While estimating blockchain app development cost, a business should consider the goal of the app, its features, and efforts put into the development process.
Updated 31 January 2024
VP – Pre Sales at Appventurez
The recent shift toward decentralized data processing and management has significantly increased the demand for blockchain application development, especially in the business world.
In the last few years, the market has observed a boom in the demand for blockchain technology. This specifically came after the prevalence of digital transformation in the industrial landscape. Consequently, today, business owners from different industries are focusing on blockchain app solutions to develop transparent and distributed operating systems.
A pivotal question that captures the attention of nearly every enterprise is: What is the financial investment required for the development of a blockchain app? Notably, the blockchain app development cost is dependent upon the specific niches and functionalities desired for business purposes, introducing variability into the implementation process of blockchain solutions. Assessing the precise cost of developing a blockchain application proves to be a formidable challenge. Nonetheless, there are discernible factors that can be scrutinized to arrive at an average cost for blockchain app development. In the realm of blockchain app development services, understanding and analyzing these factors become crucial for enterprises seeking to navigate the intricacies of cost estimation.
Since its inception, blockchain technology has been emerging and holding a significant position in the market. Companies all around the globe are investing in blockchain-based solutions to make their businesses all set for digital transformation. It is reported that by 2024, global investment in blockchain solutions might surpass the $19 billion mark.
Besides this, 86% of people also believe that major business processes can be digitized by using blockchain-powered applications. Due to this, over 60% of chief information officers (CIOs) worldwide have already planned to integrate blockchain applications into their existing architecture and formulate a strategy to include blockchain app development costs in their budget.
This makes it extremely crucial for businesses to determine the cost of developing a blockchain app beforehand. The overall blockchain app development cost varies from business to business. In addition, aspects like the features integrated, type of app, kind of developers, and app’s complexity can also impact the final app-building price.
The benefits of blockchain for businesses are limitless. Companies in different sectors, such as healthcare, banking, real estate, automotive, etc. have already started investing in building advanced blockchain solution that also impacts blockchain app development costs. Here are some prominent benefits of blockchain applications for businesses:
Data security has always been a concerning aspect for both users and mobile app developers. Especially after the news of data breaches has become common, enterprises always look for robust solutions that protect their data extensively.
“The blockchain-based models are reshaping the legacy business systems to transact data with a high level of efficiency, transparency, and security.”
— (Anand Prakash, Co-Founder)
Blockchain app development leverages blockchain encryption which includes the usage of timestamps for every single transaction. This approach makes the app data tamper-proof and challenging to access without authorization. It makes the app more secure, ensuring enhanced data privacy and protection.
In the current landscape, businesses prefer creating digital IDs for their mobile app users. This helps in easily accessing and sharing data across different channels without worrying about security. For instance, several government organizations and financial institutions request the personal information of users, and these digital identities could be helpful here.
Since these IDs are created in specific blocks of a blockchain network with unique identifiers, sharing information through them would be highly reliable, simple, and secure. This application of blockchain is used in healthcare and fintech domains.
Transparency is one of the characteristics for which blockchain technology is widely used in the market. The way blockchain records every transaction, both the company and users can access and track the information associated with it. A participant can analyze the entire process as these transactional records go back as long as a specific ledger has been created.
A blockchain application also helps companies build trust with their customers by making things transparent and advanced. This makes users feel confident while using blockchain apps or providing access to their private data. Notably, the integration of such futuristic features also impacts the blockchain app development cost.
Besides the security aspect, blockchain-based applications are also known for their high operational efficiency. The major reason behind this is the robust architecture of the apps backed by a stable structure across the entire blockchain network. Also, since the system is decentralized, the chances of its crash and collapse are significantly low. As a result, blockchain applications will be considered highly reliable among your users.
Although blockchain as technology looks advanced and complex, the applications based on it are remarkably simple and user-friendly. These applications are faster and can easily manage a large volume of traffic on the go. With blockchain implementation, businesses can expect high scalability and flexibility in their day-to-day operations.
Another significant benefit of blockchain apps for businesses is that they could be more affordable than other mobile application software. Well, the initial investment could be high, especially when you have no experience in the field. However, by hiring one of the top blockchain development companies, you could easily get an app that could be easily developed and maintained.
This way you can lower the overall blockchain app development cost while offering an immersive experience to your users.
Determining the blockchain app development cost could be extremely difficult if you are unaware of the factors driving the cost. Here are the major factors that can significantly impact the cost of developing a blockchain app:
The first and foremost factor that influences the blockchain app development cost is the industry for which you want an application. There are a plethora of cost-affecting variables that might vary from one industry to another.
