Scrums.com logomark
SovTech is now Scrums.com! Same company, new name.
Read more here

How much does it cost to build an app like

How Much Does It Cost To Build An App Like Calm?

Scrums.com is revolutionizing the way growth companies scale their engineering teams. Our platform offers access to top-notch remote software engineering teams at an affordable subscription price.

Get started
Tick box
World-class development teams
Cube icon
Flexible subscriptions
How Much Does It Cost To Build An App Like Calm?
SovTech UK software development
SovTech UK icon clock
statistics

Don't take our word for it

The stats are in our favour. Scrums.com doesn't just help you with your software development teams, we get you results that last.
95%
Sprint completion
82
Net promoter Score
1,200+
Projects delivered
13
Years of software specialistion
SovTech UK software development
SovTech-UK-Leading-Software-Development
SovTech graphic leaf
pricing

How much does it cost to build an app?

How Much Does It Cost To Build An App Like Calm?

App Feature 01
App Feature 02
App Feature 03
App Feature 04
App Feature 05
App Feature 06
Get in touch
Arrow
App development

Develop Credibility and Trust

World-class app development that allows you to start, run and grow your business.

Building a custom app can boost your brand's trust and credibility, ultimately benefiting your business in the long run. We will discuss the following topics:

1. Reputation Management
2. Customer Support and Engagement
3. Data-Driven Decision Making
4. Demonstrating Social Responsibility

A well-made custom app can dramatically improve your brand's marketability and reputation. A trustworthy app will show that you are dedicated to providing top-notch goods and services. As a result of knowing they can rely on you, your clients and business partners will have more faith in you.

A custom app also strengthens your brand identification by demonstrating your professionalism and attention to detail.

Customer Support and Engagement
Blue plus sign

A custom app enables you to offer personalized customer support and engagement, helping you address the unique needs and pain points of your African target market. 

By incorporating in-app support features, such as chatbots, help centres, or direct communication channels, you can provide timely assistance to your users, leading to increased satisfaction and loyalty. 

This level of support also encourages users to share their positive experiences with others, further boosting your brand's credibility.

Data-Driven Decision Making
Blue plus sign

You may get useful user data through custom app creation, giving you insights into user behavior and preferences. You may improve your app and broader business strategy by studying this data and making wise decisions.

Delivering a more individualized experience for your users is made possible by a data-driven strategy. This helps to increase their faith in your brand and ultimately ensures that they will stay visiting.

Demonstrating Social Responsibility
Blue plus sign

Putting money into a customized app that caters to your target market's needs demonstrates your commitment to social responsibility.

You can showcase your brand's dedication to having a beneficial influence by developing an app that takes into account regional difficulties, environmental issues, or social issues that are pertinent to your audience.

This thoughtful approach to app creation not only strengthens the integrity of your brand, but it also appeals to customers who value companies with a clear sense of mission.

Custom App development

Benefits of Custom App Development

World-class app development that allows you to start, run and grow your business.

Imagine custom app development as an expert chef crafting a personalised menu for their restaurant. Just as a meticulously planned and executed meal can leave diners with a memorable culinary experience, a custom app is specifically designed to cater to your business's distinct needs and objectives, leaving a lasting impression on your users. 

Investing in custom app development offers several advantages, including:

  1. Improved user experience
  2. Increased efficiency
  3. Competitive advantage
  4. Higher profitability
  5. Seamless Integration with Existing Systems
  6. Enhanced Flexibility and Adaptability
Improved user experience
Blue plus sign

A custom app allows you to create an interface that is tailored to your target audience, ensuring a seamless and enjoyable experience. By focusing on the preferences and expectations of your users, you can craft an app that not only meets their needs but also delights them with personalized features and intuitive navigation.The best part? If you develop an app that your users love, you ensure that they keep coming back for more and turn them into lifelong customers.

Custom apps can be designed to streamline business processes and boost productivity. By automating repetitive tasks, integrating with existing systems, and providing real-time data access, custom apps empower your team to work more efficiently and make informed decisions quickly, just like a well-tailored suit that enables effortless movement and comfort.

