How much does it cost to build a taxi app like Uber?

Uber, being released in March 2009 has changed the way people think of a Taxi and Transportation services worldwide. Despite the fact that it’s in the market for almost 7 years — market there is still pretty competitive. Things that matter are the quality of the services (such as price, cars quantity, on time delivery, etc…) and the usability of the application itself. Also, you should not forget that we are basically talking about 2 apps instead of 1, as there is one app for a driver and the other one that is used by passengers. To keep things under control you would also need a web based admin dashboard.

I will provide you the information about Uber’s features, the way it works, time estimates and some interesting facts. In the end of the article, you will receive clear infographics with all the numbers needed to get a full pricing picture.

How does Uber work?

• Passenger sends a booking request through the taxi app, which is being directed to the nearest driver
• Driver can accept or deny the offer, in case he rejects the deal — user’s request will be automatically sent to the next nearest driver available
• Once a driver accepts the offer — connection between both of them appears. Taxi app shows the driver’s info to the passenger (that includes driver’s account info, his location on the map and the estimated arrival time)
• Payment might be done either automatically through the card entered on the passenger's account or with the old-school cash payment

Uber for Passenger

Registration

Every user should be able to register in the app. Some Uber-like apps require your phone number from the very start, some of those allow you to register via Facebook or any other social networks and some require your email address etc… The good manner would be to implement all the features listed above.
Efforts in hours: iOS 40-46, Android 36-42, Backend 16-20

Taxi Booking

Once your app lets you in - it’s time to use it. What is the main use of the mobile taxi app for passengers? Correct - summon a cab to the location needed and make a trip to the desired place. This includes: from → to location selector, booking request, waiting and confirmation.
Efforts in hours: iOS 78-84, Android 72-78, Backend 24-36

Payments

Nothing is free in the world we live in, everything has its cost (for sure you can argue with me and feel free to do that in the comments to the article). If you want to use some taxi service as a passenger - you will probably need to pay some money for a trip. In the modern world where payments are not limited to the cash exchange taxi app will need to know how to manipulate with all the payments done. Integration with the payments systems will be required on the backend part of the app.
Efforts in hours: Backend 32-40

Card Details

The сashless approach is becoming pretty popular nowadays. That’s an easier and faster way to pay. Uber allows you to put in your card (or a list of cards) just once to charge it later automatically without any extra moves. For sure there is always an option to pay with cash.
Efforts in hours: iOS 36-52, Android 34-40, Backend 24-30

Fare Calculator

Should the passenger pay? But how much? Fare Calculator answers the question, allowing to calculate the actual trip cost before the ride itself happens.
Efforts in hours: iOS 16-20, Android 14-18, Backend 18-24

Track an Approaching Taxi

An option to track the coming cab on the map via GPS services is pretty useful and comfortable, and it’s actually the way to plan your time efficiently.
Efforts in hours: iOS 46-50, Android 40-46, Backend 24-32

Notifications

Receiving push notifications from the application, while it’s opened or it’s running in the background is essential, as no one wants to miss his car or any other important information. We shouldn’t forget about SMS notifications. Uber taxi booking app works with Twilio telecommunication service provider. You may always choose from any other global providers such as Sinch, Plivo, Nexmo or take a look at your local one.
Efforts in hours: iOS 22-28, Android 22-28, Backend 16-24

Ride History

Sweet memories, an option to reuse your common trip locations in a few clicks or just the way to recall the places you’ve visited yesterday (after a solid hangover). Sounds pretty user-friendly.
Efforts in hours: iOS 40-46, Android 36-42, Backend 20-28

Driver`s Review and Rating

Review and rating option plays a huge role in the transportation segment. It gives an extra motivation for the drivers to perform well while allowing passengers to make some choices and predictions to increase their satisfaction of the trip and the service overall.
Efforts in hours: iOS 38-44, Android 38-44, Backend 16-24

Profile Settings

People (due to various reasons) might have a need to change some of the user data. That may be a phone number, an email, a card number or any other profile details.
Efforts in hours: iOS 34-40, Android 30-36, Backend 16-22

 

Uber for Driver

Registration

Would it be a driver or a passenger it doesn’t really matter App needs to recognize a user to load all the user related data at launch. This data is essential for payments, rating, history, and other features.
Efforts in hours: iOS 40-46, Android 36-42, Backend 12-18

Status Updates

Is taxi driver ready to pick up someone? Or is he already engaged in any ride? Or is not available for his personal reasons? Driver should be able to notify the app (and obviously passengers) about his availability.
Efforts in hours: iOS 24-30, Android 22-28, Backend 10-16

Reply to Booking Requests

Once the driver is in the active mode and he is ready to pick up some passengers he should have an option to confirm passenger’s request for a ride or decline it.
Efforts in hours: iOS 40-46, Android 38-44, Backend 24-32

Booking History

Driver would most likely want to check the amount of the job that was done, his earnings, places he visited and all the related stuff.
Efforts in hours: iOS 38-44, Android 30-36, Backend 16-20

Push Notifications

Notifications in the driver apps work as a reminder that notifies a driver about the available ride requests, his activity status, visibility on the map etc...
Efforts in hours: iOS 22-28, Android 22-28, Backend 14-18

Admin Dashboard

Admin dashboard is a web-based tool that allows administrators to manage drivers' and passengers' accounts and activities, generate various reports, change and adjust promotions, etc… The amount of settings and tools available in the admin dashboard depends on your needs and time needed for development process can vary. Average developer`s time needed for building an Admin Dashboard with the basic features varies from 60 to 80 hours.

UI/UX

The idea of UI/UX is to make a journey through the application easy and enjoyable, to build experience users would love and make them coming back again and again. Some lovely custom design for taxi app will add 160 - 200 hours to your project.

Additional Expenses

While building an application you shouldn’t forget about the supporting processes such as quality assurance, project management, and DevOps. Book some additional (in percents from the overall development) time for those : 15% for quality assurance, 10% for project management and 5% more for DevOps.

Rates

Now we have the information about the time needed to build features that allow a taxi app to exist. But what about the actual cost? To calculate the total cost we would need some information about the app development companies` rates. According to statista the average rates of mobile app development companies in India, USA, UK and Europe are as following:

• India — $15-60 per hour

• USA — $60-250 per hour

• UK — $60-150 per hour

• Europe — $40-120 per hour

Let’s sum things up

Want to create a taxi app like Uber?

We have experiences iPhone and Android App developers in our team. If you want to hire a trusted team to develop a taxi app, we would gladly assist you! We provide a full-stack development team to create a valuable product. Just drop us an email at hello@stepinsolutions.in