What we’ll cover…
- How much does an AR App Cost?
- What is AR?
- How can AR work in an app?
- Basic app development costs
- Core AR Costs
- 3D models for AR
- Related Features
- Store Publishing
How much does an AR App Cost?
Getting an AR app developed will cost you between €12,000 and €60,000. This is a huge difference in cost. In this blog post we will look at what jobs are involved in developing an AR App and how this price can change depending on different features & requirements.
What is Augmented Reality?
Augmented reality is often shortened to AR and you might hear the term AR in the media or when researching your app idea.
AR means blending the contents of your app with ‘Reality’. In practice this means seeing objects superimposed on the camera view from your device.
You can see the world around you through the camera view but there are 2D, 3D and/or animated graphics placed in the scene.
The famous game Pokemon Go is a great example of augmented reality on a mobile device.
How can AR work in an app?
Augmented Reality works well on both Apple and Android devices. Although you can buy specialised hardware such as AR Glasses, you can experience AR quite well using the camera view on your phone or tablet.
Older devices may not support AR and it is important to know that when planning an app like this. For our clients we use an alternative 3D Model viewer which kicks in for users on devices which cannot support AR.
How much does Basic App Development Cost?
A ‘Basic App’ which will cost between €2000 and €5000 euros for development and deployment.
This is typically an app with static information ‘hard coded’ onto the app and usually has between 2 and 5 main screens.
In order to have AR on your app, you will first need basic app development with screens such as a splash screen, a menu or map to show AR options, perhaps a settings screen or an about us screen and finally the screens showing AR information too.
Core AR Costs
Aside from the cost of a basic app that will support your AR features, there are several other pieces of work around adding AR to your app.
- The core code to show AR models on iOS – Even when using Flutter, we usually need to implement a different library to support iOS devices for AR.
- The code required to similarly add AR support for Android devices. Again, even with a hybrid language like Flutter or React Native, this usually involves OS-Specific code.
- The cost of adding features like Model Viewers to support devices that do not have AR.
- Fine tuning, adjusting and testing AR models. Converting model to support both iOS and Android.
- Deploying AR models to a hosting area and testing this. Configuring app to support this for both Operating Systems.
- Testing the look and feel of each AR component for each device screen size.
On top of the initial price for the basic app, this will cost about €5,000 – €15,000 depending on the complexity required and the amount of models needed.
3D Model Costs
Each 3D model will need to be created manually. Even with a 2D drawing or photo as a guide, it will still take time and skill to create each 3D model.
You can purchase 3D models online or we can develop these for you.
With purchased 3D models the cost of integration (in core costs above) goes up but there is no cost for creating the models.
For each custom 3D model we charge roughly €1000 – €2000 euros for the full model creation as this can take time.
Related Feature Costs
Related Features depend on what type of app you are creating.
For example, if you are creating an AR treasure hunt, you will need to have features such as:
- A Map, perhaps a custom drawn map or a Google Map with a rough outline of the next step in the treasure hunt and logic for showing/hiding map locations.
- The logic for the treasure hunt element as well as screens related to showing hints, sharing clues and asking questions.
- Additional features around user scores and timing the event.
- Any server based components required to share the player score or create a high score board.
- Additional features such as support for advertising, a list of business sponsors or in-app purchases for premium options.
These additional features can cost between €5000 and €20,000 euros depending on what you need.
App Publishing
What is App Publishing?
App publishing is the process of building your app, signing it with a digital certificate to secure it and submitting it to stores such as Google Play, Apple App Store and other places where users can download it.
The Google Process
The process with Google involves the following:
- Building your app from the source code and asset files.
- Creating a digital certificate and signing the app.
- Creating a Store Listing and answering a series of questions about your app.
- Uploading your app to Google and waiting approval.
Fees
Google charge a once off fee to have a developer account. Some app companies cover this as part of their publishing process, sometimes this is an extra fee for you to pay.
The Apple Process
Apple App Store submission is similar to Google except that there are a few more complexities in terms of app signing and the actual approval process often takes longer and is more likely to require changes to the app to get approval (less likely with experienced App Development Companies).
Fees
Apple charges a yearly fee to list on the App Store ($100 per year at present). Again, depending on the company, this may be included in the App Development fee.
App publishing is included in our ‘Basic App’ costs, so we won’t add another cost here. However, if you choose to get an app developed with one company and published by another, the publishing phase can cost between €2000 and €5000 euros.
Next Steps
Thank you for reading this blog post. If you would like to get a ballpark figure for your app development or organise a discovery session to gather requirements and get detailed costings, please get in touch.
