Contact Us
+1 (833) 442 2711
Table Of Contents
Dubai has an infrastructure that supports app development ventures. It has a target audience that loves experiences and usability. And with government initiatives like Create Apps in Dubai, the opportunities for B2C and B2B businesses are noteworthy. Despite the handsome app development cost in Dubai and the most competitive ecosystem for mobile apps, Middle Eastern entrepreneurs are still investing in mobile app development Company – and for all of these good reasons:
And if these mind-blowing figures from Statista excite you, then you are off to a great start by finding how much does it cost to develop an app in Dubai in 2024. For aspiring appreneurs and future app founders like you, Trango Tech has compiled a detailed article with insights that solve the cost dilemma for most of our clients.
Table Of Contents
There are four insights into understanding the mobile app ecosystem of Dubai inside and out: Firstly, let us do a quick Dubai vs global tech hubs comparison.
The tech talent in Dubai is way more diverse and so, is culturally fit to work with entrepreneurs of all backgrounds and journeys of businesses. Dubai has a strong talent pool as well-versed in emerging technologies as in any other popular parts of the world. Therefore, when you hire from Dubai, the competition and talent availability – alongside cultural alignment help you enjoy smooth project communication.
Secondly, the competition also dictates the app development cost breakdown. When you hire locally, you get to work with Middle Eastern developers, Asians, Europeans and even Americans at a competitive rate because their companies pay them lavishly without charging taxes most of the time.
Thirdly, the UAE government has started an initiative called Create Apps in Dubai, which tends to support app development ventures in the region by all means – be it cost optimization, idea validation, advanced integrations, delivery of development execution or monetization. Because of this inherent promotion, Dubai has an ecosystem of mobile apps that’s going as strong as it can.
The fourth and last fact is the tech-savvy nature of the Middle Eastern population. They have high acceptance for new technologies, as well as a preference for experience-first applications. They are more willing to spend on applications that deliver usability value and also, have income levels to support their spending intent.
Here is an app development cost breakdown based on the scope and features of the mobile applications.
While these are quick estimates, you can get a close ballpark figure by checking Trango Tech’s app development cost calculator.
If your app falls in one of these app niches, you can compare the features you have planned to add to your app with the ones mentioned here. Then take this cost as the starting point for your negotiations.
| Types of Apps and Their Unique Features | App Development Cost Estimates |
On-demand app
| AED 25,000 – AED 40,000 |
eCommerce app
| AED 18,000 – AED 35,000 |
Social media app
| AED 27,000 – AED 68,000 |
Food delivery app
| AED 22,000 – AED 38,000 |
Educational app
| AED 20,000 – AED 40,000 |
Travel and logistics app
| AED 22,000 – AED 38,000 |
Gaming app
| AED 30,000 – AED 70,000 |
Super app
| AED 50,000 – AED 90,000 |
Multi-vendor marketplace app
| AED 18,000 – AED 44,000 |
Business communication app
| AED 15,000 – AED 28,000 |
Productivity app
| AED 22,000 – AED 48,000 |
Video streaming app
| AED 30,000 – AED 50,000 |
Practically, these six factors come into play when determining the costs of app development.
To start with, apps with basic scope are more economical and require low cost of development. As the scope grows, the app development cost also increases.
Building onto this, the scope of the app has the most prominent impact on the costs of app development. A scope is basically the purpose of the app – it includes the goals the app wants to achieve, the features and the required designs for the interface and the overall depth of development execution. It is a written documentation of what the app is capable of, its limitations and the technology architecture that will power it.
So when I say, basic apps, intermediate apps and advanced apps, or even MVPs, I am highlighting the scope of the app.
The scope translates into two major app factors:
An app’s design is again, a combination of two parts: brand assets that make up the user interface and user experience that is dictated by navigation and accessibility within the app.
The user interface is the first layer of app design – users interact with your brand assets all the time while in the app. They see the splash screen with your app’s logo, then click on buttons and CTAs – and all of these visual elements are part of the design.
Brand assets include logo, style guide and concept, buttons and CTAs, sidebars and other navigation panels.
In contrast, user experience design includes the content layout, information hierarchy, sequence of features, and overall interactions of the user within the app.
Therefore, more complex user interfaces and user experience designs add to the cost; while simple user interfaces and white-labeled user experience designs reduce the cost.
Also, if you are launching an app for a more sophisticated target audience that loves minimalism and focuses on experience, then you’ll need customizations and they are of course costly.
Because each app feature requires specific development hours for execution, these are an important part of the scope and the overall mobile app strategy. These features and their coverage decide if your mobile app is just a minimum viable product to test the market, or is a fully functional, commercial-grade product that is ready to hit the market and monetize.
Therefore, the quality and quantity of features of an app impact the app development costs.
Let’s divide features that impact the cost in three different categories on the basis of complexity.
| Cost of App Development | ||
| Low | Medium | High |
Features of Basic Apps
| Features of Intermediate Apps All features of basic apps, plus:
| Features of Advanced Apps All features of basic and intermediate apps, plus:
|
Your selection of platforms also dictates the technology stack your developer will utilize to build your app. Know that open-source frameworks are more economical than proprietary development tools.
