How Much Does It Cost To Create A Taxi Booking App?

So how much does it cost to create a taxi booking app in 2024? Whether you own a taxi startup or planning to take a step into a taxi booking business, considering having a taxi booking app has become an urgent need. 

Though it’s not just a perfect way to stay connected with the users but also one of the most practical ways to grow your business presence. 

Now traditional taxi booking services are the thing of the past. With industry leaders like Ola, Uber or Lyft, on-demand taxi booking apps are taking over the central stage when it comes to travel and convenience.  

Businesses are looking to migrate their taxi booking services to online by hiring a mobile app development company that understands the local market needs and enabling them to create an app that adds an edge. 

However, one question that kept bothering you is “how much does it cost to create a taxi booking app?”

This blog addresses the question and provides a fair cost breakdown for taxi booking app development, its features, monetization strategy, tips to success and more. 

But before that, we will give you the estimate of the taxi app development cost extracted from various survey reports and market analysis.

It is observed that the average cost to build a simple taxi booking app  is ranging from $20,000 to $25,000+ with the basic features. But what if you are competing with full-fledged taxi booking apps like Ola or Uber? The cost can greatly different depending upon the app’s complexity, features, developer’s location and more. 

Did you know that the ride hailing and taxi booking industry is expected to hit $1665.3 million by 2026? Looking for the taxi booking mobile app development services in the USA will be a perfect move for the business expansion. 

How Much Does It Cost to Create a Taxi Booking App?

In the bustling streets of the US, where people strive for convenience and easy accessibilities, developing a taxi booking app will be a perfect business investment. But how much does it cost to develop a taxi booking app?

The average cost to create a ride-hailing app is ranging from $22,000 to $50,000+ and can even go beyond $75,000+.  

But wondering why there is a huge gap? 

As every business is different and wants to create an app for different reasons, hence there is no single app that fits all requirements and therefore there is no standard cost of app development.

Any mobile app development company in Dallas with an experience of developing a taxi booking app, can give you a rough estimation. But the actual cost estimation will be calculated based on app complexity, features and functionalities, UI/UX design, app testing, mobile app development team and their location. So let’s take a deep look on it:

1. Factors Affecting the App Development Cost

The major factors influencing the cost of developing a taxi booking app, includes:

• App Design: UI/UX design complexity can make a huge difference in the app development cost. But always remember that the simple and easy to access app interfaces are always appreciated by the users. The average cost to hire UI/UX designer is ranging from $20 to $25 per hour. 
• Features and Functionalities: The cost can vary based on basic, medium, or advanced choice of features.
• Platform: Decide which are preferred operating systems to launch your app- Android, iOS, or both. Developing a single native app by hiring an iOS app developer in USA could cost you between $20,000 to $30,000+ for a single platform. In case, if you want your app to be available on multiple platforms then developing a cross-platform app will be a sensible option as it will save up to 40% cost on over estimation. 
• Development Team Location: Varies based on geographic location. Generally the hourly rate starts from $20+ to $50 per hour in the USA.  
• Third-Party Integrations: Payment gateways, mapping services, and more depending upon the app requirement. But each addition will add up to the cost.
• Maintenance and Updates: Ongoing costs after deployment will add up to the budget. 

2. Cost Estimation By App Complexity

The complexity of the taxi booking app is refined by the choice of features and functionalities. The more complex features and functionalities you choose, the higher app development cost and time will be. So let’s categorize the cost estimation based on the basic, mid-level and advanced level complexities.  

Basic Taxi Booking App

A basic taxi booking app includes all the crucial features that are required for a functional taxi booking service. This app is suitable for startups or small businesses. Its estimations are as below:

Feature	Estimated Hours	Hourly Rate (USD)	Estimated Cost (USD)
User Registration & Login	40	$25 – $50	$1,000 – $2,000
Booking Interface	80	$25 – $50	$2,000 – $4,000
GPS & Location Tracking	100	$25 – $50	$2,500 – $5,000
Payment Integration	80	$25 – $50	$2,000 – $4,000
Basic Admin Panel	60	$25 – $50	$1,500 – $3,000
Total Cost	–	–	$9,000 – $18,000

Mid-Level Taxi Booking App 

An app with mid-level complexity includes additional features such as ride history tracking, reminders, driver ratings, in-app payment and more. It could be a perfect option for the growing businesses offering taxi booking services. 

