We’re often asked what does it cost to maintain an app, at the moment. In the past, we’ve talked about the cost factors of developing an app, and about how to choose the best development team for your app, but rarely about what comes next. So in this article, we thought we’d rectify that, and so we’ll be taking a quick look at how much it costs to maintain an app post-development in 2021.
The Importance of Maintenance
Many people think (wrongly) that the only reason to invest in app maintenance is that something has gone wrong with the app. Naturally, when there’s an issue, you go on to fix that, but other than that, why should you waste good money on maintenance?
Well, basically, because it’s not wasting. See, as your app grows in popularity and your user base expands, so do the needs of the app itself. For obvious reasons, an app that draws 10,000 users will have different needs from an app with 50 users. This is where your maintenance team comes in and makes sure your app is ready to accommodate that.
What’s more, the digital world is rapidly expanding, which means that your app needs to keep up with trends and functionalities, in order to maintain its relevance. Your maintenance team can perform minor tweaks, as well as add functions that will make the app more appealing to its users.
Lastly, of course, maintenance takes care of all the little bugs and issues that pop up along the way and disrupt your app from working properly.
Factors That Influence the Cost
- The Scale of the App
It’s perhaps a little ironic that as your app grows, it costs more in terms of maintenance, but that’s how things are. Naturally, a basic app will cost less to maintain than a complex one, because it asks the developers to look at fewer aspects, and thus takes up less time and effort.
- Software Evolution
As technology progresses, so do app development software, and implicitly, your own app’s software. Or at least, so it should. In actual fact, your app remains tied in time to the moment when it was first built and to the softwares and trends from that time. Naturally, as time progresses, these become less and less workable from a digital perspective and offer your developers two options: either perform the occasional upgrade, in an endless effort to maintain your software’s relevance or start from scratch, while maintaining your legacy.
- Content Creation
In order to keep interest in your app alive, you need to publish new content fairly regularly, and that, too, is part of the app maintenance process. Depending on the type of app you run, you might have to publish new content at a rapid or at a slower pace, and this, too, ends up influencing your costs.
What’s the Final Maintenance Cost?
The ultimate figure varies a great deal, but according to many experts and past experiences, it’s safe to say that between 20% and 50% of the total yearly budget goes into app maintenance alone. So make sure you keep that in mind when you’re figuring out your budget for 2021!
