How Much Does an Uber-like App Cost

Introduction

Uber has become a synonym for on-demand taxi booking applications. The online ride-hailing application has multiplied with a 56% revenue surge year over year. 

Every taxi business owner wants to start their on-demand ride-hailing business journey with an Uber-like app. But the first concern every entrepreneur faces is the cost. 

Are you a taxi business owner inspired by Uber’s success? Do you want to know how much it will cost to build an app like Uber? The blog discusses the development of an Uber-like app and its cost estimation.

We have given a complete breakdown of the features and factors affecting the price to help you understand the logic behind how these factors form and affect the cost of an on-demand taxi booking app.

Uber Statistics

• As of 2020, Uber has a 68% share in the U.S. rideshare segment and 50% in India.
• Uber shares 65% of the market segment in the U.S. & Canada, Europe, Latin America, Australia & New Zealand, and the Middle East & Africa.
• In 2021, Uber generated $17.4 billion in revenue, a 56% increase year-on-year.
• As of Q1 2021, Uber has approximately 98 million monthly active consumers. Users spend an average of $66 per month on the Uber platform.

How does Uber Work?

Uber has footprints in 69 countries and 10K cities globally, earning around $11.3 billion in annual revenue. Interesting, right? 

Uber is an on-demand taxi booking app that enables users to book or enjoy a ride anytime, anywhere. In other words, ride-hailing connects passengers with nearby available cabs to make their journeys convenient and secure. With Uber as an on-demand ride-hailing app, passengers no more need to wait on roadsides to find a vacant taxi. 

The app offers a separate panel for each passenger, driver, and taxi business owner. So, let’s see how Uber works.

• Passengers can register or log in to the Uber app to search for a cab to their desired destination.
• Drivers must report and create their profiles on the driver panel so passengers can find them to book a ride.
• Taxi business owners can monitor business operations via the powerful admin dashboard.

Uber app operates on these three panels:

Step 1: Ride Request.

Passengers can enter their current location and destination address to find vacant cabs nearby. They can then pick one from the available choices to book a ride.

Step 2: Request Accept.

The driver will receive the booking request, and he can either accept/reject the request based on their schedule.

Step 3: The Ride.

Once accepted, passengers will receive the booking confirmation notification. They can then track the driver’s real-time location and discover when they will reach their destination. 

The drivers will reach the passenger’s pickup location following the in-app navigation directions.

Step 4: The Payment.

The passengers can enjoy the ride and make online payments securely. They can choose a convenient payment mode, such as net banking, digital wallets, cards, or cash.

Step 5: Ride Reviews

Passengers can share their feedback about the taxi booking app and its services. They can give detailed reviews about the cab services, driver behavior, etc.

Revenue Models for an Uber-like app

Developing an on-demand taxi booking app like Uber requires massive costs and time. So, after investing a fortune, you will surely want to earn a manifold. So, how can you monetize your Uber-like app?

In other words, how do you earn revenue through an on-demand taxi booking app like Uber? The Uber-like app owners can make profits in many ways:

1. Commission fee from the different taxi business owners (25%)
2. Fee from passengers
3. Fee from drivers
4. In-app advertising
5. Integration with other apps and services

Paid Subscriptions

Subscriptions allow users to pay monthly or annually and enjoy unlimited rides or trips. Further, subscriptions offer added advantages on rides, like special offers or discounts. Passengers who travel each day would prefer to subscribe. Uber-like app owners can make good profits through subscriptions.

Ride-Tiered Pricing

Uber offers different ride options like Uber Pool, UberX, and UberBlack at different prices. 

So, business owners can provide various ride options based on vehicle size or luxury. The larger or more luxurious the vehicle, the higher it will cost. So, this is an excellent option for entrepreneurs to earn extra revenue.

Sponsorship and Branding Collaborations

Collaborating with other companies for sponsorship or branding can be an excellent option to utilize your taxi booking app to make extra profits. You can provide advertising spaces to other companies for promotions at the back of your taxis. You can charge a fixed amount for the space allocated.

App Advertising

In-app advertisements are a great source of income for your on-demand Uber-like app. You can allow other companies to promote their brands by advertising on your app. 

For instance, the coffee brand offers free coffee to passengers who complete 5 Uber rides within 30 days using the Starbucks Rewards Visa Card.

Features of Uber-like Taxi Booking App

Passenger App Features

• Sign up and log in
• Request a ride
• Special Requests
• Truck Driver’s location
• Pay for the ride
• Rate drivers and leave feedback on drivers and rides.

