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

Developing a custom mobile app for renowned global fast-food chains, such as the McDonald’s App, comes with distinct challenges due to its complexity in integrating features like mobile ordering, location-based services, loyalty programs, and real-time order tracking.

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Fast-food apps like McDonald’s, designed to streamline customer interaction, must maintain high reliability, fast processing, and real-time order updating. Considering the United States consumer market, where convenience is paramount, a unique set of customizations is also demanded. In addition, there is a need for a seamless user experience (UX) across platforms like iOS and Android, the implementation of secure digital payment systems, and the development process becoming more expensive than standard apps.

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In this article, we’ll present a roadmap for understanding the key factors that influence the cost of developing a McDonald’s-like app, dissect the features you need to consider and examine the technical complexities that arise during the development of such an app, particularly in the United States market.

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Platform and Device Compatibility

Platform selection is a critical factor affecting custom app development costs for a McDonald' s-style app. In the United States, where users predominantly favor iOS and Android, ensuring compatibility across both platforms significantly impacts the scope and cost of building an app like this.

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iOS Platform Development

Apple devices hold a notable market share in the United States, making iOS development crucial for such an app. Developing for iOS involves meeting strict App Store guidelines, integrating with Apple Pay, and designing a seamless interface across iPhone and iPad devices. Additionally, using Apple’s location-based services necessitates integrating the Apple Maps API. These requirements add to the app development cost by increasing the testing and design complexity.

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Android Platform Development

Android development involves unique challenges. Due to the wide variety of devices and manufacturers, building a consistent and high-performing app requires more extensive device compatibility testing than iOS. Ensuring smooth functionality across Android models adds technical work, thus raising the app development cost.

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Wearable and Web Extensions

Supporting additional devices like smartwatches and creating a desktop version further increases development costs. Wearable integration is essential, allowing users to check order statuses on Apple Watch or Google Wear. Extending the app to web or desktop platforms also increases the custom app development requirements, as creating a unified cross-platform experience demands additional expertise and time.

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A fast-food app focused on the United States must support iOS and Android. Incorporating wearables or web features increases the cost of building an app.

Design and User Experience (UX/UI)

The UX/UI needs to emphasize simplicity, speed, and seamlessness for an app like McDonald's. In the United States, consumers expect a sleek yet intuitive design that guides them through what can often be high-stakes interactions: ordering food on the go, storing payment data, and earning rewards—all without confusion.

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Critical UI/UX Components

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• Ease of Navigation: Menus must be easy to access. The user should be able to find, customize, and order items in a minimal number of taps. For example, McDonald's organizes the menu through clickable categories with intuitive placements.
• Brand Consistency: The app must reflect McDonald’s iconic branding—app colors, fonts, and menu icons must match its in-store experience. This attention to detail enhances customer satisfaction and ensures seamless touchpoints between in-app interaction and in-store branding.
• Localization for United States Users: The United States users expect regionalized app versions catered to their locations. Promotional imagery, menu options, and region-specific discounts might differ based on geography, adding another layer of design complexity.

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While United States users expect top-notch design, more focus on aesthetics with meaningful user flow could drive up costs without adding actual business value. Well-executed UX/UI contributes to long-term user retention and escalates design investment during the development cycle.

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Integrations with Third-Party Services or External Systems

Third-party services are prevalent in most modern apps, and a McDonald’s-like app requires numerous integrations to offer its full suite of functionality.

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Payment Gateways

Choosing and integrating payment gateways like Apple Pay, Google Pay, Stripe, or PayPal is essential to United States app users. The more payment options your app supports, the costlier the integration process becomes—primarily because such services must meet PCI-DSS compliance to safeguard payment data.

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Geolocation Services

Most mobile food ordering apps rely on third-party mapping APIs, such as Apple and Google Maps, for restaurant locations, drive-thru directions, and deliveries. Real-time integration with these systems allows consumers to quickly find McDonald’s establishments in the United States. Further extensions require that the app adhere to technical and legal complexities associated with data privacy regulations covering location broadcasting.

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Order Delivery Systems

A McDonald's-like app will also need deep-reaching integrations with delivery platforms like Uber Eats and DoorDash (which are very prevalent in the United States). These services move real-time data between servers and delivery partners, providing tracking information and delivery updates to the end user.

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Third-party services that power these features add to backend complexity and licensing costs. Third-party support and customization also increase overall project costs.

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Database & Back-End Infrastructure

A McDonald's-like app must rely on robust, scalable, and secure back-end architecture to cater to a large and varied audience across the United States. It must handle everything from real-time order tracking to managing loyalty points.

