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Hi businesses! Now that you are here, it means you have made up your mind to get a Software Developed for yourself. That’s great then, because software is surely going to make running your/your client’s business more smoothly. On a side note, unlike the assumption that software replace humans, it is more of a complement and assists humans to make their work easy. Okay, now that you may have completely settled your qualms about if you really need software, let’s get straight to the point. And the point is, if you want to develop software or get software developed, what will be your Software Development Cost? After all, you need to put out some budget to let the finance department know how much it is going to cost you (of course, these are estimates). You may wonder how we will go about estimating it. Let’s start first with what all basic requirements for your software development project, the required infrastructure, and their estimated prices. Also, we need to consider the time required for development. And lastly, after estimating the final cost, we again need to address the key factors which may influence our final cost. 

Factors Affecting The Cost:

Your Budget:

Let’s accept that when it comes to business, should not go beyond your means. Meaning – you can ultimately spend only that much which you have. There will be the finance department of your business which will have set out limited budget for your new software or a new project. This will leave you with two options – either you make do with what you have, may be compromise with some features or design; or you try ways to generate more funds. No matter what, you will need to give your estimated budget to the Developer, and ultimately it’ll be a determinant of the Software Development Cost.

The Platform For Software Development:

There are various platforms for software development including the Android, iOS, and web. These platforms require different programming application, and thus there is a distinction between them. The cost of the development of the software varies according to the platform you decide upon. Or you may even want your Platform to be developed across two or more platforms. And if that is the case, make sure you increase your budget, no matter whether you utilize front-end development or the back end.

The Size Of The Software:

The size of the software i.e. the number of screens are one of the deciding factors for the Software Development Cost. To say simply, the more number of screens in a software, the more it will cost. Note: Screen refers to pages, those which a user sees when the first see your software and then the every page after any click. If we are to consider small size software, there are about10-25 screens; the medium size software, there are about 25-40 screens; and the large size have >40 screens. The costs also vary accordingly. The cost range is too high and making an estimate will depend upon many such factors.

The Design Of The Software:

You may want a custom Design for your software with images, colour palettes, icons, illustrations, and even animations to bring some spark into your software. You need to set aside budget for Designing too. A well versed Software Development Company will be able to design for you a software which aligns with your set ideas within your set budget. Thus, when you set a target budget, your software will be developed accordingly. Just remember that ultimately the more your budget, the better your design will be; and you need to make the call on the budget here. Also, there may arise the need of re-designing after feedback and this will require both time and expertise and thus the cost will vary too.

The Complexity Of The Software:

If your software is Complex, it is going to take more coding as well as testing. If your software is something which does a lot of permutations and analysis, the complexity of the development will be more.

The Quality Testing Of The Software:

As mentioned earlier, the complexity of your software/project may vary. And while the time taken as well as the cost are affected based upon it, there is another factor which depends upon it i.e. the quality testing. The testing is an important aspect which assures a quality product. Thus, it helps the process of finding the bugs and de-bugging, which takes time. The more complex your software, the more will be the time and cost of the quality testing.

These are some of the deciding factors which determine the final Software Development Cost. Also, the changes in these factors will change the estimated cost. Also, the maintenance of the Software or Total cost of ownership (TCO) is going to cost you more than the initial cost of development? It includes the costs for optimisation, updated technologies, newer features, fixing the bugs, security, etc. Thus it becomes rather difficult to determine the average cost. I hope this answers your question of how much developing a software is going to cost you, and more importantly, on what basis the cost is determined, so that you know what steps you need to take care of.