How Much Does It Cost To Make An App like Uber?

When was the last time you took a taxi in your city, i.e. a taxi with a fare meter running? As a millennial, blogger Jessica has preferred cabs for half a decade. Instead of taking taxis, she “Uber”s everywhere, and she’s not alone Uber has disrupted the taxi industry and transformed short journeys.

How Uber Works

The technology of Uber allows anyone with a smartphone to drive their own personal vehicle like a taxi. Uber connects drivers with people who want a ride. A price for the ride and the App facilitates the transaction. This ridesharing app connects riders with drivers in a couple of clicks and charges the rider’s credit card automatically for each ride.

The driver keeps most of the fare, and Uber takes a 20% cut on average. Thus, Uber has become a more convenient and affordable way to get around than a traditional taxi cab. Plus, it’s a way for drivers to earn some extra money on the side, while driving their own vehicles.

Perspectives Cab Booking Mobile Apps like Uber

Uber remains the industry leader with significant growth in the market. According to Statista, Uber has a global market value of $72 billion and it is available in more than 80 countries in the world. Uber generated $12 billion in gross bookings in the most recent quarter and it completes 40 million trips per month in the United States.

The Uber cab app was rated 2nd most disruptive companies in the world in 2018 by CNBC, followed by SpaceX.

This article lets you know how Uber’s business and revenue model and cost estimation works. It’s good to learn from successful enterprises and apply those same concepts to your own app so let’s start with the business model.

Business Model of Uber: How Does Uber Work?

The business model is very simple, and you need to understand it to make an app like Uber, as mentioned earlier it provides a platform for ride-booking services. Connecting driver-partners and passengers through the mobile app, Uber makes its revenue from a percentage on all transactions. Later on in the article, we mention the direct and indirect revenue sources and like with most mobile apps. Users can download it from the Apple App Store or Google play store. The business model includes Uber’s USPs.

USPs

The USPs (unique selling points) of Uber which make it the leader in online ride-sharing include:

Business Support

The drivers can get better at their business as there is a lot of support to get drivers operational and running their business efficiently.

Easy of use

The app is intuitive, for both the riders and the drivers and also cashless payment, i.e. the transaction is electronic with no intervention by the driver as it is done via the app.

Rating

The customer and driver can rate each other to enhance service reliability.

Key Features of Uber

Mostly, the Uber business is made up of three mobile applications: Admin app, Driver app, and Passenger app. The Driver App is designed for drivers partnering with the company and Passenger App for customers who book their rides. The admin panel used for managing and monitoring the platform’s task. Each of these apps has its own features tailored to the users’ requirements.

Possible Revenue Model of Uber: How Does Uber Monetize?

The ridesharing business of Uber is based on the on-demand service marketplace model. It makes money by accepting cash or digital payments through popular channels like credit cards, internet banking, and digital wallets.

Revenue from Drivers

Uber follows a commission-based model. The drivers pay a percentage cut on the payments they get from customers after completing a ride. The admin receives the payment from the riders and gives the drivers after the deduction of their commission. They conduct regular payouts to the drivers using on-site digital mediums such as PayPal or wire transfer.

Miscellaneous Revenue

Uber makes additional money from cancellation fees and waiting for charges from the customers. The cancellation charges add on the next booking, and waiting charges adds at the end of the ongoing ride. Uber shares this additional revenue with the drivers as well.

Why Do Uber Clone Scripts Stand Out In The Market?

Uber has many competitors in the market. For example, Lyft, Grab, Didi, Gett, and Hailo have been continually challenging the Uber’s leading position in the market. However, none has been capable of achieving even half of what Uber has achieved. This is because of the USP, features, and functionalities of Uber. So, if you are exploring the prospects of building an app like Uber, maybe you are not far away from building a billion-dollar business.

Consumers, especially Millennials, who live in cosmopolitan cities prefer rideshare services like Uber instead of using own cars just to avoid traffic. This high demand for sharing and renting personal car rides makes entrepreneurs think about how to make apps like Uber and to launch it on the specified markets.

Indeed, Uber-like app development seems to be a good move for entrepreneurs in recent years. If you want to build an app like Uber, it’s crucial to comprehend the approaches to technology, business processes, and cost components.

Likely Cost To Develop A Mobile App like Uber

How much does it cost to build an app like Uber? Well, it is very challenging to answer until you know your needs and requirements. But we can provide you with an overview of an estimated cost if we consider some features that you usually like to get in your apps. These features include mobile app design, backend app development, web development, product management, etc. The cost factor can be determined based on these features.

Certain factors determine the cost of making an app like Uber-like the cross-platform features. For example, does your app intend to support Android, iOS or web? Do you need a full-feature product or an MVP? To make an Uber-like, the marketplace is a pretty complex project and requires a lot of effort.

Build Your Own Platform From Scratch

If you are willing to invest your time, resources, and efforts in lots of research, then this approach is suitable for you. This will help to build a unique platform with an entirely diverse business model and features. However, developing from scratch would take at least 5 to 6 months with handling a big team of in-house professionals.

Cost Factors

The cost of building an app like Uber from scratch will depend on the following factors:

• Duration of the project
• Development cost: web and mobile app design
• API cost of for essential web services
• API cost for multiple payment gateways
• Cost on development workforce (Salary)

Each application will require at least 750 hours for turnaround development time. The development of all the required Android and iOS mobile apps might take 1500 hours. The web interface will demand at least 700 to 750 hours for both user and renter interface development.

Eventually, the entire turnaround time will be not less than 2300 hours. It does not comprise the back-end panel, which would not be any less than 1000 hours of development. With just the fundamental elements and variable in consideration, the overall development cost of the project at $50/per hour would come around $115,000 to $125,000 for a suite of projects.

Use Readymade Clone Script

You can use an open-source clone script and customize it as per the nature of the product or service you want to rent. These scripts are available in the market and possess all the necessary functionalities to generate revenue from a customized ridesharing cab business.

A good clone script comes inbuilt with features such as live tracking, multiple payment systems, commission management, dynamic admin panel, automated revenue management, etc. and many more.

You have the source code with you. Thus, you can customize your website by yourself or by hiring a developer if you want to modify or add any features in the platform. Whether it’s an Uber for a handyman, food, babysitting, courier, cleaning, etc. or any other business space like Uber model, you can customize a script for products or services.

How to Strategically Build the Features in Uber-like App with a Low-cost?

The easiest and most cost and time-efficient way to build an app like Uber is to use open-source marketplace platforms or Uber clone scripts. Plus with the source-code, you can install it on multi-domains.

The clone scripts cost around $399 to $1100 depending on whether you are beginning your journey as an entrepreneur with a regular plan or planning to expand your business with a cutting-edge Uber clone script with ultimate premium features.

Final Thoughts

Now the cost to develop an app like Uber will be based on the development hours that will go into the processes mentioned above. This varies from one geographical location to another. Plus the remember all technology needs ongoing maintenance and upgrades for Apps it’s quite labour-intensive so budget for it.

Do you think you have a unique app idea to compete with Uber? Then, don’t panic and build an app like Uber for your business and take your plan to the next level.