I recommend outsourcing to experts who can understand exactly what you need and can deliver at an affordable price.

I am a growth advisor for an AI shop called scLean Labs (https://www.scleanlabs.com/). We advise and help startups with AI and product development. Happy to discuss more if you are open to it! Please email- janoma@scleanlabs.com or schedule a time here to chat- calendly.com/janoma

I tried that and have to agree with others here. Bought a clone app for $ 4000 which supposedly was customizable for another $ 6000. I bought the app because the backend of the app was perfect for my marketplace and I wanted the devshop to create a scraper to get some products shown on the website until users would list their own product, for this they asked me another $ 35.000
Well long story short I’m learning to code now thank god for chat GPT.

I run a mobile app and web dev firm:

Tech: Should go with react native or flutter

Try not to outsource if you are low on budget. Learn or do it yourself.

Outsource when: You are low on time Have enough money.

(For context I’m a senior dev at a company with maybe 500+ software devs, but very few mobile devs.)

App development is difficult. First thing I’d recommend, regardless of the way you pick, is to very clearly define each page of the app. Do full mock ups. Figure out every possible interaction and requirement. After that you’re ready start evaluating the next step.

I don’t know what kind of time/resources/disposition you have but software development is often tedious and complicated. I’d recommend trying out a basic tutorial on mobile app development to see how you feel about it. The team I work on uses React Native for an app and whenever someone has to work on it the general sentiment is “good luck”.

Mobile dev is more complicated than web development because it is going into two different eco systems. I’ve never worked in flutter, so maybe it’s easier but I’m betting there are similar pain levels.

With that said, AI has helped some people with more determination than skill get things like this built but an EXPERIENCED dev is worth their cost.

Of course, the trick is figuring out just who is experienced and how experienced they are.

A lot of good thoughts on this post, would be interested to hear how your experience progresses.

Deciding whether to develop an app on your own or outsource it depends on various factors, including your budget, time constraints, and the complexity of the app.

Developing on Your Own:

Full Control: Learning to develop the app on your own gives you full control over the development process. You can make changes and updates whenever you want without relying on external developers.

Learning Curve: Learning software development takes time and effort. If you’re willing to invest in acquiring new skills and have the time to do so, this can be a rewarding option.

Cost: In the short term, doing it yourself may seem cost-effective, but consider the opportunity cost of the time you spend learning and developing instead of focusing on other aspects of your project.

Language Choice: If you choose to develop on your own, the choice between Swift (for iOS) and Flutter (cross-platform) depends on your target audience and your preferences. If you are targeting only iOS users, Swift might be more suitable. If you want to reach both iOS and Android users with a single codebase, Flutter could be a good choice.

Outsourcing:

Time and Expertise: Outsourcing can be faster, especially if you have a tight deadline. Professional developers already have the necessary skills and experience to deliver a quality product.

Cost: While outsourcing might seem more expensive upfront, it can be cost-effective in the long run. Your time is valuable, and if you’re not an experienced developer, the time spent learning may cost more than hiring a professional.

Quality: The quality of work from freelance platforms like Fiverr can vary. It’s crucial to carefully review the profiles, portfolios, and reviews of potential developers before making a decision.

Communication: Effective communication is key when outsourcing. Make sure you and the developer have a clear understanding of the project requirements, timelines, and deliverables.

Mobile dev is hard, but people still write apps all the time. Do you have any experience in software? If so, I’d give flutter or chatGPT plus a crack first. The worst thing you’ll lose is a bit of time.

I’d be very cautious of fiver unless you feel very confident designing mocks and outline tickets/PRDs. If that route goes poorly you’ll be out time and money.

I personally witnessed a crypto “company” in Australia burn money and time trying to save a few bucks hiring a team to create their website and ecosystem for. The outsourced company based somewhere in Asia was taking too long, making a copious amount of mistakes and when the crypto company tried to pullout, they withheld their customer data for 10s of thousands of dollars.

They can get away from such crap because they’re in a different country, while here in Australia such teams are held to far stronger regulatory standards. The crypto company ended up folding… after hiring a proper Australian based team.

Personally you should only outsource if you are capable of monitoring and giving specific direction with a company you know you can trust, which in this case doesn’t seem to apply to you.

Management by abdication can be a major risk. Instead of outsourced, think of your team as a distributed team location wise. From there figure it how you can participate in all aspects of it, if you are hands off you will spend much more fixing it over and over.

Development for an app between 500-2000 seems low and a way to hook someone in for more. Depends on how simple your app is I guess.

In terms of platform whether you outsource or be heavily invoked with a remote team, I think flutter has a lot to offer especially since it’s one of the best at making one codebase work on android and iOS instead of building separate apps which is not ideal especially with a limited budget.

Good luck

If you learn by yourself, it will take a lot of times. Rather than just outsource to someone else while you do some business development instead.

You can contact me, I am owner of a software development company in Singapore. We can discuss on this further.

Let me give you some advice as 2x technical founder with products that hit 180k MRR:

Do not outsource to a contractor, it is like burning money. What you want to do is build an impactful team on a tight budget. If you have cash you can visit rocketdevs.com/browse and look for a talented flutter developer. Their devs are under 1k USD/month and they are top 5% in their field.

Bad developers are very costly, not just in wasted money but also in time. Find and use the best. I recommend scLean Labs to explore this more. Happy to help see what that could be - calendly.com/janoma or email janoma@scleanlabs.com!

You would have to to outsource until unless you are a good developer yourself.

If you want to give it a try go for a no code tool and see for yourself. Its harder then it seems.

I’ve always been told: Do what you do best, outsource the rest. If your an entrepreneur focus on that. Outsource the development work to a developer… If you have no experience in development, probably not going to turn out to well compared to a professional. Let them do the work if you have the funds to bank roll it.

Anybody tried no code bubble solution?

Swift is only for iOS. Flutter is cross-platform, meaning the code can work for iOS, Android and more.

You can surely get someone from Fiverr to build it, but it pays off to have designs, and test the app well before you conclude the business.