Food Delivery App Development Cost Guide

Are you looking for a food delivery app development cost guide?

On-demand software applications such as food delivery apps observe a growing market due to a large user audience. In the US only, the online food delivery industry was expected to collect a revenue of $231.30 billion in 2023, and the number of users is expected to reach 217.10 million by 2027.

There are several leading food delivery service providers, such as Uber Eats, Zomato, etc., but there is always room for new food delivery startups and entrepreneurs to join the growing industry and make profits.

If you are also planning to invest in the online food delivery market via an innovative meal delivery application, you would likely start with cost estimation. Read on as we make things easier for you and discuss the food delivery cost guide in detail.

Food Delivery App Development Cost Guide

The final cost to develop an online food delivery app depends on several factors. We list below the main factors you should consider while building a food delivery solution:

Features and Scope of a Food Delivery App

Different types of food delivery apps follow different food delivery business models. You might decide to build an aggregator app that lists all the nearby restaurants for users in their required location or an app with delivery support that connects restaurants, users, and third-party delivery services.

The scope of your application would determine your food delivery app features. For example, you need to build the following three modules for a three-way food delivery app like Uber Eats:

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1. A customer app
   • A customer module helps app users create an account, enter basic information, including address and phone number, search for restaurants, filter cuisines, place an order, pay online, track order, leave a review, etc.
   • A basic customer module development could take around 800 hours with a starting cost of $35000 for the complete customer-side app development. 
2. Rider App
   • An app module for delivery riders connects delivery people with restaurants. Riders could see orders’ status, accept order deliveries, and see food delivery details like the customer’s address, bill, etc.
   • The delivery rider module could also take on an average of 800 hours with a starting total cost of $35000.
3. Restaurant App
   • This module helps restaurant owners add their restaurant, add/update menus, track incoming food orders, edit working hours, etc. 
   • The restaurant module development could take up to 800 hours with a starting cost of $35000.
4. Admin App
   • The admin panel helps manage the complete operations of an online food delivery business. It oversees restaurants, riders, billing systems, customer support, discount offers, etc.
   • You can use ready-to-use plugins for admin app development, such as payment integrations, customer service bots, etc. This could reduce the development time and, thus, the overall cost. An admin app could take on an average of 500 hours with a starting cost of $25,000.

App Development Stages

Food delivery application development consists of a series of stages. The total cost of app development depends on the whole app development process.

We would advise you to invest in an app development team that could help you with all the app development stages. The general cost associated with each app development stage is as follows:

• Requirements Specification: ~ $5000 
• App UI/UX Design: ~ $15000
• The back-end and Front-end Development: $25,000 – $70,000 depending on the type of application and use of third-party API integrations;
• App testing: ~ $15,000
• App Deployment and Maintenance: ~$15,000

Please note that the exact cost of each app development stage depends on the complexity of your app design and features.

An expert app development company could give you a realistic estimate of app development services after considering your app scope and specifications. 

We suggest you partner with a software app development company with expertise in the complete app development process and not just standalone services like design or testing. 

Food Delivery App Development Tools and Technologies

Your food delivery app development cost also depends on the underlying technologies and tools used to build the app. 

For example, native app development costs more than hybrid app development. Native apps are built for a specific mobile operating system to give better performance. Hybrid apps are cross-platform applications. They run on every device but with low performance and user experience.

In native apps, the iOS food delivery app would cost a little more than the Android app, and a hybrid app built on React Native or Flutter would cost even less.

Your developers could use open-source tools to build native and hybrid apps. For example, Xcode IDE for iOS app development, Android Studio for Android app development, etc., are available for all.

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However, you would invest in the app development infrastructure and API integrations to build a food delivery app. For instance, you would need the following technologies:

• Cloud services: A cloud-based infrastructure would help you quickly scale your app resources, such as data storage, app servers, etc. You could opt for AWS, Azure, etc.;
• App Registration: Your developers can use Google Sign-In API, Facebook Login SDK, etc.;
• App Analytics: APIs like Google Analytics, Apple Analytics, etc., can assist with food app analytics;
• Restaurant Listing: You could use API integrations from Yelp Fusion, Grubhub, etc., to list restaurants on your app;
• Payment gateways: Your developers can integrate Paypal, Stripe, Amazon Payment, etc., for online payments;
• Locations: Google Maps, Mapbox, etc., help integrate maps and location services into an app.
• Cloud services, such as hosting, could cost you $50 to $300 depending on your app users, scalability, etc. Google APIs are free to use, but there is a usage limit. You can request an increase in quota, but approval is not always guaranteed.

App Security

Food application security is essential as your app would save users’ personal information, including address details and financial information. You should keep a budget to allow developers to implement app security techniques like data encryption, multi-factor authentication, access control, etc. 

Your app testers would need to conduct extensive security tests, such as vulnerability scans, risk assessments, penetration scanning, etc.

You can also invest in white hat hacking which is a broader type of ethical hacking. You allow an external ethical hacker to penetrate your app and look for security vulnerabilities. 

The testing procedures can cost anywhere between $1000 and $5000. The cost depends on the scope of testing, such as mobile or web app code, cloud infrastructure, network, etc. The complexity and size of the app code also determine the cost of security testing.

Application Development Team

The hours needed to complete an app feature and the hourly rate of a developer depends on the type of development partner you choose. The cost of working with a freelance developer or an app development agency differs greatly. The hourly rate also significantly depends on the experience of developers building your food delivery app.

You can easily find low-rate developers on freelance platforms, but they have low industry experience too. Junior developers also charge a low rate but do not have extensive experience working with different types of mobile applications. 

App development companies offer senior developers. They come at a higher cost but have experience working with different software architecture, back-end integrations, and the latest technologies such as machine learning, cloud computing blockchain, etc.

The elaborate application development experience of senior developers helps you build a high-performance mobile app and realize your vision of a next-level software application.

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Remote software development agencies also offer app development talent from all over the world. You get access to high-quality talent at a comparatively lower rate, like developers from Central European countries.

Additional Costs

There are some other costs not directly related to the app development process, but you should consider them for the successful launch of your food delivery app. Some additional expenses include the following:

• App marketing, including app store optimization: ~ $500 to $2000; 
• App success monitoring: ~ $500 a month; 
• App maintenance service: ~ $1000 onwards, depending on your app features and their complexity, etc.

Ready to Develop a Food Delivery App?

Food delivery applications form a lucrative segment of the on-demand apps market. You need reliable and competent software developers to undertake the app development project successfully.

DevTeam.Space can help you via its field-expert software developers community. All our developers are vetted for their skills in the latest technologies and follow an AI-powered agile app development process.

You can partner with these experienced app developers to build your food delivery app by sending us your initial project specifications. One of our account managers will get in touch with you to discuss further details on onboarding, team development, project planning, etc.

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