The cost of mobile app development projects has always been a major concern for many small and large-sized companies. Moreover, determining the right development approach for a project also plays a vital role in the mobile app development decision-making process. Therefore, it is crucial to choose the right mobile app development approach based on your business goals and vision to achieve your app’s success.

This article highlights the comparison of both native and hybrid app development, answering some of the business-critical questions like:

• How is the native mobile app different from hybrid mobile apps?
• What are the pros and cons of hybrid and native app development?
• Is hybrid app development less costly than native app development?

This article will give you an overall idea as to which app development approach is best for your business. Here’s a complete breakdown of both the mobile app development approaches and important factors that influence the cost of mobile app development projects.

Native Mobile App Development

The native mobile app development is based on using specific development platforms and languages accepted by the selected platform. For example, Objective-C and Swift are the best languages for iOS apps whereas Java or Kotlin languages are suitable for building native Android apps. Native apps are widely used because of their high performance, speed, and mobile-responsiveness. These mobile apps are more interactive, intuitive, and offer an excellent user experience.

When it comes to the development cost, native app development is more expensive as you need to write separate codes for separate platforms such as iOS and Android instead of using the single codebase for both the platforms. However, it is simpler and easier for developers to maintain two codebases for two applications rather than maintain one codebase for two apps. With native mobile apps, there are fewer dependencies for the occurrence of bugs as you’re not depending on a cross-platform tool like React Native, Cordova, or Xamarin.

Pros of Native App Development

• Unlike hybrid mobile apps, native apps deliver excellent performance.
• Native apps are completely supported by app stores and the app marketplace. Native apps are highly discovered in the respective app stores.
• Native mobile apps are more interactive, high-performing, intuitive, and run flawlessly in terms of user input and output.
• Native app development enables app developers to leverage the full feature set of a specific operating system.
• Native apps deliver a seamless user experience to the users. Thanks to their compliance with the chosen mobile operating system’s UI guidelines and standards, the flow of these apps is more natural.
• Furthermore, a native app needs approval from its respective operating system which ensures quality, security, and device compatibility.

Cons of Native App Development

• Native apps are built using difficult programming languages that require developers who are experienced and well-versed in the specific programming languages.
• The development cost of native apps is costlier than hybrid apps.
• Native apps are not recommended for simple, small applications.

Although the cost of native app development is higher than other development options, this can be big a money-saver for businesses. Since these mobile apps offer great user experience, better performance, and accessibility, they provide users with a personalized product. The multiple benefits of native apps ultimately lead to increased conversion rates and long-term customer relationships.

Hybrid App Development

Hybrid app development is capable of doing everything that an HTML5 can do, except that a hybrid app also includes native app features and functionality. A wrapper serves as a bridge between platforms to access the native features and functionality. A hybrid application comprises of two parts. The first part is the back-end code written in HTML, CSS, and JavaScript languages, and the second part is a native shell that is easy-to-download and loads the code using a web view.

One of the biggest advantages of hybrid app development is that it creates a single app for all platforms because it is generally faster and facilitates quick product launch in the market. Despite hybrid app development is relatively faster than native app development, it also comes with a significant drawback that these apps cannot be customized the way it can be done with native apps. You’ll have to pay for every customization that you want within your hybrid app. If you have a significant number of customization requirements, native app development can be an ideal option as it will be more cost-effective in this context.

Pros of Hybrid App Development

• Hybrid mobile apps do not require a web browser such as a web app.
• Hybrid applications have access to internal APIs and hardware of the device.
• Hybrid apps require only one single codebase.

Cons of Hybrid App Development

• Since hybrid apps access hardware through a bridge, it slows down their performance.
• When using hybrid apps, you have to rely on a third-party platform to deploy the wrapper of the app.
• More customization means more money, and hence, it is much costlier than native app development in this context.

Furthermore, with hybrid app development, you have to deal with issues arising from both native and hybrid systems, which complicates the bug fixing process. Another major drawback of hybrid app development is performance because hybrid apps load in a web view. Moreover, the user experience is also compromised with a hybrid app as you cannot customize the app based on the platform chosen. Therefore, if customization matters to you, you should opt for native app development for your business app.

Can Hybrid App be Supported by In-house Web Developers?

Many companies think they can support their hybrid app in-house with the help of their on-site web developers. However, the fact is that these in-house web developers have to know the ins-and-outs of Native iOS and Android functionality alongside web development. This means to build a complex application, you will require two different skill sets to support your hybrid app. It is difficult to find developers with this expertise and eve more expensive to retain them. This is the case for React Native app development as well. You cannot simply support React Native with your in-house web developers alone.

You must always approach a professional mobile app development company specializing in hybrid app development and native app development to assure quality, performance, and security of your apps. Hiring mobile app services from a professional is essential to ensure extended maintenance and support for your apps.

Final Words

You may come across several mobile app development companies offering mobile app services for hybrid and native apps at the most competitive prices. However, there is no fixed price for mobile app development. The cost of app development depends on several factors such as design complexity, the number of features you want to add, the number of customization requirements, the experience level and package pricing of a mobile app development company, location, and so on. If there is a significant number of customization requirements, going with native app development would be the most suitable option for you.

As a well-established mobile app development company in India, Mobi India offers specialized mobile app services for its global cross-industry clientele. With us, you ultimately get what you pay for. Our top-notch app developers are masters of several prominent programming languages and are well-versed with the different operating system’s guidelines and standards. We, at Mobi India, walk the extra mile to create a product that takes your business a few notches higher.

FAQs

How much does it cost to build a Hybrid or Native app?

The cost of hybrid apps and native apps may depend on various factors such as the number of features and customization you want within your app, the design complexity, the experience and country of your chosen mobile app development company, and so on. To get an estimate of your mobile app project, get in touch with our experts.

Why should I outsource my app development project?

When you outsource your project to a country like India, you can build apps at a relatively cheaper rate. Moreover, you get a dedicated team for your project as well as the right guidance to build your application. A professional mobile app development company follows an agile approach to mobile app development and delivers the end-product within the shortest time-frame. Looking for expert native or hybrid app developers? Mobi India is just a click away!

Have more questions? Get all your questions answered by our experts right away!