Social media apps are an excellent way to communicate with people and reach a much wider audience. These apps help build relationships between people and enterprises.
Statista states more than 4.6 billion active social media users worldwide, corresponding to 58.4% of the world’s population.
The above figure shows the popularity of social media apps. However, this domain has fierce competition; for instance, tech giants like Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube dominate the industry.
So, how do startups or enterprises establish themselves in the social media apps industry?
The answer to this question is creating a unique and interactive social media app. Therefore, you must consider getting help from a leading social media app development company for seamless app development.
The cost of making a social media app will depend on various factors such as types of social media app, features, app complexity, app platform, design, the development team, etc.
So, let’s get started.
Types of Social Media Apps You Want To Create
Networking Application
Business owners can quickly create an app like Facebook or LinkedIn for networking. These apps nowadays are top-rated, an ideal platform for users to search for investors, generate leads, and connect with colleagues and professionals from a similar domain.
Networking apps are valuable in building personal contacts and growing your professional network. Startups can leverage global users or create an app very distinctive to a community. So, if you want to create such an app, you can seek the assistance of a social networking app development company to validate your app idea.
- Approximate cost to develop a networking app—$40000 to $50000
Messaging and Calling App
If you wish to create an app like WhatsApp with robust encryption and creative technologies, you can consider taking help from skilled social media app developers. They are proficient in incorporating features such as instant messaging, group messaging, file sharing, voice and video calling, etc. Developers will also release the application on the App Store and Google Play.
- Approximate cost to create a messaging app—$25000 to $30000
Dating App
Currently, dating apps are on-trend. Enterprises can build a dating app like tinder with top-notch features and gain profitability. A social media app development services provider will build a dating app where users can create profiles within a few clicks. They will also integrate various functionalities based on filters, like gender, interests, likes, etc.
- Approximate cost to build a dating app—$5000 to $15000
Photo Editing App
Photo editing apps have boomed in recent years as they provide unique filters that enhance the photos’ quality. Users can add various effects, colors, and texts using a photo editing app.
- Social media app development cost of creating a photo editing app range from $35000 to $55000
Important Features To Include in Social Media App
After selecting the type of social media application you want to create, the next step is to choose essential features. These features are crucial as they will decide the cost of building a social media app.
Following are the approximate cost of every feature:
| Features | Approximate Cost |
| Registration Panel | $750+ |
| Profile Editing Tools | $600+ |
| Search Option | $900+ |
| Encrypted Messaging | $2000+ |
| Multimedia sharing | $2250+ |
| Encrypted File Transfer | $3000+ |
| Notifications | $650+ |
| Audio Call | $3750+ |
| Video Call | $5500+ |
| Settings | $4000+ |
Development Team
Making a social media app is a challenging task. Not every business owner has the experience, skills, and proficiency in creating applications. They would have to either build their in-house development team or hire mobile app developers to build the social media app from scratch.
A professional development team comprises:
- 2 iOS Developers
- 2 Android Developers
- Back-end Developer
- Front-end developer
- QA Engineer
- UX/UI Designer
- Project/ Product Manager
Wrapping Up
Depending on multiple factors such as the number of platforms (iOS, Android, web), features, app complexity, app type, design, and development team, simple mobile app development cost ranges from $25,000 to $60,000, and the medium complex can cost you around $61,000 to $70,000. The intricate app can go more than $1,000,000+; however, you must check the app development company portfolio, reviews, and experience before taking their services.
Author Bio
Tom Hardy has 10+ years of experience as a software developer in Sparx IT Solutions. He often writes blogs and journals to share his expertise in software development processes.