How Much Does It Cost to Build a Mobile App Like Snapchat in 2025

Generation Z almost does not perceive a world without digital technologies. Attracting such an audience is challenging, but you can get a large user flow from it. Teenagers are more inclined to join platforms where only their peers or like-minded people gather.

Therefore, you've probably heard of the Snapchat app before. Developed by Bob Murphy and Evan Spiegel in 2011, Snapchat allows its users to share stories, photos, and videos with their followers. So, users can follow the lives of their friends, express their emotions, or communicate with others through fast-disappearing messages. These elements are primarily the platform's main idea in the era of remote and fun communication.

In this article, you will find out what the Snapchat app is, its features, development stages, and the price of creating and setting up. Read this guide if you want to create your trendy app, such as Snapchat.

Why is Snapchat so popular?

Snapchat is a social media app for sharing photos and videos, to which you can add various text comments, visual effects, apply filters, and so on. Some Snapchat users call this app platform a social network, while others identify it as a messenger with enhanced graphic capabilities.

The phenomenon of the Snapchat app is that the photos and short videos (several seconds) created by you are not stored in the messenger app database. Instead, these materials are deleted after 24 hours. Thus, the privacy of your correspondence with your friends is entirely intact. On the other hand, if your friends suddenly want to take a screenshot of your photos, you will know about it immediately.

Why is it a great idea to use the Snapchat mobile app? Because it's simple and fun. Moreover, it is one of the most popular communication platforms among American teenagers. So if your brand or media is aimed at this audience, you just need to create your Snapchat-like app.

The Snapchat app was initially considered a tool for sending all kinds of “spicy” selfies. However, now it is a full-fledged social media app with valuable things from well-known media, clothes manufacturers, gadgets, and accessories. In addition, the Snapchat app contains legendary filters that are very attractive to app users.

Over the past year, Snapchat has continued to be a leader in augmented reality. The platform focused on diversifying what worked best for its interface. Snapchat has paired up with Amazon Fashion to give users the ability to try on eyewear using an AR filter. It has also empowered retailers to integrate AR into their marketing strategies, providing unique ways to engage users while communicating messages to their audiences.

Snapchat remains an effective platform for content creation, particularly for major media corporations. For example, Warner Bros. Discovery (formerly Time Warner) has developed premium short-form content exclusively for Snapchat, including dramas and comedies targeting a younger demographic. This strategy encourages visitors to explore the company's other media offerings.

Moreover, a multitude of brands engaged in the realms of sports, food, and entertainment have adopted Snapchat as a platform for aggressive marketing. They leverage its distinctive features and user base to construct comprehensive marketing strategies.

Now you may wonder how popular the Snapchat app is.

Top Snapchat stats

Now, let's talk about Snapchat's impressive ratings, strengthening its global popularity.

Top-performing Spotlight snaps

According to the report, as of 2024, Snapchat rewarded the creators of the most effective content in Spotlight with more than $1 million daily.

Users

As of 2024, Snapchat boasted approximately 432 million daily active users, reflecting its continued global popularity and engagement.

Source: Statista

Popularity

In the previous year, Snapchat was the 5th most popular messaging app and the 10th most popular social media app.

Demand in the US

As of 2024, Snapchat had achieved a customer satisfaction score of 70 according to the American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI), reflecting an increase in user satisfaction compared to previous years.

Who is Snapchat’s audience?

As of January 2024, the largest age demographic among Snapchat users was ages 18 to 24, comprising 38.5% of the user base. Additionally, 20% of users fell within the 13 to 17 age range. In contrast, individuals over 35 were significantly less likely to use the platform.

Source: Statista

Who are the top Snapchat audience countries?

As of 2024, India had the largest Snapchat user base with 150 million users, followed by the US with 110 million users, France with 25 million users, the UK with 23 million users, and Saudi Arabia with 21 million users.

Best features to add to Snapchat-like app

The Snapchat app is sometimes criticized since it is difficult to understand from the first time where to move and what to do. However, if you visualize a kind of "map" of the main app platform screens, you get a reasonably straightforward interface. In total, there are five main screens:

• Camera for selfies or shooting what's in front of you;
• If you swipe up, your profile screen will open;
• If you swipe down, here you can see all your previous "snaps" in the Memories section;
• If you swipe to the left, you move to the screen with messages;
• If you swipe right, you will see a feed of Stories from your friends and brands that publish content in this photo messaging app.

When creating your own app, you should determine the top functions you will fill it with. So let's take a look at the exciting Snapchat features so that you can choose some for your project.

