Social media apps offer many advantages to us - from communicating our ideas, keeping up with news and gossip to meeting people to dating someone special - which explains why entrepreneurs and startups alike are investing their efforts in finding innovative apps with cost-efficient development techniques that could one day become Facebook or Instagram rivals.
Angel investors alike seem excited at this prospect!Given its astounding success and ever-rising star power, nobody wants to pass up an opportunity to join this ever-expanding digital-savvy market.
Are We At An Appropriate Moment In History To Build A Social Media App?
Reports show that over 90% of millennials use social networks and that 80% of companies leverage them for marketing purposes.
This leads them to expect a global social networking user base of 4.89 billion by 2019.
Business Insider estimates that US e-commerce sales could top $50 billion by 2023. During a Pandemic, people became isolated.
Social media helps people stay in contact with family, friends, and even neighbors via text, chat, or video calls; singles could use social media as an avenue to find dates, while younglings and aspirers could use it to develop new abilities and expand their repertoires of skills.
No matter where they live in the world, individuals can stay in contact with friends and family through social media.
Charities and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) used this medium regularly to raise awareness for various causes or protest movements such as George Floyd. Charities also utilized it extensively when initiating revolutions such as the Black Lives Matter movements after such incidents happened.
Based on current statistics, it seems reasonable to predict that social media app usage worldwide will grow over the coming decades.
With that being said, how much does it cost to develop one in 2023? Regarding numbers, building a social media app usually costs anywhere from $30,000 to over one million dollars.
Costs associated with social media app development depend upon multiple variables, including:
- Design
- Complexity of features
- Compatibility with devices
- Security
- Testing
- Maintenance etc.
Do you Want to Expand on an Existing Idea with the Best Social Media Apps? In this article, we cover social networking app development costs in detail, as well as features, trends, and types of Social Media Applications to select.
2023s Top Social Media Apps Of 2023
Social media has become an inextricable part of contemporary society. A staggering estimated 4.9 billion users around the globe now utilize some form of social media.
This incredible figure clearly shows its prominence.
To give an accurate representation, we have listed the top social media apps with the largest user bases as of 2023.
They include:
With 2.91 billion monthly users and counting, Facebook tops our list. As one of the earliest social media platforms that introduced mass adoption of its concept into society, its immense user base continues to adore this name even after being rebranded to Meta.
However, its prominence still needs to be improved.
Youtube
What started as an idea to build an archive video platform has evolved into one of the leading social media apps today, enabling anyone with internet access to upload personal and public videos and content for consumption by others around the globe - giving rise to an entire industry of creators that make a career out of uploading individual clips onto this powerful platform.
Currently, over 2.56 billion people utilize YouTube - impressive statistics!
A revolutionary social media app with over two billion registered users worldwide, Whatsapp stands out among Ebuddy, BBM Chat, and other similar applications with its peer-to-peer messaging capability and global access via contact numbers as identity credentials.
Whatsapp continues to set standards worldwide through peer-to-peer messaging services that utilize internet technologies for global connectivity between people.
Instagram has long been part of the social media ecosystem; however, recently, it has grown increasingly more prominent.
Users can upload images and videos, which can then be seen by everyone or just specific individuals depending on privacy settings; additionally, it forms part of Metas user base of 1.47 billion!
In 2018 alone, WeChat became one of the first standalone apps to surpass one billion active users - it hails from Chinas Tencent, developer of PUBG mobile game, and currently holds 1.26 billion active accounts.
Read more - Social Media App Development: Challenges and Solutions
2023 Will Witness An Explosion In Social Media App Development
Are You Searching for Mobile App Development Companies for Your App Idea? Step one should be to set your goal, find your niche, set a clear vision, and identify an ideal app category.
Lets investigate various social media app categories, such as social media app development services, while simultaneously identifying our target audiences and listing any competitors that exist in each social network app category.
This report categorizes various kinds of apps by their key features and costs for development. This breakdown allows developers to estimate approximate product costs more accurately.
Social Networking Apps - Social networking applications allow users to communicate and exchange information, photos, and updates amongst one another on a digital platform such as Facebook or LinkedIn - notable examples include these platforms being developed generally at around $115,000 depending on their features and user interactions.
Media Sharing Network Apps - These applications allow users to easily share multimedia content such as photos, videos, and livestreams between one another - such as Instagram, Snapchat, or YouTube - among various social networks and media sharing services.
Creating such an application typically costs upward of $70,000 due to its multimedia nature.
Social Content Publishing Platform Apps - These applications specialize in blog publishing and content production to facilitate user-generated sharing; examples such as WordPress or Medium are popular choices for this.
