How Much Does It Cost To Develop A WordPress Plugin From Scratch?

While trying to build a WordPress plugin and finding the true estimate of the WordPress plugin development, you need to know three things:

1. What is your budget for developing the best WordPress plugin?
2. How would you diversify and utilize your budget?
3. What is the purpose of developing the plugin? (self-use or resale)

4 Factors Affect Custom WordPress Plugin Development Cost!

Let’s understand the factors in detail that affect the true cost of WordPress plugin development.

1. Market Research

Before you start building a custom WordPress plugin from scratch, you must conduct market research; it is highly essential. You must know if any existing plugin is available in the market that may fulfill your requirement in full or part. You may then be able to use it as a base plugin. The base plugin makes your custom WordPress plugin development cost-effective and time-saving.

Let’s understand this concept with an example… Consider developing a coupon website; you may then consider “WooCommerce PDF vouchers” as the best WordPress plugin as a base plugin.

It may not include certain features such as in-built multi-vendor with commission calculations and frontend voucher builder, pay the price that customer enters, and more, that you may require; but yes, you can customize this plugin in various ways as it’s super flexible to customize. This will help you in reducing your WordPress plugin development cost. This plugin includes the features below, which you may require:

1. Create & Customize PDF Vouchers for in-person/online redemption
2. Easy Drag & Drop Builder
3. Coupon Codes
4. Quick Scan Codes
5. Custom Gift Vouchers
6. Option For Partial Redemption & Unlimited Redemptions
7. Export Reports
8. Check Voucher Validity
9. Gift Recipient Notification
10. Voucher Redemption Notification

Suppose you have a unique BRD (Business Requirement Document), and there is no plugin available in the market that covers any of the features of your said plugin. In that case, you can always focus on preparing strong BRD and hiring WordPress plugin developers. Once you get the final plugin, you will be able to sell it on various marketplaces such as the Envato market as you are developing a unique idea that does not exist. You will have a chance to earn the money that you have invested during the WordPress plugin development.

2. The BRD of the WordPress Plugin in consideration of the base plugin

The BRD will have a list of the features that your WordPress plugin will require. Based on those points, you will evaluate the hours of each feature that your plugin requires. You can mention in the BRD that the base plugin already has many features, and the custom feature required is xx, and will take xx hours to develop the plugin.

Based on that, you will be able to evaluate the hours with your budget, and you will be able to know that you need to hire WordPress experts with a specific hourly rate. If it goes out of your budget, you can certainly remove a few features that are not requiring much in the first phase. My thoughts are that if you have a base plugin, you will always get a lesser evaluation than your budget.

You may hire a WordPress plugin developer who provides freelance development services or works in a WordPress plugin development company. Once you have chosen your developer, especially if you’ve hired a developer from a company like us, then you can always get in touch with us with various types of questions such as requesting an estimate of budget, timeline, milestones, and more.

We understand that your prerequisites may change during the project’s progression, but that’s fine with us. We always aim at achieving your development goals and delivering the best results.

3. The Billing Rate of Your Developer or Agency

A standard format of the estimation of hours and costs you can expect from the developer like below:

Now you have a total WordPress plugin development cost. The normal billing rates in a market range from 15 USD to 100 USD per hour in a market based on the complexity of the plugin features.

Freelancers may charge 15 USD to 50 USD per hour, but you cannot rely upon their work unless they are highly experienced. Suppose you are on a project with a strict deadline to meet. In that case, you should choose an agency specializing in WordPress plugin development services that include well-known plugin authors for any marketplace. We’re suggesting you go with these types of agencies because you will get high-quality work; they follow the best WordPress coding standards, which will offer you an end output plugin that will not cause any issue with any other plugin or theme.

We have witnessed cases where people hire freelancers without checking his/her expertise and experience and getting the final plugin. After ending the contract with the freelancer, they install the plugin on production and get so many conflicts with other plugins and themes.

You can find and hire freelance plugin developers on Upwork, Codeable, Fiverr, or Freelancer. On the other hand, agency billing rates range from 30 USD per hour up to 275 USD per hour! Before hiring anyone, please ensure that they are having previous proven experience in WordPress plugin development. Before we move on, we’d like to leave you with some suggestions that’ll help you make the most of your investment.

