How Much Does It Cost to Develop an App Like Instagram?

Nowadays Instagram has become a powerful sales channel to attract new prospects and offer different products and services. One of the main reasons behind Instagram success is the continuous product improvement. These days, the service allows users not only to share photo and video content with other users but also offers wide business possibilities.

Simultaneously, Instagram constantly improves the user experience by maintaining simple, intuitive navigation for new users along with monochrome and laconic design. Generally, the company follows design tendencies in order to provide the best user experience.

The Instagram App Functionality

At first, it is worth mentioning that Instagram evolved from a simple photo-sharing app. Its primary feature was adhering photos into a square and it allowed Instagram to succeed in the app business. Building the Minimum Viable Product using a lean startup methodology is a great approach to begin any project.

The key functionality of Instagram includes the following:

• Authorization (via email, phone number, or Facebook)
• Create and edit profile (including Business profile)
• Messages
• Image customization
• Determination of geolocation
• View user profiles and follow other users
• Personalized feed
• Search (by posts, usernames, tags, and places)
• Mentions
• Analytics
• Settings

Photo & Video Instagram App

Instagram’s journey began with the photos! All the content consists of posts which are shown in the personalized user feed based on preferences. Users are able to follow other users, pages, and hashtags. As well, Instagram has the functionality to edit these photos, apply a range of filters, and tag locations and friends in the photo.

The year 2017 was dedicated to Instagram stories, which set video content in the center of the service by allowing users to broadcast short videos. Now users can easily store their best broadcasts in the Stories Highlights section for an indefinite time. This is quite a complex feature for Instagram, with a separate feed on top of the main app screen.

Instagram has also become an innovator in mobile television. The platform also launched IGTV for vertical videos adapted for smartphones to compete with the well-known YouTube.

Messaging Instagram App

Instagram Direct was one of the first great updates made by Instagram in 2013. This messenger allows private photo-sharing and messaging to people you follow. This changed the emphasis from a mostly public social network with a broadcast structure toward some more private and precious moments shared only with a close group.

Instagram as an E-commerce Platform & Business App

Shopping on Instagram allows brands to highlight products in Stories and Feed to attract new customers. Businesses are able to generate sales via Instagram by tagging their products in the pictures with descriptions, prices, and sales links.

Supported Products for Instagram

• Boomerang- creates unexpected and fun short videos that circle back and forth
• Layout - makes collages from a set of photos by mixing and editing them
• Hyperlapse - allows to stabilize videos to create time lapse shoots

How Much Does Instagram Cost to Create?

Obviously, it is highly implausible to attempt to clone Instagram exactly, especially without the necessary monetary resources, skilled developers, and effective management. The price for a mobile app development depends on various factors:

• number of features
• complexity of features
• design specifics
• number of platforms and operating system details
• technology preferences
• development team capabilities & rates
• project management, etc.

Aside from a vast amount of minor elements and functions, Instagram has an enormous architecture to store such a massive amount of data (photo & video content). Instagram is hosting 1 billion users monthly! Just imagine the level of server infrastructure required for processing a few million posts at once and supporting all these moving pieces.

This is why it is a difficult task to determine the actual cost and time to develop an app like Instagram. The range could even extend from $5,000-5,000,000 depending on what the initial intentions are, what is meant by an ‘Instagram-like app,’ and the other factors mentioned earlier.

Here you will find out full information on the cost of building a social photo-sharing app like Instagram and elements that make it up.