How Much Does It Cost To Develop An App Like Yelp?

 

With $713 million revenue in the last year, Yelp has become huge and influential. It has evolved fast from a simple website to a multinational corporation and business platform for restaurants, shops, clubs, etc. It launched Yelp mobile app due to the ever-growing use of mobile devices, and now over 70% of traffic come from the mobile app. Today, many strive to develop an App like Yelp to promote businesses.

Before we review the issue of Yelp app cost, we should briefly highlight what is Yelp and what does it do. Basically, it is a service to guide you through city venues, check ratings and leave personal reviews. 

With the mobile application, Yelp became an even more sophisticated tool, making great use of GPS. It helps people instantly find local businesses in their area. Yelp app has also been complemented by augmented reality feature recently.

Yelp app features:

A navigation app, a travel app, a lifestyle app or food and drink app… Yelp fits in all those categories, and that’s what makes it unique. Development of an app like Yelp implies 6 main functionalities:

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1. Reviews:

Writing and checking user reviews of venues, services, food and overall experiences at places of visit. Also, star ratings from 1 to 5.

2. Search nearby:

With GPS on a mobile device, you can open the app and browse venues and services in your area. Or you can browse by category, as well as by exact name or keyword.

3. Directions:

Geolocation tool to navigate users towards places of interest, with information about the address, working hours, photos, etc.

4. Menus:

A great extra feature to view today’s menu of a restaurant or a cafe.

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5. Photos:

To view images of places or services, and leave images along with user reviews.

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6. Check-ins:

Business around an App like Yelp

Real-time mapping and posting to social media accounts about the venue you are at right now.

Now, let’s talk business, shall we? The most common question asked by most of our clients who are looking to develop an app like Yelp is how much would it cost. So here’s a brief costing of the same:

To develop an app like Yelp, the process would include the backend (skeleton of an app), programming the functionality for mobile platforms, design/UX, web application (optional) and testing. Another aspect of Yelp app cost is the method you choose to build an app. Do you do it yourself, hire a freelancer, or start a project with a Mobile Application Development agency? Rates differ, clearly.

For purposes of our Yelp cost estimation, we assume hiring an Application Developer Company. If you search for rates, you’ll see that they range from $25 to $150 per hour. We’ll go around this by taking a median $50 per hour rate to make an app like Yelp. To create a navigation app, four elements would be crucial

• -User profile/authentication
• -Geolocation
• -Reviews/ratings/recommendations
• -Push notifications

Mobile App like Yelp: Development time and cost

Our development experts at Vardhaman Infotech estimate the app development cost calculating Yelp-like app development time. The user’s module, with features like registering, authentication, social logging, main screen, etc., would take about 1500 hours to develop. It also covers things like activity/feed screen, search/browse screen, bookmarks, events, user profile, categories. And finally, place reservations which are also vital to an app like Yelp.

Approximately 500 hours would be needed to build the communication module. This includes messaging, push notifications, Yelp API service, and location service. Additional tasks in making a Yelp clone app could be implementing Facebook API, Google Maps, custom animation and views. And those may require about 500 developer hours. To construct an efficient backend with the minimum effect to the Yelp app cost, developers need at least 200 hours.

Thus, we have a rough estimate of 2900 hours to develop an app like Yelp. Though, it can vary a bit here and there. That is only building an app for platforms like Android or iOS in the Yelp app cost. Don’t forget about design, quality assurance and most of all, the backend.

Now we add up all the components with development time and multiply it by $50 rate, as previously mentioned. Here is the table summing up the aforementioned parts and Yelp app cost:

Cost Chart

Task	Hours	Cost
Backend	200	$10.000
Development	2500	$125.000
Design	100	$5.000
QA / PM	100	$5.000
Total cost (approx.)	2.900	$145.000

Yes, to develop an app like Yelp is going to cost you a rough estimate of $145K. Some might find this an extremely high cost while for some, it might turn out to be extremely economical. Since Yelp did something unique with their mobile app, it could be hard to compete in their category. You could do a simpler navigational app just for one kind of institutions, like retail shops. Or you do an app for a restaurant guide and reservation in your area/country.

And by the way, did we mention we could help you with that? Get in touch with us via email and let’s discuss your app.