Feature	Estimated Hours	Hourly Rate (USD)	Estimated Cost (USD)
User Registration & Login	50	$25 – $50	$1,250 – $2,500
Booking Interface	100	$25 – $50	$2,500 – $5,000
GPS & Location Tracking	120	$25 – $50	$3,000 – $6,000
Payment Integration	100	$25 – $50	$2,500 – $5,000
Ride History	80	$25 – $50	$2,000 – $4,000
Push Notifications	60	$25 – $50	$1,500 – $3,000
Driver Ratings	60	$25 – $50	$1,500 – $3,000
Advanced Admin Panel	80	$25 – $50	$2,000 – $4,000
Total Cost	–	–	$16,250 – $32,500

Advanced Taxi Booking App Version

If you are thinking of developing a full-fledged app like Uber or Ola and budget is not a major constraint for you, then an advanced app version is a perfect option for you. All you require is to hire a mobile app developer in USA as this app type has all the advanced functionalities like in-app chat, loyalty points, real-time analytics and more. 

Feature	Estimated Hours	Hourly Rate (USD)	Estimated Cost (USD)
User Registration & Login	60	$25 – $50	$1,500 – $3,000
Booking Interface	120	$25 – $50	$3,000 – $6,000
GPS & Location Tracking	140	$25 – $50	$3,500 – $7,000
Payment Integration	120	$25 – $50	$3,000 – $6,000
Ride History	100	$25 – $50	$2,500 – $5,000
Push Notifications	80	$25 – $50	$2,000 – $4,000
Driver Ratings	80	$25 – $50	$2,000 – $4,000
In-App Chat	100	$25 – $50	$2,500 – $5,000
Loyalty Programs	60	$25 – $50	$1,500 – $3,000
Real-Time Analytics	100	$25 – $50	$2,500 – $5,000
Advanced Admin Panel	100	$25 – $50	$2,500 – $5,000
Total Cost	–	–	$28,500 – $57,000

So these are the rough estimations based on various factors. But let’s be practical and decide what type of taxi booking app you would require for your business…

Ready to drive your taxi booking business forward in 2024?

With the ride-hailing market set to reach $117.34 billion by 2025, now is the perfect time to invest in a taxi booking app to boost your revenue.

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Features to Build a Taxi Booking App

Taxi booking apps are quite comprehensive app solutions that involve multiple panels and each with specific features to ensure smooth and hassle free operation and user experience. Since features and functionalities are the major budget affecting factor, let’s take a look at the essential features required for each panel: User Panel, Driver Panel, and Admin Panel.

1. User Panel

The User Panel is basically for users which allow passengers to book and manage their rides seamlessly. To create this panel, here are the few features that you need to consider integrating into the app:      

• User Registration & Login: Make sure the app signup process is easy, short and simple for users. For quick registration, let users use email, phone number, or social media accounts.
• Profile Management: With this feature, let users update their profile with the information like name, mobile number, house/office address, travel preferences and more. 
• Booking Interface: This is the most important feature where users will book their ride, so make sure it is a simple and intuitive interface that allows them to select pick-up and drop-off locations without any hassle.
• Real–Time GPS Tracking: Add the convenience of tracking the driver’s real-time location from the app. To integrate this feature, it is worth hiring React Native app developers in USA who make this feature work on multiple platforms using the same codebase.
• Multiple Payment Options: Offer a secure payment gateways supporting various payment methods like credit/debit cards and digital wallets.
• Ride History: Let passengers rebook their ride without having to refill the same details by providing access to previous trip details and invoices for reference.
• Fare Estimation: Add a feature in the app that quickly calculates approximate ride cost based on distance, time and traffic and immediately provides the cost estimation of the riders.
• Push Notifications: Let users receive updates on ride status, driver arrival, and promotions through an app.
• Driver Ratings & Reviews: Allow users to share their rude experience by rating and adding reviews for drivers to ensure quality service.
• In–App Chat: Provide a feature in app that allow riders to Communicate with the driver through a built-in chat feature.

