IoT (Internet of Things) is here to stay. Its prevalence in today’s mobile-driven world is perceived by the report of Frost and Sullivan that says every person is likely to have an average of 5.1 connected devices by 2020. It simply means that the concept has immense possibilities and a customized IoT mobile app is necessary to grab them.
Home automation, smart city, industrial automation, telemedicine, are a few of the fields in which IoT apps can work wonders. These days, many entrepreneurs want to jump on the IoT bandwagon to leverage the business benefits of this revolutionary technology, but they have no idea of the costing of IoT app development.
Here we provide a comprehensive guide to the development cost of IoT solutions for different industry sectors. We will also include a small list of top IoT application development services providers in India.
Conception of IoT Application
Let us start with the fundamental aspects you need to keep in mind while opting for an IoT application:
Before you search for a reliable IoT application development company, you should find answers to these questions:
- What are the objectives of your IoT app?
- Which is your targeted audience?
- Which features do you want to include in the app?
- What can be possible challenges?
- What is your expected budget for developing an IoT app?
You may argue that how we can think about the budget without having an idea of IoT app development cost. You are right to an extent, but budget allocation can help you add the features. Also, you should think of the hardware or devices necessary to implement the IoT concept at your workplace. All such homework can save a lot of time for unnecessary discussions with your IoT app development provider.
Challenges of IoT
Security, privacy, connectivity, and compatibility are four key challenges of IoT. As this technology impacts a lot on mobile app development process, the IoT app developers strive to overcome these challenges.
An experienced IoT solution company can effectively deal with these challenges, and you can get a seamlessly-performing IoT application with all necessary features.
How IoT Apps Work
Tailored IoT mobile apps are connected with sensors or devices and operate them with the help of the Internet. Though it seems to be easy at first glance, it involves complex processes related to data analysis. A custom IoT mobile app is connected to the business system and futuristic technologies like AR and VR can be integrated into the app.
How to Find Reliable IoT Solution Provider
This is a question that baffles every entrepreneur. After having an IoT app concept, business owners start finding a reliable and experienced IoT application development company. But here is a catch: you need to find a company that can maintain the subtle balance between cost-effectiveness and quality of an IoT mobile application. In other words, you should find a company that develops a feature-rich and flawless IoT mobile application for your business in a cost-efficient way.
It is getting more difficult to find a genuine app developer with the advent of new players in the IoT app development domain, but if you opt for an experienced and well-established company over the new development service providers, you can get your app project done on time with a 360-degree solution ranging from development to deployment and marketing to maintenance.
Here are top five IoT app development companies based in India that offer enterprise-grade IoT app development services:
Solution Analysts is an end-to-end IT solution provider. With years of experience in mobile app and web development, the company has served the global clientele with high-quality technology solutions. The company houses a team of dedicated IoT app developers who can meet diverse business requirements across different industry verticals while utilizing technological advancements. Solution Analysts has expertise in providing Smartwatch solutions, iBeacon solutions, wearable apps, and home automation solutions. The company is renowned for providing contemporary and customized IoT solutions in a cost-effective way.
2. Appinventive
It is a leading IoT solution provider and offers comprehensive IoT apps. The company has a team of experienced app developers who can develop customized IoT applications for different industry verticals. The company has an expertise in developing wearable apps, iBeacon apps, and customized mobile applications. With a core focus on mobile app development, Appinventive can offer feature-rich IoT app solutions.
3. Cumulations
It is a leading IoT app development company that builds IoT and AI-based apps for the global enterprises. The company has a vast experience in developing customized mobile applications and has a team of IoT experts who have hands-on experience in using Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, NFC, and iBeacons technologies to build an IoT mobile application.
4. Mindinventory
The company offers excellent IoT solutions and services to the enterprise clients. Mindinventory, as a 360-degree IoT solution company, provides consultancy and support services along with application development and gateway development.
5. Octal Software
Octal Software is a leading mobile and web development solutions provider. The company also offers high-quality IoT app development services for wearable devices and Apple Watch. Enterprises can avail the benefits of their expertise in the domain of mobile app development.
IoT App Development Process in Brief
Like other mobile apps, the IoT app development process also starts with analysis of information. After that Prototype is formed and gradually the process proceeds to testing.
The duration of design and development phase depends on various factors including project size and scope, number of necessary features, integration of new technologies, and complexity of the application.
Here we give a brief account of the duration of IoT application development phase based on the complexity:
- Simple apps with standard (and simple) UI and basic features: 450+ Hours
You can get this type of app at the cost ranging from $15000 to $18000.
2. Medium apps with custom UI and complex features: 600+ Hours
This type of app costs you around $18000 to $25000.
3. Complex apps with real-time synchronization, database relationships, etc.: 1000+ Hours
Such apps start at $30000 depending on the level of complexity.
Of course, this is only an approximation. An IoT app development company can give an exact deadline for your app project after analysing every aspect.
Cost of IoT Mobile Application
Here we reach at the most critical part- the app development cost. Like all other types of mobile apps, the cost of IoT mobile application also depends on duration and features.
Here are a few features that take a major chunk of the development cost:
- Location integration
- Payment gateways integration
- Synchronization across various devices
- Integration of third-party API
- Data encryption and inclusion of auto-learning feed
- CMS integration
Many IoT application developers are of opinion that RAD (Rapid Application Development) tool is an answer to the difficulty of developing IoT software from scratch. Therefore, they tend to use reusable and pre-built components on selected IoT platforms. Business persons can get the customized app rapidly at affordable rates with this approach.
If you opt to hire IoT app developers for your app project you can get either basic or extended team on the basis of app requirements. The basic team includes two developers and one designer along with a QA engineer and a project manager. Whereas, the extended team consists of a business analyst, one backend developer, one administrator, and a panel designer in addition to the basic team.
IoT apps always remain a soft target for the cybercriminals. Therefore, it is of utmost importance to include security features like data encryption and the like. But then, integration of these features impacts a lot on the development cost.
These days, IoT becomes an umbrella term that can be implemented in different types of apps. Here we mention approximate costs for various categories:
Category — — — — — — — — — — — — —Cost starts from
Media and Entertainment — — — — — — — — $10000
Agriculture — — — — — — — — — — — — — —$10000
Infrastructure — — — — — — — — — — — — — $20000
Manufacturing — — — — — — — — — — — — — $40000
Energy and Power Management — — — — — —$25000
Home Automation — — — — — — — — — — — -$30000
Transportation and Logistics — — — — — — —-$25000
Smart Cities — — — — — — — — — — — — — — $45000
Consumer Applications — — — — — — — — —-$30000
You can calculate the cost by yourself by considering the rates for features integration and hourly rate of the IoT app developers. The app developers have different hourly rates in the different countries. For example, the US-based app developers charge up to $168 per hour and Indian app developers can charge up to $30 per hour. Also, you need to consider maintenance and modification cost to keep an app up to date.
You need to remember that high prices do not always result in premium quality apps. On the other hand, there is a risk of giving your project in the wrong hands if you insist for cheaper developers. It is, therefore, wise to look for a renowned IoT application development company that can offer you more quality for less money while complying with the app development standards.
Wrapping Up
The IoT concept gains the ground rapidly, and IoT app development thrives in line with it. You can avail its benefits to boost your business through improving services and simplifying complex processes.