The transportation market has undergone significant changes since the first iPhone hit the market in 2007. Huge popularity of ride-sharing mobile apps, as well as Uber’s launch in 2009, made possible for entrepreneurs to earn extra profits from centuries-old taxicab industry.
A little bit about Uber itself. The ride-sharing company operates in 60+ countries, has been recently valued at $68 billion and raised $8.81 billion according to CrunchBase.
Despite these impressive numbers, there is a place for new ride-sharing companies to succeed. Just look at the list of Uber’s biggest rivals, in order to grasp the real size of the market.
Uber’s Biggest Competitors:
Lyft – About 220 U.S. cities coverage, nationwide operation in Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, The Philippines, and Vietnam.
Curb – 60+ U.S. cities coverage, 35 000+ drivers. Curb is an app that connects you to safe, reliable rides from professional taxi and sedan drivers. Download for iPhone or Android.
Didi Chuxing – recently valued at $7.32 billion, is often called “The Uber of China”, simple as that.
Ola – Indian transportation company that has raised $1.23 billion in equity funding, with 40 000+ cars and 73 cities coverage.
Grab – Another ride-sharing service with 75 000 drivers and nationwide coverage of Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, The Philippines, and Vietnam.
BlaBlaCar – The biggest Long Distance ride-sharing app operating across all European countries, Ukraine, India, Mexico, and Brazil.
Things to Know about Uber Taxi App
Before calculating Uber-like app development costs let’s see how does the Uber app actually works. The Uber has two kind of apps – one for passengers use, second for drivers use.
Driver App Functions:
- Authorization of drivers.
- Cab tracking and status updates.
- Acceptance and cancellation of orders.
- Heat map with tariff zones and quantity of ride requests.
- Routing to the client and to the destination point.
- GPS navigation and search for best routes via Google Maps.
Passenger App Functions:
- Authorization of passenger.
- Cab type selection.
- Live-tracking.
- Cost calculator.
- Automatic payment.
- Booking history.
- Rating and feedback options.
- Estimated Time of Arrival (ETA) at the pickup location.
- ETA at the passenger’s destination.
Adding to this two front end parts, there is also a backend where all the magic goes.
Ride-Sharing App Backend Functions
- Notifications.
- Activity statistics.
- Log-in functionality.
- Payment gateway.
- Trip cost calculation algorithm.
- Revenue earning calculation.
- Integration with Google Maps APIs.
- Tracking of free drivers and ongoing trips.
- Database of feedbacks, reviews, and rates.
- Payment invoicing and weekly payment processing.
Many people take Uber as a reference while thinking about making a ride-sharing app. However, such kind of mobile app doesn’t necessarily need to have all features in order to succeed. Moreover, the cost of making an app may be reduced by simply excluding secondary features. The next generation of such applications is in-car app.
Here’s the list of features that can be excluded without affecting the performance and overall usability of the Uber-like app.
Additional Features of Ride-Sharing App
- In-app wallet.
- Ratings and feedback option.
- Live feed and updates on the heat map.
- Bonus calculator for drivers and passengers.
- Reporting system with automatic disconnection of users after several tickets or warning.
- Promo functionality to add and keep track of promo codes, free rides, discounts, etc.
- Multiple destinations option, so passengers could add several addresses and make payment separately.
- Driver search option, you can choose the nearest driver or the best match by passenger/driver rate, or make a search by price, etc.
- Extended user profile with social network integration. For example, you can enable cross-platform activities like promotion based on the user’s activity on Facebook.
As you may notice, there is no simple answer on how to create an app like Uber. Moreover, here is the example of several development risks that every mobile app developer should keep in mind. All these features also affect the cost of Uber app.
An example of typical GPS App Development risks:
- Smartphone runs out of battery.
- GPS sends wrong data (0,0 coordinates).
- Driver or passenger smartphone loses network connectivity.
Possible Integrations
- Email marketing platform.
- Integrations with external analytics platform to process mobile app usage statistics.
So how much does an Uber like app cost?
Depending on the functionality the development may cost from $80 000 to $150 000.
Keep in mind that each of the features has its own risks and legal requirements and affect how many hours will be needed to develop a ride-sharing app. The pricing may also differ depending on the platform you choose: iOS / Android or both. If you’re still wondering how much does it cost to develop an app like Uber, we are here to help you.
