Nowadays it’s all about putting yourself out there within the consumer reach. By owning a mobile app, business can literally do that which also enables them for opportunity to up-sell and create a steady stream of revenue by having consumers access products from anywhere around the world. The need for mobile app is even addressed by small businesses with 42% of small to medium sized companies with a mobile app available for users to download, according to according to Clutch’s small business apps survey 2018. Everyone needing a mobile app has to do a comparison like custom mobile development vs app builders, before setting forth on the app making journey.
As tricky as it may seem; but the route to mobile application development is all about making right choices along the way. There is always the faster way of developing a mobile application, i.e. app builders, including no-code and low-code platforms.
While the longer route, custom mobile development has its own pros. This article is all about elaborating the two choices and what is the best possible option for your business.
What are DIY App Builders?
Often addressed as low code platforms, the App Builders are online tools or frameworks that allow users to create mobile apps by available mobile app services. The primary objective of such DIY app makers is to help quickly create an application with no or minimal coding.
Startups, midsize enterprises, and companies with budget constraints, favor drag and drop app makers, or their low-code counterparts in the custom mobile development vs app builders’ differentiation.
So, anyone who has an idea about a mobile app can quickly create an app with features such as drag and drop or addition of widgets/addons that can be customized to give you the kind of look and feel you require for you app. Some examples of low code platforms include: Xamarin, Bootstrap, and WordPress etc.
Therefore, anyone without any technical expertise is able to develop an app without having any prior knowledge about coding or programming.
When the App Builders are good?
If you are a nontechnical resource with some bright idea about how the app should be; then this is your first bet for creating a mobile app that can then be presented to other stakeholders for getting a viable visualization of the app. For example; a Business Analyst, Functional Consultant etc. who is either going to pitch their idea to a potential customer so you’d create wire-frames to bring your app idea into realization.
Or if you have a brilliant idea for a basic game construct; so, try out a low code platform to help you create a quick mobile app. You can test out a smaller consumer market by launching this quick app without going through the entire excursion of custom mobile application development. This way you sort of launch a “beta” version of your app and gauge the user feedback to know the viability of your app.
Hence, these app builders or DIY app makers platforms let you create simple mobile applications without following complete app development methodology. App builders save you from challenges like:
- Go through a Software Development Life Cycle
- Employ Resources
- Invest Capital
- Sign onto any contractual obligations
- Rent out space/office/furniture etc.
- Manage a project with stringent timelines
- Put your company into any form of risk
What is Custom Mobile Development?
When you do a complete thorough research of the market to understand and assess your business need to conclude that a mobile app can uplift your business; then you take up the excursion of custom mobile development. This implies that you will create a bespoke mobile app which will help you in reaching out consumers.
There are many ways to approach this problem: you could either take up the mobile app project yourself or get professional mobile app services for developing the app. In either case, the end-result is a customized mobile app with tailored set of features as per your business requirement.
When to use Custom Mobile Development?
The market for custom mobile app development is extensive: be it small, medium or large-scaled business – all companies under the umbrella opt for this. Reason: customization! Although, such apps require proper planning but you can decide on the type of features you want for an MVP to start off on your mobile development project.
However, customization means having a proper budget. That’s the starting point for you. The smallest possible budget for your app is around 5,000-10,000$. This would mean that you’d probably get 1-2 developers to work on end-to-end solution of the app with minimal features so that you can do a test-run of the app in the market.
Once, the app gains momentum; you could also enhance the feature-set for higher-end features. For example, have a chatbot, push notifications, recommendations as per customer preferences or traits etc.
Advantages of Custom Mobile Development
In the custom mobile development vs app builders showdown, the custom mobile app development has many benefits over DIY app makers.
Custom mobile app development takes precedence over app builders due to many strong points including:
- Launching an MVP: Nowadays, it’s all about creating a mobile app with the concept of “Minimum Viable Product”. It’s about pinpointing the feature-set that is absolutely necessary for you to “test the waters”. With custom mobile development, you can focus on only a specific feature-set that you can put extensive efforts on for creating an app that truly appeals to its audience.
- Outsourcing project to a third-party company so that resources, operations and various logistics are catered for by them. You could also look for a company that provides economical services under your budget so that you can create a custom app without spending beyond your means.
- Professional Technical Expertise: getting resources who understand the requirements and are able to code accordingly so that the developed features are spot-on as per your business need.
- Highly Tested App: unlike DIY App Builders, you can conduct proper manual and automated testing of your app to verify and validate the developed product. This way you are able to spot issues and get a proper fix for the bugs before it reaches the hands of the consumers.
- Zero Security Issues: You get code security so that possible hackers are not able to play around with the app and get access to sensitive information such as credit cards, mobile numbers etc.
- Impressive In and Out: a customized app is all about giving your consumers the most proper look and feel of the app including higher user experience, efficiency in performing various tasks and also helping creating a lasting impression so that the users are more likely to revisit the app.
- Greater ROI: Although you invest higher capital and time in creating a bespoke mobile solution, but the return of investment is greater as well. Especially when you consider how the market works – good apps are recommended through word of mouth, online reviews and social media platforms. Once, your app gets the general thumbs up; you are just going to capitalize on the newly found success and getting more from the consumer market.
Conclusion
Although the DIY App Builder platforms are a tempting way to create an app with hardly any spending and less turnaround time; however, the app’s quality and detail towards features and overall user experience is in no comparison to a specialized mobile app services undertaking. When you consider the stringent competition in the market; you want to have reliability, scalability and performance as metrics for measuring the developed app.
If your app doesn’t add up when it comes to providing the right user experience – misses out on a crucial element or just does not tick any of these boxes; then you have put yourself at risk of losing out not just on revenue but also your image that takes years of persistence for building in the market.
That’s why custom mobile application development is your safest bet in putting yourself out there in the market. Top Mobile App Development Companies can keep this app making quest less problematic as possible.
Do you want to make the next big app? Are you unsure about whether you can do it alone? You don’t have to do it yourself. Contact Techliance today to help you create the most amazing version of your mobile app.
