How Much Does it Cost to Build a Trivia App?

Everyone has one smartphone in their hands, where people spend most of their time surfing the Internet, chatting, watching YouTube, etc. In the past couple of years, the usage of smartphones has skyrocketed more than ever. People are addicted to mobile devices. Besides social media, one thing that really took the world by storm was the boom in mobile games and their revenue, especially trivia and battle royale.

If you are planning to create one and don’t know how much it costs to build a trivia app, you are at the right place. This article will give you every piece of information to develop one successfully, like the cost to build a trivia app, features, etc.

Trivia games such as QuizUp is a well-designed, entertaining, and top-notch app that quickly gained popularity. According to Udonis, in 2020, the casual genre was the most played mobile game, including trivia games. They became #1 in Google Play Store and App Store. So, more people wanting to build trivia apps shouldn’t be shocking news.

What is a Trivia game?

A trivia game is an app where the users are asked questions about different topics, like science, history, movies, celebrities, sports, etc. What makes it thrilling is knowing one’s own IQ, which gives a different feeling and self-satisfaction.

Why are Trivia games popular?

Trivia games are popular because of the sheer thrill it gives to the users. They enjoy giving answers to the questions. And when it is about playing with friends and challenging them, it is even more fun to know who is more competent. Moreover, it is refreshing, improves your brain reasoning, cognitive health, and, most importantly, overall brain health.

Here are some facts related to Trivia. According to Statista,

• In 2021, the total revenue from Trivia games is expected to reach €191m.
• By 2021, the revenue is expected to grow €277m by an annual growth rate of 9.82%.
• In-app purchase revenue is expected to be €99m in 2021.
• The number of downloads is expected to reach 1125.2m in 2021.

Features

The more exciting features a trivia game has, the more it attracts the users. Here are some features you need in a trivia game.

Registration and Sign-in: To let users register to create an account and use the app. Logging in through social media like Gmail, Facebook, Twitter, etc., is the most common process.

Profile Management: To update personal details, profile image, select topics, see experience points and level, etc.

Challenge a user: With this feature, the users can challenge their friends or a stranger.

Matchmaking: To find a suitable challenger for a user.

Leaderboard: To display the leading user on the chart (daily, weekly, monthly).

Modes: To select the modes, ex: rapid, classic, challenge, etc.

Daily challenges: To increase user interest by bringing new missions and challenges every day.

Push Notifications: To let the user notify about the daily challenges, offers, gifts, updates, leaderboard, etc.

Display questions and answers: A trivia is all about questions and answers, so it is essential to display them. With the use of animation, the app becomes even more entertaining and intriguing.

Timer: To make users answer within a limited time (ex: 10/15 seconds)

Level Selection: To select the modes according to levels, like easy, medium, hard, etc.

Rematch: To let users ask for a rematch with a friend or a stranger.

Rewards: Rewards make a game more interesting. It can be points, coins, gift cards, etc.

Titles/Badges: Giving users titles or badges whenever they win or level up their experience points.

Language Selection: To let users select the languages according to their preferences.

Beautiful UI: With stunning UI, the game will make the users come back and play.

Sounds: Without sound effects, the app becomes dull. It takes away the excitement.

Steps to build a trivia app

Market analysis and requirements gathering

The first step is to analyze the market and gather requirements. You need to check whether there are similar apps and examine their features and what makes them so popular. Studying what the competitors are doing will give you an insight into developing a unique app.

Moreover, you need to think about revenue generation. It would help you a lot when and how to monetize your app.

Wireframing and UI/UX design

After requirements gathering, it is time to design a wireframe. It is a structural view of the app. Then comes UI/UX design that includes adding color, shapes, and other elements to give the app look and feel. An excellent interface makes the app even more beautiful.

Development

Then the development process starts. Many begin with developing an MVP. It is a prototype of the final product to see its performance and feasibility in the market. It helps in analyzing the users’ behavior and getting their feedback. It aids in improving the quality of the product.