Developing these apps typically costs anywhere between $35,000-$50,000+ depending on features needed and custom customization required.
Discussion Forum Apps - These apps serve the primary function of encouraging discussions and knowledge-sharing through user-generated content such as Reddit or Quora, for which their development costs range anywhere between $20K - 80K depending on features and the complexity of the Design.
Content Sharing Network Apps - These applications, often associated with bookmarking and content aggregation platforms like Pinterest and Flipboard, typically cost $5,000-$11,500, depending on their efficient sharing functionality.
Consumer Review Network Apps - Allow users to post reviews about brands, products, and services online, such as Yelp or TripAdvisor, for easy user sharing of feedback; developing such apps usually costs approximately $15,000 as they focus on user-generated ratings.
These estimates offer a rough idea of the costs involved with developing various apps. However, exact expenses will differ based on features, customization needs, and other project-specific factors.
Cost Estimate For Social Media Application Development Based On Features
Cost estimates for developing a social media app vary considerably based on the features and functionalities of your app, so when starting off creating one, it may be more feasible to build out an MVP with basic app features before gradually adding on more complex ones as needed.
Minimum Viable Products (MVPs), commonly referred to as Minimum Viable Products, are created by gathering user feedback in real time and collecting accurate data from them.
To stay ahead of competitors and protect your app idea, launch an MVP version of social media apps before they hit the market in order to gather feedback or secure future investments into them.
MVP makes things simpler by spending less money to develop a Social Media App skeleton before its actual launch.
By tracking user reactions with MVP, you can make informed decisions without risking as much capital. Sounds safe!
Social Media App Cost And Essential Features: Must-Have Features
Heres our must-have app features list for social media app development.
This document details essential features and their requirements for creating an app with comprehensive back-end development, iOS development, and Android development - along with associated development costs - included within.
Sign In/Log In: Creating user-profiles and integrating third-party SDKs such as those found on Facebook or Google are part of this step; in addition to Amazon services, SES and SNS for phone number/SMS verification can also be included as features in this process, with development efforts estimated at 22 hours for back end development, 18 for iOS development, 18 hours on Android development costing from $750+ per feature.
Profile Editing: allows users to edit their profile information, such as name, phone number, and email.
This feature requires extensive development efforts, with 72 hours being spent developing back-end code alone, then another 116 for iOS development time with an estimated development cost of $650+ per app version.
Search: Search provides an interactive, user-friendly search bar, providing flexible research capabilities; approximately 38 hours were dedicated to its development in terms of time spent working on the back end, 39 for iOS, and 39 hours for Android platforms; total development cost exceeded $900+.
Real-time Chatting: Enabling social networking through messaging, photo, and video file sharing requires significant development effort: approximately 104 hours on back-end development alone for iOS and 170 on Android for 169 development hours each.
The total development effort would be about $1750.
Create Post: Allows users to publish multiple types of content, such as photos, videos, or text posts in any combination - such as pictures and text posts - through user submission.
Requiring 12 hours on back-end development costs starting from $2000 in development for iOS/Android combined development costs.
Push Notifications: Keep users up-to-date about new messages, reactions, or comments by notifying them via push notifications.
This feature typically takes 15 hours on back-end development alone for iOS and 15 hours for Android - totaling approximately 25 hours total with an approximate development cost of $650.
Location Sharing: Utilizing geolocation and GPS features, this project requires 10 hours for development on the back-end side, 12 for iOS development, and 12 hours of Android development time - totaling 14 total days with an approximate development cost of $1250.
Multimedia Sharing: Allows users to easily exchange various media files, such as audio, video, and text.
This feature requires 15 hours in back-end development for iOS/Android development, with costs starting at $2250 for both platforms.
Voice Call And Video Call Features: These features enable in-app voice and video calling between friends online, lasting between 75 hours to 110 hours for iOS devices and $5,500+ on Android platforms, with development costs totaling approximately $5,500 or above per device.
Photo Editing: Enabling users to apply filters, crop, rotate, and edit images is one of the more complex features within an app, taking up over 300 hours on iOS and Android development, resulting in a development cost of around $16,500+ for this advanced feature.
Overall, these features contribute towards the functionality and user experience of an application, each with its own development cost and resource requirements.
Social Media App Development Cost: Advanced Features
An average social media app with limited features and functionalities will not do. To stand out in an age where apps like Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter already dominate app markets, one needs to create something disruptive and novel that stands out.
