Within the frameworks of modernity, mobile applications have become integral parts of our lives. Handy solutions available via downloading not only help us deal with our daily tasks but can support business expansion in a diversity of domains. This fact conditions the demand for application developers with certified expertise. 

But what are the costs of hiring them? This post will shed some light on aspects defining the costs of app builders’ services.

Selecting the employment option

Prior to covering the app development price, we should dive deeper into the hiring options, as well as their benefits and drawbacks.

In-house team

This option stands for gathering staff in the physical office for direct job fulfillment in the enterprise. The main benefits are legislative clarity of business workflow, employees’ rapid adjustment, excellent communication, and quick performance of vital assignments. However, there are the main cons: you should possess a sufficient budget to facilitate your team with all the essentials for an enhanced and productive workflow.

Outsourcing vendors

The term of outsourcing represents a remote partnership with a mobile app development company to build a product or execute any other tech services. Why it is the best option in the current market:

• Decreased costs since you pay only for the scope of work done with no extra investments
• Time economy due to the cooperation with an utter tech team
• The opportunity to choose any vendor globally 

Within this type of partnership, it’s vital to employ a tech vendor who eliminates the possibility of data leakage. Besides, it may be complex to hold new employees responsible for violations. 

Freelancers 

Such experts offer a wide range of services, comprising digital product architecture as well. A particular benefit is that this hiring option is the most cost-efficient of all. Yet cooperation drawbacks are substantial- it’s challenging to manage the hired tech experts. Moreover, they are able to quit the project at any stage and may harm the project’s confidentiality.

Team augmentation

Staff augmentation implies a strategy of employing tech professionals from external companies globally to cooperate with your assembled staff. The primary disadvantages of team augmentation are the essential newcomer assistance in adaptation and their tendency to make company-specific faults.

Expertise level

Potential partners’ skills and experience define the cost of services as well. Let’s consider what skills app developers must possess at a certain proficiency level.

Junior:

• Know how to integrate most demanded APIs
• Specialization in one programming language minimum
• Working practice with popular frameworks
• OOP experience
• Fundamental database-building skills

Middle:

• Solid APIs expertise
• Implementation of diverse database management systems
• Creation of elementary unit tests
• Script alterations to enhance the performance and liquidate failures
• Simultaneous fulfillment of several assignments 

Senior:

• Thorough expertise in API integration as well as tech stack
• Regular script review
• Complex unit tests development
• Staunch project completion and analysis 
• Handling complicated challenges 
• Junior and middle experts’ management 

Team lead:

• Tech team assembling 
• Deadlines, financial investments, and scope of work estimate
• Project start, building, and progress tracking 
• Specification composing
• Project roadmap and implementation 

Solution architect:

• Considerable PM practice and digital product building 
• Revision control software competence
• Knowledge of various tech instruments and architecture platforms

Each project requires different seniority levels, so the choice is made according to the product’s main idea and concept.

Service costs relation to specialization 

Knowledge solidity isn’t the single aspect determining the app programmers’ services’ price. It is mainly impacted by the technology stack that developers for diverse operating systems leverage.

To illustrate, iOS developers with competence in Swift from the USA request $37- $58 hourly, while the ones specializing in Kotlin require $51-$97, and in case with Flutter, $75-$120. If your project case requires AI or ML implementation, you’ll need relevant expertise- the USA’s machine learning professionals’ rate is roughly $75, and for AI engineers – $46.

App Development Cost by Regions

It’s time to discuss the cost of hiring an app developer in diverse regions. Let’s see what the annual cost of hiring app developers in different countries is:

• The USA: $63,735 – $139,148
• The UK: $47,000 – $92,000
• Germany: $66,000 – $95,000
• Netherlands: $56,000 – $99,000
• Eastern Europe: $18,000 – $50,000

The previous calculations are conducted excluding social security tax, sick leaves, medicare, pension fund payment, and a range of other perks. Consequently, evaluate the extra outcomes budget depending on the hiring type as well as the residence of specialists.

Where to search for mobile app developers?

When searching for a perfect candidate, the brilliant idea is to apply appropriate search resources.

LinkedIn is an excellent platform in case your project requires in-house team gathering. With it, you can employ appropriate specialists and build your team’s network.

Clutch and GoodFirms are useful sources for selecting an outsourcing tech vendor. In case you are searching for an expert from a particular region, YouTeam is a suitable tool.

Freelancers may be employed via Upwork or similar resources. This platform provides details concerning potential partners’ knowledge, experience, and feedback from previous customers. You may benefit from Fiverr to find a tech-savvy expert for a plain task. 

Points to consider before employment

The next thing to do for choosing the best mobile app expert is to consider the following points:

• Select the region
• Come up with a hiring option
• Assess specialist’s seniority level
• Check a portfolio and reviews
• Consider the cooperation type- remotely or physically
• Negotiate cooperation details

The OS of your future product requires a set of minimal skills from programmers; you can see them below:

Android specialization:

• Kotlin
• Android Studio
• API and database knowledge 
• Android SDK
• Material Design
• XML

iOS expertise:

• Swift
• UI/UX experience
• Xcode IDE
• API competence (Cocoa Touch, UIKit)
• OpenGL or Metal experience
• RESTful APIs knowledge
• Human Interface Guidelines
• Core Data structure

Cross-platform proficiency:

• GoF patterns knowledge 
• Swift/Kotlin architecture
• Dart expertise
• Git
• Flutter experience
• Networking solution, software development life cycle, and diverse app-building methodologies

Summarize

We may indicate that the cost of app developers’ services is a pretty individual question. Each project requires separate consideration and the employment of experts with the corresponding specialization. For this, analyze each option carefully and study the requirements of your product to achieve good results and hire the top app development professionals.