Blockchain Development: Worth the Time and Cost?


Abhishek Founder & CFO cisin.com
In the world of custom software development, our currency is not just in code, but in the commitment to craft solutions that transcend expectations. We believe that financial success is not measured solely in profits, but in the value we bring to our clients through innovation, reliability, and a relentless pursuit of excellence.


Contact us anytime to know more - Abhishek P., Founder & CFO CISIN



Blockchain Development: Worth the Cost and Time?

Blockchain App Development Services And ROI Development

Blockchain App Development Services And ROI Development

The blockchain industry experts expect that investment in the technology will significantly grow in the coming years. A recent survey states that the market for blockchain development will be more likely to cross $57.641 billion by the next five years. The thought of return on investment (ROI) is not easy to estimate in terms of blockchain development. To ensure the effective implementation of blockchain development, it is required that businesses must share their findings optimally among the team. For example- any blockchain development company or supply chain platform can share massive data over a singular platform. This instance helps to draw an understanding that not all the action across the company requires internal business access.

It is natural not to be able to control everything across the blockchain development platform that is shared across multiple enterprises. Therefore it gets hard to calculate the ROI for blockchain development to implement the processes. Various media are using Blockchain apps to fulfill their business needs, including financial services, healthcare, supply chain, government, and many others, to transform their business models. Blockchain technology can add value to the business, irrespective of its size, by offering security, efficiency, and transparency.

  • More Transparency- With the blockchain implementation, the history of overall transactions is becoming more and more transparent. As blockchain development is a distributed ledger, the members of the same blockchain network share a similar ledger, which is also validated.
  • Enhanced Traceability- When the supply of the goods is recorded from one point to another through blockchain, it represents the entire audit trail where it gets easy to search the asset and recover its journey. The uniform combination of blockchain and IoT Application Development allow businesses to save their previous record and verify the authenticity of the goods.
  • Increase Speed- The traditional business process is usually paper-based which is time-consuming and requires third-party involvement to verify the authenticity of the process. Automating blockchain development helps to simplify business processes so fair transactions can be carried out quickly and securely.
  • Cost-Effectiveness- Reducing the development cost is the top business priority. You do not have to worry about validating third-party integration by deploying blockchain app development services. Blockchain Technology will save you from reviewing the documentation because every user will have access to its immutable version.

Factors On Which The Blockchain Application Development Cost Depends

Factors On Which The Blockchain Application Development Cost Depends

While conducting IoT solution development or app development, the cost is specifically incurred depending upon the personalized choices of the company. When the platform develops a blockchain app, various factors must be considered before developing the app. All these factors help to determine the project's budget and give a quick estimate regarding the overall development cost. Take a look at them below:


The Size Of The Agency Or The Blockchain Development Company

The cost structure of the blockchain development app is divided into three broad categories which are:

  • Large-sized organizations.
  • Medium-sized organizations.
  • Small companies or agencies.

When all these categories are compared, it can be found that small agencies or companies will charge less for blockchain app development as compared to medium or large ones. If we move to large-scale organizations, it is evident that they will pick up particular projects. They make the project selection for the clients who they feel would be able to pay the highest amount.


The Type Of The Blockchain Application Required

Every business, regardless of size, requires a digital platform/solution to run its functions efficiently. Building a blockchain application also builds trust and transparency towards the company and removes the intermediaries from it. Before beginning the development process, it is advised that you understand the type of blockchain application required, such as if you need a permissioned blockchain application for a permission-less application. You have to analyze which application can meet your business requirements and how different its cost is across the industry.


The Professionals Involved In The Blockchain App Development

The overall cost of blockchain app development also depends upon the number of individuals or resources involved in the development process. For example, the salaries you have to initiate for the blockchain experts or app developer are counted as a significant expense that cannot be missed out while calculating the app development cost. Blockchain technology is still in its nascent stage; hence, you won't get the right talent pool quickly. While investing in such an app, make sure to have the best talent for your project that can add value to your app.