A unique app helps you stand out from the competition and attract more customers. In a world where off-the-shelf solutions are abundant, a custom mobile app acts as a distinctive and exclusive suit that sets you apart in the crowd, showcasing your brand's personality and commitment to providing a superior experience.

A well-designed app can generate increased revenue and improve customer retention. By offering a memorable and engaging user experience, your custom app encourages users to continue using your services and make purchases. It's akin to wearing a sharp, tailored suit that not only grabs attention but also instils trust and confidence in your brand, ultimately resulting in increased profitability.

Custom app development enables seamless integration with your existing systems and third-party applications. This ensures a smooth flow of data between various platforms, enhancing communication and collaboration within your organization. The ability to integrate effortlessly is like having a versatile tool that easily connects and works in harmony with other components in your business ecosystem.

As your business evolves, a custom app can be easily modified or expanded to accommodate changing requirements and market trends. This adaptability is like having a dynamic strategy that can be adjusted and fine-tuned to suit your business's changing needs, ensuring continued relevance and success in an ever-changing environment.The benefits don’t just stop there though. If you want to build trust and credibility with your customers, a custom app is a great way to do so.

App development

Pivoting and Iterating

Investing in custom app development can be expensive, but being open to pivoting and iterating based on market feedback is crucial to ensure long-term success. By adapting your app to the ever-changing needs and preferences of your target market, you can stay ahead of the competition, increase user satisfaction, and maximize your return on investment.

Encourage users to provide feedback and reviews, which will help you identify pain points and areas for improvement. By addressing these concerns, you demonstrate your commitment to serving the unique needs of your users, enhancing your app's credibility and increasing user satisfaction. Tools like in-app surveys, app store reviews, or social media can be used to gather feedback and gauge user sentiment.

Iterate Based on User Data
Blue plus sign

Analyze user behaviour and engagement data to understand how your app is being used and identify potential bottlenecks or areas of friction. By making data-driven decisions, you can prioritize improvements and new features that will resonate with your audience, maximizing the impact of your development budget and efforts.

As you adapt your app based on market feedback, be prepared to allocate resources for ongoing updates and improvements. While this may increase your app's overall cost, the benefits include increased user satisfaction, reduced churn, and ultimately, higher long-term profitability. Regular updates also demonstrate your commitment to delivering a high-quality app experience tailored to your users' needs.

Adopt a flexible, agile development methodology that enables prompt iteration and change in response to market feedback.

Your app will stay relevant and helpful to your target market if you are receptive to user needs and can swiftly pivot and make adjustments.

By prioritizing products and enhancements that have the greatest impact, an agile methodology can also assist you in managing development expenses more successfully.

While it's essential to iterate and adapt your app based on user feedback, it's also crucial to balance this with innovation and forward-thinking. Continuously explore new technologies, trends, and market opportunities to ensure your app stays ahead of the curve and caters to the evolving needs of your user base. By striking the right balance between adaptation and innovation, you can maintain a competitive edge and secure long-term success for your app.

App development

The Importance of UX and UI

Creating an outstanding user experience and design is crucial for a successful app. A well-designed app should be visually appealing, intuitive, and user-friendly.

  1. Consistency: Consistent design elements throughout the app, such as typography, colours, and button styles, create a unified look and feel. This consistency reduces the cognitive load on users, helping them navigate your app with ease and understand its functionality more quickly.
  2. Simplicity: A simple and uncluttered interface reduces distractions and makes it easier for users to focus on the tasks at hand. Strive for a minimalistic design by eliminating unnecessary elements, using whitespace effectively, and prioritizing essential features.
  3. Feedback: Providing feedback, such as visual cues and confirmation messages, helps users understand the results of their actions. This can include animations for button clicks, success messages for completed tasks, or error messages when something goes wrong. Clear feedback enhances user satisfaction and encourages continued use of your app.
  1. Understand your target audience: Research your users' demographics, needs, preferences, and behaviours to tailor your app to their expectations. Conduct surveys, interviews, and usability testing to gather insights that help shape your app's features and design.
  2. Use clear navigation: Intuitive navigation is essential for a positive user experience. Implement well-organized menus, easily accessible search functions, and recognizable icons to help users find their way around your app effortlessly.
  3. Optimize for performance: Fast loading times and smooth performance are critical for user engagement. Optimize your app's code, reduce file sizes, and use efficient algorithms to ensure your app runs quickly and seamlessly on various devices.
The Impact of Good Design on App Adoption and Retention
Blue plus sign

