React Native App Development Cost Breakdown
Did you know that the mobile app industry increased by 30% from 2019 to 2020? The industry is growing exponentially, with an expected $935 billion revenue in 2023. The tech world is the place to be when you are trying to make it big.
To make it big, you need to choose the right development company to back you up. Appvales is a trusted app development company specializing in the React Native app and can help you reach your goals effectively and efficiently.
Continue reading about the cost of React Native app development.
Reduced React Native App Development Costs
React Native is a trusted framework released by Facebook that allows for cross-platform app development. It is a framework trusted and used by many tech giants, such as Microsoft, Uber, Tesla, and, of course, Facebook and its affiliated companies.
The cross-platform app development feature is one of the most sought-after features of the framework. It reduces the development costs significantly due to the fact that the same team can create an app for both iOS and Android at the same time.
This hybrid app development has made significant changes for companies on a budget.
Let’s discuss in detail the reduction of React Native app development costs.
Reusable Code
React Native, or RN, uses javascript for coding. Javascript is one of the most versatile, reusable, and commonly used coding languages. In addition, it can easily be used across multiple platforms due to its adaptability.
RN also requires fewer skill sets to code the app. Therefore, there is no need for your team to be proficient in multiple technologies.
Additionally, you can share components with the sister framework called React for unified functionality.
Ready-Made Components and Libraries
A great feature of React Native is that it contains many component libraries and solutions. These components can significantly reduce app development costs since you and your team do not need to rewrite the basic code for many aspects of your desired app.
The ready-made solutions can include, but are not limited to, templates, packages that include pricing, overlay, search bars, and much more. Other components include icons, maps, and plugins.
This feature can benefit you and your team significantly. The ease and cost-efficiency of React Native are overwhelmingly beneficial.
React Native Libraries
One of the best features of React Native is made up of the use of an extensive library of components. We will discuss some of the best and most popular ones for your convenience.
NativeBase
NativeBase is an open-source library with excellent reviews. It uses the JavaScript code language to allow you to create a native look for your app. It is a perfect way to start building your app.
Teaset
Teaset is a UI library and is excellent for simple design and user experiences. The library features more than 20 pure JS(ES6).
Material Kit
This library offers a free app template for material design. It is user-friendly and features over 200 customizable elements.
React Native Elements
React Native Elements is another easy-to-use library that allows for easy customization. This library included pricing, badge, overlay, divider, and search bars.
There are many other components available in the React Native app. It is an excellent tool for reducing the hybrid mobile app development costs with the features mentioned above.
Reduced Time and Development Costs
Many of the features available in React Native reduce the development costs. Considering that your team will not need to start from scratch with many components of your app, it reduces coding, design, architecture, and UX design.
The fact that React Native allows your app to be used by more than one platform is an excellent example of how it reduces the time and cost of development. Even if you wish to launch your new app on only one platform to start, the cross-platform feature can help you and your team in future endeavors when the time is right to launch on additional platforms.
Lower UI and UX Costs
As mentioned before, the React Native app contains many reusable coding libraries. The UI design is simple and efficient. Since the user interface can be used on Android and iOS, your team will only have to design one app. Additionally, they can use templates from the React Native component app for a simple design and user experience.
Lower Maintenance Cost
Updates and maintenance are crucial to the success of your app. Regular updates will allow your app to meet or exceed the expectations of the users.
Maintaining an app can cost up to 20% a year of the total development costs. So choosing React Native to develop your app can significantly lower your overall costs in the future.
As you will see below, using React Native as your development app will decrease the initial start-up costs of your app. Still, taking into account that maintenance is a yearly expense, the savings continue over the years.
Factors Influencing React Native App Development Cost
React Native app development costs are determined by numerous amount of elements. Each element influences the React Native app cost significantly. In order to understand the money that you and your team will save, it is essential to understand what your app requires.
App Development Process
Before you are looking into creating an app, you need to understand the customer base and the target audience. There is plenty of research required before you dive into the development.
Complexity of App
App development can be simple or complex, or anywhere in between. You need to understand what kind of app you wish to develop before you hire a team. In addition, understanding the costs and time involved with a complex app versus a simple app is essential in your budgeting.
