at 90%. This multi-billion-dollar industry is clearly here to stay and it is a no brainer that everyone intends on riding the mobile wave.

However, the most common questions are “How much does it cost to develop an app?” or “How much does it cost to make an app?”. Whether you’re finding the cost for developing, making or building an app, because of the differences in functionality and structure in most app ideas, it is often extremely difficult for most people to figure out how much to budget for their mobile app development, making predicting mobile app development costs a huge frustration for many companies.

This guide by e-procurement platform ThunderQuote aims to provide you with a rough gauge to calculate your total budget related with your app development when hiring an app development firm.

Note: If you are seeking a mobile app development firm, you can save time and get up to 5 quotes from trusted local mobile app developers on the ThunderQuote platform for free.

The cost of developing a mobile app depends on multiple different factors which may include:

  • Type of App
  • Design & Prototyping
  • Complexity of front-end
  • Complexity of back-end
  • Number of platforms you want it on
  • Quality and speed of development
  • Amount of customisation that goes into the app
  • Developer’s rate

Unsure of what type of mobile application or features you’re looking to develop? We will now list the various type of apps available for easier reference.

Please note that the prices vary between minimum products and full products, as well as firms with good track records for which you should budget about 80-100% more than listed.

Also note that the examples of apps such as ‘Uber, Carousell etc.’ are for your understanding of the app functionality only and are the highest tier versions of the app-type, typically running into multi-millions in mobile app development costs.

  1. Simple Information App (e.g. SG Buses App, Discount App)

They present information to a user who can in turn select from available options and be redirected to additional materials in the topic. In general, apps with fixed information will cost approximately $10,000 – $28,000. For information that requires constant updating, extracting data from a public API and having it’s own database, it will cost $14,000 to $41,000.

  1. Sale of Products & Services App (e.g. Apple Store, McDelivery App)

If you’re selling your own (single merchant) products, digital goods or services through your app, be sure to enable the ability to have user database, gallery and e-commerce functions, as well as payment functions where possible- often you would have to direct users out of system to use certain payment functions.

Be warned that transacting directing through iTunes and Play Stores can incur commission costs of up to 30% of revenue, so it’s worth investing in outside infrastructure, which can increase costs.

An app like this will usually cost $15,000 to $48,000 if it does not have geolocation functions and is a simple e-commerce store on an app (your alternative is to just use Shopify), but if it does have anything special it would be easily $19,000- $65,000 or more. Examples of these applications include location-based store maps, m-commerce applications, reservation systems and so on.

  1. Marketplace App (e.g. Carousell, Uber, Food Panda)

Mobile platform apps allow businesses to deliver unique features and functionalities to end users wherever they are and have a significant place in the market. What defines a marketplace app is that it connects two or more distinct groups with demand and supply roles. These applications are very complex and require extensive development. Often, market forces also require you to make changes to the system.

These apps will cost approximately $25,000 to $85,000 at market rates, more if you have special tracking / matching, geolocation or other analytical functions.

  1. Multi User Platform App (e.g. Telegram, Whatsapp, Facebook, Yelp)

Multi-user apps have the capability to engage users together instantaneously. They have built-in functions for submission of listings and reviews, sharing information with each other and communication between users. These apps typically range from $42,000 to $96,000 or more.

  1. Game Apps (e.g. Flappy Bird, Fun Run, Pokemon Go)

Game applications might seem to be all fun and light-hearted, but are actually the most expensive of all mobile applications. Most game apps usually have some complex systems to incorporate the 3D effects and some other features, and the mobile app development teams for game apps require talents ranging from:

  • Programmers
  • Game designers / balancers
  • Animators
  • Sound effects
  • Designers
  • Concept Artists

Game mobile app development costs range from $80,000 to $160,000, depending on the complexity of built-in features – multiple users, 2D or 3D visuals, cross-platform for multiple devices, API integration etc. A social game application like Farmville costs $150,000 to $450,000+.

  1. User Productivity / Content Creation App (e.g Dropbox, Evernote)

Applications are typically targeted at workflow improvements in the office or organisation are usually called User Productivity applications, and there are two types of these applications.