Third-Party Subscription: The blockchain app may require third-party subscription tools like Amazon Web Services, notification services, software marketing services, bug tracking tools, data analytics tools, etc. All of these tools are critical in determining the success of the application and the cost of their subscription also contributes to the overall cost of app development. Companies can use agile methods like Confluence, Trello, and many more to manage their production app projects. These tools are required to test the application and determine its efficient development.

The Niche Of The Organization: The blockchain app development costs depend upon the type of industry required by the application under the specific niche. Across different sectors, various factors are involved, like the complexity of the application, the number of interactions, and so on. All of these factors can change the app development cost because the requirement in each case differs from the other. For instance, a public sector application might cost more than $80K, while a financial application would cost you around $60K.

The Complexity Of The Application: As per the blockchain development service providers, the complexity of the application plays a crucial role. The organization is advised to have a clear understanding of the below-mentioned aspects-

  • The purpose of the application.
  • The problems which the current users are facing.
  • The existing solutions for the problems.
  • Why is it required to invest in blockchain app development?

While dealing with the app's complexity, it is vital to consider factors like mechanism, stack development, platform, and UI/UX.

Want More Information About Our Services? Talk to Our Consultants!


The Complexity Of The Blockchain App

The complexity of a mobile application powered by blockchain depends on several things.

Goal: Your app's purpose is the first thing to think about. You must be aware of the issues your users are facing, the potential solutions, the benefits of investing in the creation of blockchain applications, and how your app might serve them. This will allow you to determine the best blockchain application development services. These questions are essential for enterprises looking to implement blockchain.

Consensus Mechanism: Every blockchain platform makes use of a different consensus algorithm. Members can authenticate transactions using this approach. While other blockchain-based systems might utilize Proof of Stake or Delegated Proof of Stake, Bitcoin uses Proof of Work. Possible options are Federated, Proof of Elapsed Time, and Proof of Stake. Depending on your needs, you must decide which strategy is ideal. It would be best to consider other crucial factors, such as user permissions. Asset issuance, key management, structuring, and resistance mechanisms. Atomic trades and handshakes, Signatures, Addressing styles. This is an essential step in opting for. If you're new to blockchain technology, speaking with a company specializing in developing blockchain apps is a good idea.

Platform: You can build a blockchain application on more than 25 platforms, including Ethereum blockchain and BigChainDB. Before continuing, consider all the platforms that might be able to assist you in achieving the objectives of your app.

Stack: Every platform has its own set of tools and programming languages for blockchain. Each stack comes with its advantages and limitations. This means you have to choose the right stacks for your development goals.

APIs: There are many pre-built APIs available for development. However, it can be necessary to develop an API for specific uses. This could entail creating key pairs or addresses and completing data authentication and auditing. Additionally, intelligent contract interaction, data retrieval management, and data storage and retrieval.

UI/UX: It's time to construct a user interface and an admin console once the back-end specifics have been settled. Here, you'll choose the front-end programming language, servers, and databases that will be applied to the creation of your project.

Do you have proof?: It is best to choose MVP development as it will save you money in the initial stages of developing a blockchain app. Instead of launching a complete solution, it is better to create a working solution that includes core features.


How Much Does Blockchain App Development Cost?

How Much Does Blockchain App Development Cost?

Blockchain technology is entirely planned to facilitate different features other than economic transactions. Blockchain is a chain of records having necessary details or files known as blocks. These blocks are connected uniformly along with hashes. It may take months to evolve a blockchain application from scratch, and it takes years to ensure its complete execution. Blockchain app development takes plenty of deliberation and time to execute the algorithms effectively. Any IoT application development company possesses comprehensive knowledge about the languages, app development contexts, tools, and other prerequisites required to develop a consistent blockchain app.

