How Much Does It Cost to Develop a Custom Software

Software solutions like websites and apps, have become an integral part of business marketing. These solutions help businesses mark their online presence and reach a large number of users. Software solutions help in increasing user engagement which eventually results in higher revenue.

Most businesses hire software development companies, to get websites and apps developed. Some businesses prefer getting a custom software solution, while others choose readily available solutions for their business. Both software solutions have their own set of advantages and disadvantages. Before directly jumping on to knowing the cost of developing custom software, let us first understand

What is Custom Software?

Custom software or bespoke software is the one that is developed for a particular business or an organization. The design & development of solutions are completely as per the specific requirement of a client. Although these solutions may cost a tad bit more than the readily available software, which are developed using predefined themes and templates but, are known to offer a highly interactive and user-friendly interface to users. Businesses prefer getting customized websites or apps developed, as they can get these software solutions designed, which are attuned to their brand identity. This makes users remember the brand and helps improve the brand’s image.

Now that we know what custom software solutions are, let us discuss.

Factors Affecting the Cost of Developing Custom Software

There are a number of factors that are responsible for determining the cost of custom software development. These factors are more or less the same for both website development and mobile app development. However, no two custom software costs the same, and the cost of development entirely depends on the factors like:

Size of the solution

The cost of custom software development is directly proportional to the size of the software being developed. As the number of screens or pages to be developed increases, the time required to create them also increases, and with this, increases the cost.

As we all know that most software developers work on an hourly basis, so the more time they dedicate to your project, the more will be the cost. A single-page app may cost you somewhere around $200 to $500 but as the pages or screens increase the cost would go higher.

Design and Complexity

Simple software with some basic features will cost you quite less than the one with intricate design and features. To explain you better, we have divided this point into two parts:

• Design
• Development

Designing a software takes approximately 25% of the development time. Generally, a designer takes 10 to 12 days to design software having interactive and attractive visual elements such as fonts, images, color schemes, and graphics. However, this entirely depends on the design you choose. If you plan to get simple software with some simple design elements, it will take less time to develop resulting in lower development costs but, if you choose to get an intricate design and have plans to include different animations and graphics, it will take more time, resulting in higher costs. You can hire UI/UX designers that can help you in choosing the right design for your project.

After the design layout is finalized, the software developers start working on the development of the project. This mostly takes a huge part of the development time, but this again depends on the kind of features you want in your software. The one having some simple features will cost you less, but if you are looking for a software solution with complex features like customized animations, complex database relationships, media processing, etc. will cost you more. You must hire dedicated developers who can help you choose the right technology for your custom software development.

API Integration

If you are looking to integrate some third-party software like payment options, shipping, etc., it may cost you more than getting just a simple one. Some integration can be done effortlessly while others may get complicated and require a lot of time. This will not only increase the development time of your software but will also increase its cost. It is always advisable to seek services from an experienced software development company so that they can seamlessly integrate external software into your project.

Data Migration

If you need to migrate your existing data into new software, doing it all by yourself may not be the right option. But if you want this to be done by your developers, this will cost you money.

Hiring Model and Development Time

This is one of the most important factors that determine the cost of software development. Most web development companies offer various business engagement and hiring models to choose from. You must choose the one that fits your budget and project requirements. Choosing the right hiring model is very important as it determines the major part of software development cost.

Also, the time required by the development team to develop your project, right from designing to testing and deployment, affects the development cost.

Conclusion

Getting custom software developed for your business is a tough task. Being an entrepreneur you have to look after a lot of stuff, especially the budget. To get a website or app developed, the first thing you must do is to be clear about your idea. Once you know what you want for your business, only then you will be able to explain it to your development team. The kind of software, its features, design elements, technologies used, and development time determines the major part of your software development. If we talk about the overall custom software development cost, it may range from $40,000 to $50,000, depending on the type of software you want.

To sum it up below are two of the most asked questions related to custom software development cost.

Does the location of software development affect the cost?

This is the most frequently asked question by our clients. In our opinion, yes, location does play a major role in deciding the cost of software development. The software developers based out of the US, Europe, Australia, and Canada, are most expensive. Developers in Latin America, Africa, India, and other Asian countries has affordable cost for custom software development.

If you talk about hourly rates, on average, a software programmer in the US, normally charges around $60-$150 per hour, while developers in Asian countries charge around $15-$80 per hour. 

Does the size of a development team affect the cost of software development?

Yes, both the size of a development team and the experience of members working on your project, affect the development cost. How your software turns out to be is majorly dependent on the team of experts working on it. The more experienced a developer is, the more expertise he has in creating custom solutions. An experienced developer is more likely to handle all the complexities related to your software development. Also, the more the experience, the more will be his hourly rates. Your app development majorly depends on the development team you choose, as they are the ones who will work on bringing your idea into existence.

Usually, every app development company has a project manager, front-end developers, back-end developers, and quality analysts, in their development team who work together. Each member is equally important and the cost of development is based on the total average hourly rates of this team.