How Much Does It Cost to Build a Delivery App in 2024-2025? 

Do you want to know how much it costs to build a delivery app like Foodpanda, UberEats, Grubhub, and DoorDash? Guess what, you’re at the right place. 

In 2024, the global food delivery market is rapidly growing, driven by the convenience and speed that apps like Foodpanda, UberEats, and DoorDash offer. With 59% of restaurant orders now coming from takeout or delivery, the demand for seamless, user-friendly apps is at an all-time high. 

The revenue of the food delivery market is expected to reach $1.65 trillion by 2027, according to Statista.  

But what does it take to build a food delivery app that stands out in this booming industry? In this blog, we break down the cost ranging from $30,000 to $150,000 depending on your chosen features, tech stack, and region. 

So, let’s explore and get a clearer picture of the investment required in building the food app. 

How Much Does It Cost to Build a Food Delivery App?

The cost of creating the food delivery app depends on several factors such as app features, complexity, development team location, and more. 

Look at the below table and know the exact cost of developing the food app. 

Basic App (Online ordering, user registration, payment integration)	$20,000 – $35,000
Intermediate App (Real-time order tracking, loyalty programs, advanced analytics)	$35,000 – $60,000
Advanced App (AI integration, augmented reality, high customization)	$60,000 – $100,000+

Cost to Build a Food Delivery App by Regions   

The below table shows the cost of building a food delivery app according to different regions.  

Cost Component	North America	Europe	Asia	Latin America
App Development (iOS and Android)	$150,000 – $300,000	$120,000 – $250,000	$90,000 – $180,000	$80,000 – $150,000
Backend Development	$80,000 – $150,000	$70,000 – $120,000	$50,000 – $100,000	$40,000 – $80,000
UI/UX Design	$30,000 – $60,000	$25,000 – $50,000	$20,000 – $40,000	$15,000 – $30,000
Server Hosting and Infrastructure	$5,000 – $15,000/year	$4,000 – $12,000/year	$3,000 – $10,000/year	$2,500 – $8,000/year
Third-party integrations (payment gateways, maps, etc.)	$15,000 – $30,000	$12,000 – $25,000	$10,000 – $20,000	$8,000 – $15,000
Marketing and Advertising	$50,000 – $150,000/year	$40,000 – $120,000/year	$30,000 – $80,000/year	$20,000 – $60,000/year

How Long Does It Take to Build a Delivery App?

The below table shows the estimated time required for app building. 

Complexity	App Development Timeline
Simple app development	2-4 months
Average app development	4-6 months
Complex app development	10+ months

Factors Affecting the Cost of Building a Food Delivery App

The cost of developing a food app can depend on several key factors, including:

App Complexity: The more complex the app features and functionalities, the higher the development cost.

Platform Choice: Developing for multiple platforms (iOS, Android, web) will typically cost more than a single platform implementation. Cross-platform frameworks can help reduce costs compared to building native apps for each OS.

Design and UX: A polished, user-friendly design with a great UX can require significant investment in UI/UX design, prototyping, and iterative development.

Backend Infrastructure: The cost of setting up and maintaining the backend servers, databases, APIs, etc. can be an important factor, especially for apps with high user volumes and complex data requirements.

Third-Party Integrations: Integrating features like payment gateways, loyalty programs, delivery services, etc. can add to the development complexity and costs.

Development Team Expertise: Hiring experienced developers, designers, and project managers can increase initial costs. 

Why Is It Important to Have a Food Delivery App?

Creating the food delivery app is a win-win situation for restaurant owners. It is a one-stop solution that helps you grow your business and you can rise above the competition. Implementing an online ordering system is cheaper and beneficial in the long run.

Look at the below and understand what benefits the food delivery app can offer. 

Increase Visibility 

Nowadays, people prefer to order food online from the food apps. Therefore, having an online app can give you more chances to increase your visibility. An online presence of your restaurant can help you rank better and reach more customers. 

With a dedicated food ordering and delivery platform, you can promote your restaurant to your target market and build customer trust.    

Streamline Online Ordering Process

Restaurants can thrive in the competitive food delivery industry using a food delivery management app. They provide restaurants to streamline their order management system and eliminate the need for manual processing. Also, it reduces the chances of errors compared to phone orders.

Customers can also track their order deliveries on the mobile app, which provides a better experience. Due to this unique feature, customer satisfaction is improved and they stay informed about their order status. 

Increase Revenue

One of the main benefits of white-label food delivery platforms is increased revenue. Food business owners can use technology to make their restaurants digital and boost their earnings for long-term success and expansion.

