Key Takeaways:

The average web application development cost ranges from $15,000 to $80,000 depending on multiple factors.
The 5 key factors affecting the cost of web application development are project scope, desired functionalities, timeline, location of the development agency, and hiring option.
Understand the costs associated with each phase of web app building process, including research and analysis, design, development, testing and deployment, and maintenance and support.

If you have an amazing web app idea, the first question you might have is how much it will cost to convert your idea into a reality.

To find the answer to your question, you might have started searching the cost of web application development on Google.

Did you find proper or accurate cost ranges for building a web app? The chances would be the least.

So, here is the answer. The custom web application development cost starts from $15,000. This price is for a simple web app having basic functionalities and a simple user interface.

However, this blog includes complete information about web app development costs bifurcation and everything that you need to know.

As a leading web application development agency in Canada, we know how important it is to budget a web application idea and usually get such questions from our clients. That’s why we have written a dedicated blog on the complete cost to build a web app.

By the end of this blog, you will get a complete idea of web app development costs. So, let’s get started.

Table of Contents

Cost of Web Application Development [Quick Answer]

There are multiple types of web applications available in the market. Depending on your requirement, you choose the type of web solution. To give you a quick answer regarding the cost of different types of web applications, here is the table. This table describes the cost range of different types of web applications with their approximate timeline for development.

Complexity of Web Apps	Examples of Web Apps	Timeline	Cost
Simple Web Apps	Gmail Google Maps Twitter PayPal	3 – 4 months	$15,000 – $60,000
Medium Web Apps	Amazon Reddit WordPress Chase	4 – 8 months	$60,000 – $2,50,000
Complex Web Apps	Online banking systems ERP systems Complex projects with unique idea Advanced apps with AI and ML	10+ months	Starts from $2,50,000

So, have you got a basic idea of different web app development costs? Great. Next, let’s learn about the factors that impact the cost of web development. Get a complete idea about important factors in detail that helps important roles in calculating the cost when you build a web application.

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5 Key Factors That Influence Web App Development Cost

As a top web app development company in Canada, we have developed over 300+ custom web and mobile solutions for our worldwide clients. Based on our experience, we have list-down these core factors that affects cost of web development. Let’s understand the first factor which is the scope of your custom web application.

Scope of Your Web Application Project

Depending on your web application idea, the scope of your project gets decided. Whether you want to build a web application of single page, multiple-page app or progressive web application, your requirements play an important role.

As you have a more complex and advanced web development idea, more resources and time will be required to develop your web solution. The type of custom web application you want to develop matters as it helps to create a complete roadmap.

Let’s properly understand the complexity of web apps. Mainly, web app complexity is divided into three core categories; simple web apps, medium web apps, and complex web apps.

Types of Web Applications Based on Complexity
Types of Web App	Simple Web Apps	Medium Web Apps	Complex Web Apps
Definition	A simple web development consists of the basic user interface, has a minimum amount of code, gets developed quickly, and might not require a database to function.	A medium web app is a combination of robust user interface and functionalities, has a significant amount of code, has a limited amount of features, and requires a database to function with a complex logical structure.	A complex web app is a combination of complex and customized user interfaces and functionalities, built upon the latest and advanced technologies, has a large number of features and requires highly complex logic to function.
Examples of Web Apps	Landing pages Contact forms Blogging sites	eCommerce sites Project management Social media platform	Hospital management system Cloud-based web platform Online banking systems

Through the above table, you would be able to know the difference between simple, medium, and complex web apps. Based on the features and functionalities you choose, the complexity of your web gets decided. Moving further, let’s learn about the other factor hiring options you choose for your web app development.

