If you’ve ever thought ‘How to make a social media app like Facebook or Instagram?’, ‘What should I consider’ or ‘When is the right time?’, we have some answers for you. You don’t need to know much and the right time for creating a social media app is now.
At Purrweb, we have created a comprehensive and honest guide on social media app development, sharing key features, costs, and a timeline for a robust mobile application. Let’s get started!
What is a social media app?
A social media app is a platform that allows people to generate and instantly share content. It also connects people worldwide with messaging and commenting features.
There are around 4.2 billion users of social media globally, and the traffic is split by hundreds of social media apps and websites. According to stats, an average person has an account on at least 8 different social media platforms.
Why make your own social media app?
💰 Multiple revenue streams
There are lots of monetization options in the social media space. Aside from regular ads, typical revenue streams include premium subscriptions and in-app purchases. For example, Instagram offers a paid promotion service within the app that lets users buy ads to promote their posts on the platform and boost engagement.
Another lucrative monetization source is affiliate or influencer marketing. It involves setting up links to products or services offered by partnered companies. First, a content creator posts a link to their profile. When a user clicks on this link, the social app instantly gets its commission from hosting the offer on their platform. The influencer marketing business model works particularly well for YouTube which uses it to motivate its audience to create content.
👥 High user engagement
Social media apps provide a high level of interactivity. Liking and sharing have already become second nature to most people, and social media rely on those features to boost user engagement. And with just how much content these platforms host, there will always be something for people to interact with.
Let’s look at the stats. In 2023, the average daily time users spent on social media worldwide was 151 minutes — more than 2 hours each day (source: Statista). This impressive number tells us that social media apps have high user retention and engagement. Naturally, this results in significant profits: TikTok, for example, has generated over $16 billion in revenue in 2023 alone.
🌎 Increased audience reach
Social media is a global market. People all over the world constantly use platforms like Facebook and YouTube. The reach of these social media apps is extensive and that’s a big part of why they became so profitable.
Building a social media app will give you access to that global audience, opening the door to new sources of revenue. You’ll be able to use precise analytical tools to pinpoint the local markets where your product is the most successful. It will be easy to target the right audience and set easily achievable goals for your social media app.
How does social media make money?
Overall, there are two popular strategies for social media apps to generate revenue: ads and premium subscriptions. Let’s dive into two examples and break them down!
Ads — Facebook
Nowadays many social networks have an ads manager to run promo campaigns on the platform. Probably the biggest player in the game is Facebook that allows a business profile to create ads to promote their content and choose the audience that the post will be targeted at. This strategy proved to be profitable and in 2025, the social network is expected to earn $123 billion in ad revenue only. In fact, ads on such platforms have become a huge industry. Not only does Facebook benefit from it, but users also do too. Just think that if not for social media, the target specialist job would never exist 😁 This is one piece of advice on how to build a social media app that makes money.
Premium subscription — LinkedIn
Another way to get some money out of social media apps is to offer users premium services for a fee. Take a look at LinkedIn — they display who visited your profile. If you stalk someone and don’t want them to find out, the only way to hide whose accounts you browse is to buy LinkedIn Premium for a price ranging from $29.99 to $119.95.
Types of social media apps
Before we discuss how to make a social media app, let’s explore the different types of social platforms to help you make the most out of your development project. Obviously, there are a lot more types of social media networks, but we chose 10 that generate the most buzz:
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- Social networking apps: Facebook, LinkedIn. They connect people all over the world, allowing them to publicly share posts and simplifying professional networking.
- Media sharing apps: Instagram, TikTok, Snapchat. These apps are built around content, allowing users to easily exchange videos, photos, and other media.
- Microblogging apps: X (formerly Twitter), Threads. Short-form public messaging platforms used by everyone from movie directors to politicians.
- Messaging apps: WhatsApp, Telegram. Messaging apps for holding private conversations and managing group chats.
- Live streaming apps: Twitch, YouTube. Massive live streaming platforms where most internet shows and content creators get their income.
- Dating apps: Tinder, Bumble. Mobile apps for casual dating, building romantic relationships, finding friends, or just networking.
- Review apps: Yelp, TripAdvisor. Platforms for user reviews of businesses and noteworthy places favored by tourists and food lovers.
- Discussion/Community Building apps: Reddit, Quora. These are platforms where people talk to each other in groups, ask questions, and exchange viewpoints on trendy topics.
- Hobby-based networking apps: Strava, Goodreads. These apps bring hobby enthusiasts together, allowing them to connect based on their personal interests.
- Bookmarking content apps: Pinterest. Social media platforms where you can pin and save news feed content like pictures or text.
