Custom vs White Label Mobile App: What to Consider?

Imagine, you purchased an exclusive, luxurious wristwatch. You loved the exciting tech features, sophisticated UI-UX design, and the praise you received from people around. You received compliments from every second person around and are loving this experience. Now, imagine someone proposing a deal to buy a copy of this brand-new watch. It looks exactly like […]

Updated 5 February 2024

Ashish Chauhan
Ashish Chauhan

Global Delivery Head at Appventurez

Imagine, you purchased an exclusive, luxurious wristwatch. You loved the exciting tech features, sophisticated UI-UX design, and the praise you received from people around. You received compliments from every second person around and are loving this experience.

Now, imagine someone proposing a deal to buy a copy of this brand-new watch. It looks exactly like that exclusive watch and can perform some of the basic features of the application. Above all, it costs you nearly half of the original copy.

But, what do you do – buy the original luxurious brand watch or go for the copy? 

Now, apply the same situation in the case of mobile apps. On one side, you have an opportunity to find out how to finalize an app development company and develop a mobile app from scratch. While, on the other side, you have a chance to save some bucks by relying upon White label mobile app development type.

What will you pick – Custom vs. White Label mobile app?

I know, the decision is tough. It is difficult to understand which app development type can bring better outcomes for your business, especially when you are a newbie in the industry.

So, to help you out, I’m writing this article on factors that you should watch out for making the right choice.

But before we jump to the crux of the article, let’s refresh our basics – starting with looking into what is White label mobile apps.

An Introduction to White Label Mobile App Development

White label mobile app is a type of mobile application designed using a generic mobile app development framework. You have a blueprint model in which you change the company logo, name, and other details to build your own app.

In simpler terms, a white label app is a mobile application designed by company A that sells its prototype, design models and revenue generation strategies to company B. The company B then uses all the insight gained to make its own mobile app, which is nothing but a replica of what is earlier designed by Company A. This is how white label apps are developed.

A White label product, when focusing on how these apps make money, is known for charging a bigger amount of money from users than what is being paid to another agency for the service.

Now, when talking about White label apps, there are various benefits of considering this app development, such as:-

  1. White-label mobile applications require less time to design and develop. This makes the mobile app development timeline shorter.
  2. Since the application is designed using the design model of another app, the time and effort needed for app maintenance are also reduced.
  3. You can create your own app using the basics.
  4. White-label apps are often hybrid, which implies you will be able to make your business app presence across different platforms.
  5. The app development cost is lower for white-label app development than for Custom Android or iOS app development.
  6. Above all, you can also resell your White label mobile application and earn more money from your app.

While we have covered White label apps and features showcase that they are a good idea for your business needs, this mobile app development type also holds some negative points.

Some of the cons of relying upon White label mobile applications are:-

  1. Since most of the white-label mobile applications are straight and to the point, you might find minimal impact on your business.
  2. You have less control over how and what elements can be introduced in your application. This is because you are replicating an existing app structure
  3. You cannot use innovative and advanced mobile app development technologies to deliver a highly exceptional user interface (UI).

Now, as we have covered white label mobile apps and what are their pros and cons, let’s turn toward Custom app development.

Custom App Developmwhiteent – A Brief Introduction

When talking about what is Custom app development, defines the process of developing an application where you can customize the whole mobile app development lifecycle. Or better say, you can pick each element of the mobile app as per your app needs and market trends.

This mobile app development type brings a major difference in the application market by offering different advantages. Some of the top benefits of Custom mobile application development are:-
Building custom mobile apps for business will offer you the freedom to decide which feature should be introduced to your application and which one not. In this way, it offers you the flexibility to build ‘one of the kind’ applications for targeting your audience and gain higher ROI.

Unlike White label apps, Custom mobile apps give you an opportunity to introduce cutting-edge technologies and techniques into your application. This way hits the market with better UX tools and a success rate.

In the case of White label app development, the codes are already written by developers. You can just modify the codes. But, in the case of Custom mobile application development, you can write the code from scratch, implying you will have the freedom to modify the complete app structure as per the market demand.

Since these applications are designed specifically for a Native app platform, they deliver exceptional user experience.

One of the main benefits of Custom mobile application development for your business is that Custom apps are more secure than White label applications.

Another plus point of going with the idea of Custom app development is that these applications are highly accepted by App Stores.

Know about the latest mobile app wireframing tools 

But, even Custom app development has some drawbacks, such as:-

  1. Since the mobile app development process begins from scratch, the offshore app development cost is quite high.
  2. These applications also demand more time and effort.
  3. You need to have expertise in creating mobility solutions or have familiarity with what to consider when hiring a mobile app development agency.

