The exact cost of developing a taxi app like Uber depends on a variety of things such as app architecture and developer rates, features, country and industry, and many others.
Features Of Taxi Apps
There should be two distinct interfaces
- For the passengers – Those who book a taxi
- For the drivers – Those who get orders and ride you to your destination.
Basic Features Of Passenger App:
- Register/login: Email or social media login option, credit cards, payment processing;
- Booking interface: A screen to enter the address to call a taxi to, select a cab type or set a location for pickup;
- Tracking: Tracking driver’s location, to make updates during or after a ride, etc.;
- Fare calculator: Check the estimated cost of a ride from pick up point to a destination with specific cab type even before ordering;
- Payments: Multiple options such as cashless rides and in-app payment mechanism (via credit card). Users can also pay by just plain cash;
- Push notifications: The users are updated on order status, estimated time of taxi arrival, license plate details, etc.;
- Messaging, ratings & reviews, booking history.
Basic Features Of Driver App:
- Register/profile/status: The profile needs to have verification done about contact, financial details, and tax number. It should also show the online status and schedule;
- Booking: With options to accept or reject the incoming request, details on client location and destination of a ride visible instantly, plus history of reservations.
- Push notifications: For order alerts, taxi booking data, for order updates and completion;
- Navigation: Using Google Maps to get optimal directions to a customer and his destination, could be voiced;
- Cost estimation, reports, messaging, support.
- Admin Panel: To manage all the process and drivers from a central point, it facilitates interactions with customers, manages ride routes, payments and all other information.
Technology to Build an App Like Uber
Considering that Uber has already shared its API to public and developers, and also introduced the affiliate program, one can now easily build their customized Uber-like app. The three foundations which form the basis of a taxi app are Server, mapping, and payments. The developers must be fluent in using programming languages such as Node.js, Python, Java, PHP, Ruby on Rails.
GPS is another crucial element. OpenStreetMap API for can be used for both iOS/Android. Platform-specific tools in this regard for Android could be Google Maps and Google Location Services API. For iOS devices – MapKit or CoreLocation framework. In-app payments via credit cards, Paypal, or following gateway adapters to develop an app – Stripe, Braintree, Paytm, PayPal mobile SDK can be used.
Technology stack for push notifications is pretty straightforward: Google Firebase for Android and Apple Push for iOS phones. For SMS you may use Twilio, or other cloud communication platforms, like Plivo, Nexmo, Tropo, are equally beneficial.
Cost Components
The significant and general components of work that go into Taxi app development cost are:
- Backend development
- Web development
- Native app development (Android/iOS)
- Design
- Management and quality assurance
Backend
The basis of constructing a backend means that the elements must have connections between each other. To make an Uber-like app, this is the first thing to bear in mind. This would be the platform itself with all the features that are mentioned above.
Using languages such as JavaScript, Python, the developers would have to make the core of the app and then link it to the user interface, both driver and traveler app. The entire data can get stored on a single database system, such as PostgreSQL, though the scalable storage is far more efficient. You can check for the simple versions of architecture. As far as the timelines and resources are concerned, one cannot define the backend of the app accurately. You would need to hire two senior developers, or a whole team to go faster.
Native iOS/Android
To cut down on the cost and for the creation of a simple taxi app like Uber, you will select just one platform which generally depends on your target customers. Having both iOS and Android covered would be preferred. So these days any software company is capable of providing taxi app development cost factoring in both the platforms. Backend and functionality would be the same either for Android or iOS, while tools and frameworks in use would be specific to the platform.