Want to develop a social media app like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter? Heads-up with Social Media App Development Cost Calculator 2021.
With the global pandemic and social distancing, Social media has become a central hub of home chefs, artists, designers, Dalgona coffee-makers, and bakers.
Undeniably, checking our smartphones is the foremost thing to do in the morning and the last thing before bedtime. Social media apps are on the rise and have become a most favorite thing for a while now.
From sharing our thoughts, staying up-to-date with the latest gossip and news, to dating someone, social media apps have kept us hooked. This is why entrepreneurs and startups are inclined to social media app development. Even the investors seem to be quite enthusiastic about investing in these apps.
With the stunning success and ever-growing stardom of this most promising market, nobody wants to miss the opportunity to become part of the fastest-growing digital-savvy world.
According to reports, more than 90% of millennials are social network users, and 80% of companies use social networks for marketing. With the power of growing social networking, you can expect the number of worldwide monthly active users to reach over 3 billion by 2021.
In fact, US retail social commerce expected to grow by 35% in 2021.
The year 2020 was extremely tough for everyone, we were socially separated from one another and have no choices left to stay in touch other than social media. As a result, most dating apps reported a 20% increase in swipes amid the lockdown. It becomes a single source for singles to show off these new skills to win hearts and dates or you can say, Love is in the times of COVID-19.
Not only this, social media brings people together. No matter where in the world someone resides, they are able to stay in touch with their friends and family. Charities and NGOs use social media regularly to raise awareness of certain issues and to encourage more people to support their cause say #metoo movement.
In 2020, over 3.6 billion people were using social media worldwide, a number projected to increase to almost 4.41 billion in 2025, that’s gigantic.
Considering the current statistics, it is fair enough to say that the global usage of social media apps will likely rise in the coming future. So, the question is how much does it cost to develop a social media app in 2021?
Talking about the figures, the typical cost to build a social media app can get you between $30,000 to $1,00,000+. It depends upon factors like app type, app design, complexity, features, and much more.
If you’re looking to shape up the new ideas and opportunities into the best social media apps? In this article, we'll be calculating the total cost and the reasons behind those social media app development costs. Apart from that, we have also covered up the latest social media app cost by features, trends, and types of social media applications, to choose from.
Let’s get started with some eye-opening statistics of the growing popularity of social media apps with some quick social media trends. Here are the key statistics of the social media market that you need to know.
If you are planning for social media app development, the very step is to define your goal and find your niche, clear vision, and get to an ideal app category. Let’s find out the different social media app categories, get started with identifying the target audience, and list out competitors.
App Type | Features | Examples | App Cost |
---|---|---|---|
Social Networking App | Share ideas, photos and videos, posts, and inform others about online or real-world activities and events with people in their network. | Facebook, LinkedIn | Around $115,000 |
Media Sharing Networks App | Users can share photos, videos, and live videos. | Instagram, Snapchat, YouTube | Around $70,000 |
Social Content Publishing Platforms App | Blogging | WordPress, Medium | Between $35,000 to $50,000+ |
Discussion Forums App | Start a discussion, ask questions, and get answers from experts. | Reddit, Quora | Between $20,000 to $80,000. |
Content Sharing Networks App | Bookmarking apps | Pinterest, Flipboard | Between $5,000 to $11,500 |
Consumer Review Networks App | Let users share their reviews about brands, products, services. | Yelp, TripAdvisor | Around $15,000 |
Whatever the app you’ve selected for your business, make sure, it satisfies the below criteria -
The cost of developing a social media app greatly depends on app features and functionalities. When you’re creating a Social Media app, it's more reasonable to start off with an MVP with basic app features and gradually adding more complex features to it.
MVP (Minimum Viable Product) is created from the collection of real data from users' feedback.. To stand out from its competitors and play safe, launch an MVP version of the social media app to gather feedback or make future investments in your app idea.
The primary advantage of MVP is things get simpler. You spend less money to build Social Media Apps skeleton before actually launching it. With MVP, you can track and analyze user reactions, and make informed decisions without investing much of your money. Sounds safe!
Here’s a list of must-have app features for your social media app development.