While approximating the budget of blockchain-based applications, it is essential to consider the following factors:

  • Evolving the application with a particular in-house app development group.
  • Hiring service providers for the expansion of the blockchain app.
  • Hiring blockchain app development growth companies or agencies to check on the application's progress.

Collaborating with an in-house company or a group of core blockchain developers is exclusive. It provides better control over the application's progress. This part can facilitate the growth of the business. You will find an analysis of the estimated cost (minimum viable product values in multiple resources) for blockchain app development below:


In-House

  • Beginners- around $500,00
  • Experts- around $2000,000

Freelancer

  • Beginners- $30,000 to $ 50,000
  • Experts- $50,000 to $ 90,000

Agency

  • Beginners- $150,000 to $250,000
  • Experts- $250,000 to $500,000

Working with an in-house team is quite expensive. Still, it also provides effective control and monitoring over blockchain app development. On the other hand, if you are outsourcing the project or hiring offshore developers, it could be the least expensive measure. Yet, it is considered to be the riskiest one. You can hire freelancers if the blockchain app development services project is small as the risk increases when the scope of the project grows over time.

Read More: How Much Does it Cost to Build a Blockchain-Based Platform?


How Long Does Blockchain App Development Take?

How Long Does Blockchain App Development Take?

Blockchain app development has changed over the years, and it has evolved from being a cumbersome solution for cryptocurrency into a highly scalable decentralized platform for developing an industry-specific application. Blockchain applications are extensively used across startups and large corporations to manage their business processes. Blockchain technology is not limited to financial transactions; it can provide virtual services to users across different sectors. Blockchain is also a feature-dependent solution. The exact cause of app development can never be precise because it may vary for other project requirements.

The duration of blocks and app development depends upon the application's requirements and technology. The project for any such application is initiated with PoC treks of around 20 to 30 days. Once that is achieved, it takes another 30 to 40 days to bring a minimum viable product with limited features. Launching an application takes two to three months, based on its specific requirements.


What Is The Process Of Blockchain App Development?

What Is The Process Of Blockchain App Development?

The process of blockchain app development is highly complicated and requires thorough monitoring to ensure its success and good functioning. This section will explain how to initiate blockchain development and what steps are needed to ensure its success.


Step 1: Identifying The Problems Which You Are Trying To Solve Using The Application

Before conducting the development, it is essential to come up with accurate problem statements and understand the same. Make sure your blockchain solution will benefit your customers or business partners. It is critical to analyze whether it is required to migrate the current solution to a blockchain version for your platform, which would need a whole new application to be built from scratch. Once you choose the motive of your blockchain app solution, the next step will be to select the development platform or tools for your blockchain project.


Step 2: Choosing The Right Blockchain App Development Platform

Building a blockchain application from scratch requires thorough understanding and research that may take years. Therefore, you must develop the blockchain solution on top of the same platform that can meet your business requirements without causing inconvenience. You must also identify the accurate platform that can fulfill your needs. Consider analyzing factors like services, problems, or consensus mechanisms you are trying to solve using your application.


Step 3: Blockchain Ideation And Brainstorming

Once you have identified the blockchain app development platform, you can focus on drafting business requirements and start brainstorming ideas. Focus on what technology solution or components can be added to the off-chain or on-chain entities of the application that can add value to the solution. You can create a roadmap for the app that will help you build a project that underlines possible steps. It would be best if you also came up with an application model that represents the conceptual workflow of the app. Decide if the solution needs to be developed on a permission or permission-less network.

At this specific stage, you have to make a selection of a front-end programming language, external databases, servers, and other components that have to be used.


Step 4: Doing A Proof Of Concept

Proof of concept for a mobile app development services application is done to represent its practical applicability across platforms. Proof of concept can either be a theoretical buildup or an application prototype. In a speculative advertisement, the project needs theoretical components so that customers can understand the app's applicability or viability. The project parameters for the same can be proposed to create a theoretical buildup. Once it is developed and feedback is received, blockchain engineers can build application prototypes, including sketches, test products, information architecture, mockups, designs, etc. Once the POC of the application gets approved by the client, the next step will be to develop technical and visual aspects of the application.


