How Much Does it Cost to Develop an E-learning App?
Digital education is a vast and fascinating world with lots of monetization opportunities — Forbes predicted its growth in 2018, and the development has been skyrocketing ever since. According to Forbes, the increase will be $325 billion by 2025, but due to the current COVID situation worldwide, the need for E-learning platforms, apps, and tools may exceed all predicted numbers.
Are you planning to build an E-learning website like upGrad or KhanAcademy, or maybe you even have an ambitious idea to catch up and compete with market leaders like Coursera and Udemy?
How do you build an application that will find its place on this vast market and succeed? Start with studying all the details about your future startup:
- what kind of business model you may use;
- what are the most needed features of this kind of application;
- how much E-learning mobile app development costs.
Table of contents
- What is E-learning?
- Why E-learning Platforms are Beneficial
- Types of E-learning Systems
- Top Popular E-learning Apps & Websites
- The Key to Success: Coursera and Udemy
How to Build an E-learning Platform from Scratch
- Must-Have Features of an E-learning App
- Functionality for Students, Teachers, and Admins
- Advanced Features
- The Team and the Technology Stack to Develop an E-learning Platform
How Much does E-learning Development Cost?
- Main Factors of Pricing in E-learning Mobile App Development
- Estimated Time and Cost to Build an E-learning Website or Application
- How to Monetize your E-learning Platform
Final Thoughts
E-learning Apps: Why are They So Popular?
What is E-learning?
More and more people have access to the Internet in today’s world, which started a new era in education. Students attend world-famous universities without leaving home, and even some traditional schools have days of digital learning in their schedule. People enroll in all kinds of courses for work or hobby and enhance their skills with E-learning applications, web portals, online universities, communities, libraries, and other resources they can easily access from their mobile phones, tablets, or computers. This is a whole new world to have a startup in.
Why E-learning Platforms are Beneficial
We wouldn’t write this blog post if it weren’t for the apparent advantages of E-learning mobile applications and web portals. They are the most cutting-edge educational systems that give users lots of freedom and opportunities.
- No age barriers — kids, youth, and adults enjoy the benefits of lifelong learning.
- Limitless and self-directed learning — it never stops as long as a student is engaged and motivated.
- Easiness and convenience — it only takes a gadget with access to the internet to have all the information, communication, and fun.
- Flexibility and mobility — learners choose convenient time, place, and duration of their activity.
- Higher efficiency — education is provided in small portions and entertaining forms.
- Lower prices — this factor is crucial for people who can’t afford tuition fees and for those who don’t have access to schools in their area.
- Education for disabled people — for example, the British platform The Open University is attended by more students with disabilities than any traditional European university.
As you can see, digital education has exceptional business potential and public benefits, especially in the modern world.
Types of E-learning Systems
If you’re looking for a new E-learning solution, your first step will be to decide what kind of audience you’re planning to reach. There are three major types of digital learning systems:
- E2C — education to consumers (for students);
- E2B — education to business (for corporate training);
- E2E — education for educators (for teachers).
Under these three, you can find various types of educational websites and applications, such as:
Exam preparation apps — contain different aptitude tests and series;
Vocabulary apps — help in self-learning to improve vocabulary in a particular language;
Language learning apps — for self-learning different languages;
Course-Based Apps — help to find and get enrolled in courses on various topics;
Virtual classroom apps — for students and teachers to connect and learn;
Supporting tools — online notes, dictionaries, libraries.
You may also be interested to learn about two distinctive types of digital education:
- Synchronous — real-time communication online between students and tutors;
- Asynchronous — students do things at their own pace and at a convenient time.
Top Popular E-learning Apps & Websites
Here are the most successful applications and websites that have gained leading positions on this market.
Coursera — a widely known and influential web portal that gives students access to the world’s best universities, museums, and other institutions. It is also famous for more than 1100 free courses.
Udemy– an E-learning app with all sorts of courses, including not only traditional ones but also Technology, Cooking, Science, Drawing, etc.
KhanAcademy — a top educational website created by Salman Khan. It’s aimed at the youth but can interest adults too. The website provides free courses and sets high-quality standards.
edX– a virtual gateway to McGill University in Canada. With this app, students get access to high-quality educational programs and earn a degree in the chosen field.
Skillshare — an American community of creators teaching each other through videos available after subscription. The primary focus is on interacting rather than lecturing.
upGrad — a successful startup from India launched in 2015. It offers advanced education in MBA, Technology, Law, Machine Learning, and other fields.
Open University — a full-fledged British university that provides educational content types to people worldwide. There are many other E-learning applications and websites in addition to these.
- Kahoot!
