How to Build an App Like Clubhouse in 5 Steps[+ Cost]

Have you ever used famous social media apps like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Snapchat?

Certainly yes.

But, did you get bored after a certain time of use?

So, you must have thought of using a different or a new kind of social media app. That’s what Paul Davison and Rohan Seth did by creating a Clubhouse app, an audio-based social media app. That has gained huge traction with users, and within a few months of launch, Clubhouse got valued at $1 billion.

After the launch of the Clubhouse app, it changed the social media app standards. As it gained a huge response from users, tech-savvy entrepreneurs started looking to create an app like Clubhouse.

So, being a leading mobile app development company, we decided to write a dedicated blog post on how to build an app like Clubhouse. By the end of this blog, you will clear your doubts about Clubhouse app development. Let’s move in.

Contents

How to Create a Clubhouse-like an Audio-based Social Media App in 5 Steps

When you want to create a social media application, you must know about your target audience. To help to develop a social media application like Clubhouse, we have written a 5 steps process. Following this process will help to create your own Clubhouse-like app.

Herein, the first step is to research your idea and perform market research thoroughly.

Market Research and Analysis
You want your Clubhouse-like idea to be successful in the market. But, you can’t replicate the successful application as it is not ethical. To make a unique social media application like Clubhouse, which is an audio conversation app, you have to conduct proper and detailed research on your app idea.
Also, find out the reasons behind your Clubhouse app’s success. Identify the smallest detail in the existing Clubhouse-like apps that will help you improve your social media mobile app. Find out the USP of your mobile application that will help you to define the purpose of your social media platform. Also, you need to think about your app monetization model.
Identify the challenges your potential users are facing in similar types of Clubhouse social media apps. Resolving those issues will help you take your Clubhouse-like mobile app ahead of your competitors. Additionally, consider the following points in the table as these will help you to shape your idea.

Conduct Primary Research	Conduct Secondary Research
What is included in primary research? Allows you to validate your app idea in the market Helps you to define your mobile app business model After launch, how you will market your mobile app	What is included in secondary research? Conduct a SWOT analysis to get more information on your mobile app idea Know your potential users and how your app will be helpful for users Make your mobile app unique to attract the max. users from the market

Select the Mobile App Platform
The success of your mobile application depends on the platform you choose. Whether you go for a native or hybrid mobile app platform, it all decides the performance of your app. And the performance of your app decides the success of your application.
You have to decide between a native and hybrid platform based on the functionalities and the interface you want to give your users. If you opt for a native mobile app platform, then you have to make two applications for both platforms. Likewise,
- Native Android App development
- Native iOS App development
Compared to iOS, the Android operating system has a larger user market. On the other hand, iOS provides consumers with improved functions and software integration. So, choosing one platform completely depends on your business requirements and expectations. If not a native platform, then you have the option to opt for a hybrid platform.
A hybrid mobile app means creating a single social media mobile app for two different platforms. If you are unable to decide to choose a platform for your social media app, connect with a reputed mobile app development company like Space-O.

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Design App Workflow
To design and develop your social media app like Clubhouse, you need to hire a reputed mobile app development company in Canada. Your hired mobile app development team will first understand all your requirements in detail. Depending upon your requirements, the business analyst team will create a wireframe of your social media app. When the wireframe gets final, designers will create a design for your mobile application. Below, we have mentioned some of the steps for creating a design for your mobile app.
- Sketching: Assess the project’s future rationale, the number of screens, and their interaction inside the social software.
- Wireframing: It includes a framework view of the app and the interaction obtained by the end-user.
- Prototyping: It is a working model for a prospective app for social networks. For both the client and the developer, it gives a deeper understanding of the product.
- Design App Skins: Here, we convert wireframes into a template for social applications. We analyze current technologies closely, follow the new developments and develop UI/UX to have the best possible solutions.
Development of Your Social Media App
When the design of your social media app is ready, then mobile app developers start programming your app’s backend. Generally, if your app idea is unique and you want to test it in the market, building an MVP version is the most suitable option instead of developing a fully-featured app.
Creating an MVP app with key features saves cost and reduces time to market your application. Also, this step includes backend programming that consists of the API, server, and base configuration.
Parallelly, at this stage, the QA team verifies your developed application. The creation and design of social media applications typically correlate with the life cycle of a smartphone social application. We start the back-end development by setting up servers, databases, and APIs.
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Test and Launch of Your Social Media App
Once your social media app is ready, then it gets ready for launch in the Apple App Store and/or Google App Store. Before launching your app in the app stores, it is thoroughly checked, and every possible bug is fixed. So, it reduces the chances of getting rejected while being installed in the app stores.
When we launch the project in the app stores, our team ensures that all types of assistance and updates are accessible to you. Our devoted QA team ensures that your social network app like Clubhouse is kept up-to-date and clear of glitches.
This was all about the custom software development process of creating audio chat apps like Clubhouse. So, now you might want to know the cost of developing an app similar to the Clubhouse invite-only app. Let’s understand the cost of developing a custom mobile application like Clubhouse.

