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How To Optimize The Fitness App Development Cost

How To Optimize The Fitness App Development Cost

Keeping fit is trendy today. People are getting used to tracking the various parameters of their health with the help of gadgets and follow fancy ideas to count calories, uphold a recommended ratio between fats, carbons and proteins and look for specific recipes which match their type of diet. 

Everyone looks for a magic way to look nice and feel good. Someone needs good advice on how to get rid of excessive weight, someone dreams of demonstrating textured muscles, someone aims to feel well and have enough energy to fulfill all the everyday tasks. 

If you want to help people be more effective at solving a certain type of tasks and have a vision of how it can be reached through a digital product, you are several steps from your own startup. The Purrweb team described in details where to start and what to do in order to transfer your project idea to the audience. 

As for the issue of investment, the cost to develop fitness app depends on a variety of factors, some of which are flexible. So, let’s delve into the problem and clear up all the issues you need to bear in mind to еstimate approximately how much your fitness app development costs.

The factors that determine fitness app development cost

It’s not a secret that the market offers so different estimations of almost the same scope of work. But what’s behind this mathematics? The answer is on the surface: hourly rates of specialists in different countries of the world differ significantly. It is fair to note that in some cases the price reflects the quality of work and in some doesn’t. For example, to demonstrate the difference, let’s take an app with a medium set of features which roughly takes 1800 working hours. If you multiply this number by the hourly rate of US based software developers at $120 per hour, you’ll get $216,000. The fitness app development cost in Eastern Europe compares favorably though the qualification of experts is the same level. If we multiply the time of work by the average hourly rates of EU developers, we’ll get a fitness app development cost of $108,000. As for the fitness app development cost in Asia, you should be very attentive in hiring an IT team. It often happens where the US developer is qualified as middle, the Asian specialists can be treated as senior. The level of expertise and a habit to work in a relaxing manner can threaten deadlines and efficient results. 

What do you have to pay for to create a fitness app?

Apart from an IT team location, there are a lot of other factors which impact entails the fitness app development cost. Let’s consider them more biased. 

Features

The price for a simple fitness app can differ from a super featured app by several times. That’s why it’s essential to determine the core functionality of the app at the initial stage. And in some cases it makes sense to start with MVP attracting additional investment already after the successful launch of the product. So, if you’re targeting to optimize the fitness app development cost, limit the set of the features to be implemented. 

To depict which features your fitness app needs, it’s necessary for a development team to know its type and a key idea. Although to boost the originality of your own private you can mix some features in one.

  • Activity tracking app

If you’re planning this type of product, the features that user expects to see in this solution are memorizing routes, counter of steps or distance calculator. 

  • Diet app

Focused on nutrition app will be interesting with the next set of functions: calories calculator, information on the nutrients the different food contents, hints on improvement of nutrition value of the dishes, personal diary to make notes on the way to the goals, opportunity to get online consultation with specialists, community support, setting goals and tracking results etc. 

  • Workout or fitness app

To build a spectacular body, users need a rich library with video explanations on how to do miscellaneous types of exercises. Goal setting and tracking results functionality are also obligatory as they help people stay motivated and inspired by visible progress. 

Personalized hints on fitness program are also desirable: without «magic pushes» people tend to go off the course and perceive the digital helper as ineffective. Access to personal trainers online can also contribute to the popularity of the app. If you’re on the way to create an intensive app, it can also include recommendations on nutrition and information on how many calories the user loses doing this or that type of exercise. 

As you can see, there’s a diversity of features that every type of fitness app requires. And the difference between a simple «step counter» and personalized online training services is significant. If you take into account that every feature you’re planning to implement takes tens of working hours of the IT team, you’ll understand how fitness app development cost depends on their quantity and complexity. 

Basic features for a fitness app usually include the next set of things.

  • Sign up page is the front porch where you’re greeting the potential customers and helping them to get onboard. Social media can be integrated in the registration page for a faster onboarding process. The average time required for building the feature is 60 hours (30 hours for frontend and 30 hours for back end). If you want to make the app available not only for android, but for iOS too, multiply the frontend hours of work by two. The same approach is fair for the other features too. 
  • User profile is the place where all personal information is concentrated. In accordance with the settings made in advance, the user can get recommendations and tune his own information space. About 60 hours for Android development and 40 for the back end should be reserved. IOS development also takes 60 hours. 
  • Workouts enable users to find exercises for definite groups of muscles in accordance with their level of physical condition. It’s great if they can see the specific, duration and complexity. The rough estimation is 100 hours for Android development and 50 for back end. IOS version takes about 100 hours as well. 
  • Push notifications are an obligatory feature if you plan to equip users with the opportunity to control their timetable and not forget about physical training and proper nutrition. It takes about 75 hours in total for both platforms. 
  • Payments. In-built payment opportunities make usage of the app more convenient and facilitate monetization. About 45 hours for implementing Android and IOS features. 

Adding other features like a nutrition plan, support chat, progress tracking, searching  bar and so on increases the time of development and the fitness app development cost respectively. 

Technology stack

To cut costs without losses of quality and time, the splitted development for different platforms can be replaced by React Native. This technology facilitates the process of development due the reusing the same code for both iOS and android products. As the Purrweb team noticed, the tech stack allows them to spend 30-50% less creating two apps. And this can’t help affecting the total cost. It can be less than half of what a native development offers. 

UI/UX design, project management and testing

Don’t forget to consider these services when planning a fitness app development cost.

UI/UX design provides a delightful and effortless use of the app. Whether the user wants to come back and stay with the product for a long time depends on the app’s attractiveness and convenience. Count at least 120 hours for this work. 

Project management is also a necessary option as it facilitates effective communication in the process and exact compliance with the timeline. Roughly 350-450 hours. 

Testing is an irreplaceable part of the process as it allows the team to fix all the bugs before users start complaining about them. Add about 400-500 hours. 

How to get a more exact estimation of the product cost?

As you see, the cost can be very variable depending on the multitude of factors: number of features, tech stack, hourly rates and intensity of team’s work. The only way to clear up the question and know the fitness app development cost in your individual case is to consult with the development agency. For example, Purrweb makes almost exact estimations for free. Catch the opportunity and send a quote.

About the author

Tom Bernes

Tom Bernes is the Editorial Director at The Next Hint Inc.

Prior to joining The Next Hint Inc, Tom had a hand in a number of online and print publications, including InternetNews.com as chief copy editor and Government Technology Magazine as managing editor. He also did a stint in Sydney as group editor of RBI Australia's manufacturing group, which is when he also developed an affinity (a love, really) for cricket.

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