- Byju’s
- Duolingo
- Programming Hub
- QuizUp
- Lynda
- Amazon Kindle
- GeoGebra
- LinkedIn Learning
- Photomath
- mLevel
- Big Think
The Key to Success: Coursera and Udemy
Now let’s look closer at some examples of major educational platforms. Both these giants offer online courses, but their approaches are different.
Coursera is focused on academic education and has gradually become a serious alternative to offline universities. Its courses provide high-quality educational materials and top tutors from the best schools from Britain, the US, and many other countries, for $40-$80 a month. There is also a wide range of free classes that encourage new users to sign in and give it a try. Paid courses remain more popular, though, as they give students certificates with the program’s successful conclusion.
Udemy, however, took a different path — its team created five times more classes than Coursera did. They combined some traditional ones like Marketing or IT with the ones people do for fun (Yoga, Design, Cooking, and many more). Courses are usually short-term, and tutors invited are not always college professors — quite often they are working specialists with a unique approach. Prices start at $20 though some classes cost $100-$200. The quality review system is used to ensure that all submitted courses meet the high standards of Udemy.
These two are the current leaders of the E-learning market, and it’s up to you to decide whether you wish to follow one of the given business models or you’re going to invest in something new and unrepeatable. Now we’ll explore the main functional and technical aspects of E-learning platforms.
How to Build an E-learning Platform from Scratch
Must-Have Features of an E-learning App
If you want your digital learning application or website to be attractive and engaging, you should find out more about the main things that users appreciate and expect.
User-Friendly Interface
Nobody likes wasting their time on the app to figure out how to do things and where is what. Set up an intuitive user interface to search through courses, start on assignments, and watch their progress with a few clicks.
Multimedia Content
The best E-learning application supports various types of information, making students stay impressed, entertained, engaged — and thereby better educated.
Gamification
Game elements add some fun in the process, ease the stress, and speed up learning. They also give rewards to students, which is essential to increase motivation.
Push Notifications
They are an instant, convenient and non-intrusive way of communication. Users get information on new courses or their progress; questions answered or DMs received; reminders to continue training, etc.
Communication
Users won’t feel lonely and bored on your app if they resolve issues, share opinions, compete with each other, and contact their tutors. You can achieve it by setting up course discussions, dashboards, and direct messaging.
Offline Learning
Inspired learners won’t be interrupted by problems with their internet connection if they can do some activities offline — for example, make drafts or read through material they previously downloaded. This way, using your app becomes a daily habit.
Syncing between mobile/desktop and online/offline versions
You have to ensure that learners won’t have their progress disappear. One particular version should direct them exactly where they finished on the other. This way, users stay interested and wish to go on.
Functionality for Students, Teachers, and Admins
Users of your application or website will have various roles, so the service’s functionality must be adjusted accordingly. Students:
- easy registration and profile management;
- intuitive search system with filters;
- quick payment for courses they enroll in;
- clear subscription and payment information;
- dashboards, DMs, course discussions;
- opportunity to take a quiz in e-Learning or use other options to test their knowledge and challenge themselves.
Suppose your app will be available for learners under 18 as well. In that case, you should create functionality for parents that enables them to create user profiles for themselves, pay for courses, and monitor their children’s progress.
Teachers:
- registration for a special kind of profile;
- submitting and editing courses they have created;
- using a dashboard to share videos, links, and other course-related information with students;
- sending and receiving DMs, participating in course discussions.
Admins:
- independent profile giving them full authority over the platform;
- monitoring all the statistics, managing user activity, and fixing problems.
Let’s sum up the essential features acquired for an E-learning application or website:
Sign-in System — most apps use a combination of email or phone numbers with passwords. Signing-in via Google or Facebook is also very convenient and popular.
Log-in System — users create profiles to add personal info and userpics, change settings, see their list of active and finished courses, as well as certificates, credits, and payment history.
User Profile for Student, Teacher, Admin — each type needs its features and options.
Search Filters — make it easier to navigate through the catalog of courses. Popular filters are Level, Price, Rates, and Language. You can also add Categories, Recommendations, and searching by keywords.
Course pages — each of them contains Description (with names of creators), List of units and materials, and Review section. Make sure that tutors can add multimedia files: videos, podcasts, quizzes, games, PDFs, presentations, etc.
Dashboard — helps both students and teachers to check out information about their study and work.
Course-Making Tools — enable tutors and institutions to create and edit course structures, as well as add all types of educational materials and exercises and post links to further resources.
Payment system(s) — they should be as easy, clear, and diverse as possible. The most popular methods include bank cards, Paypal, Braintree, Stripe, NEFT, etc.
Notifications — inform learners about events, updates, new courses, and personal recommendations.
Admin panel — controls users, payments, content, statistics, notifications, etc.
Advanced Features
You can add some more functions to let users explore all advantages of E-learning mobile applications. Many advanced features will be valuable for you as they help analyze users’ preferences and make your app more profitable.
