Yelp-like app development: MVP model and how much it costs

by Nataliia Kharchenko Marketing Copywriter

Nowadays we can use a bunch of mobile apps that can help us make our travel experience brighter and more captivating.

If we take as an example one of the most popular trip planners like Yelp, it should help entrepreneurs build their app like Yelp but with some new features. Let’s find out how much it will cost and what you should undertake to implement it.

More about Yelp

Yelp app makes it possible to find hotels, restaurants, gas stations, museums and so on the map. And not only find them but also see their rating, read reviews, look through pictures, and it can help you find the best one establishment for you.

Also, Yelp app can provide users with contact details where all necessary information is available. But in fact, Yelp is used mostly to find restaurants and hotels. Yelp gained large popularity in the whole world, but you can try to achieve it as well.

Business models you should follow

There are a few important business models you cannot ignore when you want to create a trip planner like Yelp.

Find your target audience. You should determine who will be your end user. Make a market analysis to find out what is more interesting for people in your country, what they want to get in your new app for travelers.

Find your competitors. Study all apps of your competitors on the market that are already available. What are their strong and weak sides? Your goal is to find out it.

Think about monetization ways. We are sure you create an app to gain a profit, so you need to monetize it. How is it possible to earn on the app like Yelp? There are a few methods:

Advertisement. The first one and the most popular way to earn money on your software. Add advertisement to your app and get money for it.
Collaboration. Service providers can make an agreement with you to show their service at the top of the list when people search for something specific.

Mind to optimize an app in app stores. When your app is ready for launch, it is not over yet. It doesn’t matter whether you create iOS or Android app, it should be optimized for Google Play or App Store.

MVP features for your app like Yelp

Well, of course, your app should have some new and unique features not to be an absolute copy of Yelp app. But there is a number of features that should be available in your app by default. let’s check them out.

News feed. Here users should see not only last news but also the history of their activity, all important notifications and so on.

Search by geolocation. Due to integrated GPS function that is available in all modern gadgets, this feature will help users locate themselves on the map and find all places they need.

Profile. Each user should have an opportunity to create his/her own profile where they can store all necessary information like places they visited, what they liked/disliked.

Reviews. A must-have feature since reviews and rating mean a lot for users. they should see general recommendations about each place they found in your app, what is good or bad out there.

What else can your app boast about?

Having listed MVP features, there are some features left to enhance your app like Yelp and make it better. Here they are:

Registration using social platforms. It will attract more users to your app since people will use their LinkedIn or Facebook accounts to sign-in. It is much faster and convenient.

Booking. Using this feature, your app users will be able to book a room in any hotel or a table in the restaurant.

In-app purchase. It is much more convenient to pay for booking directly from the app, with a cashless transfer. Add this button and it will attract more users for sure.

If you consider it necessary, and you have a large budget, the list of your features can be limitless. It is up to you!

What about the development cost?

And no less important issue you need to consider. How much does an app cost to create? Average hour rate in Eastern Europe is $50, so we take this figure to estimate the development of an app.

First, mind that there is no large difference between iOS and Android app development. So platform doesn’t play a big role. But if you plan to create an app for both platforms, it will cause the growth of the cost.

Designing

UI design for the development of Yelp-like app can take from 75 to 195 hours, and the cost may be $3750 - $9750 accordingly.

UX design can take up to 135 hours with 35 hours minimum. And the cost will be $1750 - $6750.

Development

On the whole, the development cost of a Yelp-like app may start from $20,000 approximately and it can grow up to $40,000 in case you want some additional features. But it is not a limit yet, everything depends on your requirements, that is why a price can be much higher.

If you plan to create an app similar to Yelp, you should hire a first-rate development team that will help you turn all ideas into reality. Then your product will become the one that deserves to be the best.