Therefore, it becomes crucial that any such social media app includes all existing features like AR filters, filters, and location-based personalization as well as groundbreaking features such as metaverse integration or creating something never seen before - this may take the form of metaverse integration or revolutionary ideas never seen before!
Here are a few features you should include when developing a social networking application in 2023: lets first take a look at their cost/timeframe of development.
This overview offers a glimpse into specific features and their requirements when applied to back-end development, iOS development, and Android development projects.
Filters - Filter integration requires adding various filters and effects, including AR filters - into social media apps using tools like ML Kit or ARCore for implementation.
While back-end development takes approximately five hours, iOS development takes 80+ hours due to these visual enhancements complexity.
Editing - Image manipulation tasks such as cropping, rotation, collage creation, and object removal can all be easily integrated by developers using FFmpeg.
Though not specified for back-end development expressly, both iOS and Android development allow approximately 60 hours for seamless image editing capabilities to enhance user creativity and encourage creativity among their respective communities.
Location content: this feature enables users to tag photos or videos taken by them with geographic context, using Google Places as the back-end implementation platform for this functionality.
iOS development usually takes 10+ hours, while Android development typically requires 10-15 hours per user engagement feature. By giving users this ability, Location-Based Content enhances user engagement while sharing experiences through geographic context with one another.
Social Media App Development Costs: Additional/Hidden Costs
Here are a few additional features of an application that affect its total Social Media Application Development Cost; these features include its admin panel and Design features.
Admin panel: App development relies on creating an admin panel as an essential feature that facilitates efficient management of user activities.
An admin panel incorporates critical User Management features like adding, removing, or blocking users - helping administrators make informed decisions with confidence. However, creating this vital piece typically takes an investment of time that exceeds 135 hours to ensure its functionality and success.
Design: Design is one of the critical facets of app development that contributes to user engagement and satisfaction, playing an instrumental role in user retention and satisfaction.
Aiming for an attractive UI/UX Design with user-friendliness in mind is crucial to an apps success; our Design team devotes approximately 150+ hours meticulously shaping visual identity that resonates with users to improve overall experience - all this to achieve Design excellence is what distinguishes successful apps with excellent user-focused Designs from those which fall flat on users.
Total Time Required For Social Media App Development
After carefully considering all of the app features mentioned above, we conducted an analysis that details all factors affecting social app development costs and timelines.
Lets focus on building compelling social networking applications by features, working closely with a skilled social media app developer to bring your vision to life.
Basic Features: This section details how development hours for various aspects of an app project should be allocated between back-end development, iOS development, and Android development.
When considering basic features, 300 hours must be given to back-end development. In comparison, both iOS and Android development require 600 hours each - providing the foundation necessary for the core functionalities of your app to flourish.
User Interface and Experience Design (UI/UX Design): When it comes to user interface and experience Design (UI/UX), 150 hours have been dedicated to both iOS and Android development to guarantee an engaging, appealing, seamless user journey.
Quality assurance: Quality control for an app development project is of utmost importance, with 120 hours allocated across three components (back-end development, iOS development, and Android development) to provide thorough testing and bug-fixing phases.
DevOps services: Essential components for app deployment and continuous operation. These services require at least 40 hours for back-end development; iOS/Android app development should take less time - around 35 hours each.
Advanced Features: 14 hours are allocated to back-end development, while both iOS and Android development require 150 hours each to implement these additional functionalities.
Administrator panel: Designed for use across platforms and developed over 130 hours back-end to ensure efficient management of our app.
Integrating frameworks and libraries: Into an app is integral for expanding its capabilities. It takes 30 hours on back-end development alone for Android development and 40 for both platforms combined.
Project Management: Project management is of paramount importance, with 80 hours allocated for back-end development and 90 each for iOS and Android products to ensure smooth project progression within timelines and achieve desired goals.
A detailed breakdown of development hours provides an inclusive yet structured approach to app creation across all aspects and platforms.
Related article - Exploring The Trends In Mobile App Development For Social Media
Outsourcing Social Media App Development - Select The Appropriate Agency
Building a social media app requires expert hands - developers, Project Managers, Back-end developers, Designers, and testers, among them - in order to produce something intelligent for iOS or Android.
Here are four reasons why outsourcing app development may be better for your business than developing it yourself:
Within an app development team like Developers.dev, each role plays a pivotal part in seeing an app project to completion.
Project manager - A project manager oversees all aspects of team formation and assignment while overseeing schedules and resources to ensure the timely delivery of a task assigned by their employer.
Their leadership can often command upwards of $20 an hour in costs.