Microlearning support will be extremely useful if you wish to increase learners’ motivation. Daily consuming small portions is a more comfortable and effective method, say users of mobile educational apps like mLevel and Daily Bits Of.
Video streaming is an advanced and highly appreciated feature that boosts students’ engagement as they connect with their tutors in live classrooms online.
Interactive learning became one of the recent trends in E-learning. AR (advanced reality) and VR (virtual reality) attract more customers and make your app stand out. It’s also a fresh and efficient way of studying complex subjects.
E-learning analytics helps students find their knowledge gaps and focus on improving the most needed skills. It’s also useful for teachers and admins to monitor learners’ needs and difficulties, which helps to adapt educational materials, resolve problems, and reduce dropout rates.
Leaderboard shows the best learning results. It’s frequently used to encourage healthy competition and to boost users’ interest in the application.
Documents Storage is helpful to upload and manage various types of content that tutors share with their students. Users may access PDFs, audios, and videos when required.
Integration with CMS is used for monitoring and maintaining all uploaded content.
E-commerce is a highly profitable feature in any E-learning application. Giving users options to purchase courses in-app and buy additional training materials will remarkably increase your sales. We also recommend considering In-App Advertisements.
Integration with CRM helps to track and analyze users’ search activity which is essential in building a development strategy for the future.
Multilanguage is an essential feature if you’re planning to reach the widest audience.
Inn-App Chat or Forum may be useful to get feedback from users, including reviews on the existing courses and ideas or requests for the new ones.
The Team and the Technology Stack to Develop an E-learning Platform
If you want an all-in-one E-learning solution, your first move after studying the target audience will be to hire a qualified development team. The number of required specialists depends on the sophistication of your future app.
As for the tech stack, the following list is required for smooth functioning:
Here at Exceed Team, a wide range of programming languages and frameworks is used, including JavaScript, HTML, PHP, CSS, Ruby on Rails, Bootstrap, and some others. Would you like to build a fully functioning E-learning app that attracts lots of users and keeps them engaged? Let’s find out how much time and money it takes depending on the complexity of your project. We’ll also explore how to monetize an educational platform most effectively.
How Much does E-learning Development Cost?
Main Factors of Pricing in E-learning Mobile App Development
Three main factors are affecting how costly it is to create an E-learning application or website.
- Type and complexity. Decide on the list of functions you wish your platform to feature. If it’s a mobile application, choose between the native and the hybrid types. Also, decide how many third-party APIs your app needs.
- Platforms. Determine whether your app will be on Android or iOS — if you’re planning to have your project on both mobile platforms and on the Web, the price rises.
- The development team — size and location. According to your future platform’s complexity, review how many specialists are required to achieve the goal. We also recommend comparing costs for app development in various parts of the world. It is well known that Eastern Europe and Asia offer more favorable prices for high skilled professionals’ work compared to the US, Canada, and Western Europe.
Estimated Time and Cost to Build an E-learning Website or Application
How much does it cost to build an E-learning platform? You can find approximate numbers in the chart below.
Your requirements determine the final price. It can be roughly estimated at $16000-$20000 for an educational app with basic features. The more sophisticated your platform is, the longer time developers will spend making it work smoothly, and the more it will cost.
How to Monetize your E-learning Platform
There are three primary ways of making money with an E-learning application or website. We have already touched upon some of them, now you’ll see the whole list with a more detailed description.
E-commerce
A convenient way for learners to purchase courses and materials in-app for later use online or offline. Include a function that allows them to view 15–20% of a product for free and then buy it. You can display parts of a text or minutes of a video/podcast to get your customers hooked. It’s also possible to choose an anti-piracy feature that enables learners to watch content only on the app.
Two kinds of subscription
A free subscription normally allows users to use the basic functions and explore the app’s main advantages. As long as they get comfortable with E-learning, it’s time to offer the advanced version.
A premium subscription gives all possible benefits, such as no ads, personalization, and unlimited access to all content and functions. Some companies opt for another strategy: they allow learners to use all functionality after signing-in, but for a specific number of days, and then ask to purchase a premium subscription.
In-app advertisements
They are one of the popular methods of monetization, mostly appropriate for E-learning apps with free content. Enable a function of sharing educational materials in social media, and learners will actively promote your application. As long as it’s popular enough (you can monitor via E-learning analytics), you’ll start showing your audience paid ads for relevant products.
Final Thoughts
We hope that our suggestions will help you in deciding what kind of E-learning app you wish to build and how much you need to budget for it. Here at Exceed Team, we offer top software development services and follow E-learning app development trends, so your concept becomes a reality. Contact us now. Our experienced team of developers, testers, and designers are ready to execute your vision.
Originally published at: https://exceed-team.com/blog/how-much-does-it-cost-to-buid-elearning-app/
