On average, software development time can vary from 3 to 9 months, depending on the complexity of the software and the structure of your project. Each stage of software development process takes different amounts of time, but the most time-consuming parts are:
- Requirements gathering: 2-4 months
- Design: 6-12 weeks
- Development and prototyping: 2-6 months
- Testing: 3-6 weeks
- Submission to App Store or Google Play: up to 2 weeks
- Maintenance and updates: any length of time. Maintenance may span for 20 years, whereas additional development may be 1–2 years
For instance, a well-designed landing page can be developed in 1-2 months. But if we’re talking about a full-fledged platform, such as an enterprise social network, then the timeline will range from 6 to 7 months.
It’s the same with game development — a visual novel game like Romance Club will take up to 2 months. However, a poker game application takes an average of 6 months.
Basic mobile app development takes 2-3 months. Moderate — 4-6 months. Complex — 6-9 months or even more.