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The Cost of Web Development Services: What to Expect and How to Budget

In today's highly connected world, web applications are increasingly necessary for many businesses. Consequently, custom enterprise web design and development are seen as superb business investments, offering boosted productivity, increased reach in new markets, optimized workflows, and improved bottom lines.

If you're considering hiring web development services, you probably have a few questions, chief among which is probably, "How much does web application development cost?" Granted, cost is a weighty consideration when making any business investment.

As a web design and development services provider, we understand your cost concerns. So, we've prepared this article to give you an idea of what to expect when budgeting for web development and guide you in making the right spending choices.

The Cost of Web Development Services

First, let's debunk a common myth about web development costs. Some entrepreneurs assume that developing a website or web app costs a fortune. That is not true. Custom web development is reasonably affordable, especially when you look at it from an ROI perspective. If you do the math, seemingly “cheaper” off-the-shelf alternatives often end up costing more in the long run (in terms of subscriptions and licenses) without delivering any unique business value.

With enterprise software, cheap can be expensive if you don’t consider the application’s lifetime value and costs.

So, how much does custom web development actually cost? Well, it’s impossible to set a definitive figure for web development since each project is unique.

Web Development Costing Factors

The various types of custom application development services have many moving parts. You must keep a couple of things in mind when drafting your web development budget, mainly the application's complexity, requirements, and your choice of software development vendor.

Here's a closer look at the main factors that determine the cost of web development:

Type, Size, and Purpose

What kind of website or web app do you have in mind? It’s important to have clear goals about the type and purpose of the solution you want to develop. This is a crucial step in software development that many entrepreneurs miss or get wrong. But don’t worry; our team can help you define the scope and objectives of the proposed application through a product design workshop. We can also run a software audit to identify the strengths and weaknesses of your current software products and help you build a roadmap for needed upgrades.

The solution’s objectives will determine the capabilities of the resulting application as well as how much you may need to budget for it. Common business web applications include:

  • E-commerce and online shopping websites
  • Salesforce and marketing platforms
  • CRMs: Customer Relationship Management platforms
  • ERPs: Enterprise resource planning tools
  • Community and social platforms or forums
  • Informational sites
  • Portfolios
  • Service distribution and utilities web apps
  • Resource planning web tools
  • Document management and file storage
  • Web tools for human resource management

All these have different price points. Also, costs vary depending on the application's size and complexity. In this case, size refers to the number of pages and the density of features and functionality.

UI and UX Design

User interface (UI) and user experience (UX) design determine how a software or web application looks and feels from the end-user perspective. It's everything about how an application presents its functions, behaves, and responds.

The application's UI and UX design choices weigh heavily on the final price. In design terms, the cost will largely depend on whether the web application is built on pre-made or custom templates, requires special UX considerations such as responsive design, or incorporates advanced UI features such as custom graphics and animations.

Technology Stack

Development rates differ widely depending on the technologies used in coding and putting an application together. For instance, coding in niche programming languages such as Golang, TypeScript, and Scala calls for specialized talent

You also have to consider any third-party technologies, such as APIs and addons, incorporated into the application. Integrating complementary or supportive technologies takes extra work and time.

Level of Complexity

It’s difficult to define complexity on a web application. However, most web builders assign a complexity value to each project based on various metrics, such as the diversity of functions/features, integrations, etc.

Complexity boils down to how demanding (in terms of resources, proficiency, and effort) a development project can be with all its requirements and constraints considered. Naturally, the higher the complexity level, the higher the cost.

Security

The type and purpose of the application will determine the suitable level of security. The standard HTTPS and TLS/SSL security measures might be enough for simple platforms such as blogs and landing pages. But for mission-critical solutions such as ERPs and e-commerce systems, you may need additional security layers such as user authentication and active cybersecurity defences. Keep in mind that extra digital security comes at an extra cost. But given today's perilous cyberspace, you can't really put a price on security.

Business System Integration

Custom services go beyond web design and development. Depending on your service level agreement, the developer may perform solution deployment and integration services after delivering the application. This stage involves integrating the new solution with the existing IT infrastructure and business operations. Business system integration tasks may include porting data, configuring various systems, and training users. This is especially useful for large and complex web systems, which sometimes take weeks or even months to deploy fully.

Hosting

Domain and hosting costs are essential entries in your web development budget. You’ll need a domain name for a public-facing website, which you can purchase from any internet domain registrar, such as GoDaddy. Keep in mind that some domain names cost significantly more than others.

When it comes to hosting, you can do it in-house if you have a reliable server network or use a third-party hosting service. The latter is ideal for hosting sites on a public domain, while private or in-house hosting works best for internal web applications.

Maintenance

Websites and web applications require continuous hands-on maintenance to ensure they run smoothly and keep users happy. This entails updating the content management system, fixing bugs whenever they arise, finetuning configurations, adding or removing features as needed, and updating the associated technologies. Promoting a site via SEO or other means also counts as a form of web application maintenance.

Web upkeep costs are sometimes bundled in a technical support service provided either by the developer or a third-party contractor. The larger or more sophisticated the application, the more it takes to keep it running.

The Developer’s Pricing Strategy

Last but not least, your choice of developer will determine how much you pay for your custom application. Not all developers are equal, more so when it comes to costs and pricing structures. For instance, some web development services charge by the hour or per deliverable, while others charge a fixed price for the entire project.

ELEKS has a flexible cooperation strategy that fits any project, regardless of size, type, or complexity. Before work commences, we'll discuss the best pricing and cooperation mode for your company or project.

Is Custom Web Development Worth It?

Any good business investment must yield tangible value. And a strategic custom web application is no different. Calculating the ROI of a website or web app means pitting its key performance indicators (KPIs) against the cost of development and upkeep. Custom-built applications deliver unique business value in the following ways:

  • Better SEO results
  • Customized user (employee or customer) experiences
  • Streamlined workflows and business operations
  • Increased conversions, sales, and profits
  • Flexible brand and business-aligned solutions
  • Sharper competitive edge

In short, a custom web solution more than makes up for its cost through the incredible benefits it presents your business.

Discover cost efficiency and true business value with ELEKS custom application development services. We deliver high-quality business solutions to enterprises globally thanks to our team of over 2,000 software experts and vast experience in the IT industry.

Contact us today to discuss your digital transformation pain points, from budgeting and development to solution deployments.

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