Higher app adoption rates and greater client retention result from spending money on excellent design and user experience. A well-designed app has a higher likelihood of being passed along by users and being used again, which leads to better ratings, word-of-mouth advertising, and long-term success.

App development

Security Considerations for App Development

In today's interconnected digital world, app security is paramount. We take a look at some vital security considerations.

The Privacy Act of 1974 is the primary privacy regulation in America that regulates the sharing of data. The Privacy Act governs how federal agencies may gather, utilize, and disclose personal information. Individuals are given specific rights under it, including the ability to access and update their personal information, and federal agencies are required to protect such data from illegal disclosure.

The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) for health information, the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act (GLBA) for financial information, and the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) for children's online data are just a few federal laws that deal with privacy and data sharing in addition to the Privacy Act. Additionally, each state has its own privacy laws that could offer additional protections.

Keep up with the latest security threats and best practices, such as incorporating multi-factor authentication, securing APIs, and using secure coding practices. Regular security audits and vulnerability assessments can help identify potential weaknesses and protect your app from emerging threats.

Working with Trusted Vendors
Blue plus sign

Select a reputable development partner with a proven track record in security best practices, like Scrums. A reliable vendor will prioritize security throughout the development process and help you build a secure app that meets industry standards and best practices.

Scrums.com provides high quality engineering teams to scaling enterprises at lower costs. Scrums.com designs, builds, deploys and maintains custom software that gives scale-ups the opportunity to grow world-class businesses.

Scrums.com provides high quality engineering teams to scaling enterprises at lower costs. Scrums.com designs, builds, deploys and maintains custom software that gives scale-ups the opportunity to grow world-class businesses.

How much does it cost to build an app?
Blue plus sign
testimonials

Don't take our word for it

Hear it from global businesses like yours
Officebox
"Scrums.com is the best solution for any business who does not have the capacity to scale engineering internally."
Fincheck
FinCheck
"I have found the teams to be extremely obliging when taking on projects. Would highly recommend."
Repobot
"My experience with Scrums.com has been a delight. I look forward to the many more projects together."
MACS Software
“The engineering team I worked with was extremely experienced. They knew exactly how to solve my problems, and did so effortlessly.”
Officebox
"Scrums.com is the best solution for any business who does not have the capacity to scale engineering internally."
Fincheck
FinCheck
"I have found the teams to be extremely obliging when taking on projects. Would highly recommend."
Repobot
"My experience with Scrums.com has been a delight. I look forward to the many more projects together."
MACS Software
“The engineering team I worked with was extremely experienced. They knew exactly how to solve my problems, and did so effortlessly.”
Officebox
"Scrums.com is the best solution for any business who does not have the capacity to scale engineering internally."
Fincheck
FinCheck
"I have found the teams to be extremely obliging when taking on projects. Would highly recommend."
Repobot
"My experience with Scrums.com has been a delight. I look forward to the many more projects together."
MACS Software
“The engineering team I worked with was extremely experienced. They knew exactly how to solve my problems, and did so effortlessly.”
Scale Your Development Team
Faster With Scrums.com
Get in touch and let's get started
Book a Demo
Tick
Cost-effective
Tick
Reliable
Tick
Scalable
Scrums.com logomark
SovTech is now Scrums.com! Same company, new name.
Read more here

How Much Does It Cost To Build An App Like Calm?

