Top 10+ Mobile App Development Companies in 2024

Are you looking to hire the best mobile app development company yet need clarification about how to do it?

Here is a hiring guide to quickly help you make a better decision to hire user experience-focused app development companies that fit your idea, budget, and time. Interestingly, this hiring guide to the most affordable mobile app development companies also includes a pricing guide, location-wise analysis of the app development cost, industry-wise hiring cost variation, and other variables that affect the cost of hiring a mobile application developer. The guide will also help you identify where failure typically occurs when hiring app developers. Understanding these factors will help you hire the most reliable app development companies on GoodFirms with proficiency in iOS and Android frameworks.

Here are the top reasons why you should hire a user-focused mobile app development company in 2024;

• End-to-end mobile app development services: If you hire the top enterprise mobile app development companies, they will facilitate broad-spectrum user-focused mobile app development services, including ideation, wire-framing, front-end development, back-end development, support, and maintenance.
• Streamlined development process: You can achieve faster and more streamlined mobile app development if you hire a company specifically focused on your project and your audience.
• Enhanced app quality: Hiring enterprise mobile app development companies can help you build high-quality, user-friendly, responsive mobile apps.
• Expertise: You will get highly talented, specialized, and experienced mobile app developers with global expertise in iOS, Android, and cross-platform development who can build apps for large-scale businesses and deliver value via speed.
• Trending mobile app development practices: Mobile app development companies keep themselves updated on the latest technologies, trends, and best practices in mobile app development. They stay aligned with the evolving app development landscape and create the best applications aligned with the audience.

An app developer hiring mistake can cost you three times as much of your investment, along with loss of time and productivity. Such mistakes can imbalance your business workflow. These are preventable. Also, there are a few areas where you can go wrong while dealing with an app developer to undertake your project, which can affect the hiring cost. These can be;

• Not clarifying your requirements clearly.
• Lack of proper research
• Communication gap

The primary purpose of this guide is to help you make a better hiring decision.

1) Define Your App Development Project Purpose And Requirements:

This step is very critical to the success of mobile app development. Businesses looking to hire enterprise-grade mobile app developers should carefully prepare a document outlining project scope, the target audience, required features, integrations, customizations, and other requirements to help mobile app developers better understand your project purpose and requirements.

2) Set the Timeline And Budget For Your App Development Project:

While finalizing the budget and time, you should consider a few factors like development technologies, tools, design, security, accessibility, post-development support, hosting charges, and other features that can influence the app development time and budget. Use strategies like function point analysis, three-point estimation, bottom-up estimation, hybrid estimation, etc., to effectively set the time and budget for your app development project.

3) Research and Select the Best Mobile App Developers To Hire:

After clearly understanding the project purpose, budget, and time, you can hire the best app developers from GoodFirms, a reputed B2B reviews, ratings, and listing platform that offers a well-researched list of top mobile app development companies. The list lets you quickly evaluate the companies against various parameters, including reviews, client testimonials, pricing, service portfolio, industries serving, app development experience, company size, and other relevant factors. 

4) Discuss the Technical Requirements, Features, And Functionality Required For Your App Development Project:

After shortlisting the top mobile app developers, scheduling a call and discussing your project, technical requirements, features, functionalities, and other necessary information with the company is critical. Discussing the programming languages, frameworks, technologies, access rules and roles, communication, customizations, integration with existing systems, development process, operating environment, UI/UX, performance, data safety and security, content, client handling skills, and other development aspects is also critical. 

5) Hire the Right Mobile Application Development Company:

After carefully executing each of the processes mentioned above, hire the best mobile app development company that is innovative and creative, can scale up your digital presence, and deliver successful technology transformation. 

The cost of hiring mobile app developers varies on numerous factors, including the industry, experience, services offered, location or country of the development team, application complexity, technologies used, and customization requirements of your project.

The cost of hiring a custom app development company varies per nearshoring or offshoring. If you outsource mobile app development to distant locations with lower labor costs, like Asia and Eastern Europe, your total app development budget will decrease. However, developers in North America, Western Europe, and Australia typically charge higher rates, which can influence the overall cost of hiring an app development company.

Apart from these, there are support, maintenance, security, and other hidden costs that you must discuss and clarify in advance before hiring a custom mobile app development company for your project.

Hourly Rates to Hire Mobile App Development Company (Country-wise)

If you are keen to know the region-wise app development cost breakdown, refer to the table below, which will give you a quick report on the cost of building an app. Based on our analysis, the cost of hiring an app development company on GoodFirms, depending upon the location, ranges from <$25 to $300 per hour. Here you can find;

• Mobile App Developer’s Hourly Rate in Canada
• Mobile App Developer’s Hourly Rate in the USA
• Mobile App Developer’s Hourly Rate in the United Kingdom
• Mobile App Developer’s Hourly Rate in India
• Mobile App Developer’s Hourly Rate in Australia
• Mobile App Developer’s Hourly Rate in the United Arab Emirates (UAE)
• Mobile App Developer’s Hourly Rate in South Africa
• Mobile App Developer’s Hourly Rate in Poland
• Mobile App Developer’s Hourly Rate in France
• Mobile App Developer’s Hourly Price in Germany
• Mobile App Developer’s Hourly Rate in the Netherlands
• Mobile App Developer’s Hourly Rate in Japan
• Mobile App Developer’s Hourly Rate in China
• Mobile App Developer’s Hourly Rate in Egypt
• Mobile App Developer’s Hourly Rate in Saudi Arabia
• Mobile App Developer’s Hourly Rate in Singapore
• Mobile App Developer’s Hourly Rate in Ukraine

Every industry has unique app development requirements. The cost of hiring mobile app development companies also fluctuates depending on the type of industry. Applications catering to a few industries have a high app usage rate when developed through the most innovative app development companies. Here, we have picked a few prominent industries, like Social Media, Health and Fitness, Finance, Ecommerce, Travel and Hospitality, Education, and Gaming. The table below indicates the hourly charges of the app developers specializing in apps for specific industries. The table also shows the total app development budget you should be prepared for in these industries.