Functionalities You Want to Include in Your Web App Solution
One of the most important factors that influence the web application development cost is functionality. As you add more and more features and functionalities, the higher cost of your custom web application goes. Functionalities and features are all about how your web app functions.
As you add more functionalities to your web app, the time required for development increases. For achieving the functionalities, the team of developers needs to spend more time designing, developing, and testing the features. Let’s understand this whole concept with an example.
- User authentication
- Restaurant listing
- Search and filter
- Menu display
- Food ordering
- Delivery and tracking
- Payment processing
- Push notifications
- Basic customer support
Depending on the functionalities and features you choose to integrate into your web solution, the costs get impacted accordingly. However, you can decide on the essential features to include in your web application if you are tight on your budget. If you are confused about which features to include in your web solution, you can opt for our website development consulting to get clear about your web application idea.

In How Much Time You Need Your Web App to be Ready?

The timeline to develop a full-stack web application and the cost of development is directly connected with each other. The reason is if the timeline to develop your application increases, the developers and designers need to work accordingly. So, as per the hourly rates of web developers and designers, you need to pay accordingly.

The calculation is pretty simple. As you invest more time to develop the application, you require more resources, so the cost of your project increases.

To give a general idea of developing different types of web applications depending on the complexity is as follows:

Type of Web Apps	Examples of Web Apps	Timeline
Simple Web Apps	Google Maps Hootsuite Dropbox	500 – 700 hours (4 – 8 months)
Medium Web Apps	Medium Slack Spotify Evernote	700 – 1300 hours (8 – 12 months)
Complex Web Apps	Amazon Facebook Uber Salesforce	1500 – 2200 hours (12 – 24 months)

Let’s understand how the timeline impacts the web application development cost from an example.

For example, if you want to develop a web solution like Dropbox, the hours required would range from 500 – 700. Suppose the hourly rate of a web developer charges $35 per hour.

So, the approximate cost of development would range from $17,500 to $24,500.

Now, if you want to develop a web app like Spotify, the hours to develop it would increase and that is 700 – 1300 hours. With the same hourly rate as a web solution, let’s calculate the cost.

The approximate cost of development like Spotify would range from $24,500 to $44,500.

Location of Web Development Agency You Hire
The cost of developing a web application heavily varies based on the location of the web developers agency/firm you hire to convert your idea into a reality.
To build a web application is a complex and critical task. Depending on the full stack web app ideas, the need of web developers, designers, and the timeline gets decided. In fact, the hourly rate of web developers from different countries varies significantly. Check the table to know the hourly rate of web developers from different countries. The information given in the following table is taken from sources like Glassdoor, Upwork, Freelancer, and ZipRecruiter.
Location Web Developers Hourly Rates (USD)
United States $75 – $200
Canada $40 – $120
United Kingdom $48 – $103
Germany $54 – $108
India $20 – $50
Ukraine $25 – $50
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Let’s now learn about the last factor that impacts the cost of developing a web solution from scratch.

Hiring Option You Opt for Development

For your web app development, you need to decide whether to hire an in-house web app development team, freelancers or outsource. Let’s learn about each of these types in detail further.

In-house Development Team

The in-house development team refers to hiring a team of developers and designers for your project development. They work closely with your web app development. This option of hiring a team of web developers could be expensive as you need to provide infrastructure, salaries, resources, and equipment to accomplish your project development. Basically, the developers are employed by you for your in-house project development. Let’s know the benefits and limitations of hiring an in-house development team.

Benefits of In-house Development Team	Limitations of In-house Development Team
You get full control over the developers’ team and complete the development process.	The cost of the in-house development team is higher as you need to provide salaries, infrastructure, and resources.
The whole communication process is easier as the team of developers is on-premises.	The process of hiring the right and skilled talent for your project is difficult and long.
You are able to build quality and customized web applications as per your business requirements.	You get limited access to a wide range of talented developers who are specialized in multiple domains.
Your in-house development team can easily communicate with the other branches of your organization and build your project accordingly.	–

Outsourcing Web App Development

Outsourcing web development refers to hiring a third-party web app development agency or team of developers to handle the whole process of your web app development. Either the team of developers would be located in your same country or in a different country. As an owner of your web app project development, you don’t need to get involved in each phase of development. Let’s now know the benefits and limitations of outsourcing web development.