For instance, while using blockchain in supply chain management, the number of stakeholders would be different. There will be logistics partners, suppliers, government authorities, investors, and consumers interacting with the blockchain app. Therefore, the app needs to be incorporated with different types of features to serve each of them.
Similarly, for the fintech sector, businesses could prefer a DeFi application over a normal dApp (decentralized application) for faster transactions avoiding intermediaries.
The app’s complexity is one of the critical aspects that determine the overall blockchain app development cost. However, how complex your application should be depends on some specific factors as well, such as:
Keeping these factors in mind, you can figure out how complex you want the app to be. Below is the projected cost of blockchain app development based on the type of app complexity.
These applications come with the most basic features and need the least coding to develop. Besides this, these apps also support basic smart contract functionality, and the payment integrations are based on current cryptocurrencies. The average blockchain app development cost with low complexity can range somewhere between $30,000 and $60,000.
These are semi-decentralized apps having both centralization and decentralization elements embedded in the app’s architecture. Blockchain platforms like Hyperledger Fabric, Ethereum, and EOS are used to develop medium-complex apps. The average blockchain cost for developing such apps can range from $60,000 to $150,000.
Highly complex applications are full-fledged blockchain apps that are developed from scratch with advanced functionalities. Mostly, top blockchain programming languages, the latest technologies, and robust tools are used to build such apps to streamline the overall development process, further impacting the blockchain app development cost. The blockchain price range for building a full-fledged software application will lie somewhere between $150,000 and $350,000.
As discussed earlier, enterprises in different industries have varying goals and stakeholders. Due to this, the type of blockchain application they will need will be different as well.
To identify the blockchain app development cost, it becomes significant to choose the right kind of application that can help your business add value to the products or services you are offering to the clients. Further, it also helps in dealing with the major challenges your business is facing with the existing process. Typically, there are two categories of blockchain apps to opt from:
As the name suggests, these types of blockchain solutions rely on cryptocurrency to a large extent. Some of the most common applications include blockchain wallets, Apps, cryptocurrency exchange solutions, etc.
These kinds of blockchain applications rely heavily on distributed ledger technology and are primarily used in managing inventory systems. The relation to cryptocurrency in these apps is minimal. Blockchain-based online voting and smart agriculture are some of the applications in this category.
For specific functionalities, you might need to use third-party tools and integrations. This is another crucial aspect that influences the blockchain app development cost extensively. Here’s the estimated blockchain cost breakdown for mobile apps based on different third-party integrations:
Although it has been more than a decade since the inception of blockchain, there are still many areas where developers need relevant experience which also adds to the blockchain app development cost. Especially when it comes to the latest blockchain technology trends, you must have the right resources to make the best use of them.
Depending on the experience and size of the development team, you can have three options to choose from:
An in-house development team is undoubtedly one of the best options to work on a blockchain application development project. As an enterprise, you can hire a group of experts as per your project requirements.
However, hiring specific resources with relevant expertise could be heavy on your pockets. Therefore, it is often recommended for those companies that have a good app development budget to manage the blockchain app development cost-effectively. The team size could lie anywhere between 50 to 1000 depending on the type of project.
Another solution that could resolve the ‘how to create your own blockchain application’ query is hiring freelance blockchain developers for your project. They are usually the most affordable option for building a blockchain app. However, around 80% of enterprises face issues with their availability, project delivery timelines, and even performance.
Therefore, for short-term, low-complexity blockchain projects, choosing freelancers could be preferred. But as the needs of your project expand, heading towards this option could be risky.
Speaking of team size, it could range anywhere between 5 to 20 depending on the complexity of your project. In fact, an experienced freelancer could be well enough to make a basic mobile application with the simplest features.
Now, this is one of the prevalent app development options preferred by most enterprises out there. Outsourcing an app development project makes you free of the burden of finding the right resources for your project. All you need is to discuss your business requirements and goals with the offshore agency, the rest will be taken care of.
An outsourcing blockchain app development company can consist of 50 to 200 people. Also, the overall offshore app development cost would be comparatively lower than hiring a complete in-house development team for building a blockchain app.
Having a proper understanding of blockchain development is crucial to streamline the overall app-building process. Moreover, the process your developers follow to build the app can also significantly impact its final blockchain app development cost.
No application, even the ones belonging to the same domain follows a one-size-fits-all approach. This is because every business has its own set of accomplishments to focus on. Therefore, the first and foremost step while building a blockchain application is to identify a problem statement that highlights the challenges you want to address. For this, you also need to conduct an in-depth market analysis and understand the competitive landscape.
Now, develop a strategic plan and ensure that the solution you are working on is capable of solving your highlighted problems and can be managed under the defined blockchain app development cost. Then you can gather data and allocate resources to initiate your development plan.
