Credit: from CMarix The SaaS industry is growing massively with a huge market value. By 2028, the global industry is estimated to grow to over $700 billion. Today, many businesses use SaaS applications to ensure smooth business operations. It is an effective business model that is gaining traction worldwide. You can easily customize the application to suit your business and access it from anywhere, regardless of time and location.
Software developers strive to deliver data-driven, tailor-made, innovative apps to attract more customers. Due to the demand for remote, cloud-based solutions, SaaS products are more popular. Thus, you must hire a professional product design agency to create a top-tier product for your customers. But how much does it cost to design a SaaS application? This article discusses the cost estimates of SaaS development depending on the essential factors that influence such a project’s budget.
Credit: from Classic Informatics
App Complexity
Before developing a cloud-based app, you should first analyze the scope of work. Are you planning to develop a tool or a platform? Knowing your app’s complexity is critical in determining the development cost.
SaaS apps have various features like security, access control, payments, and multiple integrations. All these aspects can affect the development timelines and costs. Therefore, the higher the complexity and number of sophisticated features, the longer the process will take and the higher the cost.
Here is a breakdown of the price estimates in three common categories:
| Small apps | Medium apps | Complex apps |
| $100 per month | $500 per month | $10-$1000 per month |
Development Stage
The development stage involves a lot of planning and design. It has several stages that developers and designers must follow to create a top-notch app. However, each stage has its own cost, depending on the project’s timelines and the labor hours that go into building the app. We shall outline each phase below with the estimated costs.
Planning
This is the most important phase of SaaS development. You must communicate your business goals and product vision to the dev team. What do you aim to achieve? Who is your target customer? Defining clear expectations is imperative, as they inform in-depth market analysis to determine your project’s viability and developer its roadmap. Proper planning will help you understand the product specifications and formulate a detailed strategy.
| Development stage | Estimated timeline | Average cost per hour | Average cost |
| Planning and validation | Up to 8 weeks | $20- $150 | $100 – $1000 |
MVP Product
Minimum Viable Product (MVP) is an application with basic features that customers will use and provide feedback to the developers. It is costly to build a complete product and release it to the market for testing. That is why an MVP product is essential in the development stage. You will know if your product meets the users’ needs or requires modifications. Keep in mind that MVP is not the final product but is critical in user engagements and analysis. So, you need a competent team of designers, developers, and a QA expert. Don’t forget to include a project manager in the MVP work so that they oversee the project.
| Development stage | Estimated timeline | Average cost per hour | Average cost |
| MVP Development | 1 week – 4 months | $20- $150 | $100 – $10,000 |
UI/UX Design
SaaS applications need to be appealing with functional features since customers interact with visually appealing products. So, UI/UX design plays a critical role in the success of any cloud-based application. Your product must meet users’ needs and expectations to gain more conversions. Thus, ensure your product’s UX/UI design is intuitive, easily navigable, and friendly.
| Development stage | Estimated timeline | Average cost per hour | Average cost |
| UI/UX Design | 1 week – 2 months | $20 – $150 | $100 – $10,000 |
Front-end and Back-end Development
This is the technical aspect of the development process that entails programming the SaaS application. You need a skilled team of developers to handle the front-end and back-end of the product. The front-end aspect deals with the visual aspect, while the back-end part focuses on the logic, data, system, and structure.
However, estimating the cost of front-end development is tricky because of many factors. For instance, you will pay more if you hire an in-house developer than when dealing with an offshore web company. It is advisable to consider all the aspects that affect the development cost when making decisions.
When it comes to back-end development, many essential aspects of your server-side architecture make the development cost higher. Let us break down the essential features with the price estimates and project timeline.
| Features | Timeline | Average Cost Hourly | Average Cost |
| File Management | Up to 10 weeks | $20 – $200 | $100- $10000 |
| Push Notification | Two days | $20 – $200 | $100- $5000 |
| API Integration | Up to 5 months | $20 – $200 | $50- $50000 |
| Database Integration | One week | $20 – $200 | $100- $5000 |
Testing
After development, the product is ready for testing. Your team should plan on how to control the test executions. The price estimates will depend on the following:
- Planning the test executions
- Analysis of target users
- Implementation of test cases
- Evaluation of test criteria
- Actual testing
Release and Maintenance
Even after your application is tested and launched into the market, your work doesn’t end there. You must ensure your application is secure and constantly updated. Remember that customers’ requirements keep changing, and your app must be relevant to meet their needs. So, you need a professional team to maintain and upgrade your SaaS product regularly, not forgetting the marketing team, legal licenses, and subscriptions to keep your product afloat in the market.
| Development stage | Estimated timeline | Average cost per hour | Average cost |
| Maintenance | Up to 1 week | $15- $150 | $100 – $10,00 |
Solution Type
Another essential aspect that might affect your development budget is the solution type. There are many SaaS solutions with different features and capabilities, and you can find out here. For instance, you can build an accounting app for $1,000-$20,000, and an email marketing solution may cost from $100 to $1,000. So, knowing the SaaS solution you need for your business is imperative to get the right cost estimates.
Conclusion
So, what is the total cost of building a cloud-based software product? As outlined above, there is no specific answer to the question, and every project’s cost is estimated individually based on its unique features. It’s vital to discuss the details with your software provider to calculate the quote and agree on an optimal set of features meeting your budget and market demands for innovative, functional apps in your industry sector.