Cost always plays an important role in building a custom software application. In fact, one of the most common criticisms about custom software development revolves around the high cost of development. While developing custom software is often more expensive than purchasing an off-the-shelf application, it gives you more ROI due to being customized to your customers’ needs.

Moreover, the cost of developing a custom software solution is a one-time cost that involves almost all everything you and the end users need. On the other hand, an off-the-shelf solution may require you to purchase add-ons to suit your specific requirements, adding to your software development cost.

So, what are the major factors that affect software maintenance and development?

Here are some of the most important factors that influence custom software development cost:

Project Scope

The scope of your software development project determines its cost. If you are willing to build a large-scale software application capable of handling complicated processes, your custom software development cost is bound to be high.

On the other hand, building a small-scale application to leverage simpler processes will cost you much less. To understand your project’s scope, it is important to consider factors like the size of your target audience, the platforms you want to deploy the application on, the complexity of your business processes, the scale of your business, etc.

Software Size

There is a difference between a project’s scope and a software application’s size. A small business may choose to build a large software application. Similarly, a large enterprise may build a small-size application to handle simpler processes.

Your software development cost will increase with the size of the application you want to build. A bigger custom software solution required more resources, manpower, and time, thereby adding to the cost of development.

Plugins And External Libraries

If you want to build a scalable custom software application with specific plugins and external libraries, it will reflect in your custom software development cost. Your team of developers will charge you depending on the plugins and/or libraries you are looking for.

Technologies And Frameworks

Different custom software solutions require different development frameworks and technologies. Each of these elements carries a distinct price tag depending on its nature and use.

Make sure you discuss the language to be used, the technology implemented, and the framework employed to build your custom software application. This may attribute to a significant portion of your project’s budget.

Team Size

The team size of the custom software development company you hire will also affect your software development cost. The size of a developer team will depend on your project’s scope and purpose. It will also depend on the hiring model you want to use.

For example, if you opt for staff augmentation, your custom software development cost will be low. This is because it involves hiring a handful of developers to work with your in-house team on a project. On the other hand, if you are looking for full-cycle custom software development services, you will have to pay more for the same as it involves building your application from scratch.

Team size also depends on the services you are looking for. For example, if you are simply looking for testing and QA services, your cost will be lower as compared to complete custom software development and maintenance.

Continuous Development

Modern custom software developers offer continuous development services to their clients. As the name suggests, these services involve ongoing design, development, and maintenance of your application. If you are looking for continuous development, your custom software development cost will be higher than one-time software development.

Moreover, continuous development involves paying the service providers on a recurring basis until your contract/project ends.

Geographical Location

Although the world has become a global village, the geographical location of your software development company will affect your cost. If you are working with software developers living in a different time zone, they may charge you more as they will be required to make adjustments to suit your time.

Effective communication and seamless collaboration are important for a custom software development project. If you expect these qualities from a software development company working in a different time zone, you may have to pay the developers a little more for their time and efforts.

Project Deadline

Finally, the time you want the developers to take to build your application affects your custom software development cost. If you want your application to be ready in a short span of time, the software development company will be required to spend more time, effort, and resources on your project, thereby increasing your software development cost.

The Final Word

These were some of the most important factors affecting custom software development cost. Make sure you create a holistic budget before starting your software development project’s execution.