How Much Does It Cost To Develop An App In Malaysia?

We live in a world where everyone is on their phone, tablet or computer for everything. It's important that these devices have great user experiences so people can be as productive and convenient with them as possible! If you've been living in a city like Kuala Lumpur you've seen just how glued people are to their phones whether they are at a restaurant, cafe, or even on the KL monorail. Almost everything is done digitally and things will continue to move more digital as companies and governments start to realize the benefits and ease thereof. Because of this shift towards digital there is a huge opening of opportunities to anyone willing to put in the work and create something beneficial to others and society.

Creating an app can range in price depending on where you live, what kind of experience and reputation your developer has had with other clients before, as well as location. Though India ranks at the bottom end for pricing per hour compared to US based developers who charge around 150 dollars or more; Malaysia is much cheaper but their standards are also rather high so developing your app in Malaysia is a great move.

Factors that affect the app development cost in Malaysia

If you've been planning to develop an app for your company you've probably reached out to a few app developers for a quote. There should be some similarities, but in the most part they will charge different amounts to build your project. There are several reasons for this.

Some price affecting factors are determined by your needs. For example, what features you need in the app, how complex and custom those features are, and also how quickly you need the app to be developed. While other factors depend on the developer. For example the location matters. Developing an app in Malaysia, is cheaper than Singapore, Hong Kong, Australia, the United Kingdom, and the United States. The reason for this is simply because app developers charge based on the resources and time they allocate to a project. In Malaysia salaries of software developers, designers, managers are less than in the above mentioned countries, so the overall development cost will also be lower.

App development costs in Malaysia by complexity

1. Simple Apps: RM 20 000 - 80 000
2. Moderate Apps: RM 80 000 - 150 000
3. Complex Apps: RM 150 000+

Types of apps and the cost to develop them in Malaysia

Informational Apps

Informational apps provide a constantly updated stream of information about businesses and topics that you're interested in. You can read through the text, which is either predefined or customizable so it changes periodically with new updates available for purchase within certain intervals - this will depend on what type your preference falls under! The cost to develop one of these apps will be around RM 30 000 - 120 000.

To go into more detail an informational app could be something like a fitness app with guides on how to do certain exercises, a recipe book that lists certain recipes, or a conference app with useful information such as lineups and a map of the venue. Having the information and ready makes the app quite simple, but if you need the data to be updated it adds some additional complexity to the project because you need to build the database and interface to make those changes and that will add to the development cost.

An example of an informational app in Malaysia is Muslim Pro. A large portion of Malaysians follow the muslim religion and the religious book used is called the Quran. Muslim Pro provides digital access to the Quran in text and voice formats and in multiple languages. A typical informational app includes some sort of hard coded information like this where the users can reference it using the app. The app might make use of modern designs to improve the experience, but the underlying principle is to read the Quran digitally. Muslim Pro does take it a few steps further by adding features like prayer reminders, fasting times, the Muslim calendar and many other important things that could be helpful to anyone taking up the Muslim religion. Of course the more of these extra features the app has, the more it would cost to develop.

Social Apps

Social apps are the best way to get in touch with people around you. Some examples of social media include Facebook, Instagram and TikTok among many others! Simply choose what type of communication that suits your needs from text messages all the way up to video chatting via Zoom or Facebook Messenger while less active users may want something more casual like Twitter where they will be able chat about anything without feeling too pressured into one specific topic at any given time. The cost of a social app is around RM 50 000 - 200 000.

Social apps could be community based like Tik Tok and Instagram where users can create a profile and then upload some sort of content. It could be text, voice, image or video. Others users are then able to view and interact with the content. It is usually in the form of likes and comments. And social apps could also be communication based such as Whatsapp, Telegram, WeChat, or Facebook Messenger. These apps allow users to sign up and create a profile and then communicate to other people who have an account on the platform. These apps rely on instant messaging so setting up a realtime database ans push notifications are essential. Because of the complexity behind that, the cost of developing a full fledged instant messaging app in Malaysia can be quite high. Another example of a social app, could be a dating app like Tinder. Tinder allows users to create profiles and then match with other users. After matching they are able to chat with one another.

Omi is an app for making friends or dating. This can be considered a social app that is quite popular in Malaysia. To use Omi, you need to create an account. This involves adding some photos of yourself, writing a bio and filling in some additional details. All users are required to do this. And now they can interact with each other. In Omi they can view other profiles and swipe yes or no in order to match with people they want to connect with. Once matched up users will be able to chat via messaging and calling. So basically if users create accounts and interact with one another, the app is going to have a social aspect to it. Now the more ways they interact with each other, means adding more features and increasing the price of the app. Also some features like live video chat will be more complex than text messaging. So complexity of features also contribute to the the development cost as it would take more time and expertise to implement.