Must-have Features | Description | Back-end development | iOS development | Android development | Development Cost |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Sign in/log in | Creating a profile, adding Facebook,or Google SDK. choose Amazon services like Amazon SES (signup via phone number) or Amazon SNS (SMS verification). | 22 hours | 18 hours | 18 hours | $750+ |
Profile editing | Create, edit, customize various profile information like name, phone, email, etc. | 72 hours | 116 hours | 116 hours | $650+ |
Search | Comfortable search bar for flexible research | 38 hours | 39 hours | 39 hours | $900+ |
Real-time Chatting | Social networking app for sending messages, photos, or video files. | 104 hours | 169 hours | 169 hours | $1,750 |
Add post | Create posts with different content (photo, video, or text). | 12 hours | 130 hours | 130 hours | $2,000 |
Push notifications | Notify users while new messages update, a reaction or comment. | 15 hours | 15 hours | 15 hours | $650 |
Location Sharing | Geolocation and GPS Feature. | 10 hours | 12 hours | 12 hours | $1,250 |
Multi-media sharing | Sharing media files including audio, video, text. | 15 Hours | 45+hours | 45+hours | $2,250 |
Voice Call | Access to in-app voice calls, calls using wifi or mobile network data. | 75+ hours | 75+hours | $3750+ | |
Video Call | Allows facetime with friends online. | 110+ hours | 110+ hours | $5,500+ | |
Photo Editing | Add filters, cropping, rotating, setting up, straightening of image. | 300+hours | 300+hours | $1,6500+ |
Building an ordinary social media app with limited features and functionalities is not worthy To stand out in the era where apps like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter are already ruling the app market, it becomes crucial to develop such an app that consists of smart features like AR filters, filters, and location-based personalization.
To develop a social media app, here’re some advanced features you can add in your overall Social Networking Application Development Cost. Let’s move to its development cost/time in 2021.
Feature | Description | Back-end development | iOS development | Android development |
---|---|---|---|---|
Filters | Integrate various filters and effects to the photo or video. To add AR filters to the social media app.(Developers use ML Kit and ARCore.) | 5+ hours | 80+ hours | 80+ hours |
Editing | Crop and rotate images, create a collage, remove unnecessary objects, and more. (Developers can integrate editing feature FFmpeg) | 60+ hours | 60+ hours | |
Location-based content | Users can add their location to the photo or video. (Developers can use Google Places to add location-based content features.) | 10+ hours | 10-15 hours | 10-15 hours |
Here are some additional features of an app that affects the overall Social Media Application Development Cost. It includes the Admin Panel and Design.
Feature | Description | Time |
---|---|---|
Admin panel | User Management Features like add, remove, block users, and help in making informed decisions. | Around 135+ hours. |
Design | Creating an attractive UI/UX design with user-friendly and spontaneous app designing. | Around 150+ hours. |
Considering all the app features mentioned above, we took a round breakdown that includes all the factors that contribute to Social App Development Cost. Let’s get to the overall development time required to build compelling social networking applications by features.
Feature | Back-end development | iOS development | Android development |
---|---|---|---|
Basic features | 300 hours | 600 hours | 600 hours |
UI/UX design | 150 hours | 150 hours | |
Quality assurance | 120 hours | 120 hours | 120 hours |
DevOps services | 40 hours | 35 hours | 35 hours |
Advanced features | 14 hours | 150 hours | 150 hours |
Admin panel (one for all platforms) | 130 hours | ||
Frameworks and libraries integration | 30 hours | 40 hours | 40 hours |
Project management | 80 hours | 90 hours | 90 hours |
Building a social media app is not easy. It requires expert hands that include social media app developers, Project Managers, Back-end developers, designers, testers, etc. To develop a social media app for iOS and Android, hire a top mobile app development company to develop an intelligent app for your business. Here are the top reasons why you should outsource your app development.
Team | Function | Cost/hr |
---|---|---|
Project manager | Assembles the team, assigns duties, divides schedules and resources to ensure timely completion of the assigned app. | $20+ |
Developer | Creates maintains and executes the source code to develop mobile apps. | $30+ |
Back-end developer | Maintains secure transparent communication between the application, the database, and the server and ensures the app runs flawlessly. | $25+ |
Designer | Works on the app interface, making an app look good. Defining app specifications, designing visual designs, and creating a fully-functional app. | $15+ |
Tester | Develops test cases and prioritizes testing activities. Tracks and monitors app design, functions, and working uses. | $20+ |
How to calculate the total cost of social media application development? The final cost of developing a social media app can cost you between $90,000 for iOS or Android and $150,000 for iOS and Android (at the rate of 50/hr).
Region | Total Cost | App development Rate/Hr |
---|---|---|
Eastern Europe | $150,000+ | $50/h |
North America | $300,000+ | $100/h |
Western Europe | $250,000+ | $90/h |
Australia | $300,000+ | $100/h |
With this, we have come to the end of this article - How much does it cost to make a Social Media App? We have included all the factors that contribute to the overall Social Networking app development cost.
Creating a social media app can be demanding and enjoyable. The well-organized approach to app development can promise you a successful social media app. So, where to start?
If you have a great app idea, tap the top mobile app development companies to evaluate your business demands and recommend the best solution with an accurate pricing model and get exactly what you desired with a social media app.
Aparna is a growth specialist with handsful knowledge in business development. She values marketing as key a driver for sales, keeping up with the latest in the Mobile App industry. Her getting things done attitude makes her a magnet for the trickiest of tasks. In free times, which are few and far between, you can catch up with her at a game of Fussball.
Cut to the chase content that’s credible, insightful & actionable.
Get the latest mashup of the App Industry Exclusively Inboxed