In today’s tech-savvy world, more and more people have started to rely on technical gadgets in their daily life. People no longer want to go out and prefer binge-watching their favorite TV shows on the couch while chugging on popcorn and coke. Not to mention, virtual assistants like Amazon, Alexa and Google Home have even allowed people to control different electronic gadgets with their smartphones, which means, they don’t have to take a single step to even turn off the lights.
Unfortunately, this sedentary lifestyle has left a negative impact on people’s health. Today, a wide majority of individuals are suffering from health diseases; and while you can blame different factors, this sedentary lifestyle is the root cause of the problem. Since human bodies are not designed to stay idle for a longer duration, there’s no surprise that the rate of health diseases is significantly rising every day.
However, the good news is that many people have understood this problem and are slowly migrating to healthier life choices. And, it’s no denying the fact that fitness apps like FitBit are accompanying them in this transition.
What is FitBit?
For people who don’t know, FitBit is a healthcare application that pairs with the FitBit band to provide users with a detailed analysis of their vital signs. The application is designed to monitor calorie count, number of steps, and different exercise routines to help users achieve their fitness goals more conveniently.
As of now, the FitBit healthcare app has accumulated more than 50 million downloads on both Google Play Store and Apple’s App Store. This immense popularity is the reason why many investors and enterprises are keen on launching their own fitness apps like FitBit and want to know how much it would cost to develop such applications.
If you are planning to follow the footsteps of FitBit, continue reading. In this article, we’ll take a look at different factors that explain how much you’d have to pay to hire Indian app developers to build a fitness app like FitBit.
Different Factors That’ll Decide the Development Cost of a Fitness App
1. Choosing the Right Platform
Like any other mobile application, the cost to develop a fitness app will also depend on the platform you want to target. Ideally, app publishers have to choose between native or cross-platform app development.
Native apps are designed to work on a single platform whereas the latter can be released on two different mobile OS using the same code base. The platform that you choose to target will have a huge impact on how much you’ll have to empty your pockets.
For instance, developing a native app android development agency in India is more expensive than cross-platform applications. Since developers have to write separate code for iOS and Android, you’ll practically have to pay for two separate applications.
But, that’s not the case with cross-platform app development. With frameworks like Flutter and ReactNative, developers can use the same codebase to deploy apps for both iOS and Android simultaneously, which reduces the development duration and thereby, the overall development cost.
2. Type of Fitness App
After deciding the right platform for your fitness app, the next step to evaluate its development cost would be deciding the category. It’s worth understanding that fitness apps can be divided into different categories.
For instance, an app like FitBit is considered as an all-in-one fitness solution that offers a wide variety of features to help people track their daily movement and monitor fitness goals with extreme precision. However, there are several other fitness apps that are only designed for a specific purpose.
Adidas’ Runtastic is a great example of one such application that’s only meant to record users’ daily runs and provide a deep analysis of the total distance covered. Keep in mind that if you want to develop a full-scale app like FitBit, you’ll have to pay extra dollars due to its extensive feature list. So, before investing in mobile app development, make sure to decide what type of application you want to launch as it’ll have a considerable impact on the final development cost.
Some of the most popular app categories for healthcare and fitness apps include:
- Workout Trackers
- Calorie Trackers
- Nutrition & Wellness Apps
- Competitive Fitness Apps
- Workout/Yoga Instruction Apps
3. Development Team
Finally, another crucial factor that’ll help you evaluate the cost to develop a fitness app like FitBit is the development team you hire. Different development teams follow various costing models and usually have different hourly rates.
In general, native development companies in countries like the United States, Australia, Canada, etc. have higher development rates, and hiring them can easily escalate the development cost.
So, if you are planning to cut down the development cost and get your app developed without burning a hole in your wallet, it would be better to hire an offshore team of Indian app developers. As opposed to native developers in the US, the development companies in India (and other Asian countries) have lower development rates.
The Bottom Line
The cost to develop a fitness app like FitBit is determined by different factors such as features you want to integrate, the platform you want to target, and the development team you plan on hiring. In general, the cost can vary anywhere between $10,000 to $50,000. However, if you want to get an estimated cost, you can consult your app development company and they’ll help you evaluate the final cost after analyzing your business requirements precisely.