Marketplace Apps

Marketplace apps are the go-to for connecting people who have needs or wants in common. For instance, if you're looking to buy something from someone but they need some extra time before making their decision then this could be an app where both parties involved would meet up at one point of contact! Think Grab, Shopee, Klook, and even Agoda. The cost of a marketplace app is around RM 50 000 to 200 000.

If you want to order something online in Malaysia, the go to platform is Shopee. Shopee allows sellers to create a store and list products. People can then browse these products and purchase and rate them. Similarly Klook allows businesses to list tour packages and people can then browse and purchase them. In both of those cases you have a platform that lists a bunch of products and allows people to create a profile, add these items to their cart and then purchase them. Essentially acting as the middleman between buyers and sellers. The price of these platforms vary in terms of the kind of features and the complexity of them. When quoting a marketplace app, questions such as does it have a map, how are payments made and do products require reviews will come up.

Foodpanda doesn't sell their own products. They let merchants sign up and list their restaurants and menu items for sale. Customers can then create an account and browse the restaurants on the app. They can view information, reviews, prices and delivery times from the various merchants. Because of this we can say Foodpanda acts as the middleman between customers and food vendors and is hence a marketplace app. An app like Foodpanda also has another kind of user, which is the delivery driver. So the company would need to develop 3 apps. One for the restaurant to list and manage their products, one for the drivers to be assigned orders to delivery, and one for the users to be able to browse and pay for orders as well as track the delivery status. The cost of developing this is going to be more than developing a marketplace app like say Agoda, which only requires 2 apps, one for the users and one for the hotel owners.

E-Commerce Apps

E-commerce apps are a great way to sell products directly with your own platform. For example, customers can buy groceries from the grocery store and not compete on price or availability like they would through other platforms such as Amazon or Shopee which gives retailers less control over that aspect of their business model. The cost of an e-commerce app is around RM 50 000 - 150 000.

This might sound a lot like the marketplace apps described above, but that is not the case. e-commerce apps do list 3rd party products. The platform belongs to the company selling the products. If you visit Jaya Grocer's website you will see that they list their own products. Other examples could be Adidas or Nike. You can go over to their website and buy products directly from them. This could include anything from clothes, furniture, or even hardware and tools from a local business or international brand. The cost of developing an ec-commerce application is generally lower than a marketplace because developers only need to cater to one seller instead of multiple.

I'm sure everyone knows about H&M has has visited on of their stores at least one time in their lifetimes. The Swedish clothing brand is known for putting out items that follow the latest fashion trends at affordable prices. On the H&M app in Malaysia you can take a look at these items and order them for delivery. The reason this is an e-commerce app instead of a marketplace app is because there is no 3rd party selling products. H&M is responsible for all the products sold on the app. These apps can range from being an online store, to adding more features like barcode scanners, loyalty programs, or even AR fitting rooms. The more additions to the the store, the higher the price will be.

Productivity Apps

Productivity apps provide a way to keep track of your tasks and information. Some examples include timer, date book or calendar applications that don't allow interaction with others but only manage one user's data in their phone for later reference when needed. The cost of a productivity app is around RM 30 000 to 90 000.

Many companies in Malaysia rely on project management applications for employees and that's a great example of a productivity app. These apps let managers assign team members to tasks, handle time management, and ensure that everything is well managed and completed in a timely manner.

In Malaysia, one of the most popular productivity apps is CamScanner. Gone are the days of needing a printer. All you need is your mobile phone. The app using advanced image processing to turn your phone camera into a scanner, so you can scan documents with east. You can then save these documents and access them from both your mobile phone and computer. You can also share the documents via Email, facebook, Twitter, and more. This is great example of an app that makes your life easier. These apps are often utility based, but some can include social interaction with many users collaborating on a task. Adding multiple aspects like that will make the app much more expensive to develop.

Business Management Apps

The business management apps that are available today allow companies to keep track of their tasks, processes and employees with the goal being an improved level or productivity. Some common use cases for these types include document storage, logistics tracking (i.e., orders), customer relationship management - including sales leads generation through email campaigns or even human resource functions such as managing vacation time off. The cost of business management apps can range from RM60 000 to RM200 000 depending on the functionality.

After the Covid-19 pandemic hit a lot of Malaysian companies have been forced to adapt to a more digital work environment to allow flexibility for working at home. Developing these apps often come at a high price because of the large number of features involved. Another important aspect of these apps is security. Because of the value of the information, developing strong security features into these applications are essential.

Business management apps typically aren't public facing. They are usually developed to be custom solutions that can be used internally inside a company. However J&T Express Malaysia does have an app that illustrates a use case of one of these apps. The app allows you to create an account and then deliver packages. The app incorporates the full logistics process from drop off to delivery. So you can append all the details needed as well as track the delivery while it is in transit and receive a notification once it has been delivered. There are multiple ways companies can develop apps to manage running their companies and this is just one of them.