Need an app on a budget? Start here.

There’s an app for that—but if there’s not—maybe you should make one yourself. Perhaps your adventure requires an app, or maybe you just think it’d be fun to have one. Either way, we like where your head is at.

Regardless of where you fall on that needing an app scale, there’s a market option for you and your most important friend (your budget). But first a quick housekeeping note: app complexity and the cost to create usually move in tandem, so we opted to divided our list accordingly.  

Also, we want to emphasize that there are no coding skills required for any of these options. They either involve hiring a trained expert, like this guy:

A friendly neighborhood app designer

Or they feature an intuitive drag-and-drop-do-it-yourself (wow, what a noun) interface.

The budget option on our list, Appy Pie, allows users to design the app themselves—for substantially less money than hiring an expert. Appy—and similar platforms—are thoroughly interesting additions to the market and occupy a unique niche. If the Appy references in this article pique your interest, we’ll be doing an in-depth article on Appy—and the similar company “Appery”—in a couple of weeks. You’ll be able to find that article here once it goes live.  

Now, onto our list. As noted above, this list is divided by budget: “some cash,” “a little cash,” and “pretty much no cash.” We’re confident that just about every Triumpher falls into one of those three buckets, so let’s get to it.

Willing to pay decent cash (for higher design complexity): UX Studio 

Don’t let their simplistic logo fool you, UX Studio is an apex predator in the app design food chain. Their crack squad of developers can create just about anything, but be prepared for a price tag into the g’s. That said, if you have the budget to invest thousands into a new app, you’ll be rewarded with a world-class final product tailored to your unique needs. UX Design is also known for their responsiveness and collaboration, so consider reaching out to them for a price estimate of what your new app idea might run you. It may well end up being worth it.

In terms of raw talent, UX’s robust team of coding and app design experts stand alone. If you can think it up (and pay for it), the odds are good that UX Studio can bring it to life. Don’t believe us? That’s fine, but you may want to believe Google, Netflix, or T-Mobile—all of whom have collaborated with UX in the past. Like we said, this is the big leagues.

If you think UX Studio is the right place to entrust your mobile brainchild, check out their site here.

Looking to spend a little cash (for medium design complexity) : Upwork

We actually covered the Upwork platform in depth a few weeks back, and the platform’s value proposition extends into the world of app making. Rather than pay a premium at a touted app design firm, consider using Upwork to find a highly skilled freelance app designer to bring your vision to life.

As we touched on in our previous article, Upwork divides their platform into two main groups: clients and freelancers. In this case, you’ll want to join the site as a client—a process you can complete in just a few clicks. Once registered, you’ll be able to get your app rolling by creating a new job listing.

Upwork listings leave plenty of room for detail, so you’ll be able to lay out the exact specifications of what you need, how long you think the project will take, and any skills you’d would like to see in a potential candidate. Once the listing is complete, Upwork will send it out to their army of registered freelance experts. App designers from far and wide can then begin responding to your post, and the fun negotiation stage begins.

You can interview candidates for free before officially locking in, so you’ll be able to take your time and ascertain exactly what you need in your app and whether or not one of the freelance designers will be able to make it happen. You’ll also be able to negotiate payment and pricing during the interview stage, so you won’t get shocked by any surprise fees or end up paying for work you never asked for—and we all know there’s nothing worse than that.

Oh, and if you’re not a particularly trusting person, that is quite alright. Upwork allows clients to require work samples and recommendation notices for would-be freelance hires.

So, if your idea is a little too complex for DIY, but still not quite earth shattering, an Upwork freelance designer will likely be able to get the job done at a better rate than you’d find elsewhere. There are some extremely skilled freelance app designers on the platform, might as well make use of them. All you’ll need to get started on your search is an Upwork account, and—wouldn’t you know it—we’ve got the registration link right here.  

Wanting to shell out almost no cash (for low design complexity): Appy Pie

Like we mentioned above, we do a have a deep-dive article in the works for Appy Pie, so make sure to keep an eye out for the rest of the series. For this article, we’re still going to briefly touch on what Appy Pie is and how you can get a slice.

At its core, Appy Pie is a true do it yourself app design tool. Using an intuitive drag-and-drop interface, Appy customers can easily create their own custom app regardless of coding fluency. Instead of requiring users to have technical expertise, Appy restricts design functionality to a pre-selected list of menu options. If you’re looking for a straightforward (but still well put together) app to promote your business, church, or creative career—you’ve come to the right place. You won’t be able to reinvent the wheel on Appy Pie, but you will be able to create your own darn good wheel.

Thanks to its streamlined business model, pricing on Appy Pie is quite reasonable, with plans starting as low as $16 per month with no upfront creation cost. You’ll even be able to list advertisements on your app to help offset (and hopefully produce profit above) the monthly cost.

That said, the cheaper Appy Pie plans do come with a pretty serious asterisk. Namely, that they are only listed on the Google Play store. Not to look down on our android friends, but the IOS App Store is an enormous market segment to forfeit. That said, if you’re willing to toss Appy Pie some more coin per month, they will list your app on both marketplaces.

When you’re ready for a slice, check out Appy Pie right here.

Honorable mention: Appery

Appery exists in a similar vein to Appy Pie. While Appery is still—technically speaking—a no-code required option, its interface is a tad more complicated than Appy Pie. That said, the company offers some incredible features, competitive prices, and robust back-end data services. So, if you’re fairly tech savvy but just can’t code (or at least not well enough to design the whole app) consider giving Appery a roll. You’ll have more creative freedom than with Appy Pie, but you’ll still be able to lean on pre-coded plugins to design most of the app.

And if pricing is a concern, Appery offers low-end plans for both IOS and android that pack plenty of punch. Intrigued but not convinced? We can live with that, and will be including Appery in our aforementioned Appy Pie deep dive article, coming soon to a theatre near you.

 Ready to give them a go? Well then, Appery Kadabra.

The app that smiles back

Whether you’re creating the next DoorDash or just want to showcase your new adventure, a custom app offers a professional touch to set you above your competitors. With innovative design options of all shapes and sizes, we’re confident you’ll be able to find the right fit for you. And when you do—get us that link. We’ll make sure to download.

As always, feel free to Ask Triumph with any additional questions and consider Supporting the Team.

All views expressed in the article are opinions of the author and should not be misconstrued as professional consulting or legal advice. Users are responsible for verifying all information before taking action, and Triumph Group LLC is not responsible for any outcomes. Pursue subjects at your own risk. Seriously, man. It’s your life.