Will React Native App Development Break your Bank? Let’s find the Answer!

Native mobile apps are becoming increasingly popular with developers and consumers alike. And it’s easy to see why: they take less time to develop, offer an unparalleled user experience, and have greater reach than web apps.

On the other hand, mobile apps have become the standard way to access your favorite entertainment, social media platforms, and services. But the cost of developing an app is way more when compared to other marketing channels.

Typically, the React Native app development cost is approximately $100k, and the number can increase exponentially if you’re building for multiple platforms. The numbers are so high because it involves a lot of development, testing, and maintenance on multiple platforms at once.

To help you understand why let’s take a look at some of the steps involved in developing a native mobile app from concept to launch.

Must Read: Is React Native App Development Good or Bad? Knowing the Framework Through its Pros and Cons

What is React Native, and Why are We Choosing It?

Before understanding the costs, it would be better to take an overview of the technology used to build the application. So, React Native is the technology we are using to build great applications.

It’s a cross-platform application development technology. Companies are keen to hire React Native developers because of their several use cases and ability to build performant applications. React Native is an open-source development technology built by Facebook.

Developers using React Native can build native-like applications with immersive UI/UX for their clients at lower costs and better speed. By using React Native, developers can save between 40% to 90% of the development time compared to what they would spend on other technologies.

Several reasons accrue to this capability, including modern architecture, JavaScript principles, hot reload, and so on. When companies like Tesla, Airbnb, and UberEats trust React Native, it is about time to start leveraging its power and get in touch with the best React Native app development company.

However, before you go there, let’s have a detailed discussion on the cost for React Native app development so that you don’t go unprepared for the meeting.

React Native App Development Cost Calculator

The final React Native app development services cost is highly subjective. There are a lot of “ifs” and “buts” between the orientation meeting and the final negotiation standoff. Until here, we are not going into the details of choosing a development partner, which will influence the final cost.

Here we will talk about the raw costs of developing the application.

First, the cost to build an application depends on two main things;

• The per-hour cost of the development is requested by developers and designers.
• The development team you are choosing here.

Other factors are contributing to the ups and downs in the cost, but these two aspects are primary and can make a huge difference. So, let’s talk about them first, and then we will move to the other factors as well.

Per Hour Cost of Development

The majority of the organizations measure their overall expenses to build an application in terms of hours. For instance, it takes around 1000 hours to complete the application development process. And if the per hour cost is $50/hour, the development process will cost $50,000.

But $50/hour is not the standard price. It varies from place to place, and the type of team you hire, also matters.

• Latin America – $35 to $70
• Central and Eatern Europe: $30 to $65
• Africa: $25 to $45
• Asia: $20 to $45
• North America: $100 to $150

Within these continents, a few countries have a large repository of developers and designers, making them an ideal choice for this purpose.

In Asia, you will most probably center in on India and China. In Eastern Europe, you will find Ukrainian developers with the top ratings in work. In Latin America, developers from Mexico and Brazil take center stage. In Africa, Morocco and Kenya are the top choices.

In addition to this, the per hour cost might also differ with the level of developer you are hiring. In the price ranges above, the junior developers will charge towards the lower side of the range while the high-level developers will charge towards the higher end.

How are the number of hours decided?

Well, the total number of hours to build an application will be conveyed by the development team. To give you an idea, here are the aspects considered by developers before they give you an estimate.

• Development Process
• Features and functionalities
• The complexity of the application
• Integrations
• UI/UX design
• Application distribution
• Maintenance and support
• Application launch

The application development process involves creating a blueprint of all the concepts the developers will consider before the development even begins. This includes;

• Discovery, Analysis, and Strategy: The development team you hire will go through the business idea and conduct a competitive analysis. The purpose is to build a unique application idea after considering the idea, competition, and desired product.
• Designing: Every React Native app development company must offer a design service along with the development. Getting everything under one roof will ease things out for you and let the team build a synchronous timeline for design and development.
  The designers will consider creating wireframes, prototypes, and clickable elements to count the number of hours involved here. This helps visualize the design before they are handed off to the development team.

• Development: Considering the features, integrations, and application complexity, the development team will give an estimate of the number of hours.

Development and Design Team Composition

The second major aspect is the type of team you are selecting. You can select several types of teams for React Native app development services.

• In-house team: Here you will hire people to work on the premises. Having an in-house team will ensure quality output and any number of reworks, design tweaks, and fine-tuning as you require.As the developers and designers will be working under a single roof, they will maintain constant communication and discussions. However, there are benefits to an in-house team, but it will also cost you the most.

