No Code Tools

Pros and Cons of Hiring Engineers vs Using No-Code Tools

3 minute read

Should you hire engineers to develop your app?

The cost of hiring engineers to develop an app depends on the complexity of the application. The cost also depends on the engineering team and greatly varies depending on if you hire a freelancer, a full-time employee, or an agency. App developers from small freelance teams charge a minimum of $10,000-$20,000. Hiring app developers from an agency for a simple app can cost up to $60,000 whereas a complex app can cost up to a maximum of $300,000.

There are popular sites like Upwork, Fiverr, Freelancer, and Toptal where you can find and hire a freelance developer. Their hourly rates typically vary from $35 to $70.  Consider using an app cost calculator to determine the cost of your app and estimate how much it costs to build your app features. The app cost calculator should be able to provide the breakdown of the prices of each feature incorporated into the application. The app calculators should also have the ability to compare the cost of developing a website vs a mobile app for your business. The rough estimates can be taken as a base while discussing the budgets and costs with the sales team.

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Key factors that impact the cost of hiring engineers for a project

  1. The project scope is very important to consider when hiring engineers to develop your apps your minimum viable product enough to attract customers and validate your idea? Have you estimated the right project duration and the design requirements prior to hiring engineers? In general, the initial design of basic app features may take 4-8 weeks. Once your app is built and tested with potential users, more features may be needed based on their feedback, and iterations of your app will also increase your engineering costs.
  2. UX/UI design is another important factor when determining your app cost.  Cost varies depending on if you only need standard graphic design or a fully customized app design. Some agencies will provide a designer who can help you design your application to work with both desktop and mobile app screens.
  3. Technical factors also impact the pricing. For example, security measures in the app can be solely standardized authentication with an email id and password, social account log-ins, or more complex flows that include getting an authenticated email and temporary password log-in followed by a few steps of two-step verification. Depending on the complexity required, the costs will significantly vary.
  4. Other factors like the type of company or business, engineering experience required, and geographical factors like teams based in America, Asia, or Europe can greatly affect the pricing. For example, businesses that hire engineers from India, China, Philippines o are able to get the best quality-price ratio service from eastern European countries like Ukraine and Poland. On average, the cost of hiring engineers to build an iOS and Android app in 2022 ranges between $75,000-$120,000 depending on the complexity of the app. 

The benefits of hiring experienced app developers  are high as they can assist you in launching your app and provide you with more insights for improving your app. Hiring a mobile development company ensures you have round-the-clock support and services. Irrespective of the cost, you get the ownership of the source code which is advantageous as otherwise, you tend to become dependent on the development firm that builds your app for maintenance or future iterations. 

The technical platform used to develop the application enables proper storage of data and better control and understanding of the software applications. With the proper management of databases and programming, there are fewer chances of security issues. Easy maintenance and iterations of your app are also things to consider as you interview engineers or agencies to build your app. 

Are no-code tools worth it to minimize costs?

No code tools have proven to be a good, cost-effective option for non-technical business users to build applications. It can help companies save on their project costs and develop an app without learning programming. No code tools are the best option for simple apps and solutions. The start-ups and founders who require MVP (minimum viable products) often go for this smart choice to kick-start their business. The cost of using no-code builders ranges between $20-$50 per user per month roughly, so is very cost effective for most early stage companies.

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No-code tools are sometimes not suitable for more complicated products; however, you can often complement them with low-code tools and reduce the amount of code needed to build your app. Low code platforms like Appian, Zoho creator, and QuickBase can be used with no-code tools to build sophisticated products. There are also no-code agencies or experts that you can hire to help you if you get stuck. 

No-code tools are the easiest and fastest way to develop an application, saving time and money. No-code tools are also easy to update, and the platforms regularly launch new features and fix bugs. The demand for no-code builders has rigorously grown to support all types of businesses. For example, they are in great demand among SaaS companies as the size of the SaaS market has increased by 500% over the past seven years. Another unique feature of no-code tools is companies can quickly iterate or pivot to launch features focused on a different audience or target market without incurring any costs of hiring a development team. Finally, API integrations have enabled no-code platforms to further increase their value by helping people and companies easily connect with other services and build personalized solutions.

List of no-code mobile app builders and their lowest pricing plans in 2022

Wrapping up: how to make the best choice for your business

To optimize between choosing a lower-cost, simple no-code tool versus hiring a more expensive, higher touch engineering team, businesses should reflect on their own budget and willingness to put in the time to learn a new platform. As an initial step, business users can test out the best mobile app development no-code platform. Alta’s simple drag and drop interface is easy to use and offers a free trial that enables users to connect their data, define their flows, and quickly launch a mobile web app in less than a day. Alta’s free plan and free templates help non-technical users design and preview their new app on a mobile device. The paid plan enables users to successfully launch their mobile app on the Apple and Google app stores. Alta has partnered with top companies to help them execute their mobile-first strategy and offers customer-friendly support which meets the expectations of every business. 

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