How Much Does It Cost to Build an App like Clubhouse?

The average cost of developing a voice chat app like Clubhouse ranges from $35,000 to $42,000.

Certainly, the cost to develop an audio-video-based app depends on several factors, such as features, functionalities, complexity, design, the place from where you hire developers, and the number of screens.

Check the following table where we have mentioned approximate hours of creating an audio social media app like Clubhouse.

Deliverables	Estimated Man Hours
	Development	Graphics Design
I) Native iOS (iPhone) Application	190	25
II) Native Android (Smartphone) Application	195	25
III) Web Application	180	50
IV) Back End & Web Services Development	320	20
Total	885	120

Another way to calculate the cost of developing any audio-only app like Clubhouse is using the following formula.

Total App Development Cost = Hours to Develop an App X Hourly Rate of a Developer

For instance, if your hired app developer charges $35 per hour and total development hours range between 1000 to 1200, then the cost of Clubhouse app development ranges between $35,000 to $ 42,000.

$35 X 1000 – 1200 = $35,000 to $42,000

Certainly, to develop a custom voice chat app, you have three options.

Outsource software development
Hire freelance mobile app developers
Hire a custom software development company

Each of these hiring options has its own pros and cons. Whether you choose a custom software development company, hire a freelancer, or outsource software development. It totally depends on your choice and requirements.

To help make a proper decision, we have list-down points in those conditions you should go for outsourcing, freelancers, or choose a custom software development company for your Clubhouse-like conference app.

When To Outsourcing	When To Hire Freelancers	When To Hire Software Development Vendor
You want to focus on a more critical part of your business You have limited resources and grow your company You want to save costs of recruiting, training, and investing in employees	Your requirements are clear and want to build a solution accordingly You want cut-down costs on your project You want a particular specialist for a specific time	You don’t have clear requirements and need help from professionals You want to build an enterprise-level application You don’t have any budget limit and want a quality product developed

Learn about the technology stack used to develop a Clubhouse like social media mobile app.

Technology Stack to Build an App like Clubhouse

Here’s the table that includes the complete tech stack used to build a scalable social media application.

Tech Stack
Programming Languages	Swift Kotlin PHP Node js
IDE	Xcode Android Studio
Cloud Storage	Amazon S3
Database	MongoDB Redis MySQL PostgreSQL
Utilities	Google Analytics Mixpanel Visual Website Optimizer
Messaging Platform	Twilio Nexmo Sinch RestComm
Payment Gateways	Braintree PayPal Stripe
Analytics	Mixpanel Google Analytics Keen.io
Email	Gmail AWS SendGrid
Deployment Platforms	Cloud iOS Android

Next, let’s know about the core features of the Clubhouse application that have made it famous among people.

Unique Features to Develop an App like Clubhouse

Check the unique features of an app like Clubhouse in the following table.

Feature	Description
Customizable Profile	Allowing your users to create a customized profile to make it attractive on the platform. Provide changes in the profile like profile name, description, display picture, and club users list.
Content Feed	Provide real-time updates of the feed in your social media application. For example, apps like Facebook, Instagram, and Clubhouse provide new feeds to their users every time when an app gets refreshed. It increases engagement within your app.
Live Streaming	Ever since its creation, the live video chat app has taken the social network world by storm. Using your social media app like Clubhouse, users stream live content to enjoy an event and share ideas for betterment. So, integrating such unique features will increase user engagement for your audio chat app like Clubhouse.
Selective Push Notifications	The application gives you a selective notification section to reduce unwanted updates, where you can control or pause alerts, depending on your preference. The application usually notifies you When anyone has followed you When someone you’re connected to speaks in chat rooms When someone invites you to ongoing discussions When someone you’re following creates free private rooms
Instant Messaging	Provides an instant messaging feature to increase your user convenience. With this feature, you are easily able to communicate instantly within your app. Examples of apps are Clubhouse, WhatsApp, and Facebook Messenger.
Stories	“Stories” feature is another valuable part that you shouldn’t miss. The stories feature allows your users to share a post on the timeline with their followers. A story is available for the followers for 24 hours only, so in the meantime, followers see, react, and engage with it.
Clubhouse Rooms	Clubhouse is famous for its room creation feature. Rooms are the place where all the conversation takes place. Clubhouse rooms allow people to come together and have conversations on specific topics. The audience can see rooms as podcasts. This feature allows users to listen to a conversation, simply explore the rooms, and mute them if not getting interested.
Clubhouse Clubs	This interesting feature offer options to create clubs or communities within the app. With this feature, you can host conversations and conduct meetups. Inside the Clubhouse club, there are four designations – Followers, Founder, Admin, and Members.
Clubhouse Promotes Audio Usage	By eliminating the video concept, Clubhouse promotes the usage of the audio concept for the users engaged in the application. This allows users to login into the app from anywhere- be it a grocery store or in the comforts of their beds. To join in the conversation, all you need to do is click on join audio meeting rooms to listen or talk. It is as simple as that.
Create Chat Room	To allow small-scale voice chat, this function will help users to create ‘rooms’ by fulfilling the audio chat topic name and audience list (if you want to create a private club). When anyone joins the application or opens rooms, users receive updates.
Join Clubhouse Rooms and Clubs	To participate in any conversation happening on the platform, this feature gives you an option to join the chat room or club. Once you join the chat room, you may be a listener, moderator, or speaker, depending upon the host’s choice. You can also leave rooms quietly as well as leave the app running without losing any conversation.
Raise Your Hand	When you join rooms or clubs as a listener, you have an option to raise your hand to politely interrupt a speaker or request speaking time. If the speaker invites you to speak or share panel talks for room debates, you can unmute your microphone and start a conversation.
Pull To Refresh	This feature allows users to refresh the chat room where speakers momentarily change their profile photos to reveal another image or graph that represents a point in the chat room. For this, moderators will ask you to ‘PTR,’ and users will just pull down the room on the screen to refresh the room, and you will see the new profile photos as well as the right order in which people have joined the room. In just a few seconds, it encourages them to access or post apt content for many others to see. This is, therefore, one of the major and interesting attributes that should be included.

