6 effective ways to reduce software development costs

Team Udayavani, Dec 7, 2022, 11:39 AM IST

Credit: iStock photo

Software development is expensive and as the demand for software products is increasing, it is becoming even more expensive. Companies looking to have some kind of software developed can reduce their software development costs with proper planning and a bit of smart work. For proper planning, companies will have to understand the demands of their project and how much it will cost, otherwise, they won’t be able to effectively reduce software development costs.

In fact, one of the best ways to reduce software development costs is planning right at the beginning, when you lay down the requirements of your project. Although it may sound easy and simple, if you don’t understand the basics of software development, you won’t be able to cut down software development costs significantly. Apart from planning, you will also need to do a bit of smart work and try to cut down costs by employing various methods.

For this reason, we have discussed a few ways that will help you reduce software development costs. Let’s have a look at them:

1. Outsource

One of the easiest and most effective ways to reduce software development costs is by outsourcing your projects. Many companies worldwide offer outsourcing services, which is a great way to get the job done for only a fraction of the original cost. In outsourcing, you hire an external company or team of developers to provide software development services that you would typically perform in-house.

There are multiple benefits of outsourcing, with the top ones being cost and time savings. Many businesses prefer to outsource software development projects to teams of software developers instead of doing them in-house as they can be expensive and time-consuming. A reputable and experienced software development company will be able to provide you with exactly the software that you asked for at only a fraction or half of the original cost.

2. Use Open-Source Software

Sometimes using open-source software is a great way to reduce software development costs. Open-source software is available on the internet for free and it is available for the public who can modify and use it for their personal use or redistribute it. There are many advantages of using open-source software such as it is available for free, it is highly customizable, it is of high quality, and you can tweak it according to your company’s requirements. 

3. Use Ready-Made Software Solutions

Instead of getting custom software built, why not use ready-made solutions which is a more cost-effective option than getting custom software developed. Ready-made software is an off-the-shelf software product that has been designed to perform a specific, common purpose that is common across the industry. Although you will find a few shortcomings in ready-made solutions, they are cheaper than customer software, you can get them instantly, and they are easier to implement.

4. Hire Freelancers

Hiring freelancers can also be a great way to cut down software development costs. Freelancers can be hired on a need basis and they are generally a more affordable option than full-time employees. Freelancers shouldn’t be taken lightly as they are highly talented and skilled people who can develop all sorts of applications and programs for you. Whether you want an app like EasyShare or a custom billing software for your store developed, you can rely on freelancers and only pay for the work that is to be done, with no additional costs.

5. Consider Offshore Development

Offshore development is the same as outsourcing, with the only difference being that you are going to hire a team of remote workers from any country in the world. It is thought of as the most cost-effective option for software development. You can hire teams of talented and skilled developers from countries like India, on which countries from the whole world rely for their offshore development.

There are a few things to consider with offshore development such as working with remote developers in another country, cultural differences, language barriers, time zone differences, and careful project management. However, if you can manage all these things, you can find very good software developers who will be able to handle your project. The popular file-sharing app, ShareKaro is developed by software developers from India and is one of the many apps that Indian developers have built.

6. Use Cloud-Based Solutions

Using cloud-based solutions can also help to cut down software development costs in various ways such as you won’t have to pay huge sums of money for the infrastructure, you can scale the resources of your software at any time according to your company’s requirements, and you get additional features like flexibility, ease-of-access, and flexibility that will help to improve productivity in your workplace.