Key features of a social media app
Sign in & onboarding
This is the first page users see when they open your solution. Here are some tips from us: when you create a social media app, make sure the registration form is short and simple, elements are located in the center of the page and there are clear instructions on future steps to becoming a user.
X (formerly Twitter) has a simplified sign-up form (on the left), asking only for the user’s email or phone number. Reddit (on the right) takes a different approach, offering lots of useful third-party login options.
Also, we recommend adding several options to sign in. For example, with a phone number, email & password or Facebook/Google accounts.
Profile settings
After a user signs in, they will likely go to their profile to set it up and make the page more personal. Keep an eye on settings such as a username, profile photo, language functionality, and content preferences.
Customizing a profile is always a lot of fun for users. Facebook even allows you to add your hobbies and favorite photos to let people get to know you better.
Messaging functionality
How to build a social network app without a messenger? Impossible! Chats are vital to the social network functionality that connects people. The ability to exchange text messages, photos, videos or voice memos is a must, no matter the focus of your social media app.
Nowadays every social media app has a messenger. In Facebook’s case, it is even a separate app.
Content creation functionality
Depending on the type of app you have, users should be able to create text, photo, or video content, add filters, stickers, and sounds like TikTok, to spice the content up.
Instagram has a feature called “Live Replay”. It lets content creators save the recordings of their live streams directly to their profiles. If a follower has missed a live stream, they’ll be able to watch the recorded video later.
Push notifications
Notifications are tools to keep a user engaged and aware of new messages, events or comments. However, to increase the satisfaction of the users, let them decide on the frequency of these notifications and choose what they want to hear about — new texts, comments, or friends’ suggestions.
Third-party social network integration
How many social media apps do you have on your phone? Let’s be honest, everyone uses several platforms, so don’t be afraid of your competitors!
To make the sign-in process smoother and boost content sharing, we advise you to connect your app to other networks, especially with monsters like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok.
TikTok encourages users to share content with other apps.
How to make a social media app: a step-by-step breakdown
1. Research the market
Before you begin developing your social media app, you’ll need to perform market research. This process can be broken down into 3 steps:
Identify your target audience. First, decide who your social media app is for. Does your target audience primarily consist of young people who enjoy short-form video content? Or the opposite — accomplished industry experts who value professional networking above all? Identifying your core audience will allow you to come up with the right features for your social app.
Study social media platforms. To succeed with your new social media app, you need to understand how it works. These apps have their own set of rules based on interactivity and user engagement. Let’s look at the most popular social media apps such as TikTok and Instagram. They have personalized news feeds, user profiles, hashtags, and simple interfaces. All of this helps them grab the users’ attention and simplify the consumption of large amounts of content. By understanding the psychology behind social media platforms, you’ll be able to come up with creative ideas for your own development project.
Analyze your direct competitors. If you want to launch your own social media app, it’s unlikely that you’ll be able to compete with the big players like Instagram or TikTok — at least not at first. After all, these platforms have enormous budgets and hundreds of people on staff. Instead, we recommend studying your close competitors — those with a similar budget and scope. Look at their apps, make a list of pros and cons, and learn from their mistakes. This will help you improve your app idea.
2. Plan features & set goals
After you’ve done your research, it’s time to think about the features of your social media app. When it comes to social media platforms, basic features such as likes, shares, and user profiles are a must. However, it’s really important not to blow the scope of your app out of proportion. A good way to avoid that is to focus only on the most important features, without that, your app simply wouldn’t work.
That’s where the MVP development philosophy comes in. MVP stands for Minimum Viable Product. This approach involves building and releasing an app with only the most essential features. Startups often prefer MVP because it lets them quickly validate their business ideas without breaking the bank. We at Purrweb specialize in MVP development, which allows us to build apps efficiently. We design the product, implement each feature, iterate based on client feedback, and release the app. And we do all of that in just 4 months thanks to the MVP approach.
When you’ve decided on the scope of features for your social media app, it’s important to set clear goals for your project and define metrics for its success. This will help you determine how well the app performs after launch and identify its weak points. Some of the most useful metrics for evaluating an app’s success include monthly active users, session frequency, and retention rate.
3. Decide on the monetization types
If you want your social media app to be profitable, you’ll need to find a way to monetize it. There are lots of options to choose from, including subscriptions, brand partnerships, and ecommerce integration. Let’s take a look at the most viable monetization options for a social media app:
In-app purchases. This is one of the most common monetization types for mobile apps. Content-focused platforms frequently offer paid features to their users. TikTok and Snapchat allow users to buy filters, stickers, and gifts inside the app.
Premium subscriptions. Another reliable source of revenue. Social media apps like Reddit, YouTube, and Discord offer premium subscriptions that give you access to exclusive content and personalized features.
