How Much it Costs to Build a Social Media App Like WhatsApp

12 December 2017
How Much it Costs to Build a Social Media App Like WhatsApp
social media app development cost like whatsapp
Posted by Root Info Solutions

Social media app usage or daily time spent has increased by 33% between 2012 and 2017. The number of users globally active on social media has reached up to 2 billion, according to Statista. The popularity of social media apps can be understood from the infographic below.

most popular apps in the world

So thinking to get a mobile app of your own built? Wondering how much it costs? Where to approach? Here is brief insight on the same. Continue reading.

Social media app development cost?

The formula is quite simple as we used to calculate the distance by multiplying speed and time. So, here the distance is cost.

App Development Cost = Development Time x Hourly Rate

So, if we are able to figure out the development time, we can predict the cost of the app. A sensible way to approach this question is to take note of the popular social media apps and create a breakdown of their features and tools. Thereafter, we will estimate how much a social media app developer would take to code and integrate these features or tools. We'll do a cumulative sum of the hours required to create those features and then multiply that by the hourly rate of the mobile app developer.

A. Cost of Developing a Social Media App Like WhatsApp for iOS

Users spend 41.2 minutes on this real-time messaging app.

(1) Number of hours required creating prominent features

what app mvp app

Note: The setting adjustments may vary depending on the content of the "Settings" menu. This estimation includes profile settings, account settings, chat settings, notifications settings, and data usage settings.

Must read: 8 Things Entrepreneurs Should Know About Social Media App Development

(2) Hourly-rate of an iOS Developer

ios developer hourly rate
Courtesy: Upwork

 

Based on the hourly-rate table, here is what we can estimate.

Minimum Cost: 767*$15=$11, 505
Maximum Cost: 989*$100=$98, 900

You can see a huge difference between the two situations. However, when you hire an iOS developer with fundamental skills or intermediate skills, you can't expect from him/her UI-UX design skills. 

Hence, in such a situation, you also need to hire an UI-UX designer. Their hourly-rate can be between $10 to $85 as per Upwork. It may take an average time of 40 to 50 hours. So, the budget of app creation would increase by $400 to $4250. Adding the UI-UX design cost to the development charge estimated above, we get $11, 905 as the minimum budget, and $15, 755 as the maximum budget.

However, when you are eying for an app that has the charm and capability of WhatsApp, you need to get it built by an experienced team.

B. Cost of Developing a Social Media App Like WhatsApp for Android

(1) Number of hours required creating prominent features

social media app development cost like whatsapp

(2) Hourly-rate of an Android Developer

android app development hourly rate
Courtesy: Upwork

Type of Android Developer Description Average  Hourly Rate Basic Android Developer Mastery of basic Android development fundamentals which include wireframing and storyboarding, Java, Android SDK, and the Android Studio IDE. $15-40 + Intermediate ? Advanced Android Developer Beyond fundamentals, also skilled with one or more frameworks like Ionic, Corona, and Material Foundation. Familiarity with bug tracking system like Jira, dependency management tools like Gradle, and version control with GitHub?technologies typically learned while working on project teams. $35-75 + Android Developer and UI/UX Designer in one. These Android developers can also perform traditional design tasks like high fidelity visual mockups with Photosh , and are well versed in color schemes, typography, and Android Material Design. $45-100 +

Minimum Cost: 830*$18=$14, 940
Maximum Cost: 1010*$120=$12, 1200

Again, we can see a huge gap between content published here is just for marketing purpose to give website users a rough idea on the technology budget, it doesn?t claim that Root Info Solutions copies, clones, modifies, alters any existing codes, or performs a reverse-engineering to create such an app. We create app from scratch based on the idea and requirements of our clients. en the two cost - first developed by the amateur developer and second built by an experienced one with a sound knowledge of UI-UX designing.

Applying UI-UX designing cost ($400 to $4The content published here is just for marketing purpose to give website users a rough idea on the technology budget, it doesn?t claim that Root Info Solutions copies, clones, modifies, alters any existing codes, or performs a reverse-engineering to create such an app. We create app from scratch based on the idea and requirements of our clients.250) to the minimum budget calculated above, we can predict the average cost to be between $15, 340 and $125, 450

Disclaimer: The content published here is just for marketing purpose to give website users a rough idea on the technology budget, it doesn?t claim that Root Info Solutions copies, clones, modifies, alters any existing codes, or performs a reverse-engineering to create such an app. We create app from scratch based on the idea and requirements of our clients.

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