Divide your project into segments:

If you have hired a WordPress plugin developer for the first time, you should divide your complete project into smaller phases; believe us, it’s a great idea. In this way, you’ll be able to manage each phase easily, hold your budget properly, and take reports of the progress adequately.

Keep away from fixed-cost projects:

Fixed-cost projects are a good idea only if you require adding a patch to your existing plugin. If you are looking for a full-fledged 70+ hours custom WordPress plugin development deal, then a “Fixed-cost project” is not something you should be looking for.

Save money with an experienced team:

Budget is an essential factor that can affect the progress of your project; thereby, look for a team with experience and expertise. It will keep you away from unforeseen glitches, inaccurate estimates, and missing deadlines. It will also help you to avoid infinite loopholes, which keep you going back and forth. All these issues can cost you a fortune. An agency providing experienced and expert WordPress plugin development services may offer your premium-budget services, but in the end, it will be all worth your money.

PS: At WPWeb, we have an experienced team who will provide you with custom WordPress plugin development services within your set deadline and budget.

4. Maintenance of WordPress Plugin after launch

Maintenance is something that everyone overlooks when they plan to develop a plugin; however, do not forget, it is an imperative stage to look forward to. The maintenance process has variant scenarios. Let’s have a look at them in detail.

Scenario 1:  You developed the plugin for your business only

You need to check your plugin’s compatibility with the current WordPress version, with the theme, and with other plugins installed on your website. You will not know if WordPress or any plugins will come up with any major updates; therefore, your plugin will lose compatibility with other plugins or WordPress.

In such cases, you will require help from your webmaster or your original plugin developer. Keeping in touch with freelance developers can be challenging, especially if you have already paid them in full. The best way out here is to hire a WordPress plugin developer from an agency like us to develop your required plugin. Agencies offer codes with comments, making the coding simple, and easy to understand, and anyone can fix the glitch with minimal effort and time.

Scenario 2:  You developed the plugin for selling purposes only

As an author of the plugin, it’s your responsibility to keep your plugin compatible; thereby, you must frequently check your plugin’s compatibility with WordPress and its well-known themes. You should also make sure that your plugin is compatible with other available platforms in the market.

These days, you can hire a dedicated developer from an agency, which offers maintenance services and can dedicatedly help you with improvements and fixes. With such a WordPress plugin development company, you can utilize their developers in improving your plugin, fixing issues, managing launches, and gaining technical support at all times.

Are you still not satisfied with the information that we have provided you? No problem!

We will provide you with the contact details required to end your search for the best WordPress plugin for your business. Contact us now.

Please note: The quotations listed below are purely based on previous experience, subject to change. The information given below offers you a general idea and must be confirmed with the company you hire. Moreover, the costs listed below do not include maintenance charges.

Low Range: 2,000 USD – 5,000 USD

Low-range costs are valid for small-size plugins, which are good for adding only a few features to your website. This is the least you should be expecting when you want a small plugin development.

Medium Range: 5,000 USD – 20,000 USD

If you are looking for a plugin with an evolved, complex version, this is the budget you should be planning for; however, you will get an exact idea only when you request a formal quotation from a WordPress plugin development company.

Average Range: 20,000 USD – 45,000 USD

If you have a comprehensive plugin requirement, your idea will likely fall under this average budget. The low and medium range of development shall only serve your purpose at the beginner’s level.

High Range: 45,000 USD and Above

You will fall into this budget if you have a plugin requirement that requires a unique concept, detailed research, and in-depth requirement analysis. Your plugin here shall be feature-rich and shall involve comprehensive coding and complex development. This is where you will get custom WordPress plugin development services.

Conclusion!

Developing a custom WordPress plugin is a significant investment, but the long-term benefits for your business can make it well worth the initial costs. Through upfront market research, creating a detailed requirements document, understanding developer rates, and budgeting for ongoing maintenance, you can determine if building a new plugin is the strategic choice for your needs and budget.

By following a structured development process, clearly documenting requirements, allowing adequate time for iteration and testing, partnering with an experienced WordPress developer can deliver immense value through customization. While building a plugin from scratch requires serious capital investment on Day 1, choosing the right strategic features aligned to your business goals can pay dividends for years through increased efficiency, revenue, and competitive advantage.