How Much does it Cost to Create a Snapchat Clone?

In this article, you will learn about the estimated cost of building an app like Snapchat. We will tell you how much it costs on average to develop an application with similar functionality and largely similar design, as well as how much time and money it can take to implement individual Snapchat functions.

Cost of launching a Snapchat clone

Market Research Cost. If you just build an app like Snapchat and put it on the market, the project is unlikely to be successful, as users are unlikely to want to switch to a Snapchat clone if they are already using the original. Therefore, before moving on to development, you need to conduct a market and target audience analysis in order to find out which product with which focus, functionality and design people will like.

The cost of such studies depends on the depth of analysis:

• Top-level report. Cost: from $ 100 to $ 1,000. A report of this level will provide answers to questions such as market size, the presence of competitors (their pros and cons), and the main trends. Also, the top-level report usually contains a brief summary of the development history of the selected niche.
• Complete market reports. Cost: from $ 1,500 to $ 8,000 (companies typically pay from $ 3,500 to $ 4,000). Such documents contain a detailed description of the industry and its subcategories, data on the current state of the market, a detailed analysis of competitors, the main trends and forecasts for the development of the industry as a whole and in some priority areas. Also, such a document usually contains a forecast of the possibility of new trends.
• Detailed market reports on the product. Cost: from $ 15,000 - $ 35,000. Provide in-depth information about the current state of the industry, target audience (categories, demographics, values, habits), trends for individual products/services (which exist and which may arise, their possible impact on the market, competitors and target audience).

But keep in mind that not only the complexity but also the type of platform can affect the cost of developing an application design. For example, the design of an iOS application is more expensive because of the strict rules that Apple sets for all applications in their mobile store. But, designing an Android application can also be quite difficult, as it will need to adapt the design to many Android OS versions and a wide range of screen resolutions.

Here are the milestones and cost of creating a Snapchat clone design:

• Frame development usually takes from 14 to 140 hours. If we assume a designer's hourly rate is $ 50 per hour, we get an approximate cost between $ 700 and $ 7,000.
• User interface design requires from 14 to 210 hours depending on the requirements for it. With the above hourly rate, the cost of an interface design would be $ 700-10,500.
• The UX design process takes from 7 to 200 hours, so the cost of designing it ranges from $ 350 to $ 10,000.

The spread in cost is due to two factors: the location of the developer company and the number of features (complexity). The location of the tech partner is important as the hourly rate for developers in different countries can be very different. So, according to the analysis of Cleveroad, in 2020 the lowest hourly rate was for developers from Africa and Asia - $ 26.5 per hour, while specialists from the United States receive $ 178 per hour. Developers from Eastern Europe occupy the middle positions - about $ 35 per hour.

As for the complexity of development, it is conventionally divided into the creation of a simple, moderate and complex full-featured application. For example, a simple Snapchat clone will have a standard simple interface and only the most necessary functions for a messenger: registration, text chat, emoticons and the ability to add pictures to messages. A full-fledged Snapchat clone will have all the functions of the original - from automatic deletion of read messages to a variety of lenses and filters for communication via video calls.

Here is the cost of creating a clone based on its complexity and the location of the developer company.

Cost of creating basic Snapchat clone features

Registration, log in. You can sign in to Snapchat with your phone number, Facebook account, or create a new account using your email and unique password. Here, the application offers to immediately configure your avatar, BitMoji, and general parameters such as visibility, notification policy and privacy restrictions. This functionality will require from 25 to 50 hours of development, depending on the type of registration and login.

Built-in messenger. In Snapchat, in addition to exchanging regular text messages, users can also exchange photos and short videos that can be edited inside the app. It takes from 320 hours to create this function (most of the time will be spent on the editor functionality).

Taking photos and videos. The main idea behind Snapchat is to help users create visual content quickly and then send it to friends or share it with the public. This requires integration with the camera and smartphone gallery, which requires about 60 hours of development.

The cost of creating 10 functions, which made popular Snapchat

Deleting messages. Self-destructing messages immediately after reading is the main feature of the Snapchat app. If you opened a friend's video but did not see (or read) anything, then you have no second chance to find out what was there. The time after which the message will self-destruct is set by the sender. To implement this function, you need from 40 hours of work or from $ 1,400.

Video / audio calls. With the Chat 2.0 update, Snapchat now has the ability to make audio and video calls. In addition, this update also introduced the function of sending voice and video notes to friends, just like you send regular pictures. To implement these functions in a Snapchat clone, it takes 150 hours or more, since you need to ensure the maximum transfer rate of media content while maintaining its high quality.

Adding friends. In most instant messengers, you can add new friends using their username or phone number, while in Snapchat there are two more original ways: using a snapcode (located on the user's page) or by adding people near you. It takes from 50 hours.

Geolocation. Developers can use Apple MapKit or Google Location SDK to add people location functionality to the messenger. For example, to tell friends where you are and what you are doing, or to use geofilters. Integration with GPS sensors and maps takes about 40 hours.

Geofilters. The app uses a smartphone location tracker to geotag media content. In other words, you can only use some stickers and lenses in certain places, for example, inside McDonald's or KFC. The cost of implementing this feature in a Snapchat clone is from $ 1,750 since it takes 50 hours or more to develop it.

Snapcash. It is a financial addition to the original Snapchat app that allows users to make payments and send money to their friends within messages. It takes 25 hours to complete.

Stories. These are several pictures or short videos that are visible to all of the user's friends and that disappear after a day. They play without interruption, forcing the user to watch them non-stop. The development of such a function takes from 100 hours or from 5 250 to 26 700 dollars, depending on the country of the executor.

Discover. These are the same story collections but from different editorial teams (for example, National Geographic, CNN, Nike, MTV, or others). The selection of such stories is individual for each user. The sample is based on people's preferences and the history of their past views. The main task of this function is to advertise goods/services and increase brand awareness.

Lenses. An excellent way to raise your mood. Users are offered a set of different filters that are applied to their image and video. It can be the ears and nose of a panda or a fox, hearts instead of eyes, or a lens that makes you something between the undead and the walker from Game of Thrones.

Snaps. This is another of the key features of Snapchat that has made the app so popular. Although, in essence, these are just photo, video or text messages that users can edit and send to each other. However, people really enjoy sharing funny self-destructing snaps and appreciate the ability to edit their multimedia messages with many interesting filters.

If you want to create an app like Snapchat, think of a few interesting, unique tricks that can be implemented in a clone of this feature. To make snaps made in your messenger go viral and people show off on Facebook and Instagram, as well as the original Snapchat.