Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Ask HN: How much does it cost to outsource iPhone app development?

news.ycombinator.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

41–50 of 79 posts

Re: Ask HN: How much does it cost to outsource iPhone app development?

#41

Post by fairramone »

davidcann wrote: post #36
yish wrote: post #19

The going rate for a great developer/designer with lots of mobile experience here in SF is in the ~150 an hour range. I've seen this price go up significantly in the last couple months, primarily due to high demand at the moment. You can probably get a little cheaper outside the area and definitely less offshore, but even then a good offshore house will run you $60 and they often don't like doing fixed bids at those…

Everyone reading this, please don't think the ~150 an hour range is normal for an individual developer. This is generally the rate for a full service design/development agency where you get an account manager, secretaries, etc. I do iPhone development and haven't met anyone getting even close to $150/hr individually. If someone made that, they'd be be making $6,000/week and $300,000/year. yish, can you confirm that t…

$150/hr does not seem out of the ordinary for this particular discipline (iphone development).

Re: Ask HN: How much does it cost to outsource iPhone app development?

#42

Post by gte910h »

nl wrote: post #31
gte910h wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What? I can't imagine spending that much money on a non-game development effort for a mobile device. What the heck does it do?

"location based app for web, iPhone and Android for approximately $370,000" Note the "AND"'s. I suspect this isn't some simple thing - it's probably a 300K web app + 2 35K mobile apps.

Yeah, didn't see the "AND". Android is more expensive too usually for various reasons.

Re: Ask HN: How much does it cost to outsource iPhone app development?

#43

Post by nl »

gte910h wrote: post #42
nl wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"location based app for web, iPhone and Android for approximately $370,000" Note the "AND"'s. I suspect this isn't some simple thing - it's probably a 300K web app + 2 35K mobile apps.

Yeah, didn't see the "AND". Android is more expensive too usually for various reasons.

Is it? Why? (Just less programmer doing it?)

Re: Ask HN: How much does it cost to outsource iPhone app development?

#44

Post by psyklic »

frankus wrote: post #28
dotBen wrote: post #4

Too many variables to be able to suggest a total rate (depends on how much work there is, in addition to the other factors listed). You are probably looking at the equivalent of $100-200/hr for good development, with the higher end for people located in SF. If you are going to out-source development, and you have a design/product background, I would build out a product spec and even a draft list of stories into Pivot…

Damn, I guess I need to move to San Francisco. I don't have heaps of experience (a few apps in the store) but folks out here have balked at the $50-60/hour I've been charging.

A lot of people who aren't in tech will balk at hourly fees but not at fixed rates -- they like to know the total cost beforehand. Try drawing up a contract saying it will cost x dollars, up to y hours, and beyond that $z/hr.

Re: Ask HN: How much does it cost to outsource iPhone app development?

#45

Post by richcollins »

davidcann wrote: post #36
yish wrote: post #19

The going rate for a great developer/designer with lots of mobile experience here in SF is in the ~150 an hour range. I've seen this price go up significantly in the last couple months, primarily due to high demand at the moment. You can probably get a little cheaper outside the area and definitely less offshore, but even then a good offshore house will run you $60 and they often don't like doing fixed bids at those…

Everyone reading this, please don't think the ~150 an hour range is normal for an individual developer. This is generally the rate for a full service design/development agency where you get an account manager, secretaries, etc. I do iPhone development and haven't met anyone getting even close to $150/hr individually. If someone made that, they'd be be making $6,000/week and $300,000/year. yish, can you confirm that t…

The rate in SF is between 100 and 150 depending on experience.

Re: Ask HN: How much does it cost to outsource iPhone app development?

#46

Post by hboon »

faramarz wrote: post #9
gte910h wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>I also tend to shy away from fixed bid because it doesn't work with an agile approach. You may not know completely what you want and as you get building and can get a better picture, being able to add extra components into the mix will cause friction with a fixed bid contract. Fixed bid works just fine with an agile approach. You just start with a very small core project, then iterate upwards with follow on projects…

This is especially important for the Apple App Store because there is no other way to know if your app will be approved. This is HUGE! Do you believe a company can flourish just as an App store app. or is that just too risky. Would love to hear your personal opinion. I'm working on an enterprise solution, and it's reliance is completely on Apple's code-of-conduct.

If it's an enterprise solution, it doesn't have necessary have to go through App store, no?

Re: Ask HN: How much does it cost to outsource iPhone app development?

#47

Post by wallflower »

gte910h wrote: post #3

This is what I do for a living (in Atlanta though). Depends a lot on the complexity. For non-game apps: Some smaller, simple apps are 2-3k, more complex stuff runs in the 10-15k range. Past that you're doing something A> Really Hard, B> New, C> On the edge of what Apple allows or D> Heavily involved with a complicated server component. I'd happily send you a fixed fee quote for your app if you'd like (see profile for…

+1 for the walking the client through the developer approval process. It's win-win, as the client gets the app released under their own moniker, and you get to preserve your anonymity.

Re: Ask HN: How much does it cost to outsource iPhone app development?

#48

Post by wallflower »

I would pick a development team here and have some small part in the codebase. Be willing to pay a little more for people who are willing to answer your questions and keep you accountable for small tasks. That is the basic framework (minus the pay) for a long-term iPhone bootcamp that I will be starting with a long-distance friend soon. Everything will be done over Google Wave and Github-like sites.

Re: Ask HN: How much does it cost to outsource iPhone app development?

#50

Post by flyosity »

davidcann wrote: post #36
yish wrote: post #19

The going rate for a great developer/designer with lots of mobile experience here in SF is in the ~150 an hour range. I've seen this price go up significantly in the last couple months, primarily due to high demand at the moment. You can probably get a little cheaper outside the area and definitely less offshore, but even then a good offshore house will run you $60 and they often don't like doing fixed bids at those…

Everyone reading this, please don't think the ~150 an hour range is normal for an individual developer. This is generally the rate for a full service design/development agency where you get an account manager, secretaries, etc. I do iPhone development and haven't met anyone getting even close to $150/hr individually. If someone made that, they'd be be making $6,000/week and $300,000/year. yish, can you confirm that t…

I know UI designers (who work on iPhone & iPad apps) that make $120-150 per hour for their work and they work for themselves, no agency. Of course your goal is to have 40 hours a week of billable work but it never really works out like that :)
Post reply on HN