Benefits of Outsourcing Web Development	Limitations of Outsourcing Web Development
Get access to a larger pool of talent to choose the candidate for your project development.	Communication challenges due to different time zone differences.
Save the cost of development due to lower rates of developers in different countries.	Security risks associated with sensitive information shared with external parties.
Get faster time to market your web solution due to efficient and useful resources and team.	Less or limited control over the process of web development due to the hierarchy and dependencies of vendors to communicate with the team.
Flexibility to scale up or down the resources as per your requirements.	Quality problems due to differences in work culture and less control over project development.

Hiring Freelancers for Your Project Development

Hiring individual professionals to develop your web solution refers to freelancing development. This is the less expensive option compared to both in-house and outsourcing web solution development. Neither are you hiring a team nor outsourcing a team. Let’s know the advantages and limitations of web app development.

Benefits of Hiring Freelancers	Limitations of Hiring Freelancers
Accessibility to a wide range of talented pool of developers who have specialization and expertise.	Relying on freelancers for your project development could be risky.
Easy and quick to hire freelancer developers for your project from platforms like Upwork, Freelancer, and StackOverflow.	Communication challenges with freelancers due to language barriers and different time zones.
Scale or reduce your freelancing team of development as per your requirements.	Dependency on the availability of your individual freelancers and possible delays in your project development due to their unavailability.
Gain a wide range of perspectives and dimensions for your project development.	Limited availability for ongoing maintenance and project development.

So these are the three types of hiring options available when you want to choose anyone for your project development. Depending on your need, you choose the right team for your project development. If you have a low budget, you can outsource web development project or hire freelancers for your project. If you don’t want to compromise the quality of your web app development, you choose to outsource or hire in-house dedicated web app developers.

These are the core factors that influence the web application development costs. Now, you would be clear on how web app costs get decided. Whereas, if you are looking to learn about the cost of web applications based on different app development stages, check the next section.

How Much Does Each Web App Development Process Phase Cost?

In this section, you will learn the cost estimated based on each phase of the web application development process. The web development process involves the planning and analysis of the maintenance and support stages. Let’s start with the first stage.

Research and Analysis Stage
- Cost range: $0 – $25,000
- Timeframe: 1 – 5 weeks
You have an amazing web development idea. But, how do you know if your web application idea is worth investing money and time in? This is where the research and analysis stage helps. With the help of proper search and analysis of your web application, you know who is the audience of your app and their requirements. Also, you get to know whether the market is good to invest in or not.
Additionally, at this stage, you hire a market research agency to find more information about your web application idea. Moreover, if you hire one of the top web development companies, they conduct the proper research and make a proper plan to execute your idea into reality.
Web App Design Stage
- Cost range: $100 – $50,000
- Timeframe: 3 – 6 weeks
Design of your web app is an important part as it would be the first thing your end-users will notice. Before even browning your web application, the design helps you to attract end users to attract and engage within your web application. The web application design is the most crucial part of the entire web application development process.
At this stage, first of all, the wireframes are created and then the prototypes of your web application are created to know how it will look. Designing wireframes and prototypes helps to know how your application will look in real life. Make sure to create an appealing user interface so your end-users enjoy interacting with your application. This will indirectly increase the chances of making your application successful.
Development of Your Web Application
- Cost range: $10,000 – $50,000
- Timeframe: Depends on the functionalities and complexity
The core part after designing your web application is designing. Once the design of your web application gets finalized, the development gets started. The coding of your web application gets started at this phase. Web developers convert your ideas and design into actual web applications through the help of programming languages and web development frameworks.
Testing and Deployment
- Cost range: $500 – $50,000
- Timeframe: 1 – 4 weeks
Testing ensures your web application is working perfectly and does not have any flaws. The QA team tests each functionality of your web application. For example, performing testing helps to know whether your application’s database is working properly or any small errors if the submit button is working or not. That’s why quality assurance is important to avoid any major costs of hundreds or thousands of dollars.
Another sub-factor of cost is the deployment of your web application. Deployment costs are associated with server hosting, purchasing domain names, and third-party service charges.
Web App Maintenance and Support
- Cost range: $100 – $7000/ year
- Timeframe: lifetime
The cost of maintaining a web application is one of the crucial factors after deployment. This cost is considered a post-release expense. Generally, the cost of maintaining a web application ranges from 15% – 20% of the overall cost of development. Not only this, the web application maintenance and support include bug fixes, code optimization, updating functionalities, improving security, and scaling your web application for your future requirements.
After going through these factors, now you would be clear with the cost of each stage involved in the web app development process.
We have experience in developing web apps using various frameworks, tools, and technologies mentioned above. Below are some of the projects developed by us.
Recent Web Apps Developed by Us
Dental Appointment Software
We have designed and developed appointment scheduling software (D4E) for our Canadian client. The D4E software solution automates the booking and managing of appointments. We developed this solution for multiple platforms like Android, iOS, iPad, and a web-based admin panel.

