How to Build a Mobile App With a Limited Budget? [UPDATED]

Today, developing an app has become a costly affair. From planning and crafting to deploying and marketing, the whole process compels you to have a smart budget. While app development companies around the world are offering quality services, getting a top-notch app developed for your business means spending loads of revenue.

Now here’s a thing, taking a business mobile is the need of the hour. But with various ventures struggling to manage the budget of app development, it has become all the more crucial to come up with a strategy of developing apps with a limited budget.

So to end your trepidation of investments in mobile app development, we have compiled a step-by-step guide of developing an application with a limited budget. The strategies discussed below may work a treat for any entrepreneur hiring an iOS or Android application development company while ensuring the budget isn’t compromised.

Strategies to Build an App with a Limited Budget

Take a look at how you can achieve your dream app with a minimal expense below.

1. Set up a Precise Goal for the App

The idea behind any successful app is the precise goal in mind. For a business going mobile, it is significant to understand why the app is being developed; which will be the target audience; what makes the app unique from its competitors; any notable issues the app would solve, etc.

The sooner you know the idea behind creating an app, the better your app and services get. Plan on adding any specific features and functionalities in order to target a particular audience.

2. Pick the Right Pricing Model

Choosing the right pricing model is one of the most vital things when it comes to mobile app development. Developers nowadays have additional categories of fixed pricing plans called “Fixed Budget Models” which are specially designed keeping the clients with a limited budget in mind.

These pricing plans can be beneficial for businesses on a minimal budget. However, since the price is fixed, this leaves very little room for modifications in the app later at times. So be wary of the pricing plan you opt for and run a thorough research on the monetization strategies of the app before proceeding ahead.

3. Pursue a Platform Suitable to Your Budget

Being on a limited budget means you don’t have ample scope of development for more than one platform. Hence, it is always a wise pick to develop an app for a single platform, either for Android or iOS.

But with that being said, it is also crucial to understand which platform would bring the most results. An extensive target audience research is required from your end to find out the platform that would be able to reach the most customers.

4. Prioritize Your Features as per User Needs and Cost 

Knowing which feature to add in the app is a significant point. You have to keep in mind your financial restrictions as well as what the end-user needs for features in order to come up with a successful app.

Take 2 examples for instance.

• Let’s say you’re developing a shopping app but haven’t added a payment gateway or filter for search in it. That would mean a hassle for users and would eventually hamper the popularity of the app. 
• Similarly, take another example of an entertainment app, and suppose you’re developing one. Adding a live streaming option is one of the most crucial things for an entertainment app. But what if you fail to add the same feature? It would lead to the failure of the app as users would not prefer to use an app with no streaming feature. 

5. What to Do if the Main Features Fall Out of Budget?

This is a situation that every developer faces at times. There might be an odd occasion when the main features of your app fall beyond your budget. The best possible approach to counter this issue is to create a MVP (Minimum Viable Product) version of the app.

This is a version that generally allows developers to test the app in the market first with 1 or 2 features before developing a fully functional version. It even helps in gathering feedback from users about the app at a very initial stage of development.

6. Maintenance Cost is the Key

Maintenance is one of the most standout things when it comes to keeping an app running. Timely updates and additions to the app keep the interest of the users up. Hence, be sure to plan your budget keeping the maintenance of the app in mind.

Summing Up

Whether you’re opting to develop an e-commerce app or an entertainment app with top of the line features, planning and executing your budget strategies is the biggest challenge that as a developer or entrepreneur you can face.

However, making an app development project a success is possible if all the evaluations and strategies are duly taken care of. By following the above-discussed points, businesses can go mobile even with a limited budget.

So if you like this article and have any suggestions for us, let us know your views in the comments section below or pass on your ideas about how you will proceed with app development when on a limited budget.