A complex app with an extensive database, payment options, and third-party integration will take much longer to develop and produce. In addition, your team will need to be experts in many different factors that you wish to integrate into your app.
There are two different options for the architecture of your app. You can choose to custom-build your backend development or use BaaS for ready-made products. If you select custom development, your team will need to put in more manhours, and it will drive up the price.
Third-Party integration is essential if you want your app to be user-friendly and interact with other apps. Unfortunately, React Native is a bit more complicated than the Native app to integrate third-party plugins.
If you wish to create a shopping app or other interfaces that allow for in-app purchases, your app will become more complicated with each option for purchase.
Integration of your entire business in your app can significantly increase the complexity of your app. However, if your app needs to work independently, your app can remain a bit simpler than an app integrated with your web app and business database.
Extra Add-Ons
React Native app development costs are dependent on add-ons as well. So even though React Native has many features that will allow you to develop a great app, you may want to integrate different add-ons to boost your app’s performance.
These add-ons, however, can add a high cost to your final price.
UX and UI Design
React Native app costs can also be influenced by the user interface and user experience. UI and UX influence how long your clients will be engaged with your app. A simple, smooth, and flowing design can make all the difference. After all, the app is successful when it is used and downloaded by a large number of users.
An interface that ultimately discourages your users from recommending the app can be detrimental to your business.
Distribution
The most common app stores are Google Play and Apple Store. However, they are not the only distribution channels for apps. The giants in the app world may charge you a more significant licensing fee than smaller app distribution centers.
Although the initial costs may be less, it is essential to note that Google Play and the Apple Store have the most extensive clientele and increase your revenue.
Team Size
The team size is dependent on the complexity of the app. However, it is essential to note that you will still need a primary team no matter the app’s complexity. This team consists of a project manager, backend developer, UX and UI designer, and an app tester.
Outsource or In-House Development
Although it is a widespread belief that an in-house team might be cheaper than outsourcing React Native, it usually ends up being more expensive in the long run.
Outsourcing your team means that you won’t need to keep them on payroll, provide training, create space for them to work, and much more. Plus, you won’t need to vet each team member separately, as it is already done by the company you hired.
Additionally, the app will require maintenance and support. Outsourcing the development of your app means that you will not need to keep the engineers on payroll. Instead, you can reach out to developers like Appvales when you need support.
Appvales houses excellent development teams that are reliable, responsive, and have an excellent reputation. We go above and beyond to provide customer satisfaction.
Location of Development Team
The location of your development team largely influences the cost of your development app. For example, many companies hire engineers in India or Ukraine to lower the costs of their app development.
The cost of living in these countries is much lower compared to the US or other Western countries. So, naturally, this reduces the price of the hourly wage or salary of the developers in your employment.
The Average Cost Of Building React Native App in the US vs. Ukraine
As mentioned above, your development team’s location can dramatically reduce the hybrid mobile app development cost. In this next section, we will cover why hiring a dev team in Ukraine is more beneficial to you than a team in the US.
Developer Rates
Developing an app in the US, depending on complexity, can cost upwards of $500,000. This is a very steep price, especially for a start-up company without any revenue.
The average hourly cost of a development team in Eastern Europe is significantly lower than in the USA. For example, a project manager costs $133-$233 an hour in the US, while only $35-$70 in Ukraine. This is a reduction of more than 50%!
However, as mentioned before, hiring a team overseas in Ukraine can reduce your costs significantly. For example, the average prices of building an MVP app in two months are around US$35,000 and US$60,000.
Building Full-Featured App
A full-featured app is more expensive than an MVP. Finally, we will discuss each team member’s role in the process of app development and the hourly wage of each member.
Project Manager
A project manager is an essential part of your team. A good project manager will create deadlines for the team, schedule the team to its fullest potential, and utilize the best potential of each member.
A project manager requires a Bachelor’s degree, a Master’s degree, and four years of experience in a related field. In addition, the project manager will have extensive knowledge in IT, computer science, and app development.
The cost of a project manager, as mentioned before, can be up to $233 per hour. However, hiring a project manager in Eastern Europe cuts the cost by more than half.
At Appvales, we know the importance of a great project manager. Therefore, it is our first and foremost priority to hire project managers with excellent communication and leadership skills.
