Once your project requires a mobile app, you have several alternatives. You can create by yourself, hire some people, or even ask some help from a company focusing on mobile app development. Here are some things to consider to find the best choice among those alternatives.
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The project
The title might be a bit broad, but it refers to the project’s scale and timeline. The advanced and multi-feature app surely takes more people and expertise. It also needs to consider when the development process starts and when it should end. You can create a timeline with targets, human resources, or developers to help. In case, you are planning to build a mobile app, then you can also read this app development checklist here.
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The budget
As the quote says, ‘quality comes with a price’; the budget for your project could determine how many people could be in your project. As an overview, many online articles show mobile app development costs. Then you can arrange the budget so the target project can be met.
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The resources
To develop an app, various resources are needed, such as human resources (developers, analysts, managers, etc.) and non-human resources (hardware, programming apps, design apps, etc.). When you are equipped with more non-human resources, hiring freelancers is better than hiring a company.
Yet, the app development company will help you better if you are limited in resources.
Apart from those factors, there are pros and cons to make you more sure in choosing between the alternatives. Again, consider your condition and the project and reflect on each alternative. Then decide which one works best.
Mobile app development freelancers:
Pros:
- Flexible with a budget and tends to cost less than a company. There are various online freelancers with amazing portfolios and varied rates. You can choose the one that suits the project and budget.
- Better communication and connection. As you can go one-to-one with the freelancers, you can communicate your goals and ideas more clearly to them.
- They usually are multi-talent and full stack. At least, most know a bit about each area in the app developmentfield (back end, front end, UI, UX, QA, cybersecurity, and more).
Cons:
- They have a higher risk. They can still run off in the middle of the project due to any issue. Then it would help if you started again finding another developer that might continue or even start over the app developmentproject.
- Short-term work and work quality. As they work only in a certain range of time, they might only do their work without paying detailed attention to the quality. Once their job is done, they are not responsible for fixing bugs or any further problems.
Mobile app development company:
Pros:
- Most companies give guaranteed quality. So once the project is over, you can still get back to them and ask for revisions. They’re serious about handling a project as they are concerned about returning clients.
- The workload is clearer as they want to sign a non-disclosure agreement and other contracts.
- Most companies consist of varied and skilled employees in various areas. They can handle any project or problems in app development.
Cons:
- They are more expensive. Though you can negotiate about the prices, the rates are mostly higher than hiring freelancers.
- Even simple projects still require more documentation and paperwork.