Developer - App creators depend on developers as the backbone for crafting and maintaining mobile application source code.
Their expertise typically costs at least $30 an hour, reflecting its intricate nature and demanding nature of work.
Back-end developers - Back-end developers provide the essential infrastructure that facilitates secure and transparent communication among an app, database, and server.
Their work ensures an app runs seamlessly - their skills are valued at $25 an hour or higher.
Designer - Designers are artists in our team who focus on Designing the interface and aesthetic of an apps user interface and aesthetic.
They define app specifications, craft visually appealing Designs, and bring everything together for the production of fully functioning apps - adding their creative touch at a cost of $15 or more per hour.
Tester - Testers play an invaluable role in assuring app quality. They create test cases, prioritize testing activities, and track performance metrics of apps they test against each other and usability features of an application - with their services starting at $20/hour to ensure bug-free apps.
Each team member offers something unique that contributes towards its ultimate success as part of app development projects.
Total App Development Cost By Region
How Can I Calculate The Total Cost Of Social Media App Development? When developing an iOS or Android social media application, its overall development costs range between $90,000.00-$150,000 per hour of development time if set at 50 hours/hour rates (50/hr rate).
Eastern Europe - provides businesses with cost-effective app development solutions with starting costs starting at $155,000 or greater and hourly rates as low as $50 per hour - this region has earned recognition among organizations seeking cost-conscious app development solutions, making Eastern Europe an appealing location to realize app ideas.
North America - provides app development services at a more expensive price point. Starting from $300,000.00 with hourly rates as low as $100 an hour, North America stands out as being known for cutting-edge tech expertise and unique solutions, such as cloud migration.
Although more costly for businesses to invest in, North America remains popular due to accessing an abundant talent pool.
Western Europe - provides businesses with an ideal combination of cost and quality in app development projects, starting from $250,000 or above for total development costs and hourly rates of roughly $90-90 for hourly rates.
Furthermore, this region boasts an exceptional ecosystem dedicated to quality development that makes Western Europe an appealing option for companies searching for both affordability and excellence in app development projects.
Australia - like North America, features app development services at the higher end of the cost spectrum; total project costs begin at $300k or above, with hourly rates starting at $100.
Businesses looking for skilled labor forces, cutting-edge technological solutions, and strategic locations may find Australia an appealing place to execute app development projects despite any additional premium costs involved in doing so.
India - provides businesses with cost-effective app development solutions at highly affordable costs.
Starting total costs are generally under $100,000, with hourly rates typically falling within $15 to $40 an hour - India stands out as one of the premier destinations worldwide for affordable yet high-quality app development services. India features an incredible talent pool of skilled developers as well as a robust IT infrastructure aimed at technological innovation, making India an excellent location to develop apps while staying within their budgets.
Many organizations worldwide rely on India as their go-to app development destination thanks to both cost efficiency and technical know-how available at this destination country.
Other Factors That Affect App Development Cost
Features may be the primary determining factors of social media app costs; however, there may also be other aspects that influence them and impact how much your application costs in total.
UX/UI
User experience/User interface Design can have a significant influence on social media app development costs. A basic social media app with a less complex Design will cost less to develop compared to one with highly functional Design features; an aesthetic app capable of engaging user populations while at the same time keeping them around should be your number one goal - smooth navigation and engagement can lead to sustained growth within any social media ecosystem.
App Platform
The cost of developing apps depends heavily upon their underlying platform. While prices vary minimally between developing for iOS and Android platforms, starting by creating only for one is often advised in order to keep budgetary concerns under control and gain initial traction before transitioning over to cross-platform development later.
Hourly Rates Of Developers.
The cost of app development depends upon hourly developer rates; hourly developer rates in turn vary by region - for instance, if selecting a social media app development company from Asia or Africa will have lower hourly developer rates compared with rates seen in countries like the US or UK.
Want More Information About Our Services? Talk to Our Consultants!
Conclusion
With that, we have come to the end of this article on "How Much Does it Cost to Develop a Social Media App?." Herein lies all the factors contributing to its development cost.
Target your audience and select an app type with the relevant target demographic.Focusing on key features and functionality.Add features based on the complexity of your app.App development teams that offer competitive prices/quality ratios.
Establishing a social media app can be both time-consuming and satisfying. However, a systematic approach to app development will increase its success and save both you and your users the headache of starting from scratch.
So, where to begin?
If you have an incredible app idea,consider hiring top mobile app development firms specializing in audio social media app development to assess and address your business requirements with accurate solutions that fit within a fixed pricing model to produce precisely what you desire in social media apps.
