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How much does it cost to build a consumer app?

Standard price for a consumer app: $20,833

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What is a consumer app?

A consumer application is an app that provides users with a product or service. Consumer apps include mobile banking apps, photo sharing apps, photo editing apps, grocery shopping apps, and more.

Consumer apps are often similar to other file-sharing and messaging apps, such as cloud storage apps and instant messaging apps. Consumer is a very broad app category, so most consumer app types have many examples of popular consumer products. Examples include Amazon, Apple Music, Tidal, Spotify, and Netflix.

Here are some recent consumer app examples built with Crowdbotics:

  • A dating app that is focused on connecting people in the real world. The idea is that users will fill out a personality profile.

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  • An app that lets Party A place money/drop inside a perimeter where party B can pick up the money. The idea is to increase the incentive for foot traffic as Covid begins to wane. Use cases could be a friends buying appetizers for other friends on a night out, parents leaving a drop in a library or a place at college.

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  • An app that restricts the functionality of a phone as determined by an admin user, such as a parent.

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What is the typical cost to build a consumer app?

A consumer app usually costs $20,833 to build. However, the total cost can be as low as $5,000 or as high as $40,000. A consumer app with a low number of features (also known as a "minimum viable product", or MVP) will be more affordable than an app that includes all intended functionality.

For example, here are some recent consumer app price quotes from Crowdbotics:

  • $32,500

  • $22,500

  • $7,500

How long does it take to build a consumer app?

A consumer app usually takes 278 hours to build. However, a consumer app can be built in as few as 67 hours, or in as many as 533 hours. The exact timeline mostly depends on how complicated your app is. As a general rule, it will take longer if you require highly custom designs, niche features, or non-standard release platforms.

For example, the most recent consumer apps built with Crowdbotics received the following hourly estimates:

  • 533

  • 400

  • An app that restricts the functionality of a phone as determined by an admin user, such as a parent.

How to successfully grow your consumer application

Consumer apps are easiest to grow by focusing on user retention instead of acquisition. A consumer app's goal is to provide a platform for users to create/share content, which means there is little focus on acquiring new users in order to achieve viral growth. Rather, the focus should be on creating an engaging experience that keeps users coming back for more.

Risks and challenges of building a consumer application

A consumer app can face legal and reputational risks related to the handling of personal information, user privacy, and data security. Particular attention should be paid to how data is collected and stored, how it is secured, how users are informed about the use of their data, and what measures are in place to prevent unauthorized access to that data.

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Some of the descriptions on this page were completed with AI assistance. Learn more here.

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