What determines the cost of a web app?

"What does a web app cost?" has no fixed answer, just like "what does a renovation cost?". A web app is software you use in the browser: a client portal, a scheduling system, a place where customers book or order. Two web apps that look the same from the outside can differ greatly in size. The difference lies in what has to happen behind the screens.

This article is about those parts. If you are looking for an overview of what having an app made costs, including the choice between web and phone, read the guide on the cost of having an app made.

The five things that set the price

Screens

Every screen has to be designed, built and tested. A list of customers is simple; a planning board where you drag jobs between engineers is much more work. So do not just count the screens, but look at what you do on them too: only read, fill in, drag, filter, use on a phone.

Roles and permissions

Who uses the web app? At a recruitment agency, for example, that is the consultant, the temporary worker and the client. Each role sees different data and may do different things. Every role adds screens, rules and tests. A system for your own office only is smaller than one where customers log in as well.

Integrations

Does the web app need to talk to your accounts, a payment provider, a calendar or a supplier portal? Every integration requires agreements on which data goes back and forth, what happens when the other side is briefly unavailable and how you spot errors. An existing, well-documented integration is less work than a system without a public connection.

Data

How does your data fit together? A customer with a few appointments is simple. A garage with customers, vehicles, work orders, parts and warranty has many more relationships. On top of that: does existing data need to be transferred from a spreadsheet or old system? Cleaning and checking it is often underestimated.

Management after go-live

A web app is never finished on the day it goes live. Hosting, backups, security updates, changes for new browser versions, support for your team and small improvements continue for as long as you use the software. So do not just ask about the build price, but also what management involves per month or per year.

What pushes the price up unnecessarily

• Everything in the first version: every wish you add "just in case" also has to be built, tested and maintained.
• Rules that only become clear during the build: an exception that turns up late often affects screens and data that were already finished.
• A unique design for every screen: standard elements that recur everywhere are quicker to build and easier to use.
• No single decision-maker: when the whole team has a say but nobody makes the call, the work slips.

How to get a price you can compare

1. Describe the work, not the technology: which steps does an enquiry, order or job go through from start to finish?
2. Name the roles: who uses the web app, and what does each role need to see and do?
3. List the integrations: which systems does it have to talk to, and in which direction does the data go?
4. State which data has to come along: from which file or system, and roughly how much.
5. Split into a first version and the rest: what has to be there on day one, and what can wait?
6. Ask for the assumptions: you cannot put a price without assumptions next to another price.

Check first whether it already exists

Many web apps that small businesses commission deal with work that comes up in every sector: appointments, quotes, scheduling, job sheets, invoices and a space for customers. Then not everything has to be built from scratch. Vorlyo provides software per sector that already runs and is set up for your business, and for businesses that want to give their customers their own space there is client portal software. You then pay a one-off investment for the setup and a fixed monthly licence for hosting, updates and support.