How much does software development cost?

Innovation is one of the factors that cannot be missing in companies today. With the rapid pace at which technology advances, businesses have to race to catch up with new software development trends and technologies, which can be a bit of an uphill battle at times.

But, as much as all companies want to innovate in their processes, reality can sometimes be very harsh: there are those who do not have enough budget to hire more staff or to develop new software projects.

The issue of software development costs always makes entrepreneurs lose sleep because it forces them to make an extra effort to optimize every penny they have in their pocket. Searching for a software company can be stressful as well, dealing with budgets and keeping it within pocket.

The first concern of companies: the cost of software development

You must be clear that the cost of software development will depend on the product you want to create. It can be a web page, a mobile application, implement a CRM or an ERP, to give several examples. Depending on what your company needs and your budget, you can decide which project to undertake.

Another important aspect to limit costs is to create a realistic project plan, detailing very well the tasks, deliverables, delivery dates and necessary resources. This allows you to work more efficiently, without raising costs exorbitantly, as can happen if there is no efficient control of the project.

In addition, software development costs also depend on the complexity and duration of the project, as well as the number of developers you temporarily hire and their experience. The more experienced, the higher the cost per hour of that profile can be.

How is the cost of software development calculated?

Several characteristics are involved in calculating software development costs, which we will mention below:

Software size

It has to do with the number of pages that the software to be developed will have. Obviously, the bigger the software, the higher the development cost.

Complexity

It refers to the functionalities and characteristics that the product will have. The cost of software development will rise with more functionality. It also has to do with the complexity of the technologies that are going to be used and the complexity of the design that you want to apply.

UX/UI design

This stage defines the success or failure of the software product, since it directly conditions the end user's satisfaction when using it. The level of customization determines a lot the cost of software development in this regard. If the client requires more of a generic and simple UX/UI design, complexity and cost are reduced.

Software developer team

The type of profiles that you are going to hire greatly influences the cost of software development because, as we said a while ago, the more experienced the developer profile is, the higher the hiring cost will be. Keep this in mind when requesting profiles from a software provider.

The way the provider contracts also influences the cost of software development

If you hire permanent staff to develop your next software project, the costs will increase since you must invest in recruiting, training, and other administrative commitments.

If you hire an outsourcing team, you will pay a provider to provide it to you, without having to take care of anything, just paying for the resource that will be temporarily integrated into your company.

If you hire freelance resources, the costs are further reduced, because they generally charge for their work by the hour. The risk in this case is that you will not have the certainty of the quality and responsibility of this freelance and remote resource, which puts your project at risk.

What is the cost of a software development?

• Software developer

The cost per hour for a software developer with basic or medium experience ranges from $27 to $60. An experienced, senior software developer can cost anywhere from $80 to $100.

• UX/UI Designer

As in the previous case, the cost of hiring a UX/UI designer per hour varies according to their skills and years of experience. If you are between 1 and 5 years old, it can cost $50/hour, according to data from the UX Design Institute. If you are 5-10 years old, the price is $75/hour. If you have more than 11 years of experience, the cost per hour rises to $100.

• QA Engineer

Testing software is essential, and this must be added to the cost of software development. A QA engineer can cost between $30 and $55 per hour.

• Maintenance and support service

This is essential after software deployment, as adjustments to the software always need to be applied after users provide feedback by interacting with it. In this case the cost of resources per hour will depend on the level of experience and specialization. Hiring a basic engineer can cost between $90 and $140 per hour, a mid engineer between $100 and $175 and an experienced engineer can cost between $200 and $300, depending on the complexity of the work to be done.

Now that you have an estimate of how much software development could cost, you can analyze what your company needs to start its digital transformation. At Roostack, we have +10 years of experience advising global companies. Contact us!

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