2. Driver Panel

The driven panel is designed with all the essential features and tools that enable them to manage ride books and track their earnings with all transparency. Here are the essential features to consider:

• Driver Registration & Login: Let driver’s login to the app with the credentials provided by the admin.
• Profile Management: With these features, drivers can update their personal information, vehicle details, and availability.
• Background Verification: To ensure the authenticity of drivers, here they need to upload all the identity proofs and the admin will verify it.
• Trip Alerts : Upon each booking request and upcoming trips, drivers will receive notifications for easy management.
• GPS Navigation: With integrated GPS navigation, drivers can take optimized and optimal routes for quick pick-up and drop-offs.
• Earnings Tracking: With this feature, let drivers keep a track on their daily, weekly, and monthly earnings within the app.
• Ride History: Here drivers can have a check of all the completed rides and payment details.
• Availability: Provide the convenience to drivers to switch between online and offline modes as per availability and accordingly accept or reject the ride request.
• In-App Chat: Add number capping to maintain rider’s information privacy and let drivers communicate with passengers through an in-app messaging system.

3. Admin Panel

The Admin Panel provides the tools needed to manage the entire taxi booking ecosystem and adds an extra layer of controlling things in the app.

• Dashboard: Admin has all the access to overview app performance, including user and driver statistics.
• User Management: With this feature, the admin can manage user accounts, profile details, and activity logs through an app.
• Driver Management: Admin can oversee driver accounts, documents, and performance metrics using this feature
• Ride Management: Admin is assigned to manage and control the ride assignments. In case of ride cancellation, the admin can reassign to other drivers. 
• Promotions & Discounts: Let admin create and manage promotional offers and discount codes.

These are the few essential features that you need to integrate at each panel of a taxi booking app which may cost between $27,000 to $50,000+*. It can go beyond this in case of more feature additions.

On-demand transportation market is growing at a CAGR of 18.5% by 2026

Tap into the rapidly growing taxi booking app market by partnering with Xicom to create a taxi-booking app with unique features and functionalities.

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How To Make Money With Taxi Booking App Development?

Whether you are a leading entrepreneur or a startup, your ultimate goal is to make profit from an app. So if taking influence from the leading taxing booking apps like Ola or Uber, they follow few practical ways of generating money through an app. 

So in order to turn a taxi booking app into a money-making business, here are the few monetization strategies that you can follow:

• Charging a Commission Fees: Uber like taxi booking app charges the commission as a service fee from the passengers of about 20-25% of their total ride cost.
• Service Fees: This can be an easy way to make money by charging passengers a flat booking and additional service fees for security, service and payment processing.
• Canceling Fees: Top taxing booking apps take this monetization strategy very seriously and charge penalty cost to passengers for canceling the rise.
• Third-party Promotions: You can also generate revenue from promotional collaboration with famous brands like hotels, food points , music brands. It works like a marketing campaign for the brands and in return you can receive a promotion fee. 

Though all these are the practical ways of generating revenue, the ultimate choice of the monetization strategy will be depending upon your business requirements and choices. 

Summary

By the end of this blog, it is fair enough to say that taxi booking applications are quite competitive as it is already led by giant apps like Ola, Uber and Lyft. But still with the increasing demand for such apps have created a room for startups to establish their name in this thriving market. With a unique value proposition, strong vision, planning and collaboration with top mobile app development companies in Chicago can help transform this game. 

If you are about to develop an app that provides taxi booking services following all user data privacy policy and security regulations, then it is worth considering the professional assistance from the taxi booking app development company in the USA. Let’s talk about your business ideas and transform it into a winning solution. For more details, you can drop a query below or contact us!

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