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

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

#51

Post by Maven911 »

edster wrote: post #22

I'll be happy to talk to you about your app. I've been developing freelance iphone apps since day 1 of the beta. I've had apps featured at the All Things D conference, NY Times, all of the gadget websites and one of my apps was chosen as one of the top 20 apps of 2009 by a prominent magazine. I live an Ann Arbor MI, but I've done several projects from companies in CA including a prominent app for a San Jose based com…

I have a questions on the dynamics if you don't mind me asking...

-is this your full time job and your sole source of income ? -are you able to find a normal amount of work just like a 9-5 job (i.e. 40 hours a week for 50 weeks -> 2000 billable hours a year)

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

#52

Post by tzm »

I'm in Raleigh, NC. I develop iPhone / iPad and Android apps for a small dev firm. We price our apps on a fixed rate basis, typically starting at $3k, for full service work (graphic design to app store distribution); 2-3 week lead time.

Although we could bill $100 - $150/hr, we find clients respond better to fixed rate pricing, which seems to be a more manageable on both ends.

We focus heavily on providing excellent design and rich UI/UX. We often work with agencies behind the scenes or with enterprise customers, brands, publishers and entrepreneurs with an "idea". Pretty much all types of customers.

We also build the web service infrastructure, which may include social, geo and eCommerce capabilities and/or integration.

Btw, we've had iPhone apps approved in as little as 2 days.

Your app seems like some of the apps that we've developed for $2-3k, assuming you have a workflow / spec draft and initial design consideration.

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

#53

Post by kadavy »

flyosity wrote: post #50
davidcann wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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 :)

40 hours a week of billable work is damn near impossible. Even if I could find that much work, I wouldn't be able to handle it on a regular basis.

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

#54

Post by koevet »

A couple of months ago I had an idea for an iPhone app that requires a client and server component. I decided to focus on the backend development and outsource the front-end. I have posted my tender on http://www.getappsdone.com/ and in a very short amount of time I have received several offers from shops and individuals from all over the planet, mainly US, UK and India. I have replied to every contact asking for a portfolio and I ended up with a couple of candidates. I also received all sort of prices, from suspiciously low (40US/hour)to rip-off high (> 200/h). I have based my choice on the quality of the portfolio, on the similarity of apps already developed by the shop to mine and, of course, on the overall price.

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

#55

Post by PhysicsAndYou »

NiftyIon wrote: post #34

Hey. We have a team of wanna-be iPhone app developers made up of ~6 people. We're high schoolers with a few years programming/graphics design experience. We're just starting up. If you're interested in maybe outsourcing something to us, shoot me an email. Since I understand that we're not experienced iPhone developers and maybe not even experienced developers in general (I'd like to think we're pretty decent, but may…

I wish you luck in your endeavor.

You're realistic but may be a little hard on yourself (I can't speak for your abilities in truth). Keep positive and possibly do OS projects as well.

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

#56

Post by ErrantX »

NiftyIon wrote: post #34

Hey. We have a team of wanna-be iPhone app developers made up of ~6 people. We're high schoolers with a few years programming/graphics design experience. We're just starting up. If you're interested in maybe outsourcing something to us, shoot me an email. Since I understand that we're not experienced iPhone developers and maybe not even experienced developers in general (I'd like to think we're pretty decent, but may…

> it would be incredibly cheap.

Don't undersell yourself! I learnt early on that charging the right price does wonders for bringing in better customers and better work.

(plus if your earning good then you have more impetus to get finished on time)

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

#57

Post by faramarz »

hboon wrote: post #46
faramarz wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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?

The native functionality is tied into the form factor. thats the biggest advantage to having a native app.

In an ideal situation, i'll be giving out the iPad free, shipped with my App. already installed. the value proposition can be so huge that would offset the device cost.

Something like this would fit our slogan iPad was made for our X, all the other goodies are just extra :P

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

#59

Post by BSousa »

I develop iPhone/iPad apps in-house for the enterprise market, but when I take side projects, I usually take around 70-80 dollars an hour (depending on the whole scope of the project).

But it is hard to quote a fixed price without knowing much about the application. An application with two custom views with a lot of logic can easilly take 10x as much time as a CoreData 10 view application that is just drilling data.

Send me an email at brunomtsousa@gmail.com if you need any advice/help.

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

#60

Post by yish »

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…

Actually, this is the rate for a good small team, agencies can go even higher (I've seen $180 quoted and have heard of, but never personally seen, higher).

I also think part of the challenge is that to have a stand out app, you now need a team with UI/VisD/Dev skills. Expectations of consumers have grown since the early app store days, and a lone developer rarely cuts it anymore unless they also have some real design chomps.

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