Build A Social Media App: Its Cost, Features, Business Model, etc.

Looking to develop a social media app that replicates the success of Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter? Yes, but how much will it cost to build a social media app with comprehensive features? 

Well, a survey report of GoodFirms reveals that the “feature-rich highly complex social media app like Instagram would cost between $70,000 to $100,000+”.  But what if we say that it can greatly fluctuate depending on requirements and can be developed lower than $70,000 and higher than $100,000?

In recent years, social media apps have brought a storm to the internet. From Facebook, and Instagram to Snapchat, all are trending and boasting millions of active users every month and generating trillions of revenue.

You will be surprised to know that currently, 5.17 billion people worldwide are using social media apps and spending 2 hours and 20 minutes every day on social media apps.

Source: backlinko.com

It is expected that, by 2029, social apps are going to make market volume of $206.80 billion. 

The ways people are becoming addicted to social media platforms, the number of users will be going to skyrocket and expected to jump from 4.9 billion in 2023 to 5.85 billion users by 2027. These users won’t be tied to a single platform. Perhaps, the average user now spreads their digital footprints across a staggering 6 to 7 social media platforms every month. 

So here it is fair to recognize that there is still need of new social media platforms embracing innovative features and functionalities. 

Looking to create a feature-rich social media app like Instagram? Hire a mobile app development company to evaluate your requirements and estimate the real pricing that aligns with your budget limits and requirements. Let’s connect Now!

But the question is how much will it cost you? How can you set the right budget for social media app development?   

Here in this blog, we have covered everything from its estimated cost to factors affecting the overall social media app development cost, and its features to unique tips to achieve success. 

How Much Does It Cost to Create a Social Media App?

Entrepreneurs and small businesses often come up with amazing social media app ideas, but always hesitate to invest in their envisioned project. The reason being its development cost and complex development process.

So how much should you expect to invest in social media app development?     

Well, it depends on many factors and a poor development process can impact the most on the financials and can be a stumbling block for your goals. So if you are looking to set the right budget for social media app development, make sure you understand the various major components contributing to its app development cost.

The average cost to develop a social media app depends upon numerous factors like the expertise of the development team, the development timeline, the complexity of the app, features, and functionalities, and more. 

Like every entrepreneur and business owner looking to create a social media app, if you are still asking “How much does it cost to build a social media app”, then consider below cost breakdown…

• Usually, the cost to build a basic social networking app can range from $18,500 to $20,000+.
• A more complex app can cost between $25,000 to $35,000+ and may offer a comprehensive set of features.
• A highly advanced social media app like Instagram integrated with modern functionalities can take between $35,000 to $50,000+. 

Now these prices can go up and high depending on your business requirements and the location you choose to hire Android app developers. Usually, the hourly rate of app developers greatly varies as per various locations. 

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Categories-Wise Cost Estimation of Social Media Apps

While we talk about hiring a mobile app development company in the US, there are 5 to 6 main social media app categories that have set the standards in the social media domain. Before you dive into app coding, let’s take a sneak peek at the top social media apps, their specifications, cost estimations, and more.

Top Social Media Apps	Key Features	Estimated Cost (USD)
Instagram	Image/Video Sharing, Stories, Explore Page, Direct Messaging, Reels	$50,000 – $200,000+
Facebook	News Feed, Groups, Events, Marketplace, Live Streaming, Reactions, Messenger	$45,000 – $100,000+
TikTok	Short-Form Video Creation, Duets, Reactions, AI-Driven Feed, Video Editing Tools	$50,000 – $150,000+
Snapchat	Stories, Snap Map, Discover, AR Filters, Chat, Self-Destructing Messages	$60,000 – $180,000+
Twitter	Real-Time Microblogging, Trends, Retweets, Hashtags, Polls, Spaces (Audio)	$50,000 – $150,000+
LinkedIn	Professional Networking, Job Listings, InMail, Endorsements, Career Insights	$40,000 – $70,000+

Features To Build a Social Media App Like Facebook/ Instagram

Did you realize the fact that social media app users are skyrocketing every year? It’s only their desire for advanced features to stay connected with the app they installed. And “Threads” has proven it right with 100 million users installing it in just 5 days and in less than two weeks Threads received 150 million downloads.

