What is an investment app?
An investment app is a web, mobile, or desktop application that enables users to manage their investments. Investment apps usually offer users the ability to create a custom stock portfolio, view real-time stock prices and historical price trends, analyze their holdings against market indexes and other competitors, monitor price changes in real time, and simulate future investment performance.
Investment apps are similar to other portfolio management apps, such as banking apps, banking applications, and crypto trading apps. E*TRADE is one of the most popular investment apps.
Examples of investment apps built with Crowdbotics:
- An app similar to Acorns for cryptocurrency. The app would buy coins regularly in small amounts with the leftover change from day to day purchases.
What is the typical cost to build an investment app?
An investment app usually costs about $45,000 to build. However, the total cost can be as low as $30,000 or as high as $60,000. An investment app with a low number of features (also known as a minimum viable product, or MVP) will be more affordable than an app that includes all intended functionality.
For example, here are some previous investment app price quotes from Crowdbotics:
How long does it take to build an investment app?
An investment app usually takes 600 hours to build. However, an investment app can be built in as few as 400 hours, or in as many as 800 hours. The exact timeline mostly depends on how complicated your specific app is. As a general rule, it will take longer if you require highly custom designs, niche features, complex logic, or non-standard release platforms.
For example, some previous investment apps build with Crowdbotics received the following hourly estimates:
Not seeing what you’re looking for?
Crowdbotics has quoted and built hundreds of applications for teams of all sizes. Browse our historical estimates by industry and app type to understand possible costs and considerations.
How to successfully grow your investment application
A stock trading app can grow its user base by providing a platform that makes investing more accessible to new investors. Many stock trading apps offer educational modules for new users, which help them understand the stock market and learn how to invest. In order to compete in this market, trading apps must provide an easy-to-use interface that allows users to execute trades quickly and without friction.
Risks and challenges of building an investment application
An investment app must comply with the SEC and FINRA regulations related to over-the-counter securities transactions. It is advisable to consult with a legal professional to determine whether your application is subject to securities regulation. Even if you are not required to register as a broker, you may be required to register as an investment adviser or provide other regulatory filings depending on the nature of your app. You should also consider how your app will handle sensitive information related to users’ financial portfolios and how it will cluster users into subgroups for aggregation or targeting purposes.