Uber Driver App Elements

• Register on the Driver App
• Specify vehicle type, add their license and other documents
• Receive Ride requests
• Accept or reject ride requests. 
• Availability Toggle
• GPS Navigation & in-app map. 
• Track Earnings

Admin Panel

• Truck Driver’s Location
• Check Ratings & Reviews
• Manage User Accounts
• Manage Drive Details
• Manage Reviews & Feedback
• Reports & Analytics
• Manage Taxi Bookings
• Google Analytics Integrations

Advanced Features:

• Heat Maps
• Driver Delivery Reports
• Quest earnings
• Forward Dispatch
• Flat Rate
• Pass System (weekly, monthly)
• Airport Queue
• Panic Button
• Smart Wallets
• Voice Recognition

How to Build an Uber-like app?

You can either engage an in-house development team to create cab booking software similar to Uber or contract with an offshore development company.

Hiring an in-house team is an expensive option that is not practical or feasible for every size organization. Hiring freelancers is also a good choice. 

Uber-like app development is complex and requires proficiency and in-depth expertise in the latest tools and technologies. 

You can trust a leading outsourcing agency to develop your Uber-like ride-hailing app on time. Valuetree is one of the best taxi booking app development companies in India, with a team of highly proficient developers and engineers. You can rely on the expertise of our taxi app engineers to develop a robust Uber-like app.

Steps to building an Uber-like App

Discovery & Research

The first step is to complete research and discover your market, target audience, competitors, etc. It is the most crucial step as a clear idea of your competitors, budget, and target audience will form the base for your taxi booking app’s design, technology, and features.

The discovery stage will cover the answers for:

1. Which features to add to the MVP?
2. How much can you spend on your Uber-like app?
3. Whom do you want to serve?
4. With whom are you competing?
5. On which platforms do you want to help?
6. Which approach is best for you: native or hybrid?

Keeping your vision clear on the answers to the above questions will help create a custom Uber-like taxi booking app perfectly aligned with your business needs. A well-planned approach can save tons of time and dollars.

UX/UI app design

Decide and define what your on-demand Uber-like app will look like. You want a design for your taxi booking app that highlights your business’s unique identity.

Things to consider to deciding the design:

1. The user interface design should be visually appealing to promote conversions.
2. The design should be simple and user-friendly at the same time.
3. The design should reflect your business branding.
4. The user experience includes navigation to features, fonts, buttons, clicks, etc., all should be smooth and quick.

App Development

App design, features, and technology are all well-planned and finalized. So, it’s time to bring them together to create your dynamic taxi booking app like Uber. The app development team divides the tasks per their positions, and the coding for your taxi booking app like Uber begins.

Things to consider:

• Developers should use industry-standard and secure coding practices.
• They should choose the latest and most reliable technology stack.
• The use of DevOps speeds up the development process while saving costs.

Quality Assurance

The next step is to ensure the quality of your Uber-like taxi booking app. The testing should go hand in hand with the development to avoid failures or significant changes in the last stage. The quality assurance team performs automated and manual tasks to verify the app’s quality. The online Uber-like taxi booking app is verified for compatibility on all screens and platforms.

Deployment

Once the app is ready and tested for all the aspects, it is released on the app stores. Launching mobile apps on the app stores requires permissions for each platform. The development team takes care of the app launch in the stores.

Post-development phase 

You have launched your Uber-like taxi booking app to the app stores. However, it is essential to ensure the app performs smoothly in the long run. The app development team provides post-launch maintenance support to detect errors and software glitches, fix crashes, enhance performance, and improve version updates.

Factors that Affect the Uber-like App Development Cost

App Platform

Do you want to build a native taxi booking app or take a hybrid approach? Native apps incur high costs because they are developed using unique codes and platform-specific technology. Hybrid apps use the same principles for all platforms and thus incur fewer costs and effort.

Technology Stack

The technology stack used in the Uber-like app also affects the overall cost. The tech stack for native apps is different from hybrid apps.

App Development Team

Project Manager

The Project Manager takes charge of:

• Managing the entire project
• Communicate with the owners and the developers
• Report each day
• Maintain coordination between the development team
• Resolve queries, etc.

The Project manager ensures that the app is completed on time.

Design Team

The design team manages the creation of frontend and user interfaces. The group involves UI/UX designers, graphic designers, and frontend developers. The team ensures that the apps are beautiful, user-friendly, and intuitive.

Back-End Developers

The back-end team builds server-side logic, data storage, security, and networking software components. They work on programming languages like Java or Python, frameworks like Node.js or Meteor, and databases like MySQL, MongoDB, etc.

