Dubai is continuously positioning itself as a leader in smart hospitality and digital innovation. Thus, looking into the tech-driven dining scene of Dubai, a restaurant app is no longer a luxury; it has become a necessity.
All the high-end cafes and eateries of Dubai are now offering convenience to their customers with digital menus, online food delivery, real-time ordering, and online reservations. Offering all these tech-savvy and innovative services has become possible through a restaurant app.
But how much will it cost to develop a restaurant mobile app in Dubai that helps you to provide the best experience to your valuable customers?
To answer this question, we have created this cost guide for restaurant mobile app development in Dubai.
Let’s dig in to get complete knowledge.
The Average Cost to Develop a Restaurant App, along With Market Stats
Before diving into explaining the restaurant mobile app development cost in Dubai, we will take a look at some of the important statistics related to it. So, below is the list of statistics presented to you.
- The revenue of the online food delivery market in the UAE is projected to reach $1.38 billion in e the year 2025. The same market is expected to earn revenue of $1.61 billion by the year 2030.
- So, the online food delivery market in the UAE will witness an annual growth rate of CAGR of 3.11% between 2025 and 2030.
- The projected market volume of the meal delivery market in the UAE will be $1.35 billion in 2025.
- By the year 2030, the number of users of the meal delivery market is expected to reach 4.1 million.
- It is projected that the meal delivery market will earn $377.62 of average revenue per user in the year 2025.
- So, the user penetration in the meal delivery market will be 31.4% in the year 2025.
We talked about these statistics to show you the importance of investing in restaurant mobile app development. Now, we will proceed further and cover the main discussion of this blog.
So, you are planning to create a restaurant app, which is an excellent idea. Having an idea about how much it will cost you will help you walk on a clearer app development path.
On average, the cost to develop a restaurant mobile app in Dubai typically ranges from $20,000 to $250,000 or more, sometimes on average. This cost varies depending on various factors of restaurant app development, like feature complexity, tech stack, development team location, and others. We have explained the factors affecting the development cost later in this blog.
Different types of restaurant apps have varied costs. For example, if you’re developing a basic restaurant app with minimal features, tech stack, and others, then it will cost you about $20,000 to $50,000.
On the other hand, if you want to build a full-stack restaurant app with advanced features, a smart tech stack, and others, then it will cost you up to $250,000 and more.
Key Factors Impacting the Restaurant Mobile App Development Cost (With Cost Breakdown)
The question that pulls you into this blog is how much it will cost you to develop a restaurant mobile app in Dubai. However, you should also be aware of the factors that determine the cost, so that it can make your restaurant app development journey easier.
Here is the list of factors that impact the cost of creating a restaurant app. We have also provided you with a cost breakdown.
1] Feature Complexity
The app complexity is one of the major factors that directly impact the mobile app development cost. Restaurant apps come with several features to automate the whole process of online ordering and offer the best experience to their customers.
Today, restaurant apps are getting better with their functionality by integrating smart and advanced mobile app features like AR/VR, machine learning, AI, and others.
These advanced features are making the restaurant app development process more complex and time-consuming, which automatically increases the development cost.
Table showing the estimated cost breakdown as per complexity level.
| Level of Complexity | Description | Estimated Cost |
| Basic | Simple menu, contact, and location. | $20,000 – $50,000 |
| Moderate | Online delivery, table reservation, and other basic features. | $50,000 – $100,000 |
| Advanced | Custom design, loyalty programs, analytics. | $100,000 – $150,000 |
| Complex | AI integration, AR/VR, real-time tracking, and other integrations. | $250,000 |
2] Choice of Platform
The next factor that is also quite impactful in deciding the restaurant mobile app development cost is the choice of platform. The platform here means whether your restaurant app is going to support iOS devices, Android devices, or both, i.e., cross-platform.
When working on developing an app for a native platform, either OS or Android, its development cost is less compared to cross-platform. This is because you will have to invest in building an app for only one platform, either iOS or Android, unlike a cross-platform app, where you have to invest in an app for both platforms at the same time.
Table showing the cost breakdown of restaurant app development as per platform choice.
| App platform | Description | Estimated Cost Range |
| Native Platform (iOS/Android) | The restaurant app for either the iOS or Android platform. | $25,000 – $100,000 |
| Cross-Platform (both iOS & Android) | Restaurant apps that are compatible with both iOS and Android are made using frameworks like React Native or Flutter. | $30,000 – $250,000 |
3] App Design
The mobile app design is also an impactful factor that affects the restaurant app development cost. While building your restaurant, you need to be very careful about its UI/UX design. The users of the restaurant app will be attracted to it if it has an interactive design and a user-friendly interface.
There are various types of designs for a restaurant app, like simple, standard, and advanced. For the simple design of the restaurant app, you don’t have to put in a lot of effort, so it will not be that costly. Further, if you want your restaurant app to have a fully advanced design and interface, then you have to invest more.
The table below will give you a cost breakdown according to the app design framework.
| Design Level | Description | Estimated Cost Range |
| Basic | Minimalistic app design with standard UI components. Customised graphics and animation are limited. | $25,000 to $40,000 |
| Standard | Moderate custom graphics, well-designed interface, intuitive navigation, etc | $40,000 to $70,000 |
| Advanced | Advanced quality UI/UX, unique interaction, and custom illustration. | $70,000 to $100,000 |
| Premium | Personalised user experience, innovative user interface, comprehensive user research, intricate animation, and more. | $100,000 to $250,000 |
4] App’s Tech Stack
The tech stack is the main component to develop a restaurant mobile app in Dubai, which is used to build the backbone of the app, i.e., backend development. So, this has a huge impact on the overall cost to build a restaurant app.
