How much should I charge for an Android app in India?

How much (INR) can one charge per hour for working as a freelance Android app developer in India?

• Answer:

  Thanks for the A2A. It's very hard to pin a fixed price like that, so rather than give a price, I'd like you to think about factors that go into making that decision so you can learn how much to charge on your own. Let's see if I can help you out. The app More complicated the app, more you should charge. Things like making games, are generally more complex than a server client type app. While there are a lot of Android game developers, I feel as a percentage, the ones who can do things with open gl for example, make up a small portion out of the entire set of Android developers. The client People in India expect a lower charge on am absolute scale than people, say, in Europe. If you want work in India, you'll have to reduce your prices. The competition Closely related, is competition - you cannot charge (most of the time) far more than what the market price for such a skill is. Price generally beats other decision parameters, unless you can prove you are worth the cost incurred. How good you are The better your reputation, the more you can charge. Obviously, no one will pay your fee if it's high and you can't prove that you're worth it. You need to build a portfolio. Show case your best apps, make a website about yourself for some self promotion, etc. It helps. Living expenses Obviously, you cannot charge less than the amount required for the living expenses in your area. I live in India, so I could afford to start out at a cheaper rate. So what's the correct price? Let me share my experience in freelance. As I mentioned, I live in India so I don't know if the same price metric could apply to you. I don't freelance anymore, but I charged $500 for my first app. This took me about two months time to deliver the app, and I did both client and server side. So converting this into $/hour, you get about $3-4 an hour. I've since then been able to charge twice that much. If I had continued, I could have charged even higher. If you're starting out, I'd say you could charge about $5/hour to quickly get your break. Then increase appropriately. If you're serious about freelance, remember to start small but don't undersell yourself. And don't underestimate the product or the client. Software as a rule takes longer than it you think it will, and clients change requirements, so make sure to handle both of them well. Lastly, take a portion of your fee in advance. Taking 25-30% of the total fee seems to be the standard practice in that regard. There's nothing worse than putting all that effort and the client withholding payment for some ridiculous reason, trust me. Hope I did a decent job of helping you out, all the best!