Pinterest is one of the most budding social media networks that inspires users and enables them to discover and save ideas about their passions and hobbies. From home decor to travel and fashion to wildlife, it allows users to organize and save their preferred videos and images onto virtual "pins". It uses technology such as Machine Learning algorithms that sort content in sync with the user's preferences and history.
Since its origination, Pinterest has received numerous awards and has a user base of around 443 million active users. It has become the crucial element of several brands' product discovery journeys.
Therefore, it makes sense for businesses to invest in and develop an app like Pinterest to earn lucrative revenues. The article will discuss and illuminate the key steps essential for developing apps like Pinterest. Let’s understand “how much does pinterest app cost” with us.
What is Pinterest and How Does it Work?
Pinterest is one of emerging social media platforms, which act as online pinboard. It presents its users different photos and videos of whatever they are interested in. Pinterest was created in 2010 working to enable usage of photos worldwide. Pinterest is one of the few largest social media platforms where users can save, discover and share photos and videos for their interest.
For example, if someone is interested in finding out which decoration for home is better, they can use Pinterest to find many different photos online, and then choose the best option for themselves.
In Pinterest, one can make boards that save images and videos, or ‘pins’, from around the internet. One can also organize these boards by categories by their choice, and follow other users or boards of people who like the same things for new information and inspiration to save.
Pinterest uses an algorithm that uses the content a user has pinned, repinned or viewed. Based on their interests and other information, it selects items for the users to show on their home feed. Pinterest also encourages users to conduct transactions through its platform. With embedded elements like ‘Shop the Look’ to promote the purchase of products featured in images, or with tools like the ‘Lens Camera Search’.
In the upcoming section of the blog we will explore how much does pinterest app cost.
Key Cost Factors for Developing a Pinterest-like App
When you start working on developing a Pinterest-like app, understanding the key cost factors is essential to budget effectively and make informed decisions. Here’s a breakdown of the crucial elements that influence pinterest app cost:
Concept & Design
The initial phase consists of extensive research and design, which can significantly impact the overall cost of the application development. A well-thought-out user interface and user experience design (UI&UX) are critical, as they ensure user engagement. Design complexities and the number of app screens increase the pinterest app cost, typically accounting for about 15% of the total development expenses.
Development
The significant cost in app creation lies in the development phase, which includes both frontend and backend development. This stage utilizes approx. 60% of the total budget and the choices between using a monolithic or microservices architecture for the backend can also affect pinterest app cost, with microservices generally being more cost-effective.
Features & Functionality
The complexity of features is a major cost driver. Basic functionalities like user profiles, image uploads, and search capabilities are essential, but more advanced features like social sharing and discovery algorithms increase development time and costs. Each additional feature adds complexity and requires more time to develop, increasing the overall cost.
Third-Party Integrations
The use of third-party services by businesses that deal with payment gateway, data analytics, or promoting content through social media sharing can lead to a decrease in development cost and time. On top of that, these third-party integrations must be implemented with utmost diligence as they could be extremely diverse in terms of cost and difficulty.
Testing and QA
Testing and auditing is one of the most important parts to check faulty free and user-friendly applications. This step points out any errors as well as user experience issues, which is almost 10% of the whole development cost. The project's needs might dictate either manual or automated methods differently.
Maintenance and Updates
The app should be regularly updated and added with new features, bugs fixed, and remain compatible with the new mobile operating systems to keep it running after it was launched. The continuous cost of this can vary from 15% to 20% of the initial development expense per annum.
Understanding the above-mentioned factors can help you navigate the challenges of building an application like Pinterest and ensure your finance department allocates the budget efficiently.
Estimated Costs for Different Development Stages
Understanding the required cost at different development stages of running a Pinterest-like application is a vital point for the development of the app. Below you will have an idea for the distribution of the estimated costs of the different stages of app development.
Initial Development: $58,000 – $80,000
The initial development stage encompasses all UI design and backend coding which is the core of the production. This phase of the project is the most demanding in terms of resource consumption, hence you have to allocate a significant amount of budget for this phase. The U.S. alone needs to set aside $58,000 to $80,000 to develop a unique and robust social media portal of Pinterest. Both frontend and backend development work are featured in the above costs, which are necessary to make the platform strong and scalable.
Maintenance (Annual): $10,000 – $20,000/year
Keeping the seamless running is an important aspect of delivering it to the customers. The industry standard states that the yearly expense of keeping an app working varies between 15% to 20% of the initial development costs. Thus, for a Pinterest-like app, the amount approximately comes to $10,000 to $20,000 per year. The maintenance cost includes bug fixes, compatibility updates, and other necessary corrections that are required to improve user experience and app performance.
Updates and Enhancements: $5,000 – $15,000/update
To continue to attract and combine the most recent trends that improve and increase your app-use, apps need to be updated and polished from time to time. An update can be the reason for additional spending of $5,000-15,000. It encompasses the development of new features, refinement of the functionality by incorporating the latest technologies to satisfy the user requirements.
You may strategically best use the discussed costs to learn how to allocate your funds and plan for the development and maintenance of your Pinterest-like app.
Detailed Cost Breakdown by Features
The cost of developing an app like Pinterest varies greatly depending on the specific features you select. Each feature not only enhances the user experience but also sets the stage of the development time and the budget. Here’s a closer look at the costs associated with key features of a Pinterest-like app:
User Profiles
User profile creation is one of the most basic features. It means, users should be allowed to register, log in, view and update their information. For the simple ones, the dev cost is within this range $3000-8000 only.
Image/Video Uploading
One of the main features of a Pinterest-like app is the opportunity to upload files such as images and videos. This component needs solid backend services for storage, processing, and display. The pinterest app cost for these services may vary from $5,000 to $15,000, depending on the necessary high-resolution support as well as the number of content items managed.
Content Discovery
Advanced search algorithms along with discovery functionalities are essential to achieve user engagement. A good combination of finding, tagging, categorizing, and filtering with a focused system can be between $10,000 and $20,000.
Impact of Location and Team Size on Costs
Location of Agency
The cost of developing a Pinterest-type application varies a great deal with the geographical location of the development agency. For example, American, British, or Australian companies based in expensive regions are typically more expensive with rates at around $100 per hour. Yet, with places like India, they provide for developing cheaper platforms, which are usually at around $30-49 per hour. The discrepancy in hourly rates that has risen between the two regions can absolutely transform the concept for your app development and as a result, it becomes a wise option to diversify from the high cost regions towards the low price ones.
Team Size (Managers, TL, Developers, Designers)
You would not be the only one considering the team structure and the size of it to be the most vital determinants of the total cost. For a basic team working on a project like the one similar to Pinterest, you might need a Project Manager, a Team Leader, two Client-Side Developers, two Server-Side Developers, a QA Engineer, and two UI/UX Designers. More complex and feature-rich projects will for sure require larger teams, which in turn results in a significant raise of pinterest app cost of the developments. Thus, every new member of a team constitutes an additional labor force and prolongation of project cycles and the resources required for the project.
Wrapping Up
Above, we have explored the diverse aspects of the cost of a Pinterest-like app development, making the cost understandable in every aspect. Starting from the design and development stages and ending with the specifics of incorporating certain features and the location and team structure on the final budget, it is obvious that a project like this can only be achieved if a satisfying budget is in place and if it is planned out well.
Every stage, from primary development to later maintenance, evolves through the insightful incorporation of both cost factors and the functioning of both cost efficiency and functionality, which successively point startups/persons to the appropriate pathway for entering a market.
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Get in touch with our experts to know how much the Pinterest app costs.