Within the tech stack come many things, which include the type of framework, database, and type of computer language that are required in the app creation.
Also, tech stacks are divided into different types, and each type comes with different complexity, which impacts development time, which in turn increases the cost to develop a restaurant mobile app in UAE.
The table shows the cost breakdown according to the type of tech stack.
| Tech Stack | Description | Estimated Cost Range |
| Basic or LAMP stack | Linux, Apache, MySQL, PHP. | $20,000 to $40,000 |
| MEAN or MERN stack | MongoDB, Express.js, Angular/React.js, Node.js. | $40,000 to $70,000 |
| Serverless Architecture | AWS Lambda, Azure Functions, Google Cloud Functions. | $70,000 to $120,000 |
| Custom or Enterprise stack | Tailored stack with microservices, Kubernetes, Docker, and specialised databases. | $100,000 to $250,000 |
5] Development Team Location
The development team you will hire to build your restaurant app is one of the major factors that impact the development cost. There are two primary options: an offshore development team and an onshore team. The former refers to a team located outside the country, while the latter refers to a team based within the country.
Offshore development is a more budget-friendly option than onshore also; offshore developers are more skilled than onshore developers. While you develop a restaurant mobile app in Dubai, you have to decide the location of your developer team so that it helps in creating a clear budget.
The table below shows different locations of developers and their cost breakdown.
| Region | Cost Per Hour |
| United States | $80 – $150 |
| UAE | $30 – $80 |
| Australia | $70 – $120 |
| Asia | $20 – $50 |
| Western Europe | $80 – $100 |
| Eastern Europe | $50 – $80 |
Key Strategies to Reduce the Development Cost of a Restaurant App
Want to start working on your mobile app ideas, but feeling it’s a little expensive? Don’t worry, there are a few ways that help you in creating your mobile app without burning your pocket.
Here we have listed and talked about the key strategies to reduce the development cost of a restaurant app. To develop a restaurant mobile app in Dubai within a specific budget must follow these tips below.
► Minimal Viable Product or MVP development
Minimal Viable Product or MVP development is the process you can follow to develop a restaurant mobile app with minimum features and basic technologies.
This version of the app is developed with the core idea to make it usable by the target audience for testing purposes. This will help you create a restaurant without investing a huge sum of money.
► Advanced App Testing
You must carry out advanced app testing for your restaurant app that is created with the MVP method. If you launch your app without following a strong testing process, then it may bring many issues to the app.
By following the advanced testing process, you can avoid wasting a huge sum of money on rebuilding the same app. This is the best idea to reduce the overall development cost.
► Outsource the Development Task
As we said earlier in this blog, offshore app development, which is outsourcing the development, can be a cost-effective method compared to onshore development.
Thus, if you aim to reduce the overall development cost of your restaurant app, then it is a good idea to outsource the development work. Not only will it reduce development cost, but also offer you a high-quality app.
► Keep the App Updated
Keep the restaurant app updated with regular maintenance. This is one of the major additions for reducing the development cost of your restaurant app.
Keeping the app updated helps you to maintain its highest quality, remain competitive in the market, and avoid investing extra bucks on its reconstruction. Thus, an updated app will decrease the overall app development cost.
Nimble AppGenie is your Ultimate Partner to Build a Restaurant App
Looking for a perfect partner who can build a restaurant mobile app in Dubai and help with budgeting for the same? Nimble AppGenie is one of the renowned app development companies in Dubai, known for its expert app creation service.
This restaurant app development company in Dubai has a team of expert developers, designers, QA, and others that make the whole development process easy and budget-friendly. The team at NimbleGenie can help you with finalising your mobile app type to help you with budgeting and the whole development process.
Still in doubt about how to develop a mobile app in Dubai?
The best mobile app startup, Nimble AppGenie, is 24/7 available at your service.
Conclusion
Therefore, if you want to be part of the highly competitive online food delivery market and serve the demands of a tech-savvy population, it is best to develop a restaurant mobile app in Dubai.
We have also made it clear to you the average cost of creating a restaurant app, which will make budgeting your app development cost easy.
Now, it’s your turn to bring the idea of your restaurant app to life, partnering with an experienced mobile app development company in Dubai.
FAQs
What are the key features that affect the cost of a restaurant app?
A restaurant app comes with numerous smart features today to offer the best customer experience, which affects the overall development cost. The key features include online ordering, table reservations, real-time order tracking, a payment gateway, and others.
Which is a budget-friendly option: onshore development or offshore development?
There are two options for the development team: one is offshore and the other is onshore. Offshore is the best budget-friendly team option for a restaurant app development compared to onshore development. This is because the offshore development team charges much less than the others.
Which is more expensive to build: a native app or a cross-platform app?
If you aim to create a budget-friendly app, then you must invest in Native app development, which allows you to either create an iOS app or an Android app. The cross-platform app development is expensive, where you can create a restaurant app for both iOS and Android devices at the same time
Can I start with a basic MVP, or Minimum Viable Product, to reduce cost?
Yes, if you want to reduce the cost of your restaurant app development, then it is a good idea to start with a basic MVP or Minimum Viable Product development. This will allow you to include core features of the restaurant app and scale up revenue growth.
