From Instagram and Facebook to LinkedIn and Twitter, we have a long list of social media platforms that serve a million users. But Instagram has seen spectacular growth in recent years and is all set to take the world by storm with its global outreach. Obviously, it took thousands of dollars and years of planning to launch an idea like Instagram. It was launched on 6th October 2010 by Kevin Systrom, and within a few months, its user multiplied to millions. But Instagram took it up a notch when social media giant Facebook acquired it in 2012. So, if you are planning to invent an app like Instagram, go through the blog carefully to not to miss anything as every single point that is mentioned will connect the dots for the total budget.

More About Instagram

Instagram is a photo and video-sharing social media application that comes with a long list of features.

Instagram Features that Attract Users

Instagram’s features and filters make it stand out. Instagram maintains its hype in the market with its heightened statistics that reveal its market worth. No doubt, the success of an app depends largely upon the features and functionality of the app. Next comes the structure and design elements that enhance the user experience.

• Instagram Live Video Hey Marketers, ready to go live? Live Video helps foster authenticity and transparency. It also increases interaction through push notifications that users get whenever they go live. Live Video Stream comments also get enough attention from regular users.
• Video Features A 60-second long video with captions, filters and tag location options can help brands and marketers generate more user engagement.
• Shoppable Tags Businesses that want to tag their products in their photos can use the Shoppable tags feature. You can tag the t-shirt that the model is featuring so that users can click on it and get to the page. These business tags can be used within stories as well to showcase the product and attract authentic traffic.
• Story Features As a Snapchat feature imitation, the Stories feature was launched as is loved by Instagrammers. The story is set to stay for 24 hours and then vanish and can be viewed any number of times in the next 24 hours. It appears on the top of your followers’ feeds in a tiny circle with your picture icon.
• IGTV YouTube was the only platform that supported long videos, but then came Instagram TV. Using this app, users can share videos of up to 1-hour just like TV episodes. 80% of businesses are using video marketing as an important content marketing strategy.

That's not all; Instagram has a lot more that can leave you awe-struck. Besides, the cost travels with features. The more the features, the higher will be the cost.

Apps Similar to Instagram

Knowing your competitors would make it easier to survive the bottleneck competition. Here we have assimilated a complete list of reliable sources. You can visit all these apps to see what features you want to add to your app. Pinterest, Dribbble, Hipstamatic, VERO, Vigo Video, Snapchat, VSCO, Imgur, Tumblr, Flipagram, Cluster, Flickr, Retrica, We Heart It, Unsplash, Yummi are some to count. All of these apps use photo & video content, and the core functionality of these apps varies greatly. People aspiring for an app like Instagram should take a glance at these stats to determine if it’s worth investing in such apps or not.

• In 2025, the no. of social network users will jump to 1.1 billion as compared to 926.8 million users in 2020.
• 90% of brands use 3+ social media channels to market their products and services.
• On average, 3.725 billion users spend 142 minutes per day on social media accounts.
• Social media platforms have millions of users to help them generate considerable revenue.
• Instagram has 1 billion active users, and 95 million pictures are posted daily on Instagram.

Exclusive Instagram Features and Functionality

• Account Authorization (phone number, email, or Facebook)
• Create and edit profile
• Real-time chat
• Push notification
• App settings
• Messages, Video and Voice calls
• View and follow other user profiles
• Mentions
• Content, location and multi-media sharing
• Image and filter customization
• Geolocation integration
• Deep Search (by posts, usernames, tags, and places)
• Personalized feed
• Links to other social media platforms
• Enormous architecture to store volumes of data
• Analytics

With emerging technology, more and more advanced features are being added to Instagram to make it friendly and user-oriented.

What Technology Played an Important Role in Developing Instagram?

Instagram is not just a photo-editing app; it’s a blend of an eCommerce portal, a messenger, a video making app and a mini TV. It’s a whole fun yet purposeful app. Features like IGTV, Nametags, Direct Quick Reply, Chat Vanish Mode, Shoppable Posts, Explore Page, and Stories will never let it go stagnant or outdated.