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Real-time Syncing: Ensuring mobile orders sync to various McDonald’s locations, servers, or kitchens instantly requires real-time databases and notification systems. These systems must support:

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• Real-time data updating: Instantly pushing orders from mobile devices to restaurant kitchen systems.
• Global Reliability: The broader McDonald’s ecosystem requires a solid cloud infrastructure, such as AWS or Google Cloud, which is known for providing scalable, reliable services to users across different regions of the United States.

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Given the vast amount of data this architecture needs to handle—not only order numbers but also menus, preferences, and payment details—back-end complexities significantly drive up development costs.

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Ongoing Maintenance and Updates

Once launched, a McDonald’s app needs continuous updates for relevance, enhancement, and security, which drives continual investment beyond initial development.

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Feature Addition and Refinement

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Ongoing updates may be necessary to:

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• Enhance loyalty programs: Adapt the app to accommodate new offers, seasonal promos, or points structures.
• Integration of New Payment Methods: As new payment options and technologies (like blockchain or crypto wallets ) become more prominent, the app infrastructure must adapt.

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Security and Data Privacy

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Data breaches and cybersecurity threats make app security patches a high priority. Compliance with data protection regulations like the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) adds additional responsibility for United States-based businesses. Protecting sensitive user data with up-to-date encryption impacts the extended cost of security audits and updates.

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Team Expertise and Location

Creating an app at the scale of McDonald’s requires a fully integrated development team equipped with expertise in mobile apps, cloud infrastructure, AI, security, and payment systems. At the minimum, the core team should include:

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• App Developers (iOS, Android): Required for platform-specific coding.
• UI/UX Designers: Focused on creating a seamless and brand-centric experience.
• Backend Architects: Well-versed in replicating orders across production-ready cloud infrastructures.
• QA Engineers: Ensures faultless functionality across all devices, including real-time errors and usability testing.

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While the United States offers access to world-class developers, location factors such as developer pay rates significantly influence the cost. Expert United States-based developers command higher salaries but offer proximity to United States consumer insights and trends. Alternatively, offshore development offers a cost-saving route but introduces communication gaps and potential cultural factors that slow decision-making on UX/UI personalization needed for a United States market.

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Hidden Costs & Miscellaneous Factors

Developing an app like McDonald’s involves hidden costs that shouldn't be ignored.

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QA & Testing: Due to its extensive user base, you’ll need exhaustive testing for functionality, orders, notifications, and multiple payment security points. United States-focused testing might include ensuring peak-time order handling and network stress testing on both Android and iOS devices, which can accumulate tremendous hiring or third-party testing costs.

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App Store Fees and Guidelines: Launching apps on United States-based app stores comes with additional fees. Apple Store and Google Play charge various fees for listing and maintaining apps, and both platforms take commissions on in-app purchases. Apple's well-known 30% in-app transaction fee can add significant costs over time, depending on the number of users and transactions.

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Legal and Compliance Costs: Depending on the features, handling user data raises regulatory concerns, especially when using a data-intensive app like McDonald’s. Federal regulations in the United States, such as the COPPA (Children's Online Privacy Protection Act), target children’s experiences, and regional regulations like CCPA influence legal costs. Legal consultations and custom-built compliance infrastructure add unforeseen scope to your initial cost projections.

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What Makes This App Category Unique in Terms of Development

A McDonald' s-like app is a unique class of software development for many reasons. Unlike a single-purpose app, fast food systems need to cater to a variety of functionalities, from simple food ordering to advanced features like real-time delivery tracking, loyalty systems, and in-app payments—all underpinned by a large-scale database.

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The United States customer engagement landscape for fast-food apps is highly competitive. Fast-food businesses must ensure their apps cater to high-order volumes, rigorous demands for instantaneous service, and user-friendly interfaces. Rising trends in the United States market show a growing focus on loyalty systems and mobile payments, ensuring these features are mandatory when developing for this sector.

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Crafting an intuitive yet complex mobile experience for McDonald’s demands solid architecture, secure payment systems, and advanced user engagement methodologies. Developers with expertise in fast-food digitization, familiarity with United States-based third-party systems, and app localization for United States laws and trends give a brand the needed competitive edge.

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Want to see your app idea brought to life? 

At Scrums.com, our expert United States-focused developers can customize your next project and advise on the most efficient ways to build your app. Whether you aim to create a fast-food app, fintech tool, or social media platform, we’re here to help you create something exceptional. Reach out for a custom development estimate today, and let’s turn your vision into reality!