Snaps

This is the most popular Snapchat feature. With snaps, you can take and share photos and videos.

Also, you can apply different filters, lenses, captions, and images to edit your photos and videos. It is essential to understand that your snaps are automatically deleted literally within seconds.

Lenses

If you need to get creative with your photos and videos, this simple messaging app offers over a million lenses.

This feature allows you to apply funny animation or AR effects to edit your photos/videos. It is also about many filters, drawing tools, and text captions to change the original picture.

Adding friends

You no longer have to add new friends using their phone numbers or usernames manually.

Snapchat has made it much easier for users to add friends and follow others. A personalized QR code, Snapcode, helps you scan with your camera and immediately track other users.

Stories

You'll probably want to add this exciting story feature to your new app. With such a feature, you can see content from friends and well-known regional or global brands, including IT corporations, magazines, and others.

Stories (videos and photos) are only available for 24 hours, then they disappear. Also, you can track who viewed your stories.

Discover

This feature is similar to the Stories section since it lasts only 24 hours.

For example, Snapchat offers you the latest news on various topics from well-known editorial teams or particular influencers. Alternatively, you may be provided with information shared by Snapchat sponsors.

Video/audio calls

Snapchat also has an audio and video calls option. Moreover, you can talk and send images simultaneously. Also, you can send your friends voice and video notes just like usual snaps.

Chatting

In addition to sharing photos and videos, Snapchat allows users to message each other or create messaging groups.

Also, during chatting, Snapchat users can use stickers that are added with each platform update. There are several sticker extensions available to download for Android app or iOS app.

Geofilters and location sharing

If you allow Snapchat to track your location, you can insert your geo-patterns into your images. Moreover, you can share your location with friends or other users. On Snap Map, you can filter who can see your location.

New features in Snapchat from 2024

In the year 2024, the social media platform Snapchat introduced several new features.

Exciting new AI lenses

Nine years prior, Snapchat had introduced augmented reality to its users. However, in the previous year, the company updated the technology, integrating artificial intelligence into the lenses and fundamentally transforming the manner in which Snapchatters present themselves. In 2025, for the first time, customers were able to experience the latest AI lens, which offered an early glimpse into what they would appear to look like in their advanced age.

More AI memories to share

Meanwhile, Memories became even more sophisticated with the integration of AI. From the camera, a swipe up reveals a full-screen mode that includes collages and video compilations of some of the user's most cherished moments. For Snapchat+ subscribers, AI functions as a personal creative director, augmenting Memories with captions and lenses to impart a novel aesthetic. AI Snaps enabled subscribers to disseminate more content to their friends simultaneously.

Solve problems with my AI

The "Solve Problems with My AI" feature enables users to leverage the capabilities of AI to address a range of challenges. In this advanced iteration, it facilitates more efficient problem-solving in diverse scenarios, including the interpretation of ambiguous signage, navigating unfamiliar menus, and naming plants captured in photographs.

Demonstrate your personal style

Meanwhile, further developments were underway in the creation of a digital double, or Bitmoji. The release of Snap-yellow Crocs was imminent, as were partnerships with Prada and Miu Miu, which would result in the production of stylish bags.

How does Snapchat generate revenue?

Snapchat ad ranking aims to serve the right ad to the right user at the right time. Large-scale distributed engineering systems and a state-of-the-art deep machine learning algorithm power a high throughput real-time ad auction.

Let's now look at how you can monetize your own app like Snapchat after we've built up a decent readership. There are several ways how Snapchat makes money.

Creating Snap Ads

One of the ways to make money on Snapchat is to create advertising campaigns (Snap Ads) with call-to-action buttons.

You can provide a button that convinces people they can earn, get a discount, buy at a reasonable price, or solve any other problem by clicking on it. By the way, an extensive gallery of formats for various types of products is available in Snap Ads, and you just need to choose the most necessary option.

Statista research shows that thousands of app users view Snap Ads throughout the day. Thus, you can deliver your message to the target audience quickly. Conversion on Snap Ads is relatively cheap, and the competition, on the contrary, is low.

Development and launch of geofilters

Geofilters are stickers that are added to photos depending on the user's location. There are two types - personal and business.

A short time after geofilters launched, the Snapchat team announced that users could purchase sponsored geofilters for snaps. For example, McDonald's was the first to use the offer and paid for a branded geofilter that covers all its restaurants in the United States. Nowadays many other companies create their own geofilters for advertising purposes.

Snapchat prices their geofilter fee on just two factors: size of the area that your geofilter covers and duration that your geofilter is active. On average, Snapchat charges around $5 to $20 per day to run a geofilter over a suburban sized home. If you are wanting to run multiple geofilters over the same area, Snapchat will charge you for each custom (“On-Demand”) geofilter you run.

