How much it cost to make Uber? There’s a growing demand for Uber-like clone applications among business entrepreneurs around the globe. Mostly for taxi apps with slight modifications to Uber business model, though some strive to apply it to other industries as well. Our agenda today – how much does it cost to make an app like Uber.
How does it work?
First and foremost, Uber is the taxi ordering app used by millions due its outstanding service for people, as well as job opportunities. For riders, Uber has been a real blessing since 2012, as they now can book a private cab driver with one tap on the phone. The nearest car will pick you up in minutes.
Uber has 80 million users and operates in 77 countries. The service is generally 35 to 50% cheaper than traditional taxi cabs, responds faster as well. That’s why its effect to market they call ‘disruptive’. And that is the reason why many want to follow its path. Lyft, Hailo, Gett and other have already succeeded. What about the cost?
Mind, that no one is able to estimate the exact cost of developing a taxi app like Uber. It all depends on vast variety of things: app architecture and developer rates, features, country and industry, and hundreds of others.
Features of passengers app
List of features is first huge factor to the cost of taxi app development. Some of the features of both passenger and driver interface will overlap, but each has its essential ones too.
- Booking taxi for ride.
- Tracking availability of drivers.
- Integrating Google Map to set pickup and drop location.
- Fare calculation.
- Selection of cab type.
- Live tracking of a cab after its booking like cab start, arrival, etc.
- Integration of Payment option for performing payment.
- Booking history
- Review and ratings
- Text or calling facility to driver
- Estimated fair calculation and promo code
Features of Driver app
Profile Registration and Editing
Activity alert that informs the driver when he is requested for a ride.
Updating status whenever driver accepts or deny the request.
Booking history where order list can be seen.
Navigation with Google
So now you are aware of some basic feature set to develop a clone app like UBER, you have two options.
1. You can approach development team to get your app designed and developed from scratch as per your requirement and business needs.
2. You can straightaway contact a company who already have an app developed and you just need some customization as per your business needs.
Usage of Uber Worldwide
Monthly number of Uber’s active users worldwide from 2016 to 2019 (in millions) In 2018, 95 million people used the Uber app on a monthly basis. Uber is one of the most popular ridesharing apps in the world. … Contributing to their revenue is the 5.23 billion rides that were delivered via the Uber app in that year.
In the fourth quarter of 2018, Uber generated almost 14.2 billion U.S. dollars in gross bookings worldwide.In October 2018, Uber had 69 percent of the market, while Lyft only had 29 percent. In 2018, residents of San Francisco spent on average 110 U.S. dollars per month on Uber, compared to 89 U.S. dollars on Lyft. Consumers who made more than 75,000 U.S. dollars per year made up 53 percent of the total users who used ride-sharing services as of October 2018.
Tracking Technology of Uber
Uber’s service is built around their smartphone app used by both drivers and customers, which gives them an opportunity to collect GPS, gyroscope and accelerator data during Uber trips. Data is constantly collected during trips and sent to Uber’s servers for processing and long-term storage.
The goal of using telematics for Uber is to improve driver safety and reduce car crashes. At the same time, they can gather important and useful information on roads, conditions, and driver reactions.
- For example, Uber might cut drivers off that they find to be consistently dangerous or poorly performing drivers, or Uber might store data for use in other services, such as the rate of hard braking in a certain city. This long-term data might be especially useful in Uber’s work in developing autonomous cars.
Technology to build an app like Uber
Having in mind that Uber has already disclosed its API to public and developers, and introduced the Riders affiliate program, you can also build own tailored Uber-like app. Server, mapping and payments are the three giant foundations to develop a taxi app. First off, to process hundreds of user requests, driver routes and other data you need own server.
Programming languages for backend – Node.js, Python, Java, PHP, Ruby on Rails. Another crucial element to any Uber-clone app is GPS. OpenStreetMap API for both iOS/Android can be used. Platform-specific tools in this regard for Android could be Google Maps and Google Location Services API. For iOS devices – MapKit or CoreLocation framework.
As Uber supports in-app payments via credit cards, Paypal, you may use the following gateway adapters to develop an app – Stripe, BrainTree, Paytm, PayPal mobile SDK. Technology stack for push notifications is pretty straightforward: Google Firebase for Android, and Apple Push for iOS phones. For SMS sendouts Uber went publicly with Twilio, though other cloud communication platforms, like Plivo, Nexmo, Tropo, deserve attention.
Native iOS/Android
If you want to cut down the cost and create a simple taxi app like Uber, you’ll choose just one platform. This depends on your target customers. Clearly, covering both iOS and Android would be of preference. Any trusted software company is capable of developing both platforms these days.
Backend and functionality would be the same either for Android or iOS, while tools and frameworks in use would be platform-specific. For instance, Google Wallet or Apple Pay, or various PayPal affiliate services. Timeline for each platform – 200 hours at least.