So this makes it clear that the social media app market still has room for new apps, but having core features in your app is not enough. Make sure you prioritize and customize the features that make your application trending in the app store. 

The more features you consider adding to the app, the more user engagement will increase. However, this might lead to higher app development costs. So here we have prioritized the list of features that help you engage and entice your app users. 

• User Registration and Authentication: Allow users to sign up for an app using an email ID or other social media account and ensure security with two-factor authentication.
• Profile Setup: Let users create their profile, customize bios, manage followers, and follow the list. Moreover, the profile edit feature allows users to update or modify their profile information. 
• Search and Discovery Box: Make sure you have a search box on the homepage that allows users to search for and discover other users, content, or groups within the app. 
• Feed and Content Sharing: Users can share photos and videos, add captions, use hashtags, and tag other users. Now this feature can for revenue generation by simply applying the algorithm to it like Instagram and displaying personalized content based on user activity. 
• In-App Photo & Video Editing: This is one of the most winning features of Snapchat that uses AR-based photo filters and allows users to capture perfect pictures and videos using in-app editing tools that adjust brightness and cropping tools.
• Stories: Allow users to add stories on their status that last 24 hours whether it be photos and videos with interactive elements like stickers, polls, and swipe-up links like Instagram.
• Direct Messaging: Provide the feature in the app that ensures real-time chat with other users. Allow users to send photos, share videos, group chats, and disappear messages.
• Push Notifications: Send notifications or alerts to users for likes, comments, new follower requests, and direct messages. 
• Photo and Video Uploading: The next feature that has been the essence of social media app development is providing the flexibility to upload videos and photos. Irrespective of what type of social media app you prefer developing an app, this feature is important to incorporate.
• Link With Other Social Media Apps: Provide the ease of sharing content between multiple social media platforms that also works well for enterpreneurs when they add it to the social media app features. 
• Live Streaming: Like Instagram, allows users to broadcast live videos and interact with viewers in real-time through the comment section. 
• Shopping Integration: Built-in marketplace for brands to sell products directly within the app, complete with product tagging in post.

These are the basic features of creating a social media app that would cost between $20,000 to $30,000+ but what if you are trying to compete with a feature-rich social media app like Instagram? In that case, consider integrating the advanced app features that help you keep an app ahead.

Innovative Features of Social Media App To Drive Success

To get an edge in the competitive market, it is worth adding advanced features that drive success. Here are the few top choices of advanced features that you can add to your social media app:

• Post Tagging: It allows users to tag their friends, family members, or other users in the post and notify them about the posts or information they have shared on their feed or story.
• Add Live Location: This allows users to share live locations with their friends or connections or even send the location request to others like Snapchat. 
• Add Gamification: Integrating this feature into the social media app will help you gain more users and uplift customer engagement by offering users to play games in the app. Moreover, you can also ask them to invite other users to participate in the game.    
• AI Chatbots: AI chatbots make it simple for users to seek support around the clock and able to fix their issues in real-time. The satisfied user experience can boost the customer experience and increase retention. 
• AR/VR Technology: AR/VR technology allows users to create interactive content enables them to experience wonderful experiences and motivates them to utilize it more frequently. 

Adding these advanced functionalities to your app can help you get stay ahead of the market curve, but can add up to the cost. 

Did you know, social media app revenue will be $60 billion by 2025?

Ready to become a part of this thriving industry? Let Alcax help you customize the social media app with innovative features that enable you to unlock new business opportunities.

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How To Build A Social Media Platform?

To create a successful social media app, you need to look for a social media app development company that follows a proper app development process and strives to maintain transparency throughout the process. 

Apart from, here is a step-by-step guide to creating a social media app:

1. Define Core Features and Opt to launch MVP

This is the first stage to build a social media app you should have clear app requirements, its target audience, and core reasons for launching it.