Step 5: Technical And Visual Aspects

At this stage, you will have the entire application roadmap, and you can start creating the user interface for its components. The design APIs will be integrated with the same interface to run an application successfully in the back end. Visual effects and designs are developed to give the application an attractive look and feel. In contrast, the technical aspects are designed to represent its technology blockchain architecture. As soon as the admin consoles and the application interfaces are developed, it gets ready for further development.


Step 6: App Development

App development or any IoT solution development is a significant phase of the whole process. In this particular stage, you have to either build or integrate the application's blockchain app APIs for different use cases. The application can be developed under different versions, and it is not essential to undergo formal testing under its pre-Alpha version; once its initial version gets approved by the client, the application moves to an Alpha version where app developers test its software. After this version is released, the application is prepared for the beta version. During this phase, the software has the entire feature set. This version of the application is shared by developers with a particular team member to test the functionality of the application.

Once the beta version of the application gets approved and tested, the application releases its candidate version, an advanced beta version. After effective testing, the application moves to the development phase and prepares for delivery.


What Is The Price Of Hiring A Blockchain Developer

What Is The Price Of Hiring A Blockchain Developer

This question is not easy to answer. Blockchain and cryptocurrency are still in their infancy. Finding professionals who can deliver the final product on time is difficult.

According to Study: The median and average hourly rates are the two types that developers charge.

  • Hourly rates of Offshore are between $81 and $100.
  • Hourly Rates of nearshore Range from $61 to $80.

Use nearshore or offshore software development services to cut the cost of maintaining a blockchain. Another name for this technique is software outsourcing. Many businesses maintain development centers abroad. The countries that outsource the most include Ukraine, India, and Poland.

You appoint a project manager, a tester, and a team of developers working remotely to help you outsource blockchain software development. They charge twice as much as their American counterparts and offer a clear code. A Blockchain developer's hourly wage starts at $40.


Industries That Could Benefit From The Development Of Blockchain-Based Mobile Apps

Industries That Could Benefit From The Development Of Blockchain-Based Mobile Apps

A safe system that can be utilized in many different businesses can be created using complex and encrypted data combined with blockchain technology. Blockchain technology has caught the attention of numerous sectors, including journalism, healthcare, fintech, and finance. They have provided exceptional solutions to their users, assisting them in dominating their particular ecologies.

Real Estate:

  • Real Estate Sales.
  • Tokenization.

Energy Sector:

  • Reduced costs for operations and infrastructure.
  • Sustainable development for the environment.

Finance Sector:

  • Digital security.
  • Flexibility to adapt.
  • Transactions are error-free.
  • Control over identity.

Sector Logistics:

  • Efficient V2V communication.
  • Easy onboarding for carriers.
  • Reliable authentication.
  • Simple tracking.

Healthcare Sector:

  • Clinical trials are effective.
  • Easy drug trace.
  • Guaranteeing data privacy.

Beyond the businesses above, there are several advantages to developing blockchain applications. Blockchain applications can also help the media, entertainment, education, tourism, and other industries.

Want More Information About Our Services? Talk to Our Consultants!


Final Verdict

In the application development space, blockchain technology has been a unique thing. This technology is evolving at a rapid rate. If deployed in a difficulty-free manner, it can be the best option for developing an app. Blockchain is based on the peer-to-peer technique, a dispersed ledger technology that permits files or documents to be universally connected across multiple servers. App development platforms are looking for ways to implement blockchain mobile app development services across various industries.

The development cost for blockchain applications may differ substantially due to some features you will implement in your project. The described price and time estimates are the average components. Suppose you are willing to know the exact cost and time required for developing your blockchain app. In that case, it is advised that you consult professionals. Hiring a blockchain app development agency or company is the best measure to get an app developed as compared to any other option, like hiring freelancers or outsourcing the project.