In-app advertising. Used by most social media platforms, including Instagram, X, and YouTube. While in-app advertising can be useful, we recommend steering clear of large ad banners often included in free apps. They are notorious for disrupting the user experience and most people are put off by them. Instead of paying for a subscription to get rid of intrusive ads, many users would rather just delete the app and find a better alternative.
Even professional networking platforms have their own paid subscriptions. For example, LinkedIn Premium gives clients access to advanced tools like AI-powered insights, detailed analytics, and comprehensive search filters.
4. Come up with a marketing strategy
Once you’ve decided how your social media app will make money, it’s time to create a marketing strategy. This will be crucial if you want your app to attract users right from its launch. When it comes to effective marketing, understanding your audience is key. This means knowing their age, interests, and behavior patterns. Based on this data, you’ll be able to select the most appropriate marketing channels to reach your target audience.
Let’s say you’re developing a video content marketplace for hobbyists and professionals. In that case, your main marketing channels will probably be Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube since that’s where people consume the most video content. Use these platforms to create entertaining videos that communicate the unique value proposition of your product. If you do it right, your posts can even go viral and your social media app will gain plenty of early adopters.
When you’ve planned out your marketing campaign, define the metrics you’ll use for measuring its effectiveness. Some of the most helpful ones include customer acquisition cost, return on ad spends (ROAS), ad engagement rate, and attribution metrics.
5. Design and prototype the app
At last, the planning for your development project is completed. Now is the time to create a UI/UX design for your social media app. An effective visual design will make it easier for your platform to get noticed. Even just a memorable logo can help you attract users.
When creating a design philosophy, think about how you want your app to look and how the users should feel when interacting with it. You probably know that different colors are associated with various human emotions: green with calmness, red with anger. That’s why it’s important to decide on the right color palette for your social media app. Most popular platforms today try to avoid excessively bright colors because they can be hard on the eyes. You can’t go wrong by choosing a more neutral color scheme, but make sure it doesn’t look lifeless. Otherwise, it will be harder for the app to get people’s attention.
After you’ve planned out the visual style for your product, start designing the user interface. Make basic black-and-white wireframes for each screen of the app. They should include every element of the UI. We recommend prioritizing intuitive navigation and making sure that all UI components are easy to find. Then, you can start making interactive prototypes in Figma or another design tool to test the basic navigational flow.
When that’s done, gather feedback for the prototypes and make changes to the design. If everything’s looking good, apply the finishing touches — turn your black-and-white mockups into a complete design. It should include all of the fonts, colors, and images that you’ve chosen for your social media app.
The final design may be different compared to the initial black-and-white wireframes — and that’s alright.
6. Write code
This is where the programmers on your team step in to help. They will write all the code for the app, implementing every feature one by one. This part of the development process involves programming a reliable backend infrastructure and responsive user interfaces. By this point, you should decide on the right tech stack for your app. It would depend on what features you want to include in your app. For example, if you want to build a live streaming platform, it’d be smart to invest in a reliable framework for real-time video such as WebRTC.
When it comes to efficient development, preparation is key. Before you start writing code, make sure that every member of your team knows their task. This will make teamwork easier and the development faster. However, the best way to achieve an efficient programming workflow is to outsource the project to a professional team. At Purrweb, we have access to some of the most talented developers who are used to working on challenging projects. We implement every app feature from scratch — no app builders are required.
The programming stage can be long and hard, especially if there are unforeseen problems along the way. If you want to reduce the development time, the MVP approach might come in handy. Building an MVP means implementing fewer features compared to a full-scale application. By focusing only on the core functionality of your social media app, you’ll save time and money during active development.
7. Conduct QA tests
After the code is written, there’s still plenty of work to be done on the way to release. It’s important to make sure that your social media app is well-optimized before users can download it. That’s what quality assurance tests are for. They allow you to weed out the bugs, pinpoint the app’s technical flaws, and prepare for release.
Throughout development, we recommend keeping track of the most important functionality that should be tested. Especially if you’re not completely sure that a certain feature will work as intended. QA tests will allow you to identify the product’s weak points before release and fix them to ensure a higher chance of a successful launch.
8. Release and support your app
Once you’ve successfully launched your own social media app, it can be tempting to celebrate and rest on your laurels. But the real work is just beginning. No app is perfect upon release there are still bugs to fix and new useful features to add. Look at the top players on the market — they constantly update their apps with additional content. This allows them to stay in the spotlight and attract new audiences which leads to increased profits.