Dropbox is a networked Software as a Service (SaaS) application. SaaS is a software licensing and delivery model in which software is licensed on a subscription basis and is centrally hosted. Such applications which harness office workflows between multiple users have much more complex databases and protocols due to the need to interface between multiple parties, and typically cost approximately $20,000-$30,000 and up.

Next, we have standalone applications, which are apps that improve workflow, but work with a single user with minimal interaction with other users or software. These may vary in pricing, but at the minimum will cost $15,000. A stand-alone application deploys services locally, uses the services, and terminates the services when they are no longer needed. An example would be photo editing software on your phone.

  1. Business Process Automation

Business process automation is being used by businesses to reduce the cost in time and money carrying out common business processes. Even complex business processes can be easily automated, streamlined, and simplified with apps for any department, any role, and any size of business.

It typically costs about $18,000-$60,000 for Manpower Coordination, Logistics, CRM, HRMS and $18,000 – $45,000 for Document Management, Finance/Accounts Records and other single module functions. Things which require full ERP implementation (ie. comprehensive multi-module functions) would be in the $50,000 to $150,000 range for simple workflows, advanced workflows going up much higher. For comparison, an SAP Ariba procurement system costs in excess of $1,000,000.

I should extend a word of caution for using mobile applications as business process automation, because often enterprise level processes and systems are very complicated, it is often unsuitable to have core database functionality on a mobile application. This is because making changes and editing mobile apps is extremely costly.

Often, it is better to build a cloud enterprise system (web-application), and then have that communicate with a mobile app with specific, specialised functionality instead.

The only sure way to find out what it will cost to get your app idea developed is to get some quotes from experienced app developers.  They can discuss the details of your idea with you and give you a pretty good idea of what it will cost. Getting multiple quotes is helpful to give you an idea if a quote is too high (or too low, which can be of lower quality).

Mobile App Vendor Checklist

A handy vendor checklist to use for evaluating a mobile app development firm in Singapore is:

  1. How many years of development experience do they have? (Aim for at least 3 years)
  2. Are they coding in native (ideal) or are they using a combined development framework like Phonegap (cheaper but poor performance)
  3. Have they developed a mobile app that is at least 70% similar in terms of functions before, and can they show you the portfolio proof? Web applications and websites do not count.
  4. What is the main language in which they are used to coding in? (For mobile applications, it would be Swift & Java)
  5. Do they have a dedicated project manager who is willing to show you the proper timelines and buildout for each of the phases, as well as contingency plans which would be activated in case of overruns and delays in reaching specific milestones?
  6. Do they try to understand your business model and target audience when setting out the scope of work (ideal), or do they simply ‘take orders’ from you about every detail?

For help on finding a Singapore mobile app development firm, ThunderQuote is able help you in getting 5 free quotes from highly experienced app development companies or freelancers, just submit a Request for Quotation for free to find and compare them!

 

ThunderQuote is the most comprehensive business services portal in Singapore, Australia and ASEAN , where hundreds of thousands of dollars of procurement contracts are sourced every month by major companies like Singapore Press Holdings, National Trade Union Congress and more.

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9 comments

  1. To add and caution, I have seen many people fall into the trap of engaging the developer with the lowest prices without asking the right questions. Engaging these developers might come with “hidden” clauses such as requiring you to use their proprietary technology that will charge you a fee on a regular basis or own a part of your intellectual property.

    The reason there are such big difference between the various prices from vendors is because of the risk margin they add.

    When you brief a developer, you will typically only include 10 to 20% of the project. A senior developer can fill in another 10-20% of your project during discussions before development starts. 80% of the project happens behind the scenes or is too technical for most people to understand and brief.

    IE. What frameworks to use, what server architecture should be implemented, at what stage does the app implementation come into the business.

    This means that when development starts, up to 80% of the project is still unclear, not researched and not fully planned out.

    This is based on our experience as a consultancy working with clients who want to develop custom applications. I can link to an article that we wrote or write one for Thunderquote if it’s fine by the blog admin. Let me know; I’ll love to share 🙂

  2. I am completely in synch with Aaron. Hiring developers just based on low cost is like dumping money in a bottom less pit. You never know when you will yourself fall into it. So price as a factor should not be the first criteria to hire a mobile app developer

  3. There’s no one final answer because app development cost depends on the features you want, the complexity of the app, and how much you want to measure in the initial stages.

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