Frontend Developers

Frontend developers build software components for user interface and integrate them with back-end parts made by back-end developers. They use programming languages like JavaScript, HTML5, CSS3, frameworks like AngularJS, ReactJS, etc., and tools like Gulp or Grunt for development.

Q.A. Engineers

QA engineers perform manual and automated tests on the app to ensure efficiency. They detect errors and security glitches in the software, check their compatibility, etc.

How Much Does the Uber App Cost?

The standard formula for calculating the cost of developing an app is

Number of Hours to build the app * Hourly Developer Rate

The number of hours required to create the features of the customer panel, driver panel, and admin panel.

The cost to make an app like Uber depends on the following factors:

• Number & complexity of features
• App Design
• Number of platforms or operating systems
• Technology Stack
• Development team location & rates

Other factors that add to the total cost of an app like Uber are:

• Back-end development
• Web development (admin panel)
• Project management
• Quality assurance
• Business analysis (Functional Specification)
• App Launch
• App Maintenance

Design for a Passenger app

• Wireframes (UX) — 64–80 hours
• Mockups (U.I.) — 48–64 hours for iOS; 32–48 hours for Android (provided that iOS will be the first platform worked on)

Design for a Driver app

• Wireframes (UX) — 40–56 hours
• Mockups (U.I.) — 48–64 hours for iOS; 32–48 hours for Android

The hourly rate of the development team or the outsourcing agency depends on the agency’s location. Each country has a different hourly rate (USA—$150-200, Europe—$50 per hour).

For instance, the cost of Uber app development cost as per developer rates in the USA is $100/hour; the final cost will be:

• Passenger app: $102,400 — $122,400
• Driver app: $38,800 — $53,600
• Admin panel: $24,000
• Total: ~ $170,000 — $200,000

If you outsource your Uber-like app development project to an outsourcing agency in Ukraine ($30/hour), the final app development cost will be:

• A passenger app: $30,720 — $36,720
• A driver app: $11,040 — $16,080
• Admin panel: $7,200
• Total: ~ $50,000 — $60,000

The above cost calculations are rough to explain the Uber app development cost. 

So, the cost of developing an Uber-like app will range between $100,000 and $150,000 for a single platform (Android or iOS). Building the app for another platform will multiply the price by two times.

Best Taxi Business Ideas to Invest

Carpooling Business

Carpooling involves allowing users to share a cab with other passengers going the same route. The ridesharing approach helps users save costs on daily transport. It also helps taxi business owners attract more cab users and save on fuel.

Corporate Carpooling

Corporate carpooling enables the employees or staff to share a cab and travel to and from the office. As a taxi business owner, you can contact corporations or companies to book your cabs for carpooling purposes.

Airport Taxi Service

You can start an Airport taxi service to pick up and drop off passengers from their hotels or homes to airports. This business model targets business professionals or frequent travelers. 

You can provide passengers with luxury and premium cab services to generate handsome revenue.

Medical Transport Service

You can invest in an online medical transport service business by allowing your cabs for patient pick-and-drop services. You can pick up patients from their homes and drop them off at the hospitals to help them attend their doctor appointments on time. Similarly, drop them to their homes safely from hospitals.

FAQs

1. How Long Does It Take to Build a taxi booking app Like Uber?

The amount of time required to build an app depends on the complexity of your app. However, a custom taxi booking app like Uber may take 16 to 18 weeks to be ready.

2. How can I make money with an on-demand Uber-like app?

The primary source of income from Uber-like apps is the user’s payment for the rides. There are some other ways to monetize your taxi-booking app like Uber:

• App Advertising
• Subscriptions
• Branding Collaboration

3. Can an on-demand taxi booking app be created on a limited budget?

Yes. If you are on a limited budget or starting up as an online taxi business owner, you can go for an MVP of the Uber-like app. The MVP includes the essential features and functionalities to help you start your business, attract an audience, and make profits.

Conclusion

The cost to build an app like Uber is a significant and crucial aspect of investing in an Uber-like app. We explained each aspect in detail in the blog to help you better understand how the cost of building a taxi booking app is calculated. 

We are available at your service if you have any queries related to the Uber-like app development cost or want to build a custom Uber-like app for your business.

Valuetree is a top taxi booking app development company in India with over two decades of experience. Our mobile app development experts can turn your taxi app idea into a top-notch solution for rapid business growth. Reach out to us at +1 (312) 380-0911 or send an email to sales@valuetree.io to book a free consultation.