Estimated Cost to Build a Social Media App for USA [2025 Guide]

Wondering how much it costs to build a social media app in the USA? Your answer depends on the features you want to add and the development approach. Simple apps start around $30,000, while full-featured platforms can surpass $500,000.

Social media isn’t just a pastime anymore. As per Statista, over 5.4 billion people use it worldwide, and the success of apps like Threads proves there’s always room for new platforms. If you have a niche idea or aim to create the next viral community, preparing the social media app development budget is essential before investing.

This guide breaks down what does it cost to build a social media app by looking at the complexity level, features, and development stages. You’ll also get maintenance insights and tips to optimize your budget. So, you can make a realistic budget for app development and maintenance effortlessly.

How Much Does it Cost to Build a Social Media App?

The cost to build a social media app in the USA starts at $30,000 for a simple MVP. Conversely, feature-rich platforms with advanced functionalities can easily exceed $500,000.

Features aside, other factors like the platform choice and app design for Android vs iOS also have a crucial role in the total social media app development pricing.

To give you a clear picture of what does it cost to make a social media app, we break down the cost by complexity.

Here, it is imperative to highlight that the average cost to build a social media app on Reddit is often much lower than professional estimates. This is because they often discuss hobbyist projects or smaller freelance jobs.

What Factors Influence the Final Cost to Build a Social Media App?

The final cost to build a social media app in the USA depends on multiple factors – both direct and indirect. The direct factors include the complexity of features, native vs cross-platform app development, design sophistication, and backend infrastructure.

Additional or indirect social media app cost drivers are tech stack, app compliance, and your development team’s location. Let’s look at each one by one:

App Complexity and Features

The features you build into your app have the biggest impact on the final price. Every function, from a simple user profile to a complex live video, adds time and cost. This is the core of app complexity.

A basic app might just have a profile and a content feed. An advanced app could include complex social media app features where the costs really jump. These include live streaming, augmented reality (AR), or AI-powered content feeds, which can be expensive but can offer a huge competitive edge.

The Technology Stack

The tech stack you choose is the foundation of your app. It is made up of programming languages and frameworks. The right choice affects performance and cost. A cross-platform app development involves using one codebase to lower the cost and time.

Your app’s technology has two main parts. The frontend development is what the user sees, and the backend development is what runs the app behind the scenes. Backend development can take up to 30% of the total budget because it handles all the heavy lifting and data management.

Compliance and Security

Building a social app means more than just creating features. You also have to protect user data. This is a big deal, and it comes with a cost.

Regulations like GDPR and CCPA require both Android and iOS app developers to add user consent forms and “right to be forgotten” features, which require significant development hours.

A 2025 report from Ptolemay shows that advanced security measures like end-to-end encryption can add thousands of dollars to a project’s budget.to build in user consent forms and secure data handling.

UI/UX Design and Branding

A great app is not just functional. It also needs to look good and be easy to use. This is where custom UI/UX design comes in, which is a major cost factor.

You can save money by using templates, but a custom app development approach gives you a unique brand identity. The app design cost can range from $10,000 to over $80,000.

App branding continues with promotion too, to attract and keep your audience. For that, you will need social media marketing services. This is an essential next step in building a successful platform.

Location and Size of Development Team

The location of your development team is one of the biggest cost factors. The average cost to build a social media app in the USA is significantly higher than in other regions. For example, hiring app developers in NCY will likely cost more compared to Europe or Asia.

The size of your team also matters. A larger team might build your app faster, but it multiplies the hourly cost. Similarly, you only need one or two developers and a project manager for a basic app. However, a complex app requires a large team of specialists, which increases the total project cost.

Feature-by-Feature Breakdown For Social Media App Development Cost

Here is a quick overview of the cost of each feature you want to incorporate in your social media app:

Tip: Remember, each feature impacts development differently. Considering that social media penetration globally is now 63.9%, with users spending around 143 minutes per day on apps, as highlighted by Statista, you should prioritize user engagement features.

How to Estimate Social Media App Development Cost? [Stages & Timelines Breakdown]

Breaking the social media app development project timeline into phases helps estimate costs accurately, as each stage has its own budget. A basic app, which costs $30,000–$80,000, takes 3–6 months to develop, while a complex social media platform can exceed $150,000–$250,000 and take over 9 months.

The table below shows how the average cost to build a social media app is determined by how much time is spent on each of these steps.

Discovery & Strategy Development: (1-2 months)

Strategic planning is the blueprint for your app. For about 10-15% of the total project cost, you dig deep into your idea to check feasibility through market research and competitor analysis. This phase makes sure you’re building the right thing for the right people.

UI/UX Design: (1-3 months)

This phase makes your app intuitive and engaging. The team creates wireframes and visual designs for every single screen. GoodFirms notes that UI and UX design work in USA often makes up about 15-20% of the budget.

Development: (4-9 months)

Here, the core coding work for the app is done. Frontend and backend developers write the actual code. They build the features, set up servers, and integrate databases. This is the most time-consuming and expensive stage, taking 50-60% of the total cost.

QA & Testing: (1-2 months)

The final phase addresses bugging and other performance issues on different devices. It also includes setting up servers and final technical checks. This step is crucial for a smooth launch and typically costs about 10-15% of the total project budget.

Deployment & Launch (1-2 months)

This phase involves submitting the app to app stores and getting it ready for public use. Here, you will also need a strong marketing plan. Once launched, plan for ongoing maintenance and updates for long-term app success.

Hourly Rates for Social Media App Development

On average, hourly rates for social media app developers vary widely based on location, experience, and whether you hire a freelancer or an agency. App developers in Houston or other cities in the US and Western Europe charge higher prices compared to Asia or Eastern Europe. This is why the average cost to build a social media app varies so much.

