average cost of software development

What Impacts the Average Cost of Software Development?

3/11/2025

To develop software, you need to be fully aware that this software will be the base of a successful, buzzing online presence for your entity, business, or brand.

Software development is the gate into well-customized platforms that reflect the identity of your name and target the audience you're after. As many people wonder why developing software is important, many others wonder how to determine the average cost of software development.

Therefore, Trendlix will be providing a close look at the factors that impact the average cost of software development.

Understanding Factors Affecting the Cost of Software Development?

One of the biggest cost determinants for the average cost of software development is the complexity of the project.

The more required functionalities, the higher the average cost goes. The simpler the project is, the smoother its application and the shorter its time are, which implies less cost.

The scope of the project highly influences the cost of the software development; this means that, for instance, the multi-role access increases complexity, whether admin, user, or moderator.

The targeted number of users also affects the average cost of the project; therefore, the scalability of the project determines the average cost of software development.

Trendlix allows you to dive deep into the financial areas of different services, such as the cost for application development.

Type of Software Determine the Cost of Software Development

The cost of the software development highly affects its cost, as each type of software development has its own required features that add to or decrease the price of the software development. There is usually an average cost for the web applications.

Web applications

Web applications are the ones that are browser-based applications, such as CRM systems, ERP, and SaaS. On the other hand, e-commerce platforms’ software tends to have a cost average of its own. Know the factors that determine the cost of developing e-commerce website.

E-commerce Platforms

By e-commerce platforms, it means online stores with payment gateways, inventory, and customer accounts.

Mobile App Software

Moreover, the mobile app softwares are the ones that are designed to be mobile-friendly for mobile users, and also this one tends to have an average cost for its software development.

The software for mobile application development for either Android or iOS.

The average cost of software development is also influenced if the software to be developed is an enterprise one.

This is because it usually implies internal tools that serve businesses, such as HR, finance, and workflow automation.

How Locations Affect the Average Cost of Software Developments

Indeed, the development team’s location does affect the average cost of any software service they are offering.

Developers' costs vary worldwide depending on the geographical and regional location; therefore, the onshore development team, which means that the software development is at the same location as the client, tends to have a unique average cost of software development compared to the offshore.

When the development is offshore and in a different country from the one that the client resides in, the average cost of software development is usually less than onshore, but the quality is not as top-notch as when the developers are in the same country.

Does the type of development team affect the price?

Freelance Developer

The development team does have a hand in the average cost of software development. When the development team is made up of freelance developers, it tends to have lower costs, yet the quality needs to be continuously checked when the work is being done by one man.

Digital Marketing Agencies

On the other hand, digital marketing agencies that take over developing your website from scratch tend to have a different average cost of software development.

Yet, the average cost of software development by companies differs as per the size of the agency.

Small digital agencies, consisting of 2 to 10 developers, tend to have a different average cost of software development than the mid-sized software development firms, which tend to have a more expensive average cost of software development.

Enterprise-level Development Agencies

When it comes to enterprise-level development agencies, the average cost of software development changes due to them providing full service and end-to-end support.

How QA Testing affecting the Cost of Software Development

The post-software development and maintenance done on the software does impact the cost of developing software.

Usually, the software developer needs to keep proper maintenance on the software after its development in order to apply any needed debugging as well as enroll all the needed updates regularly.

Therefore, the type of maintenance agreed on with the developers does influence the overall average cost of software development.

When the maintenance is meant to be manual testing, it tends to have a low average cost. Yet, when the maintenance is automated testing, the cost tends to grow higher.

Lastly, security testing usually has a higher cost due to its criticality and the sensitive data it deals with.

Trendlix Software Development Portfolio

Visit our digital marketing portfolio to see examples of our work and capabilities.

Arabtec Construction

Industry: Construction Field

Work: Built a corporate site highlighting Arabtec’s major projects, history, and contact options.

Red Estate

Industry: Real Estate (UAE-based)

Work: Developed a polished, Arabic/English real estate platform tailored to the UAE’s market, including advanced property filters.

Industry: Healthcare, Clinic

Work: Developed a healthcare directory site listing clinics and services, supporting user appointments and doctor discovery.

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Developing software for your business or brand is a highly influential step that is a game changer for your online presence.

If the question of how the average cost of developing software is still bugging your head, the previous line will detangle and confuse your mind.

You needn’t stress over any answers you are after; you can simply contact us, and Trendlix’s team is ready for you.