Also, you can create and run a free geofilter for shared objects related to your niche. For example, if you want to hold an event in a specific place or open a new store, using your own geofilter is a very appropriate idea.

Therefore, Snapchat users can actively share filters, including branded ones. You can monitor the performance of your geofilters using the statistics available in the app.

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Advertising partner products

After gaining many followers, you can become a member of an affiliate program and promote their products. You receive commissions or percentages from clicks/sales, and thus this is another opportunity to make money. The most effective way to promote affiliate products is through reviews.

For example, if you used any product and liked it, tell your viewers about it. Share detailed product reviews demonstrating the benefits and shortcomings of using them on your blog. As a result, you will build the most trusting relationship with followers.

With the Snapchat app, you can share promotional messages that boost your own business products and services. The platform allows you to create a business page to share additional information about your activities. You can use this opportunity to find potential customers and grow your customer base.

Snapchat also benefits from this. For example, the Discover feature provides paid advertising. The revenue distribution between Snapchat and its clients varies, but occasionally ads are worth ten to fifteen cents per view. So, they are estimated to be seen 500,000 to 1,000,000 times daily.

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A step-by-step guide to making the Snapchat clone app

To guarantee your project's smooth functioning and growing customer demand, this app must go through certain development stages. How to make an app like Snapchat? Let’s talk about each of the phases in detail below.

Step 1. Product discovery

At this stage, it is essential to define your future application's functional and non-functional requirements. At Codica, we started the software development life cycle by conducting the Product Discovery Session. With these sessions, we quickly validate the client's ideas and needs. Also, we provide the client with a detailed technical proposal for product development.

There are several important tasks of a product discovery phase:

• Explore the subject area;
• Identify bottlenecks;
• Discuss high-level solutions to the expected challenges;
• Define priorities and discuss a project scope;
• Develop prototypes;
• Create the roadmap of the project;
• Provide project cost and time estimate and form project documentation.

Based on the product discovery outcomes, the team plans how to create your app like Snapchat. In particular, they plan your app's key features, architecture and design.

Below is a short video that helps you learn more about the product discovery sessions in the mobile app development process.

This stage also involves creating prototypes for your platform. With these prototypes, you can see how an app like Snapchat will function during the app development process. For example, it is about the arrangement of your application's menus, fields, and buttons. Also, prototypes are helpful since they simulate user interaction.

At Codica, our UX and UI designers have colossal experience designing custom software products. For instance, we like how the sign-up form looks on a particular website so that we can adopt something from this idea.

Below is an example of a prototype that our team developed through research.

This prototype represents the user interface of a social networking platform to share one's dreams and desires. This site will allow users to post their desired experiences, such as bungee jumping or skydiving, and get connected with others sharing similar goals, therefore building a community centered around the fulfillment of personal ambitions.

Step 2. Building UI/UX design

Based on the prototypes, designers work on creating an attractive UI/UX design for your platform. Creating a custom app design is one of the most critical development stages, as the overall success of your app largely depends on it.

With our UI/UX design services, we are always in touch with the clients to create the highest quality product they want. For instance, it is about specific colors for their project. So on this step, we have more often calls to avoid misunderstandings between our designers and the client.

First, our UX designers execute a portrait of the target audience, conduct user research, and build a working software prototype. Then, UI specialists create the style throughout the website and consider the state and appearance of all UI elements and the font hierarchy. Also, they develop a guideline to collect all the elements above for ease of development.

Our goal is to make your project trendy on the market. So, we are always keeping up with the new design trends.

Step 3. Product development

At this stage, the developers integrate all the features into your platform. Depending on the functionality of your project, you can also build an MVP version of the app first.

It is essential to understand that the MVP (minimum viable product) is an integral part of testing your business idea before full release to the market. With MVP web development services, you will have a ready-made basic web solution that can be further developed into a fully functional product. The MVP model is ideal for any business, whether a startup looking for potential business opportunities or an established firm launching a new product.

For instance, Codica is a top MVP development company. Whether you need a web solution or a cross-platform one, we got you covered. We have a team of 70+ seasoned experts to help you with all the stages of the MVP app development process: UX and UI designers; software developers (frontend and backend); QA engineers; project managers; and DevOps engineers.

At Codica, we recommend our clients start the app development process with a minimum viable product because of its numerous advantages. We apply our vast multi-domain expertise. Thus, we deliver your MVP within your budget and timeframe expectations.