Here’s a detailed breakdown:

Cost to Build Different Types of Social Media Apps

The answer to how much does it cost to start a social media platform depends heavily on the type of platform. Different kinds of social media apps need very different budgets. A messaging app costs far less than a full‑fledged social network with video, AI feeds, and global scale.

Below are four common social media app types and their essential features with realistic cost ranges.

Messaging App Like WhatsApp

• Estimated Cost: $100,000–$300,000
• Features you get: Messaging apps focus on real-time chat, end-to-end encryption, group chats, media sharing, and push notifications. Some may include voice or video calls.
• Tech Required: These features may sound simple, but building a reliable messaging system requires stable backend infrastructure and encryption protocols. Heavy media sharing and real-time updates add bandwidth costs.

Full‑Featured Social Network (Facebook‑style)

• Estimated Cost: $250,000–$1,000,000+
• What you get: Full social networks like Facebook include user profiles, friends/followers, groups/pages, multimedia posts, feeds with likes and comments, messaging, live streaming, marketplace features, and admin dashboards.
• Tech Required: These platforms demand massive backend infrastructure for feeds, notifications, content moderation, analytics, and media storage. Advanced UI/UX design and high server loads further increase development time.

Photo/Video Sharing App (Instagram‑style)

• Estimated Cost: $180,000–$500,000+
• What you get: Apps like Instagram focus on photo and video uploads, editing tools, stories/reels, likes/comments, push notifications, and optional live streaming.
• Tech Required: Large media volumes require CDN or cloud hosting, optimized content delivery, and responsive UI. AI-powered recommendations for feeds further increase development costs for apps like Instagram.

Professional Network (LinkedIn‑style)

• Estimated Cost: $250,000–$700,000
• Features: To make a LinkedIn‑style professional networking app, include profiles with resumes, professional connections, job listings, networking feeds, messaging, content sharing, and analytics dashboards.
• Tech Required: Secure data storage, search and filtering tools, complex content feeds, and privacy compliance are critical. These elements make development more complex than a standard social platform, but targeted at professional users.

Key Insight: As per DemandSage, the average user interacts with approximately 6.8 different social media platforms per month in 2025. So, if you are asking how much does it cost to create a social media app for various categories,  check out the table below:

How Does Social Media App Vs Platform Cost Differ?

An app is a single product that works on a mobile device. A social media platform is an entire ecosystem. You can think of an app as a front door, while the platform is the whole building behind it.

The cost to build a social media platform is exponentially higher than a single app. This is because a platform requires massive server infrastructure and continuous development.

How much does it cost to build a social media platform?

A social media platform development costs well over $1 million. To create full-scale apps like Snapchat or Threads with a web version, you need sophisticated data analytics, and ad systems could push the cost far more at both ends: initial development and ongoing maintenance.

Here is a simple table that shows the difference in app vs platform cost and scale:

How Much Does It Cost to Maintain a Social Media App Annually?

Maintaining a social media app typically costs 15% to 20% of its initial development budget each year. For apps with development costs between $100,000 and $300,000, this translates to $15,000 to $75,000 or more annually.

Key Factors Affecting Annual Maintenance Costs

1. App Complexity: Apps with more features, such as AI-powered recommendations or live streaming, require more maintenance. Each additional feature increases the time and resources needed to fix bugs, update functionalities, and monitor performance.
2. Server Hosting: Hosting is a major expense, especially for media-heavy apps with photos, videos, and live streams. Stronger servers or cloud solutions are needed to handle increased storage and bandwidth requirements.
3. User Base and Traffic: As your audience grows, servers must handle higher traffic, increasing costs for hosting, bandwidth, and performance optimization.
4. Updates and Bug Fixes: Continuous maintenance includes fixing bugs, updating the app for new operating systems to ensure compatibility with devices. Regular updates prevent user churn and security issues.
5. Platform Coverage: Maintaining both iOS and Android apps doubles the effort for updates, testing, and feature rollouts, which adds to annual costs.

Tips to Manage Social Media App Development Cost

Managing social media app development costs becomes much easier when you take a strategic approach from the start. Here are practical ways to keep your budget in check without compromising on quality:

• Start with an MVP: Focus on core features first to validate your idea and avoid paying for functions your users may not need. This helps you launch faster and gather real data for future improvements.
• Use cross-platform frameworks: React Native and Flutter let you build for iOS and Android at the same time, reducing development hours and long-term maintenance efforts.
• Leverage open-source libraries: Use trusted libraries for chat, authentication, analytics, and UI components, so your team doesn’t need to reinvent the wheel. This saves both time and money.
• Outsource to cost-efficient regions: Partnering with experienced development teams outside high-cost markets gives you high-quality work at significantly lower hourly rates.
• Optimize your cloud infrastructure: Choose scalable, pay-as-you-go hosting models to prevent heavy server costs early on and scale gradually as your audience grows.

How TekRevol Helps You Create a Social Media App on a Budget?

As this guide showed, the average cost to build a social media app in the USA varies a lot, from $30,000 to over $500,000. Your final price is not random. It is driven by key choices like the features you want and whether you build a simple app or a full social media platform.

At Tekrevol, we simplify this process. As a trusted mobile app development company USA, we help you build a social media app/website without overspending by combining smart development practices with flexible pricing. Our team designs scalable cloud architectures using AWS, Google Cloud, and Azure to avoid unnecessary infrastructure costs.

You also benefit from global delivery teams for top-tier talent at optimized rates. After launch, our end-to-end maintenance support keeps your platform updated and cost-efficient as your user base grows.