To decide how to update your app, first collect feedback from your users. You can learn a lot from their reviews which often contain constructive criticism. In their feedback, users tend to focus on the negative impressions first. While it can be difficult to read through dozens of unfavorable reviews, they can provide some helpful insights. For example, if a good number of users don’t like the same feature, then you’ll know it needs to be changed or removed. Or if a lot of people have pointed out an annoying bug, you’ll be able to prioritize it and fix it in the next update.
After you’ve gathered a sufficient number of user reviews, it’s time to plan out updates for your app. Based on the feedback, outline the most important features that need to be added, removed, or reworked. Always consider how the updates will affect the user experience. Features shouldn’t be added or removed on a whim — there always has to be a good reason for it.
Remember: the road to perfection can take forever. Don’t try to create the most ideal product, but instead focus on what’s most important. This way, you will avoid burnout and your social media app will have a better chance of achieving long-term success.
Does your social media app need an MVP?
The short answer is YES! MVP stands for a minimum viable product and is the first version of your solution. It is used to get feedback from real users and see if your idea meets the market’s needs.
Why is MVP important? Imagine you come up with an idea, invest a fortune into app development and in the end your solution fails because it is not what people need right now or it is too unclear to use. To prevent this scenario, we recommend starting with MVP first to test your idea for less cost and time.
How to find a developer for an MVP?
After thinking about how to create a social media app, the second thought is who is going to execute the plan. Choosing the right social media app developer is crucial for the success of the whole idea. Here are a couple of tips from us on how to pick your contractor:
Set up an interview with a prospective team
Always meet with your future developers online and ask them to talk you through their portfolio and previous projects.
Choose a full-cycle team over freelancers
Instead of hiring and controlling single freelance specialists, pick a team that has a versatile set of experts — developers, designers, QA engineers, and project managers to provide all-around support to your solution. Moreover, a skillful team will get you practical tips on how to make a social media app the best one in terms of user experience and flow.
Costs and timeline
How to make a social media app without spending a fortune, and is it even possible in 2024? Yes, it is! At Purrweb we develop social media apps with different budgets and offer a free estimation of your MVP project.
The development cost and time frame are different for every product and depend on the complexity of the app. Transparent communication is our priority, and that’s why we usually start with providing the project cost and deadline estimation. In the case of MVP, development will be cheaper and you’ll be able to release your app sooner.
No more talking, let’s get straight to the point. Here is how much your social media can cost and how long it will take at Purrweb:
| Stage | What are we doing | How long it takes | Costs |
| Brief interview | Discuss the idea of your app | 1 day | no costs |
| UI/UX design | Plan and execute the interface, build a prototype | 4 weeks | $5 400 |
| Development | Create the interface as a user will see it. Deal with the architecture of the app and connect it with servers | 10 weeks | $40 500 |
| QA testing | Test the usability of your application | Alongside development | $6 000 |
| Project management | Chaperoning the project and solving administrative tasks | Alongside development | $4 100 |
Why make a social media app with Purrweb?
| ⚡ We develop apps quickly | We work with both established companies and new startups, helping them launch their products in a short timeframe. Most of the time, we favor the MVP approach (Minimum Viable Product), which allows us to build fully functioning apps from scratch in just 4 months. Less time spent on the development process means the client spends less money — so everyone’s happy. |
| 📺 We create content platforms | We’re a social media app development company. Our portfolio includes content marketplace apps and networking platforms. Take a look at Tunetank — a music marketplace that we’ve developed. We implemented a custom audio playback feature and a useful client referral system. |
| 🪄 We build engaging UIs | Our motto is — user experience first. This means creating a visually appealing design while keeping the app user-friendly and responsive. For a social network app, developing an engaging and intuitive user interface is crucial. That’s why we plan out every possible user scenario and make sure that each feature is easily accessible. |
| 💸 We know how to monetize | Any social media app has to be monetized. Whether it’s ads, subscriptions, or online payments — we’ll find a way to integrate monetization features into your social network. Check out Contentplace — a social media platform for buying and selling video content. We developed a paid multi-tier subscription system for the app. |
Let’s wrap up
The social media audience is more than half of the world’s population. Sounds crazy, right? If you want to enter the market, there will surely be a place for you.
But how to make a social media app that will win a battle for users’ attention in 2024? Define the type of social media you want to make an app for, start with an MVP, choose a full-cycle team for development outsourcing, and relax — we will take care of the rest.
At Purrweb, we create robust solutions with a focus on cutting-edge UI/UX design to provide an enhanced user experience for your startup. With us, the development of a social media app will take approximately 4 months. And social media app development cost will be around $56000. Hopefully, we managed to answer your questions on how to create a social media app and nail it!
Wanna step up and get a personalized estimation of your social media app? Fill in the quote and we will get back to you with more info!
