How much does it cost to build a react native app

If you have been planning to launch yourself or update yourself in the digital space, believe us you are walking on the right track. But developing an app is one thing and choosing a platform is another colossal task.

And if app development cost is keeping you away from riding the racehorse, then going ahead with a React Native framework could certainly prove to be a clever decision (do speak to your developer/ mobile apps development companies). Among the top 500 apps in the US, 14.85% of installed apps are built with React Native.

Apart from being cost-effective, there are many React Native elements that compel you to choose. React Native has fast become an option for 42% of developers globally because of its flexibility.

How different is Native React?

Need is the mother of all inventions... So was the case with Facebook, yes you read it right, it's Facebook's baby. For the app, Facebook was struggling a lot with maintaining two different codebases for Android and iOS. This duplication was not only costing time and money but also was the reason behind asymmetric apps (for Android and iOS).

So, Facebook came up with the means to create a code on JavaScript once and to deploy it on both the platforms and life got easier.

In other words, a native app for Android is programmed using Java and Swift or Obj-C for iOS, BUT with React Native you can get a fully functional app with one coding language in much much less time. React Native framework is highly cost-effective and time-efficient since it reduces the codebase by almost 95%. And that's what makes React Native a preferred choice of most developers. It is one of the top three most preferred choices of developers across.

Cost of app majorly depends upon the complexity of the project. Your app requirements will play as a major deciding factor. Simpler or less many features less is the cost, more complex or more many features higher is the cost. But it is not the only deciding factor here, below we list down a few important deciding factors that have a direct inclination on the cost.

UI and UX design – How an app appears and functions makes a huge difference in the cost. UI and UX are primarily responsible for screen designs, conversion from one screen to another, effective user flow. React native does offer different Ui elements so one may not need to write the codes from the beginning and that's cost-effective. But if there is a need to write code from the beginning then it can inflict the cost element.

Tasks	Cost
Visual Design	$5000+
UX Design	$10,000-$25,000
Icon Branding	$2,500-$10,000
Copywriting	$1,000-$5,000

Complexity – App features majorly decide the framework and the cost. Architecting your own custom design will increase the complexity, hence the cost. But you can control the cost and time by choosing a ready to use backend model.

App Type	Features	Time	Cost
Simple App	No API integration, no back-end, essential UI components, simple features like email subscription, social login, calendar, etc	2-4 weeks	$10,000+
Database/API app	Custom UI features, payment features, API integration, headsets and tablets adaptation, back-end server.	2-3 months	$10,000-$50,000
Advanced, multi-feature apps	Multi-language support, 3rd-party integrations, custom animations, complicated back-end, professional design, real-time features.	3-6 months	$50,000-$1,50,000

Functionality –
Adding functionalities like Admin Panel, shopping cart, geolocation, senors like face-id, custom messaging, third-party integration, in-app purchases, etc also add to the cost.

Features	Description	Cost
API Integrations	App developers use APIs to connect apps to payment gateways, messaging platforms, geolocation, on-device system features like face-ID, messaging platforms, geolocation, and many other services.	$4,000-6,000 per integration
Ecommerce	Adding shopping cart and SaaS-based platforms like Shopify, BigCommerce, Magento offering APIs, SDKs, and other white-labeled services.	$1000 to $30,000+
Geolocation	Adding a map with a custom pin, build routes, show traffic, and other overlay information, geofencing, etc.	$10,000 – $35,000
Phone sensors	Adding the Proximity sensor, Gyroscope, Accelerometer, Barometer, Compass, and NFC.	$2,100 per sensor
IoT Integrations	IoT development costs	$10,000-$50,000

App Maintenance and Support – To be able to retain long-term user engagement and meet user expectations one must have an app that is updated regularly and doesn't break (often). From updating it to the latest OS to design changes to bug fixing to code optimization to improving performance and stability to new feature addition all comes under Maintenance and support. By industry standard, the cost is believed to be 10-30 percent of development cost.

Team, Team size, and Location – when we say team we mean experience, creativity, knowledge, etc matters. You can choose an established React Native app development company or can go with an experienced mid-cap company or also can choose a freelancing developer. Also what adds to the cost is the team size, say, you want a developer only or developer/s and an architect or a developer/s architect and a Project manager there could be various options depending upon your need and the cost of employment is also very location specific.

Title of Employee	United States	Latin America	Eastern Europe
Business Analyst	$110-$205	$45-$55	$40-$63
Architect	$198-$292	$60-$72	$50-$77
Project Manager	$133-$233	$55-$66	$45-$70
Jr. Developer	$105-$111	$35-$44	$25-$42
Mid-Level Developer	$132-$140	$30-$52	$35-$56
Sr. Developer	$154-$163	$45-$55	$45-$70
Lead Developer	$176-$187	$50-$61	$45-$70
Junior QA	$77-$81	$30-$39	$25-$42
Mid-Level QA	$99-$105	$35-$44	$30-$49
Senior QA	$143-$169	$40-$50	$40-$63
Graphic Designer	$79-$163	$40-$50	$35-$56