• Cost to hire a mobile app development company for Social Media applications
• Cost to hire a mobile app development company for Ecommerce applications
• Cost to hire a mobile app development company for Gaming applications
• Cost to hire a mobile app development company for Education applications
• Cost to hire a mobile app development company for Health and Fitness applications
• Cost to hire a mobile app development company for Travel and Hospitality applications
• Cost to hire a mobile app development company for Finance applications

Depending upon the experience, the average cost to hire an international mobile app development company delivering global app development services may range from USD 20 per hour to USD 300 per hour or even more. 

The experience of international app developers is a crucial factor in deciding their hiring cost. 

• Entry-level app development companies usually have a team of developers with experience of 0 to 2 years that possess the basic skills to develop a mobile application. They charge around USD 20 per hour to USD 70 per hour for app development services.
• Mid-level app developers are proficient with key frameworks and relevant programming languages. They possess the ability to optimize the app performance and have experience of about 3 to 5 years. They might charge you anywhere from USD 50 to USD 100 per hour.
• Senior-level developers have in-depth knowledge of developing world-class websites along with designing skills. Such skilled developers have the expertise to build highly secured apps with optimized performance. Hiring experienced mobile app developers can cost you about USD 90 to USD 300 per hour or even more.

The cost of hiring niche mobile app development companies can vary depending on the services provided and the type of business. 

• Consultation and strategizing a mobile application involve market analysis, competitive analysis, and deciding the project roadmap. This phase typically requires around 10% of the app development cost. The hourly rates for consultation and strategizing range between USD 30 and USD 150.
• Designing phase is a crucial phase of app development consisting of software prototyping, visual design, and wireframing. Designing takes 15% of the overall hiring cost. Hiring a skilled mobile app developer for these services will cost anywhere between USD 20 to USD 100 per hour.
• Development services include the actual application development - the coding process. The hiring cost of this service is around 60% of the overall cost. Hiring mobile application developers will cost you around USD 25 to USD 250 per hour.
• Testing and deployment services involve bug fixes and application deployment to the app store. This service also takes 10% of the overall hiring cost. The cost of seeking testing services will be around USD 20 to USD 200 per hour. 
• Maintenance Services include continuous bug fixes, regular updates, and customer support. This phase takes 5% of the overall app development hiring budget. App developers generally charge around USD 20 to USD 150 per hour for these services.

The cost to hire an application developer depends on the application type and the project's complexity. 

• Simple applications work on the most basic functionalities. Some of the common basic apps include weight-tracking, bill-tracking, and calculator apps. Application developers can charge you anywhere between USD 20 per hour to USD 90 per hour based on their experience.
• Complex apps often involve a higher level of expertise to deliver top-notch features to the users. A few notable complex applications include healthcare, financial, and travel booking applications. To develop such mobile apps, developers may charge around USD 25 per hour to USD 200 per hour.
• eCommerce, social media, and gaming apps are highly complex apps that require the integration of several technologies and evolving AI technologies to provide a seamless experience. App developers charge the most for developing these types of applications, ranging from USD 60 per hour to USD 300 per hour.

The development platform of a mobile app can highly influence the cost of hiring a mobile developer. Depending on the skills required to develop an app using each platform, the charges for hiring an application developer may vary.

• Android app development hiring charges can be between USD 20 per hour and USD 150 per hour.
• iPhone app development hiring charges can be around USD 30 per hour to USD 200 per hour.
• Hybrid and cross-platform development requires a little more investment than Android or iOS platforms. Hiring a mobile app developer for cross-platform development might cost you around USD 40 per hour to USD 300 per hour.

The modern technologies used to enhance the application functionalities also add to the cost of creating the mobile app. 

• AR/VR: Augmented reality and virtual reality have grown in popularity for improving app functionalities. The total cost of building an augmented reality app lies between USD 80000 and USD 300000.
• Artificial intelligence can enhance a mobile app in many ways. Right from personalized suggestions to chatbots, AI can add to the features of a mobile app. The cost of developing an AI-powered application or generative AI application might range from USD 50000 to USD 250000.
• Blockchain-integrated applications are critical for business sustainability. Developing these applications can cost around USD 40000 to USD 300000 or even more.
• IoT apps are highly being used in various sectors. Hiring skilled developers to build an IoT app might cost anywhere from USD 50000 to USD 100000.

• The cost of building a basic app may fall anywhere between USD 3000 and USD 10000. However, these costs rise as more customizations are required to improve the app’s performance. 
• The costs may go up to USD 150000 for a more intricate layout and detailing.
• For highly complex apps that require more customizations concerning the number of screens, the complexity of the database, 3rd party API integrations, and advanced features, the cost of creating the app may go beyond USD 300000.