How Much Does it Cost to Build a Custom Workout and Training App?

Before directly beginning to build a workout app, one must do all the necessary research. If you are here on this article today, you will likely have started your research and are curious about custom workout and training app development costs. A lot goes into custom workout app development, and as an initiator of the process, you must be aware of all the aspects included.

We can only speculate and guess about the question in view, i.e., custom workout app development cost. Without knowing the exact project requirements, it will only be out of guesswork if we attempt to enter a precise number. However, for an estimation, it is probably between $30,000 and $100,000 for the MVP and between $100,000 and $300,000 for a fully functional advanced solution. Therefore, it would be safe to assume that the cost to build a custom workout app would roughly fall into the $30–100K or $100–300K group.

As we go into more detail through this article, we shall provide you with a few benchmarks for various components. You can use them to achieve your own goals and context and direct the workout exercise app development process as per your convenience and budget. You will also be able to understand the factors that affect a custom workout app development cost.

Market Insights for Custom Workout App Development

The fitness and workout market is currently in bloom. Especially after the pandemic, more and more people have come forward to stay fit and look after their health. It could be that the restricted access to gyms and workout spaces forced people to make space for workouts and training at home, pushing the total number of fitness app users to increase by almost 45% after the pandemic. The user count for fitness apps reached 385 million in 2021.

The global fitness apps market was $22.2 billion in 2021, which grew to $28.37 billion in 2022, and is now projected to reach $157.97 billion by 2030, showing a CAGR of 27.80% between 2022-2030.

These statistics confirm that if you look forward to creating a workout app, the market and the time are right. All you need is the right team to help you gauge the right cost estimate and create a custom workout app as per your vision.

What are the Key Factors that Influence the Cost of Building a Custom Workout and Training App?

The custom workout and training app development cost is affected by a number of factors. Everything that is involved in the development process will affect the costs and hence, the budget. Listed below are a few such factors.

Type of Workout App

Each type of program you design has its own cost. You’ll usually choose a web-based app (AMP, PWA, or native Android and iOS apps).

Developing an iOS app could save you money if your audience uses iPhones. If they use other phones, you may choose Android over iOS. To decide, determine where your target market is and how to contact them.

Progressive web apps are ideal if your audience is diverse and you need to be cross-platform. One structure can be consumed on all devices—web and mobile—which is fantastic for budgeting. This is cheaper than designing fitness applications for each platform.

[Also Read: How Much Does Progressive Web App Development Cost in 2023?]

Features

You must be very specific about the range of features you want to get included when estimating the cost of developing an app. It will significantly affect how much developer time is needed. Consider all the filters, search engines, push notifications, training advice, user account logins, payments, etc. Basic features can take weeks to complete, while others may only take a few hours. The cost to build a custom workout app will also be affected if the features call for specific expertise from seasoned app developers.

[Also Read: How much does it cost to build a fitness app like Hevy?]

Tech Stack

The tech stack used while creating a custom workout and training app can also affect the overall cost of the development. Investing in a robust training app that can accommodate a larger user base and provide them with a smooth communication experience is likely to require a greater financial outlay than a basic app with a standard technical interface.

Integrations

The complexity of the project rises when a fitness app is integrated with numerous servers, web services, payment methods, external data sources, or even just a basic social network connection. It directly influences the cost to build a custom workout app. Your maintenance and development costs for your fitness app follow. There are some other concerns it might raise as well. For instance, when the services you want to integrate with might not have a suitable API available.

Also Read: A Complete Guide to API Development

Design Complexity

When you make a fitness app, you should think about how complicated the design is. If you’re happy for your app’s user interface to just use a design template that already exists, you can save a lot of money here. But if you want something that is truly unique and gives your brand a creative edge, you’ll have to pay for product design services to make it happen.

Depending on the kind of interactions and animations you wish for the app to have, the total cost of the design will change. The cost of making an app goes up the more complicated it is.

The Best Workout App Features

When considering the custom workout tracker app cost, you will also have to consider the features that you include in the app. The more loaded the app is, the costlier it will be. Here are a few features that might be non-negotiable to building a workout app.

Sign Up/Login

User sign-in and registration are regular features in fitness apps. Make sure you give users a variety of signup alternatives, including quick signup through sites like Google, Facebook, and Twitter, as well as registration with an email address.

User Account

If you wish to build a fitness app to earn money, you must have a user account. Users can gain insight into their training progress, accomplishments, personal objectives, and much more with the help of fitness apps.

These accounts can have a variety of features, such as the capability to utilize an app across numerous devices using cloud storage. Additionally, the ability to manage paid subscriptions and billions of pieces of information with connected payment systems can be added.

Social Integration

Most users are active on at least a few social media networks these days. When creating a fitness app with a personal account, you must consider this functionality. However, you can go one step further with this feature and provide consumers the option to share their fitness progress with their friends on social networks in addition to social signup and login.

Device Interconnection

If you choose to create a fitness app that will give consumers precise and practical insight into their physical activity, we highly advise taking this feature into consideration. You may combine your personal workout app with a variety of wearables with the assistance of fitness app developers. You can get data from the most popular wearables powered by Google’s Wear OS and Apple’s Watch with the help of the HealthKit and Google Fit APIs.

Also Read: How wearables are shaping healthcare app development

Payment Gateway

You must build a payment gateway if you want to allow in-app purchases in your business model. You won’t be able to sell memberships or individual on-demand courses without it. Any transaction needs to take place through a secure network in your app.