Using a food ordering app allows you to attract new customers who prefer the convenience of online ordering, leading to a significant increase in sales.

Moreover, having a mobile app provides you with access to various revenue-generating strategies, including:

Commission Fees: Platform owners can earn revenue by charging restaurants a fee for every order made through their platform. Typically, this fee is a percentage of the total order value.

Delivery Charges: In addition to costs such as rider salary, gas, and vehicle maintenance, you can include an additional service charge to the total delivery amount. This helps cover expenses and generate extra revenue.

Advertising and Promotions: Another way to generate revenue is by promoting other restaurants on your platform. 

Global Reach and Scalability

By using a food delivery app, you can reach customers beyond your local area, regardless of their location. This becomes especially advantageous when you have plans to expand your business operations to different countries, as the app enables you to tap into new markets and serve a broader customer base.

Moreover, building a food delivery app eliminates the need to invest in physical stores. All you need to do to get your food delivery service up and running is to scale its resources to handle the increased traffic.

Cost-Saving

Creating your food delivery platform can help you save money. You don’t need to share your profits with third-party platforms. By using the third-party platforms, you have to pay around 30 to 40% additional costs.

What Features Do You Need in Your Food App?

Features also play a vital role in determining the cost. Before creating the food delivery app, you need to decide what features you add to your food delivery app. 

Below is a list of features that you must add to your online ordering platform. 

Customer App

Registration and login: Users create an account with an easy signup without filling out the lengthy forms. They need to provide their name, email address, and phone number.   

Advanced search: This feature is important to develop an app like Foodpanda. It helps users browse different restaurants and cuisines according to pricing, ratings, and others.   

Order tracking: With the help of this feature, users can track their orders in real time and know when they will be receiving them.

Rating and review: Make sure that your app has included the rating and review feature. This feature helps users to talk about their experiences and help others to make better choices.

Multiple payment choices: This is another feature that will affect your overall cost to develop a food delivery app. Providing a variety of payment options to users to increase the chances of getting more customers.   

Push notifications: Users get notifications on the app about special deals, discounts, and offers. 

Integrate social media: It is an option for users to link the app with their social network accounts. By enabling them to share the food images and reviews, more people will be aware of your restaurant.

Order customization: Users would love to customize their order according to their preferences. Therefore, add this feature to your food delivery app and attract more customers. 

Order history: Users can check their past orders and reorder the items they liked without spending time to search the item. 

Add favorite restaurants: This feature helps your customers add their favorite food items or restaurants to their favorite list for quick ordering.  

Restaurant App

Order management: This feature is necessary and must be integrated into your food app. Restaurants can easily accept or reject orders due to their availability. This helps them to manage the order flow easily.

Menu management: It is a common feature of the food delivery management software where restaurants can add, edit, and update the menu items with prices, photos, and others.    

Analytics and reporting: Restaurants can optimize operations by using analytics to gain information about their popular items, consumer preferences, and delivery timings.

Promotions and discounts: This feature will be helpful for restaurants to reward loyal customers and attract new customers. Also, with this feature restaurants can increase their sales and revenue.   

Rider App

Account creation: Riders create an account on the rider delivery app by providing some information. They can edit and update their information easily. 

Order history: This feature helps riders check the status of their orders delivered and pending.  

Accept and manage deliveries: It is a must-have feature in the rider app. They can accept and reject deliveries as per their choice and their workload. 

Route optimization: Riders can track their delivery time and route using the map integration and navigation tools. 

Earning history: The rider can check their earnings and payments. Through this way, the riders can know about their daily earnings and timely payments.  

In-app messaging: This feature helps riders to communicate with customers and update them about their orders. With this feature, there is no miscommunication between both parties. 

Admin Dashboard

Restaurant management: From the admin dashboard, restaurants can manage their all operations from order placement to delivery. 

Rider management: The riders can be easily managed by the admin and they track all their deliveries.   

Customer management: It is another important feature of the admin dashboard. It allows admins to view and manage customer information such as contact details, order history, and preferences. This information can be used to provide personalized services, handle customer queries or complaints, and maintain a good relationship with customers.

Payment management: It is a crucial part of any business, and the admin dashboard facilitates this process. Admins can view and manage payment information, including transaction details, pending payments, and refunds. 

Discounts, offers, and coupons: The admin dashboard enables admins to create and manage promotions. They can set up discounts on specific items or order totals, create promotional offers for special occasions, and generate unique coupon codes. This helps boost sales, increase customer loyalty, and drive repeat business.