Take time to understand what challenges it is fixing, and who will be benefiting from this app. Identify your social media niche and integrate specialized features and functionalities to avoid going over budget and time. 

As social media apps can be comprehensive applications, therefore, consider launching the MVP with just the core functionalities. Further, validate your idea in the market and accumulate user feedbacks. Launching MVP at an early stage will help you test the idea which can be further scaled up with advanced features and functionalities. 

2. Go For Cross-Platform Frameworks, Open-source Libraries and Tools

Instead of writing codes from scratch, it is worth considering open-source cross-platform frameworks like React Native, Flutter, or Xamarin. These frameworks allow you to create an app that easily runs on iOS and Android using a single codebase. In addition, it significantly reduces social media app development time and cost by up to 40% in comparison to creating two different native apps. 

Further, look out for ready-made APIs, and open-source libraries for various functionalities like user authentication, push notifications, social media integrations, and more. This will save huge efforts on app development. 

3. Outsource The App Development Requirements

No matter how complex or simple app requirements are, hiring mobile app developers for your project can be a cost-effective option. All you have to consider is factors like region, experience, skill set, pricing, project commitments, on-time delivery, project track records, and more when choosing an outsourcing social media app development company. 

Look for the regions that offer competitive pricing without compromising on the quality. Outsource the development partner who has experience in manipulating the core elements and can deliver a high-end product. 

4. Prioritize the UI/UX Design of the App

A well-designed and visually appealing app design can more easily attract user attention and able to keep them engaged longer. The complex animations and designs can inflate social media app maintenance costs. So focus on creating clean, intuitive layouts and user-friendly navigations to ensure smooth user experience over flashy designs. 

5. Implement a Scalable Infrastructure Approach

Choose a reputed cloud-based infrastructure that is easily and effortlessly scalable as your user base grows. 

The top social media apps like Instagram, Facebook, Snapchat, and Twitter are using top cloud structures like Amazon Web Services (AWS) or Google Cloud Platform (GCP), which provide various scalable services that could cater to your particular needs. 

6. Automate App Testing and Deployment

To minimize the risk of launching an app with bugs, it is worth automating the testing process. Implement automatic testing tools that can drastically reduce the time and resources required for app testing.

How Can Alcax Help You Get Started With A Social Media App?

Getting started with a social media app can be easy if you are backed by the right tech team. At Alcax, we have a team of dedicated app developers who dive deep into understanding clients’ requirements and implement a highly tailored approach to create social media apps that accelerate your business growth.

Leveraging our years of experience and great tech expertise in custom mobile app development, we take pride in partnering with startups and leading enterprises to create success stories throughout the journey. 

During our journey of customizing social media apps, we have created an app that facilitates users to send and receive audio messages which is further optimized for the Bluetooth wearables. And you will be surprised to know the results of this simple integration!

The app has been downloaded over 70K times to date and received 1+ million in funding. So if you have already sorted an idea to build a social media app, then leverage our experience and expertise to convert your idea into a successful business with our social media app development and IT consulting services.

Once our experts evaluate your requirements, the app development team will be easily onboarded within 48 hours with the assurance of 100% bug-free app delivery to 90% on-time commitment. 

So if you are ready to get started, then simply sign up for a free 15-minute expert consultation slot for initial discussion and evaluations!

Conclusion

At the end of this blog, it is fair enough to say that the charm of using social media apps will not fade away shortly. Moreover, slowly, these apps are turning into potential platforms for businesses to connect with new user bases. And for this reason, creating a social media app can be demanding but to succeed in this overcrowded market, you need a well-organised approach to app development. So where to start?

If you have already sorted your social media app idea, look forward to hiring a mobile app development company that help you evaluate your business requirements and recommend the best solution with accurate cost estimations. Alcax is one of the leading app development companies that can help you get exactly what you desire with a social media app. 

FAQs

If you still have doubts about developing a social media app, then consider these FAQs to get answers to all your potential questions.