Whether you’re creating a smart indoor cycling app or not, the specifications for this feature remain essentially the same. These are listed below:

• It should move through transactions quickly
• It must safeguard the personal data of users
• It ought to be simple to use

Push Notifications

Push notifications always make it to the MVP list because they are a very crucial feature in reminding and motivating your users to open and use the app. It is also an effective remarketing tool for interacting with both current and inactive app users.

With a well thought-out push notifications strategy, it can be helpful in the following situations, to name a few.

• They will notify users about forthcoming live exercises.
• They will alert students to new on-demand courses.
• Users’ discussions, new followers, and other social activities are updated through them.
• If a user has not used the app in a while, the push notifications will tempt them to do so.

How to Create a Custom Workout App?

When you hire workout app development services, you must know what the process of creating a workout app will look like. Here is a guide for you.

1. Develop specifications

Make a list of the features you desire. SRS, or software requirements specifications, is the name given to the textual description of the functionality. Delivering your concept to the team’s engineers, designers, and other members is simple by using this document. This can start out as a simple list of features with a clear explanation that can be prioritized. Lack of prior experience in writing this kind of documentation is not a barrier as your hired fitness and workout app development company can help you draft the same.

2. Build design

The design comes first, then the code. Just as no one builds a house without blueprints, programmers must know the User Interface before they begin. The visual components can be connected to the backend once the drawing is complete. Now, it is vital to understand that only a dedicated app development company can help you create a seamless app design as per your brand’s essence at an optimized cost. You can leverage their years of expertise to create a flawless app design that resonates with the highest quality standards.

3. Commence with MVP

The days of software development taking years to perfect are passed. Today, when a project may be deployed in a matter of months or even weeks, we advise our clients to start with an MVP or Minimum Viable Product. You must order the list of elements by importance and identify the essential features that will effectively convey your original concept to the intended audience.

4. Produce content

The production of content is arguably one of the most time-consuming steps. It can be carried out concurrently with the other processes. The vast library of potential exercises is one of the primary factors in why people stay with a training platform.

5. Launch and review

Launch your app on the App Store and Play Store immediately after finishing a working version to gather feedback. You will have useful information from this to make the necessary changes. You can progressively improve and develop your workout app by including new features during the following iteration.

Business Models to Cover Custom Workout App Development Cost

You will have to cover the cost of building a custom workout app. Not just that, you also have to earn profits from the app. Here are three models for you to consider as the business model for your custom workout app development.

Free Trial

Free trials work wonders. Give users a basic set of functions for free during a trial period before suggesting they subscribe. It could be a free one-month trial or a perpetual free app with paid features. Another option is to make the software free with the option to enhance the features or remove bothersome adverts. Users should be compelled to purchase advanced features if they are truly awesome. For more individualized and richer user experiences, they can include access to a wider range of exercises, progress monitoring, or the capability to build bespoke routines.

Ads

You can make money by allowing other companies to place their adverts on your website. You have the option of charging for ad placement or receiving a commission for views and visits made from your app to a company’s website.

Paid App

Users must first pay for the workout app. You can charge people for downloading the app from Play Store or App Store. A paid app that accepts a one-time fee or offers subscriptions can be made. Your chosen price may change depending on the regions, features, etc. Use this business strategy only if you are skilled at creating fitness applications with distinctive features.

In-app purchases

You can add this functionality on top of any of the aforementioned methods that you decide to use. There is always the option of charging customers for information such as exercise schedules, advice, personal training sessions, consultations, and much more.

Sponsored content

This business strategy calls for commitment and the desire to partner with other sports businesses. They can sell their skills, create original material, and display adverts for their companies inside your program. With these apps, everyone wins since you make money, and your users get exclusive content in exchange for a nominal fee.

Build a Workout App with Appinventiv

Appinventiv is the developer team you have long desired to create a workout app. In order to provide you with the optimal solution, we make an effort to understand the market environment in which your app runs. We have experience working with many well-known international brand names, so we fully understand the issues we are resolving.

In one of our cases, we built a first-of-its-kind resonant frequencies-based personal wellness system. Through the Soniphi app, we brought human bio-acoustics science on mobile to get millions of users in a closer relationship between voice print and the physiology and personality of the human body.

Select Appinventiv as your fitness app development company, and we’ll work with you to ensure your workout planner app development process is successfully completed.

Partner with us.

FAQs

Q. How much time does it take to build a workout app?

A. Developing a fitness app typically takes 200 hours. However, creating a fitness app in as few as 67 hours or as many as 350 hours is also possible. The precise timetable largely depends on how complex your application is. Generally speaking, it will take longer if you need highly customized designs, specialized functionality, or unconventional release platforms. However, it is recommended to go for such customized functionalities to reap greater benefits in the long run.

Q. What are the risks and challenges of a workout planner app development?

A. The safety of the user and other nearby users puts fitness applications at risk legally and in terms of their reputation. It is advised that you take decisive action to confirm identity and stop abuse in your app, like barring users who are aggressive or persistently unresponsive.

Q. How to reduce custom workout and training app development costs?

A. To save money on a fitness tracker app, focus on core features, design cross-platform software instead of two for iOS and Android, and hire a dedicated development team.

When the application makes money, add features. Hiring extra workers or an app development agency like Appinventiv will reduce costs to build a custom workout app in the long run while ensuring a high-quality product without overpaying for an in-house team (or additional full-time staff for an existing team).

THE AUTHOR

Peeyush Singh

DIRECTOR & CO-FOUNDER