Technologies and Tech Stack used to Create Instagram are:

Building a social media app is a multifaceted approach and requires a thorough understanding of all that you need to incorporate into the app. The catch is...you need to leverage top-notch technologies and proven methodologies to get started with an app just like Instagram.

• Python (Django framework) & HTML5, JavaScript - server-side
• React Native - Android and iOS apps
• PostgreSQL Database
• Nginx Web Server
• Computing Services - Amazon S3, Amazon, EBS, Amazon EC2

Since working on all these advanced technologies requires competence, you need to hire an app development team or a professional developer who has enough experience and knowledge. To develop an app like Instagram, you'll need a team of professionals:

• Project Manager: To understand the project requirements and coordinate with the development team.
• UX/UI Designer: To create easy to navigate and user-friendly designs for enhanced user experience.
• iOS and Android Developers: App developers to incorporate platform-specific languages.
• Back-end Developer/Front-end Developer: RESTful API (backend); Swift programming language for iOS application and HTML/CSS/AngularJS for admin panel (Frontend).
• QA: To test the app and identify faults in it and see if it’s working properly or not.

A team of these professionals will make it easy to transform an idea into an app with an extended level of professionalism.

The App Design – UI and UX

As we have already listed some of the pivotal features, you can now calculate the app designing cost. The design aspect comprises of User Interface and User Experience. Simple, easy to navigate, user-friendly and intuitive are some of the design qualities that the app should have. Be clear about the color, size and appearance of the app. The name and logo should be analogous.

How to Estimate the Cost to Make an App Like Instagram?

Cloning Instagram is hardly possible without the above-mentioned team. But a professional team is not all that it needs; there is a lot more to add.

App-like Instagram Development Cost

Since Instagram is a multi-faceted app, the pricing of its clone may differ based on elements, functions and storage. A proficient app development company may charge from $50,000 to $60,000 for a fully-featured Instagram-like app. Also, this price varies from country to country. For instance, if you pick an app development company in the US, the hourly price may range around $100, while in India it will come down to $20/hour. No single factor can decide the outlay. The cost depends upon a lot of factors. Here's how you can determine the final pricing of your app.

• Project priorities and restrictions - Figure out what your project pivots around and what limitations it may face achieving project goals. Setting project priorities helps you in analyzing your work from time to time to make the relevant move.
• Industry and goals - Predefined business goals help you upkeep the project pace to be in line with your goals without missing details.
• Budget limit & deadlines – Chart out your investment limit to limit your expenses within it. Pre-assess your requirements and get a rough estimate from professionals to know where it will go. Also, if you are in haste, you will get the same services at a higher cost.
• Capabilities & Prices of Team - The development team you will approach should be experienced enough to get all your demands fulfilled. They should be equipped with technological excellence.
• Technology preference - Developing an app like Instagram can be intricate, and hence it’s important to use the right technological stack. Choose technologies that can create desirable results.
• Functionality & Design - The success of your app depends largely on the functionality and designs of the app. Delineate the basic details that you want to have in your app.
• MVP – First, develop a Minimum Viable Product as the simplest app version to see its performance and launch the final version after its success. Add Eye-catching graphics and visual elements, interactive UX/UI designs, Intuitive user navigation, personalized feed, and Well-Functioning Application.

  Why Develop an MVP?

  MVP is a minimum viable product that is a miniature version of your app with limited yet enough features to see the response of early customers and work on the feedback provided by them. You may find a handful of apps that have similar functionality to that of Instagram. And to validate the relevance of your app, you can catapult a basic version to examine how your product will perform under adverse market conditions. It doesn’t have to be an app necessarily; you can introduce it in the form of a landing page, demo video or any other version to justify the feasibility of your idea and required modifications.

Conclusion

In the era of social media, owning an app like Instagram increases the possibility of your business success multiple times. The development cost of trending mobile apps such as Instagram varies. Design, technology, time taken, and complexities are some to count. Even an MVP would cost $30,000 to $50,000. To help your app get maximum downloads or go viral, make it breathe through marketing. Make sure your product is unique and engaging, has trending features and is easy to use.