Building an app like Calm in the U.S. involves several features, which directly affect the development cost.
How Much Does It Cost To Build An App Like... Hero Image
Reliability

95%

Quality user stories into production rate

Happy customers

82

Net Promoter Score (NPS)

Consistent delivery

1,200+

Successful projects delivered

Work with experts

13

Years of software specialisation

When considering how much it costs to build an app like Calm, it’s essential to account for several unique factors that impact the overall custom app development process. Calm is a popular meditation and wellness app that offers users a variety of guided meditations, sleep stories, and calming music. Developing an app in this niche may seem straightforward, but it comes with specific challenges. These challenges arise from the need to create an intuitive, user-friendly experience, integrate multimedia content, and ensure that the app functions seamlessly on various devices while complying with privacy regulations.

Meditation apps like Calm are part of the wellness industry, which has grown rapidly as more people turn to mobile apps for mental health support, relaxation, and sleep improvement. However, this popularity comes with an array of considerations—how to balance simplicity and functionality, how to ensure the app can handle large amounts of media content without slowing down, and how to provide security and privacy for users.

This article will break down the various cost-driving factors involved in how much it costs to build an app like Calm, including platform compatibility, key features, design considerations, third-party integrations, and the importance of back-end infrastructure. By understanding these factors, you can better estimate the cost and resources needed to bring a meditation app like Calm to life in the U.S. market.

Platform and Device Compatibility

Choosing the right platforms for your meditation app is a crucial decision that affects both development time and costs. The most common choices for mobile apps in the U.S. are iOS and Android. However, meditation apps, like Calm, also need to consider broader compatibility with tablets, wearables, and even smart home devices.

iOS vs. Android:

In the U.S., both iOS and Android are popular, but iOS users tend to engage more with wellness and meditation apps. With a higher disposable income and greater engagement with wellness apps, iOS development may need to be prioritized. However, Android, with its larger market share, should not be overlooked. Developing for both platforms typically increases the cost, as each platform requires a different coding language (Swift for iOS and Kotlin or Java for Android) and development environment.

For apps like Calm, which depend on rich media like audio and video content, ensuring compatibility across both platforms can take extra time and resources. It’s important to consider the device fragmentation on Android, which can result in additional development complexity.

Expanding Beyond Mobile:

In addition to mobile apps, you might consider extending your Calm-like app to other devices such as tablets, wearables (e.g., Apple Watch), or smart home integrations (like Amazon Alexa). Wearable devices, in particular, are becoming popular in the wellness space, offering users the convenience of tracking meditation and mindfulness exercises on the go.

While extending compatibility to other platforms is a great way to increase user engagement, it does come at a cost. Each platform requires a specific version of the app to be developed, tested, and maintained. This adds to the overall cost, especially when incorporating wearable device capabilities like heart rate monitoring, haptic feedback, or sleep tracking.

Basic Features
Plus icon
Intermediate Features
Plus icon
Advanced Features
Plus icon
Looking for the most value for money app development?
Join over 400+ companies already growing with Scrums.com.

Design and User Experience (UX/UI)

The design of a meditation app like Calm is central to its success. Users are seeking a relaxing, stress-free experience, and the design should reflect that. An app that is overly complicated to navigate will not only lose users but also damage its reputation.

U.S. User Preferences:

For US consumers, especially those interested in wellness apps, simplicity and minimalism in design are key. Calm’s aesthetic is sleek and soothing, with a focus on calming colors and simple interfaces. When designing your meditation app, consider the psychological effects of colors and visuals. Soft blues, greens, and earth tones are commonly used in wellness apps to evoke calmness and relaxation.

User behavior also plays a role. U.S. consumers value personalization and efficiency. Incorporating features that allow users to personalize their experience, such as saving favorite sessions or creating custom playlists, can help engage them.

However, focusing heavily on intricate design elements may increase the cost due to the need for more detailed wireframes, prototyping, and user testing. High-quality design that provides a calm and immersive experience requires additional resources and expertise, but the payoff in user retention and engagement is often well worth the investment.

Integrations with Third-Party Services or External Systems

A Calm-like app often requires integration with third-party services to provide functionality like payments, streaming, or social features.

For example, integrating payment systems such as Stripe or PayPal allows users to subscribe to premium content. This integration needs to be secure and comply with financial regulations, which can increase development time and costs. Additionally, you might want to integrate with music streaming services (like Spotify) for added audio content or audio effects.