Which Technology Stack Used Food Delivery App Development?

Selecting the appropriate mobile app tech stack is essential for both mobile app security and user experience. The tech stack also impacts the cost if you want to create the DoorDash alternative app.  

Let’s have a look at the technologies that will be used for your mobile app development so you can see how much it costs to create a food delivery app.

Basis	Technology
Front-end	Flutter, React Native, Swift, Kotlin
Back-end	Ruby on Rails, Node.js, Django
Database	MongoDB, PostgreSQL, MySQL
API	RESTful API, GraphQL
Payment Gateway	Stripe, Braintree
Real-time Communication	Firebase, Socket.io
Hosting	AWS, Google Cloud Platform
Push Notifications	Apple Push Notification Service, Firebase Cloud Messaging
Analytics	Google Analytics

The actual technology stack can vary depending on specific requirements, preferences, and the development team’s expertise.

What Development Platforms Do You Use For a Food Delivery App?

Selecting the development platform to develop your food app is an important factor to consider and can affect the cost of making a food delivery app.

Here are some commonly used development platforms for food delivery apps.

Native App Development

iOS: Swift programming language using Xcode IDE.

Android: Java or Kotlin programming language using Android Studio IDE.

Cross-Platform App Development

React Native: JavaScript-based framework developed by Facebook that allows you to build apps for both iOS and Android using a single codebase.

Flutter: Open-source UI toolkit developed by Google that enables you to create apps for both iOS and Android using a single codebase.

Steps for Food Delivery App Development 

Below are some steps to help you in the food delivery app development phase.

1. Select the Type of Food App

Determine the type of food delivery service you want to offer – food delivery, grocery delivery, etc. Then, identify your target audience and their specific needs. Also, research the competition and analyze their offerings to find gaps in the market.

2. Create a Complete Strategy

Define your business model and revenue streams (commission-based, subscription, etc.). In addition, develop a marketing strategy to attract and retain customers. Determine the key performance indicators (KPIs) to track the success of your app.

3. Decide the App Features

Select the main features of your app. Make sure to add those features that are relevant to your users. 

Core features: User registration, menu browsing, order placement, payment integration, order tracking, and delivery status updates.

Advanced features: Push notifications, in-app chat, order history, personalized recommendations, loyalty programs, and integration with third-party services.

4. Select the Tech Stack

The right tech stack builds the foundation of the app. Therefore, choose it carefully and select the appropriate programming languages and frameworks for your app. Make sure to select those that are relevant, match your app requirements, and the development team has expertise. 

5. Start Building the App 

Design the user interface (UI) and user experience (UX) based on your target audience’s preferences. Develop the frontend and backend components of the app. Implement the core and advanced features incrementally.

6. Testing and Deployment

Conduct thorough testing to identify and fix any bugs or issues. Perform user acceptance testing to ensure the app meets the requirements and provides a smooth experience. Optimize the app for performance, security, and scalability.

In addition, deploy the app on the relevant app stores (Apple App Store and Google Play Store). Continuously monitor the app’s performance and gather user feedback to make improvements.

Tips to Reduce the Cost of Food Delivery App Development

Below are some tips to help you reduce the cost of food delivery app development.

• Try to build an MVP (minimum viable product) and add only core features. This approach will help you build your app at a minimal cost.
• Use free and open-source libraries and development frameworks for app development. They save you money on licensing fees compared to proprietary software.
• Develop an app for just one platform and then expand to the other if needed.
• Hire developers from the regions that work at lower hourly rates. However, check their profile, experience, and portfolio and then make a final decision. 
• Serverless architecture and cloud-based services can let you scale your app effectively without incurring significant upfront infrastructure costs. Incorporate cloud-based technologies as much as possible into your food delivery app.

FAQs

1. How much does it cost to maintain an app?

The cost of maintaining the app depends on these factors:

• How frequently do you update the app?
• The tech stack you use
• The size of the development team
• The complexity of the app

2. Does it cost to publish an app?

The cost of publishing an app on Google Play or Apple App Store can vary. Google charges a $25 one-time fee to release an app. Whereas, $99 is a yearly fee to release an app on the Apple Store. 

3. How to build a delivery app?

Below are some steps to help you build a delivery app.

• Conduct market research
• Select the food delivery business model
• Decide the app features
• Choose the tech stack
• Start the app development 
• Testing and launching the app

4. How much does it cost to build an app like DoorDash? 

The cost to build an app like DoorDash can vary widely, ranging anywhere from $50,000 to $500,000 or more, depending on the features, complexity, and platform(s) targeted. 

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