Now, as we have looked into the pros and cons of getting a white label app or custom mobile app designed for your business needs, it’s the right time to look into the Custom vs White label mobile app comparison and determine the trending app ideas for businesses.

So, let’s dig into the market and watch out for the factors to consider.

Factors to Watch Out for Deciding Custom vs White Label Mobile App Development

Custom vs White Label

Features and App Structure

When you, as a business, look forward to investing in White label app development, you come to realize that the application is not designed as per your business model. You will have to compromise on different factors and features that lead to successful mobile app development for startups.

But, when it comes to developing a Custom mobile app, you will be starting from scratch. That means, you will have the opportunity to bring your tech spokes on board, discuss your business challenges, user expectations, and market needs, and thus make a mobile app development plan accordingly.

Likewise, the app structure of a White label application is already tried and tested in the mobile market, whereas the model of a Custom app might be new in the market. This brings the risk of app structure failure if you do not follow the optimal mobile app development strategies.

So, the answer to developing a  Custom vs White label mobile app depends completely on your app needs and knowledge of the mobile industry.

Design and User Experience

Design and user experience is other factors that can help you in determining whether to go for Custom iOS app development or White label app development option. 

As already stated, White label apps come with basic features and functionalities. They are designed using a Hybrid or cross-platform app development approach and thus cannot integrate all the native device features and functionalities into your app development plan.

Whereas, when it comes to turning your app idea into reality from scratch, aka, going with a Custom app development approach, you have the freedom to follow the complete app design process – right from Prototyping to Wireframing, UI/UX design, and A/B testing. You can introduce advanced native device features and technologies into your process.

This gives a clear indication that Custom iOS or Android app development is the right choice for your business app needs if you want to design apps that engage users effectively.

Maintenance and Sustainability

Since White label apps are designed by reusing the existing app code, there is less risk of bugs and errors in the codes. Besides, the code is already tested in the app industry, which again gives an indication that the app development code is sustainable.

But, when taking a look at Custom mobile app development, there is a higher risk of bugs and flaws in the app code. The hired Custom mobile application development services providers will have to test every element of your application whenever a new feature is added/or an existing one is modified to record the consequences and thus, ensure better outcomes.

Follow our comprehensive mobile app testing guide for flexible maintenance.

So, in this case, White label mobile apps win over Custom apps.

Time and Resources

Custom mobile apps are designed right from scratch. Because of this, you need more time and resources to develop an Android/iOS application while hiring a Custom iPhone/Android apps development company.

Whereas, White label apps are designed by reusing the codes of existing applications. So, the time and resources required for building an app is comparatively lower.

This signifies that if you wish to enter the mobile industry at the earliest, go for White label app development.

Cost

Another factor that plays a significant role in determining whether to go for a Custom or White label app development approach is how much does app development cost.

Since white label apps are created by reusing the existing app codes, the cost to develop an app is less than what is involved with Custom app development.

So, if you have a low budget, go for White label application development. But, in case you want to offer the best of features and functionalities to your target audience and have the required budget, invest in Custom app development.

Security

In the case of White label app development, you modify a ready-made mobile app. Because of this, there is less scope for identifying bugs and errors and modifying your app code accordingly.

However, this is not in the case of Custom application development. Here, you develop a mobile app from scratch and thus have full control over what code to write, how to test and modify it, and more. Or better say, you have better chances to improve the performance and security of your app, which acts as a reason why should one go for a custom mobile application development.

What Services do we Offer at Appventurez?

At Appventures, we encourage businesses to focus on Custom app development. We share the perks of developing a mobile app from scratch for your business. We put our best efforts into every step of the mobile app development process – right from ideation to design, development, testing, app launch, and maintenance

We believe that every project is unique and thus, should be designed and developed in a unique way. This is the only secret to turning challenges into opportunities, delivering quality to the target audience, and gaining higher business profits. 

So, considering this whole, if you too believe that Custom app development is the right solution for your business needs and are thinking of hiring the best custom mobile app development company, feel free to contact our mobile app experts.

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Consult our experts

Elevate your journey and empower your choices with our insightful guidance.

    Ashish Chauhan
    Ashish Chauhan

    Global Delivery Head at Appventurez

    Ashish governs the process of software delivery operations. He ensures the end product attains the highest remarks in qualitative analysis and is streamlined to the clientele’s objectives. He has over a decade of experience as an iOS developer and teams mentorship.