UX/UI Designer
Equally important as a project manager, the UX designers and UI designers need to communicate with you and understand what you want out of the app. Thus, the designers create the user experience and the face of your company.
If the user experience of an app is rated poorly, it will hurt the business significantly. Therefore, UI and UX designers need to create a good first impression for the users, make sure that your app is featured in app stores such as Google Play and Apple Store, and create loyal customers that will leave excellent reviews and feedback.
Your brand is in the hands of the designers, and you must trust them with this task.
The hourly wage of designers is usually around $79-$163 in the US. At Appvales, we can reduce this cost to about $65 an hour.
Cross-Platform Developer
Hiring React Native developers in Eastern Europe usually have an hourly wage of $65. This is much lower than the US. When we compare the different salaries, the lowest cost for a cross-platform developer in the US is about $100 per hour.
At Appsvales, we are proud of our cross-platform development team. The members are experts in both iOS and Android. Moreover, they go above and beyond for smooth transitions between platforms.
Backend Developer
Much like the cross-platform developers, backend developers in Eastern Europe make $65 an hour. Again, compared to the US starting rate of $100, this is significantly lower. For senior developers in the US, the rate can be upwards of $200-$300.
Back-end developers are responsible for building and maintaining the technology required to power the front-end developers’ components for design, user experience, and user interface. In addition, this backend development team builds code for databases, application logic, and much more.
Cross-platform vs. Native app development cost
What’s the cost difference between cross-platform and native app development?
In the next section, we will discuss how hybrid mobile app development cost is reduced by using the React Native app for each team member.
Project Manager
With Native app design, the project manager is required to oversee both the project of the iOS development and the Android development. In addition, the project manager is responsible for making sure that the communications go smoothly between both teams.
The project manager will need to put in more man-hours because of this. However, since the project manager is the most expensive team member, reducing the manhours required for the development is highly beneficial.
It can reduce the cost by up to $10,000!
UX and UI Designer
The UX and UI designer will only need to focus on writing one code for both platforms. In addition, the components for the interface are reusable for iOS and Android, cutting the amount of time significantly.
Even though there are still changes that need to be made, especially for the user experience, React Native can help with the design with its many libraries across both platforms. It allows for an efficient and time-saving project.
Cross-Platform Development vs. Separate Platform Development
It goes without saying that the most significant savings are through the cross-platform development team. Since the developer is proficient in both platforms, and the coding can be reused, there is no need to hire a second person or team.
The cross-platform team can also use the extensive library and code needed for iOS and Android.
Backend Development
The backend development is virtually the same for Native app building and React Native app development. However, the team can cut costs here, too, since many templates and coding are available in the extensive library of the React Native App.
It is important to note that if you wish to customize your app without using the libraries, the costs will be higher. This is because the team will need to start from scratch and code the basic backend framework.
An Overview of Cost Comparison
Native apps usually have a better performance rate compared to React Native Apps. It also allows you to access specific features of the platform you are catering to, which may benefit your business in the long run. Native apps usually have a better UI and UX. This is because the app is superficially designed and developed for the targeted platform.
The major disadvantage of a native app is that the upfront costs are quite high. In addition, since the app needs to be designed for both platforms, the time needed to develop the app is longer.
Hybrid mobile app costs are much lower since only one team is required to develop the app. Additionally, with Native apps, your team will also need to be experienced in both platforms, and the skills required are much higher than with the React Native app.
Hybrid mobile apps, or React Native apps, are developed for iOS and Android simultaneously. It greatly reduces the start-up costs of your app and business. They are developed into two parts, the backend code, and the native shell. The native shell allows it to be downloadable on both app stores.
Altogether, Native app development for a 7-month full-feature project can cost nearly US$600,000. React Native development, on the other hand, will cost under US$500,000. This is a significant price change, especially for a start-up when every penny counts.
Additionally, the React Native team will complete the project earlier, allowing you to launch your app quickly and get it to market before the competition. The cross-platform development takes only 96% of the Native app time while only costing 85% of the overall development costs.
React Native App Development Services From Appvales
Appvales is an expert using React Native in the development of many apps. There are many case studies within different industries, such as social media, fitness and health, e-learning, analytics, tools, and much more. Our expertise results in satisfied clients and successful businesses.
Contact us today and receive a quote for the development of your newest app.