Is it possible that Clubhouse will replace the other social media mobile applications? Or how it has created an impact on the existing social media apps in the market? Let’s know it.

How Clubhouse is Replacing Popular Apps like Instagram, Zoom, and Spotify

Clubhouse application offers various benefits to businesses and individuals.

Here’s the list of the benefits.

Networking opportunities
Powerful functions
Unique concept to connect people with like-minded skills
Be a part of live conversations

The objective of other social networking apps is to connect people. At the same time, Clubhouse does more than that by offering opportunities to showcase users’ skills on the platform. On this platform, users get an opportunity to connect with technology enthusiasts, giants, celebrities, and activists.

The popularity of the Clubhouse app is measured based on Silicon Valley’s social hot spot. It seems strange because generally, we measure any app’s success based on the number of logins and its users.

Talking about its security, Clubhouse developers, Alpha Exploration Co, has mastered the game so soon that it has implemented a whole new policy where

Each room can create customizable ‘club rules’.
You block the Clubhouse user or report an incident if something unusual happens.
You can not save any chat room audio, even with permission.

The biggest winning point for Clubhouse is that Facebook has implemented the ‘Catchup’ feature to facilitate room conversations immediately after the Clubhouse launched.

So, should you invest in creating a social media application like Clubhouse or not?

Why Should Businesses Invest in Developing a Social Media App like Clubhouse?

As the influence of social media apps is increasing on users, there is a good opportunity for you to take advantage of it. You should not lose the opportunity in this growing industry. Know the reason why you should develop a Clubhouse-like app.

Apps built with a new and unique concept can help you to create an interesting app like the Clubhouse voice chat app, which fascinates the users.
The trend of social media is ever-changing, so investing in developing such a voice chat app like Clubhouse is a good opportunity.
As the trend of voice chat apps is increasing, it brings excitement in users to use such new apps.
After Clubhouse, social media apps like Twitter, Telegram and Facebook have launched their own version of the audio-chat room where users interact or listen to the host.
It is not necessary that apps like Facebook or Instagram can only lead the social media world.

Have questions related to Clubhouse app development? Check our FAQ to learn more about the Clubhouse app.

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FAQ About How to Build an App like Clubhouse

Why is the Clubhouse app getting so popular?

The networking opportunities, alluring functions, unique concepts, real conversations, high-profile venture capitalists like Mark Zuckerberg and Elon Musk, and celebrities like Kanye West, Mark Schiefelbein, and Mark Cuban on the platform have made the audio chat product, Clubhouse app, and popular so soon.

How does the Clubhouse app work?

The Clubhouse app provides a room where users can join the conversation and take part in the conversation. In short, it allows you to create and join rooms for listening and hosting.

What are the unique features of the Clubhouse app?

Here’s the list of the unique Clubhouse mobile app’s functionality.

Send Invitation
Create Audio Chat Room
Selective Notification
Join Chat Rooms and Clubs
Raise Your Hand
Pull To Refresh

Is the Clubhouse app beneficial for business owners and marketers?

Yes. Start-ups, business owners, and marketers can create business communities, host virtual events, and collaborate on project networks.

What is Clubhouse music mode?

It is nothing but optimization for singing or performing music with a microphone. The Clubhouse user can stream music over a call (for example, a ‘study to music’ call or a DJ set), and the music mode is more designed for music than chatting. So music feels better than calls on the app device.

Want to Develop a Custom Social Media App Like Clubhouse?

Social apps like Clubhouse reflect changing expectations for consumers when looking forward to social marketing. People want to see more commitment, value, and transparency, but they don’t necessarily want ads and endless waves of social media content chasing a brand to emerge.

So, if you have such valuable mobile app ideas for your business, contact us. We are a leading mobile app development agency in Toronto, providing custom software and mobile app solutions to all sizes of organizations. Get in touch with us to discuss your requirements.