The next step is to use a specific consensus algorithm that aligns with your business requirements and also adds up to the blockchain app development cost. This is a crucial step as a consensus mechanism validates the transactions to ensure no fraudulent activities can occur.
You can pick any of the blockchain consensus algorithms that suit your business needs. For instance, there is Proof of Work (PoW) or Proof of Stake (PoS) depending on your project requirements. PoS can be a preferred option if you are looking for a low-cost mining solution. However, if high energy and processing time are required in mining, PoW will be a better choice.
If you don’t want to create your application from scratch, there are a plethora of blockchain platforms available for you. To name the popular ones, there is Ethereum, Hyperledger Fabric, BigChainDB, Ripple, and Cardano. However, it would be best if you choose a platform that consists of a network capable of fulfilling your project’s objectives.
The minimum blockchain price of building a dApp using any of these platforms starts at around $10,000. Therefore, depending on your business requirements and the overall blockchain app development cost you are comfortable with, you can pick a suitable platform. Also, the blockchain platform you choose will directly impact the choice of skills you must look for in your development team.
Each and every blockchain platform will ask for a specific set of tools and programming languages. Therefore, for an optimal development process and to get an estimation of blockchain app development cost, you must concentrate on analyzing the merits and demerits of the different technology stacks and pick one that can easily help in integrating the functionalities you want in your blockchain app.
Besides this, you also need to identify suitable APIs for task-specific operations. For instance, you will need an API to audit and authenticate data, manage smart contracts, generate digital IDs, develop key pairs, etc. Also, using third-party, pre-built APIs could be more affordable than developing an application programming interface from scratch.
User experience is something that every mobile app owner needs to take care of, especially when 90% of users stop accessing an app due to bad performance. That’s why you must focus on providing an immersive experience to your target audience, and for that, a good user interface is mandatory.
For this, you need to integrate the APIs you have designed along with the design elements into the app’s design architecture. In addition, use the appropriate app development tools and frameworks to build the application.
Now that you have developed your blockchain application, it’s crucial to look for ways to ensure its deployment is successful. For this, you might need a hardware accelerator that offers high-scale flexibility and optimized performance. This is especially important for compute-intensive blockchain applications.
These accelerators are also capable of improving individual processes, such as transactional validation and data storage. By distributing operational loads across different components, they significantly increase transactional speed and maximize the output.
Enterprises around the globe are developing blockchain-based solutions to empower their business, and why not? The increasing popularity of blockchain applications and the immense amount of benefits it offers can significantly act as a crucial growth accelerator for businesses.
Creating a blockchain solution is an intricate endeavor that demands specialized expertise. Moreover, the app development process can become costly if the appropriate resources are not applied at specific stages of development. It is advisable to seek guidance from a reputable blockchain app development company with relevant experience in the field to ensure a smooth and cost-effective development journey.
Appventurez is a well-experienced company holding proficiency in blockchain development. Our team of professionals strives to deliver highly efficient and growth-driven applications that can pave the way to success.
Q. How to implement blockchain technology?
Five essential steps are followed for the successful implementation of the blockchain technology: 1. Identify the use cases to figure out if a blockchain is necessary or if a centralized platform makes more sense. 2. Create a proof of concept which is a way to verify that the use cases will work as intended. This can be done through a prototype that nicely demonstrates the use of blockchain for specific use cases. 3. Choosing a blockchain platform the right consensus protocol and the overall architecture. 4. Developing smart contracts that interact with the blockchain network. They are programmable and can automate predetermined processes that are agreed upon without needing anyone to manually submit them. 5. Maintenance and update of the network which means keeping up with the main blockchain, scaling when necessary, and paying careful attention to ensure that the blockchain implementation is secure.
Q. What is the cost to implement a blockchain solution for your business?
The cost of building a blockchain solution varies from type to type and the features integrated. However, the average cost of implementation can range from $30,000 to $350,000.
Q. How to develop blockchain applications
The strategic process includes problem identification, picking a consensus mechanism, choosing a blockchain network, developing nodes, designing UI, and building APIs.
Elevate your journey and empower your choices with our insightful guidance.
VP – Pre Sales at Appventurez
Anand specializes in sales and business development as its VP - Sales and Presales. He supervises the pre-sales process by upscaling on establishing client relationships. He skillfully deploys instruments such as cloud computing, automation, data centers, information storage, and analytics to evaluate clients’ business activities.
Posted : 31 August 2022
Our team looks forward to hearing from you and these details will help us to get back
Elevate your journey and empower your choices with our experts' insightful guidance.
© Copyright 2018 – 2024 Appventurez. All Rights Reserved
37 reviews
+44 7768229682