Moreover, meditation apps may need to integrate with fitness devices, such as Fitbit or Apple Health, to sync wellness data like heart rate, activity levels, and sleep patterns. These integrations require specialized APIs and additional backend work to ensure smooth data flow and synchronization across devices.

Database & Back-End Infrastructure

A solid backend infrastructure is essential for an app like Calm, especially when handling large media files such as audio and video. This infrastructure must be able to support content streaming without interruptions or delays, even when the app scales to millions of users.

For a Calm-like app, cloud services like Amazon Web Services (AWS), Google Cloud, or Microsoft Azure are commonly used to handle media storage, user data, and scalability. These platforms provide the necessary tools to manage large amounts of data securely while ensuring fast retrieval times for users. The use of content delivery networks (CDNs) is also crucial to ensure that audio and video files are delivered efficiently to users, reducing latency and improving the user experience.

Data security is also paramount. You’ll need to ensure that the user's personal information and payment data are securely stored and transmitted, which adds to the back-end complexity.

Ongoing Maintenance and Updates

Once your Calm-like app is live, it will require ongoing maintenance to ensure smooth operation, user satisfaction, and compliance with changing regulations.

For example, you’ll need to regularly update the app to keep up with the latest versions of mobile operating systems (iOS and Android), fix bugs, and introduce new features or content. Meditation apps like Calm often release new content, such as meditation sessions, sleep stories, or music tracks, which keeps users engaged and ensures they have fresh material to enjoy.

Additionally, apps that handle user data must remain compliant with privacy regulations such as the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) or the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA). This means that the app may need updates to accommodate changes in data protection laws, adding to the overall maintenance costs.

Team Expertise and Location

Developing an app like Calm requires a team with specialized expertise in various areas. For example, you’ll need app developers with experience in audio and video streaming technologies, UX/UI designers who specialize in wellness apps, and back-end developers who can create scalable systems for handling large media files.

The expertise required to develop a Calm-like app often involves a combination of mobile development, cloud computing, audio engineering, and AI/machine learning (for personalized experiences). Depending on the complexity of the features you wish to include, you may need to work with experts in sound design, biometric data integration, or mindfulness-based user experience.

The location of your development team can also impact costs. U.S.-based teams typically have a higher hourly rate, but they offer the advantage of local knowledge about the U.S. market and user preferences. Offshore teams may offer lower rates, but managing the communication and ensuring quality can be more challenging.

Hidden Costs & Miscellaneous Factors

QA & Testing: Quality assurance (QA) testing for a Calm-like app is essential to ensure that all features work correctly, especially given the app’s reliance on media streaming and personalized recommendations. Testing is necessary for both functionality and security, particularly as the app handles user data. QA testing requires specialized resources, which can add to the development cost.

App Store Fees and Guidelines: Launching your app on the Apple App Store or Google Play Store incurs submission fees, as well as adherence to specific App Store guidelines. These fees can vary based on the platform, and app store policies can change frequently, meaning ongoing costs for compliance and updates.

Legal and Compliance Costs: As with any app that handles user data, ensuring compliance with data privacy laws like GDPR and CCPA is a critical consideration. Legal fees for ensuring compliance with these regulations, as well as any licensing fees for third-party content (e.g., music or meditation tracks), will impact the overall cost of development.

What Makes Developing a Calm-Like App Unique?

Building an app like Calm comes with unique challenges due to the integration of rich media content, real-time streaming, and the need for a highly intuitive user experience. U.S. users demand simplicity, personalization, and seamless access to calming content, all of which require careful design and sophisticated back-end architecture.

Additionally, the wellness and mental health industry has its own set of regulations and content standards, particularly concerning data privacy and the use of third-party content. These considerations make the development of a Calm-like app a unique project that requires expertise in both technology and the wellness space.

Want to see your app idea brought to life? 

At Scrums.com, our expert team of U.S.-focused developers can customize your project, advising you on the most efficient ways to build your app. Whether it's a wellness app, social platform, or fintech tool, we're here to create something exceptional. Reach out for a custom development estimate today, and let’s turn your vision into reality!