Testing

Testing the app to ensure it is free of bugs and fully functional before launching it is essential.

Launch the app

Now, it is time to release the app on Google Play Store and App Store.

Maintenance 

An app needs continuous maintenance to keep it up to date and fix further glitches and bugs that come with every update.

The process we follow at Truemark.

• Analysis and requirements gathering
• Prototyping, wireframing, and UI/UX design
• MVP and app development
• Test
• Release
• Maintenance

Note: At Truemark, we test the app in each phase of the development process. Moreover, we constantly keep in touch with the clients to ensure the app is aligned with their needs and goals.

Revenue Models

The revenue models of trivia app consist of:

• In-app purchase: Trivia apps offer extra lives and hints to the users at a particular cost.
• In-app advertisements: Trivia apps generate revenue by showing advertisements before/during/after each round.
• Sponsors and Investors: Trivia apps get investors and sponsors when they achieve a milestone, like reaching peak traffic, downloads, etc.

Technology stack and development team

Whether you hire a software company or freelancers, the development team remains the same. It includes:

• Project Manager
• Android Developer
• iOS Developer
• UI/UX Designer
• Front-End Developer
• Back-End Developer
• QA
• Business Analyst

The technology stack includes:

• Programming languages: JavaScript, HTML, CSS, Java, Python, etc.
• Databases: MySQL, MongoDB, etc.

Here is an example showing the technologies used to develop QuizUp, one of the famous and widely played trivia games.

• Application and data: JS, Python, Node.js, React, HTML5, NGINX, Java, PostgreSQL, Redis, Amazon S3, Amazon EC2, Heroku, ExpressJS, Amazon CloudFront, RabbitMQ, Flask, Go, Amazon RDS, C++, Socket.io, Objective-C, Scala, Amazon DynamoDB, Play, Amazon EBS, Flux, imgix, Apache Thrift, Filestack, Finagle
• Utilities: GitHub, Git, Docker, Jenkins, Intellij IDEA, Sublime Text, Vim, New Relic, Android Studio, Xcode, Atom, Sentry, Amazon CloudWatch, RequireJS, Datadog, Pingdom, TestFlight, Bugsnag, Crashlytics, PagerDuty, Zookeeper, HockeyApp
• Business tools: UserVoice, Asana, Slack

Source: StackShare

Total development cost to build a trivia app

Before going to the development cost, you need to understand that it depends on many factors. They decide the cost of any app. The final price may decrease or increase depending on such aspects. So, let’s look at them one by one.

• Region: One of the cost factors is the developers’ location. It varies in which area they are located. Ex: the developers in the USA charge higher than the Asian region.
• App’s size and complexities: The size and complexity of the app determine the overall cost of the development. The software company and the freelancers may charge based on the simple and advanced features it consists of.
• Skills and experience: The skills and expertise of a developer play a significant role. The senior-level charges are higher than the junior level.
• Technology: The total cost may differ from Android app to iOS. Moreover, the third-party app integration like payment gateway, libraries, APIs, etc., also affects the total development cost.

Considering these factors, here is a rough estimation of how much it cost to develop a trivia app. The price is based on the Asian region ($30/hr).

The overall cost of developing a trivia app will be around $48,030.

Besides these, the marketing, content, SEO, etc., also increase the overall cost of the trivia app. If you want such services, Truemark will help you promote your app, write content, and optimize your app.

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Our Experience

Truemark is a software company with 5+ years of experience with a good track record and happy clients. We have completed numerous projects successfully on time. Recently, we worked on a trivia project called Trivia Day. You can check out the app on Google Play Store and App Store. For more information, you can go to our portfolio section.

If you have a great trivia app idea, then please feel free to contact us. Moreover, we provide a free consultation service. So, if you have any questions and want a detailed estimation of the overall development cost, reach us at any time. We will be more than happy to help you make your dream project a reality.

Cover Image Credits: Freepik from Freepik