When building MVPs, we apply the Build-Measure-Learn approach, which is part of the Lean Startup Methodology. With its help, you can eliminate uncertainties, save costs and release your product faster.

Step 4. QA control

At this stage, the QA specialists perform various testing procedures to ensure that the application does not contain bugs. They study the specification document and ask clarifying questions from the point of view of sequence. After analyzing the product, the quality assurance specialists create a testing strategy representing guidelines that will direct all testing-related decision-making.

The QA engineers establish the only possible vision to release the client's request. Otherwise, developers risk making bugs. Generally, the testing stage is close interaction with the client to exclude ambiguous interpretations of their vision.

As a reliable QA software testing company, we thoroughly test the solution to ensure it works correctly. Moreover, code reviews and refactoring are also our imperatives at this stage. These elements allow us to speed up and stabilize your application. As a result, we ensure the smooth operation of your business idea.

Further reading: How Automation Testing Increases Execution Speed, Test Coverage, and Effectiveness

Step 5. Maintenance and deployment

When your application has already passed the stage of development process and testing, then our team provides the customer with the necessary support and maintenance of the platform. This ensures that the app performs properly with different devices and operating systems.

Our DevOps engineers and developers have in-depth knowledge of the software maintenance sphere. Therefore, we can help make your software product highly performed.

This stage also involves the release of the application by the development team in the workspace. As a result, our clients get customized solutions that their users prefer.

Obviously, you want your project to run as smoothly as possible with a great user experience. Therefore, you need to find reliable specialists to guarantee the success of your project. Professional developers can help you make your application beautiful and neat.

At Codica, our mobile app development experts help implement our clients' business ideas. Our team provides these clients with high-quality customized mobile solutions that attract users and increase sales.

How much does it cost to build an app like Snapchat?

The complexity of creating an app like Snapchat directly affects the overall development cost.

The cost of your app will depend on the mobile development services provided by the team you choose. For instance, if you select a team from Western Europe or the US, the hourly price will range from $90 to $200. However, the most expensive variant isn't always the best one. For example, development companies from Eastern Europe will make you the exact app you want or even better. The rough payment is about $50 per hour, significantly cheaper than in the US.

Below is a table with main factors that mainly determine the cost to make an app like Snapchat.

Summarizing the table above, you can now understand that various factors affect the overall cost of Snapchat app development. This is primarily about the complexity of the app, the list of features, the UI/UX design, and much more.

Therefore, on average, an app like Snapchat will cost you $86,000. However, it all depends on you. Because it's up to you to decide what features to provide your new platform and how similar an app to Snapchat you want to make it.

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Codica: 9+ years of development experience

Of course, you want to bring your product to market quickly, with a high level of security and a user-friendly interface. With extensive development experience in individual app solutions, Codica experts will help you create a high-quality project that will attract users and increase sales.

You can rely on Codica as an experienced mobile app development company. Over the years, we've built a list of development tools that help us create high-quality, engaging apps and help businesses scale. Thanks to our efficient app development process, these tools allow us to keep the development time and cost of our mobile app development services within our customers' expectations.

Codica always strives to get quality results and ensure the success of your business. Therefore, we have implemented more than 50 successful software projects, and the same number of clients were satisfied with the results.

Among the outstanding ones, we’ve developed a Fitness Progressive Web Application. The application connects trainers with their clients with ease, hence enabling users to easily assign and track personal training and nutrition programs.

Key features:

• Cross-platform access. The application is designed to work seamlessly on both desktops and smartphones to ensure users access their training programs any time and from any location.
• Exercise library. One can add more than 400 exercises while creating fitness plans.
• Performance tracking. It supports the tracking of over 2000 workouts, hence helping the users track their performance.

Results:

• Enhanced user engagement. The user-friendly interface and responsive design significantly improved user engagement and satisfaction.
• Scalability. Built as a Progressive Web App (PWA), it allows for quick updates and feature additions without the need for extensive app store approvals.

To learn more about our successful projects, refer to our case studies page.

Ready to make a Snapchat-like app?

Many media companies see enormous potential in the Snapchat app. Leading brands cooperate with the company, especially those related to sports, entertainment, food, or pop culture. Unique video and photo materials are created for Snapchat because advertisers have direct access to the target audience, which is ready to give feedback.

Snapchat is primarily intended for entertainment and fun to share enjoyable photos and videos or chat in an informal atmosphere. So if you want an app with similar functionality - creating an app like Snapchat is one of the best options.

Thanks to this article, you now understand how Snapchat allows you to get the most out of it and create a source of passive income online. Therefore, contact us if you decide to make your app like Snapchat.