• Outsourcing: Outsourcing the work to a React Native app development company means that you are trusting another team of developers and designers located in another State or Country.You are free to choose a company of your liking according to its skill level, costs, location, and other factors.

• Freelancers: Hiring freelancers is like selecting the right person for the job from different locations. This involves building a remote team of professionals working together irrespective of their location.In this setting, you will save on the development cost, but managing everyone from a remote location becomes a challenge. Plus, you cannot ensure quality output from freelancers, and the level of accountability with freelancers is not ideal.

So, these are the two primary aspects influencing the React Native app development cost. Plus, they are interconnected. Hiring an in-house team in America means you need to pay salaries according to the standards in the country.

But if you were to hire an agency in India or Ukraine, you will end up paying less and getting the benefits of working with a team.

Besides these two aspects, there are a few other things you need to look at. The concepts in the next section can also influence the cost, but not as much as the primary aspects.

Factors Influencing the React Native App Development Cost

• Application Complexity

  Building a complex application takes time, and more money is required. An application’s structure, architecture, and other aspects decide its complexity. Moreover, adding more features and functions to the list will be more costly to build the application simply because creating all these features will consume more time.

  Due to this, it is important to start building an MVP version of the application. This is because, with an MVP, you will be adding relevant and most important features while leaving out the advanced features for later stages of development.

  Here are the development concepts related to the application’s complexity.

  1. Architecture Model: Depending on the deployment model you choose, the outcome of the application’s complexity can change. Among the two options, Custom and BaaS, customizing the deployment structure is more complex compared to the BaaS model, where you will get ready-to-use backend architecture for deployment.
  2. Integrations: Adding Third-party integrations in React Native is also a complex process. However, having third-party integrations is also important. More integrations increase the complications, and even the top React Native app development company will have to work harder than usual to work on them.
  3. Developing the Admin Panel: The admin panel gives the managers total control over the workings of the application once it is launched. However, the more features you add to the panel, the higher the complexity will be.
  4. Compatibility with Legacy Systems: If you need the application to be compatible with legacy systems, be prepared to spend more money. Compatibility with such systems requires more integrations than a scenario where you are building a stand-alone application. If the number of integrations increase, so does the cost.

• Application Design (UI/UX)

  Making your application look good is essential. Now, what attracts and influences your target audience requires studying them before beginning the development process, which also takes time and, yes, money too.

  Both User Interface and User Experience matters here. From ensuring smooth screen transitions to continuous flow and holistic experience, designing an application is imperative for its success.

  Besides this, the application must be easy to use. If you are outsourcing the development work, make sure that designing an application is a part of React Native app development services.

  React Native also provides the developers and designers with several UI components and libraries to ease the development process. So, while deciding the design can take time, once it is finalized, the developers can use NativeBase, React Native Element, Lottie Wrapper, Vector icons, and other libraries to speed up the development process.

• Application Discovery and Planning

  You might not have considered it before, but the time spent planning and creating a viable solution is also a part of the React Native mobile app development process. Several companies offer preliminary application discovery and planning to ensure that they end up creating the best possible solution.

  So, depending on the need of your product in the market and the work required to make it unique, the time spent on the planning process will be decided. Herein, you can also make a list of probable features and functions.

• User Access and Authorization

  Even though it is a part of the features and functions, but still needs a special mention. If your application requires user authorization before they can access the same, it will take more time to build the solution. Without an authorization sequence, the cost to build the application is less.

• Developer Experience

  Senior and high-level developers are more experienced and will require more money to work on your project. As a result, they will also finish the task with speed, efficiency, and quality. On the other hand, a junior or a mid-level developer might cost less, but their development expertise and experience will be less, which can affect the outcome.

• Application Maintenance and Support

  React Native mobile app development is not a one-time process. After the application is launched, you need to start working on its updates and ensure its upkeep. This means that you need to have some people working on it consistently, which must be considered in the total cost.

  Once the users start engaging with the application, it will attract users’ feedback and reviews. You need to make changes according to the feedback and fine-tune the performance issues if any.

Conclusion

Working with React Native for application development is preferred because it offers cross-platform development. This is one of the reasons why the React Native app development cost is less than using Swift or Objective-C for building the application.

React Native gives you an edge over other development methods, but with it too, you have to take into account several aspects that lead to the cost determination. The React Native app development cost determination includes development team, application complexity, team composition, and a few other aspects.

Understanding what impacts the development cost is important to understand beforehand. It will help you make an informed decision.