A technology stack is a set of tools, technologies, programming languages, integrated development environments and frameworks utilized for building a specific app. And so, based on your technical and business requirements, your app development company in Dubai will create a custom technology stack to support the sustainable code you need in present and the scalable architecture you would like to build tomorrow.
As a rule of thumb,
As I mentioned earlier, developers consider the platform choice and then build a custom technology stack. This stack requires hefty budgets in case of cloud integrations, expensive APIs, smart contracts execution and machine learning algorithms.
The hiring arrangements and size of the app development team directly impact the costs of app development. As an entrepreneur, you have three options:
Hire in-house – but that is the most expensive option so I am ruling it out for now.
Your next two options are outsourcing the entire app development project, or augment IT staff from a network of developers, interview them, check your budget, then hire and lead for technical KPI completion.
With outsourcing, you can expect to pay a fix cost between AED 25,000 to AED 70,000 for an advanced application with 10+ features. With IT staff augmentation though, you’ll pay monthly or quarterly subscriptions – meaning that the app development will cost you the same per development hour, you’ll have more control and flexibility over the completion of development KPIs – but you’ll have to keep the development execution on track.
In three of the options, outsourcing is the most viable because you can still practice flexibility and control over KPI completion by determining timelines during the project scoping, and still get access to specialized services with a team that comprises a dedicated project manager who keeps these key execution members laser-focused on execution:
Note that with IT staff augmentation, you pay-as-you-go with the human resources you have hired – so the bigger the team size, the higher the costs.
As I discussed several reasons why app development is booming in Dubai, all of them make the ecosystem super competitive. While there are other advantages of hiring locally in Dubai, cost optimization and reduction are definitely on top. Building onto this, an app that will cost you AED 25,000 in the UAE will cost you almost $10,000 (AED 36,000) in the USA. And even more in England, Canada and Germany.
The app development sprints consist of discovery and strategy, UI/UX design, backend and frontend development, API integration, testing and QA, deployment and launch, marketing and post-launch maintenance.
Working with clients at Trango Tech, I have observed that hiring the development team for full-cycle coverage with all of these services at an upfront fixed outsourcing cost is more economical than hiring standard services separately.
While app development execution and testing are paramount to the process, ongoing maintenance, support, and marketing are also important for performance optimization, long-term growth, and scaling of revenue.
App maintenance service and support typically include:
Together, ongoing maintenance and technical support may account for up to 17% of the entire app development costs. If you want to establish realistic budgets, you’ll have to factor in maintenance and marketing costs and add them to the upfront costs you’ll pay for development.
While mobile app development is lucrative, it is booming because of how flexible it is to make an entry in this sector. That’s because, with smart decision-making and project scoping, you can go for low cost app development, then scale when you are ready. Here are top 6 ways I recommend to Trango Tech’s clients when they seek advice on optimizing and reducing app development costs.
For low cost app development, hire locally and for full-cycle development coverage. This way, you don’t pay for discovery hours after each service and only have to bear and arrange a fixed app development cost determined during the app scoping sessions.
Crossplatform apps utilize a singular codebase which can then be used to deploy on Android, iOS, desktop and even embedded devices. That’s why, crossplatform app development is more economical and gives your users a near-native experience.
MVPs are minimum viable products – these are complete mobile apps but only have the essential features that are important to support the core functionality of the app.
Because they have limited features, MVP mobile apps are way more economical and affordable and primarily designed and developed with the intent to first check market response then go all in with a commercial-grade application.
As an entrepreneur, you can manage app development budgets by building an MVP first. Decide on a list of features that are essential for your mobile app, launch your app, gather real user feedback and then gradually update the app with more features and keep scaling.
Building a prototype that is the exact visual representation of your envisioned mobile app will help you receive external funding if need be. This option is ideal for entrepreneurs who have an idea but require third-party funding. This prototype will tell your prospective investors about your app’s goals and future projections and will strengthen your chances of gathering stable funding to complete your app development process.
As I have mentioned, post-launch marketing campaigns come with a price tag. These marketing channels require time, effort as well as money and you can reduce the need for money by slowly and gradually building brand awareness before the launch. With regular community discussions, soft pitches and press releases, your mobile app, when released in the stores, will sound familiar to your target users and they will anticipate using it – without your heavily investing in ad budgets to get initial users.
Yes, with Agile and Scrum, developers build features and test them before moving on to new ones. This minimizes development iterations and saves time and money especially if you are charged per development hour.
So this quick guide on the mobile app development cost in UAE concludes here. But if you’re still reading this, know that you are about to make the smartest business move here by mentally committing to an app development budget. And before that, clients often ask us why they should invest in agency-led app development despite the cost when so many no-code and low-code app builders are available. If this question pops up in your mind too, know that the cost of app development by working with a mobile app development company In Dubai like Trango Tech gives you the power to set the direction of your app in terms of business growth and monetization. An agency gives you the right customization options and UX strategies that you won’t typically get with a no-code builder. Take the long-term perspective and think about the value proposition of your app when making a decision.
Table Of Contents
Nitesh Kumar is a versatile Content Writer at Trango Tech, a distinguished app development company. With a penchant for storytelling and a deep understanding of technology, he crafts engaging narratives that captivate audiences. Nitesh's knack for articulating complex ideas into accessible content plays a crucial role in showcasing Trango Tech's expertise and innovation in the competitive app development industry.
Fill out from below with your details to start conversation with our expert.