AI-powered Document Processing Solution
King of Kings is an AI-based document-processing solution built for our USA-based client. It uses AI/ML capabilities to read, understand documents, extract data, and provide precise information to user queries. To build it, we used Node.js, React.js, Express, PostgreSQL, Pinecone, OpenAI’s ChatGPT 4 and ChatGPT 3.5 Turbo’s API.

Coachee: AI-powered Life Coaching App
Coachee is a web-based ChatGPT-like solution for life coaching, developed using Python, Django, React.js, PostgreSQL, and OpenAI’s GPT-4 model as a tech stack. Cocahee app guides users through life’s challenges such as decision-making, goal-setting, and supporting personal and professional growth.

Online Infographic Maker Like Canva
Tidbit is a free infographic maker web application. This web app is specially built for researchers who want to create infographics of their research. Oxford, Harvard, Ottawa, and McMaster are a few universities that use this solution. Within just 5-10 minutes, you can create a complete graphical representation of your research.

Custom Software Solution for Meat Processing Industry
We have designed and developed meat processing software for a North American meat processing company that automates the entire operation from meat production to order tracking via one platform. It generated reports in a single click, saving 70% of the time and eliminating paper-based reports.

However, if you still have any questions regarding the web app development cost, check the next section of the FAQ.

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FAQ About Web App Development Cost

How much does it cost to develop a web app in Canada?

The cost of web application development in Canada ranges from $15,000 to $80,000. This cost depends on various factors, such as complexity, types of web apps you want to build, features you want to include, technology stack, and the location of the web application team you hire.

Which is a better option in-house or outsourcing web app development?

There are certain basic criteria which you need to consider while choosing between in-house or outsourcing web app development. Check the following table to know the information.

When Opt for Outsourcing	When Opt for In-house Team
You want a lower cost of development according to your requirements.	You want full control of your web app development.
You want web developers to have experience in multiple technologies and frameworks.	You want the flexibility to make changes and adjustments in your web application.
You don’t have any specific sensitive information about your business.	You have no limitation of budget for your web solution development.

What are the hidden costs of web app development?

There are multiple hidden costs of web solution development. Here is the list.

Hosting infrastructure
Ongoing maintenance and support
User testing and feedback costs
Change requirements costs
Integration and testing costs

Ready to Develop Your Web Application?

In this blog, you have learned about the cost of web application development based on its complexity is simple, medium, and medium. Also, you get familiar with the factors that directly impact the web development cost. From the scope of your web app project to the location of the web development team you hire, each of these factors importantly influences the cost of web app development.

Do you have a web app idea and looking to convert it into reality? Or do you want to get a cost estimation of your web development? Connect with us. We are a leading web application development company in Canada, having successfully developed 300+ custom web and mobile solutions for various industries like food, travelling, transportation, and construction. Let’s connect to discuss your project requirements and build an amazing web solution for your end users.