How to develop an app like Clubhouse & how much does it costs?

The Pandemic years have transformed our daily routines. Social Distancing and lockdown have changed the way we socialize and connect with others. It has turned our focus to look at communication and entertainment alternatives online, and thus it has boosted the digital industry. The social media genre has received a considerable amount of push.

According to the October 2020 report, more than 4 billion people worldwide (4.14 billion) use social media each month.

One of the latest entries in this genre and an emerging social media platform leader in the Clubhouse app. This article will discuss the Clubhouse app and how much it costs to develop an app like Clubhouse.

What is a Clubhouse App?

Clubhouse is an invitation-only drop-in audio social media chat app that is available for the iOS platform and will soon be launched for the Android platform. The app can be used for auditory communication through rooms, and the capacity of the groups is 5000 people.

The app can host virtual rooms for live discussions with the opportunity for people to become speaker or to take part as a listener.

There are no pictures, texts, or videos. Just audio-only.

About Clubhouse App

• Clubhouse App Developed by: Alpha Exploration Co.
• Global CEO: Kurt Schrader (Clubhouse App Developer)
• Founding Year: 2020
• Headquarters: New York City
• Valuation: $4 Billion

How Does Clubhouse App Work?

The Clubhouse algorithm works based on the people and topics you show interest in. There is an “interest” feature of the app which the users can use to like people and topics, and then the app will create your personal experience based on them.

The app was introduced by Paul Davison and Rohan Seth of Alpha Exploration Co. in March 2020. Clubhouse remains an invite-only app so that its team stays able to manage the user base and continue to refine the app to fit the needs and provide the best experience to the growing user base.

In the Clubhouse app, conversations cannot be recorded, transcribed, reproduced, or shared without explicit permission.

Therefore the app lets you listen to the conversations of people, and they can be famous people, or knowledgeable ones, no guarantees, however. So this is a live podcast that you can join to listen to, and if lucky, then even to speak.

However, as the app is exclusively invite-only, one cannot join the app without an invite. Anyone can download the app, but without an invite, you won’t be able to use the app. Therefore you must get an invite to start using the app. If you do not have an invite, you can join the waiting list of the app, wherein if you are lucky, any random person will share their invitation with you and you will join the app. But, you will have to wait for an undetermined period of time for this.

Basic Clubhouse Feature

There are multiple social media apps out there that have unique features and usage. The Clubhouse app has become a stand-out app due to its unique feature of invite-only and voice-only features.

The app’s success depends on the features that the app provides, and looking at Clubhouse’s success, it is safe to say that users love the features that the app offers. Therefore, if the success of the Clubhouse app inspires you and if you are looking to develop an app like Clubhouse, here is a curated list of features that the app provides.

Remember that to make your app a stand-out competition of the Clubhouse app, your app must provide some unique features other than the features of the Clubhouse app and therefore make sure that your app has special and unique features.

1. Clubhouse Exclusive Invitation

When it comes to the Clubhouse app, you cannot simply download the app and start using it. To use the Clubhouse, there are three alternatives. The first is to get an invite from the existing member. All the members get two invites, and they can use them to invite any two users they want. The second one is through virtual waiting list registration, and the third one is by buying the invite from eBay or other places.

2. Onboarding

Onboarding is the first step after you finally enter the Clubhouse app. Next, you have to enter your username along with your profile photo. With this done, you are ready to enter any room that you want. Being a new user, you will be mute in every group by default, and you can unmute yourself with permission from the moderator. If you are the creator of the group, you will be unmuted as you are the moderator.

3. Signup/login

This feature is an integrated feature that can be used to signup/login using your email or social media account. This will fast-forward the signup/ login process. Only the users that have the invite will get to the sign-in screen, while the other users will be taken to the waiting list by choosing their username.

4. Interests

There are tons and thousands of groups on the app, and therefore, to make it easy for the user to find the right room for themselves, the Clubhouse onboarding experience comes with the option of an interest where you will be presented with a categorized list of interests that you can choose. After you have selected your interests, you will get various rooms and people’s suggestions for a better experience.

5. Feed

The feed section can be used to see what’s going around. The users will be presented with various discussions that are happening around denoted as rooms. The user will also be able to see the people who are in the room. The feed consists of live events and upcoming ones.

6. Topics

The topics are like the tags of the rooms. Clubhouse offers a large list of topics to make it possible for people to find the right room. The speakers can assign topics when they create the room, and the user can use those topics to find the room. This makes the app experience simple and intuitive for all.

7. Moderation Rights

Moderation rights are very important for all platforms, whether it is a video-based, text-based, or voice-based platform. There must be moderation rights for the room owners. Moreover, an app admin should monitor the users’ reports and ban rooms that engage in bullying or hate speech.

8. High-Quality Audio Streaming

Being an audio-based app, it provides high-quality audio streaming for the users. The app also provides moderation features and provides various rights to the owner of the user and an option to request to speak.

9. Reminders

In the Clubhouse app, the live conversations cannot be recorded or stored, and therefore, the users should be promptly notified whenever their favorite speaker or topic-based room is started. They should not miss the same, and this is ensured by a solid and prompt reminder and notification system.

10. Activity

The Activity area will create a history of all your interactions. You will be able to see all the accounts that you follow, what you have been doing lately on the app, and find out who joined the application recently. You can also see the clubs people are in and the upcoming occasions.

11. Clubhouse Rooms

Rooms are where all the communication will take place. Anyone can create a room, and the room can be set to be open for everyone or can also be private. The room can be created to have a private conversation, to have a conversation with random people, or to speak to the audience.

12. User Profile

The user profile is a section where the user’s information is displayed. Not much is available here, just the name of the user, their profile picture, and an optional link to their Twitter account and Instagram account.

13. Following Speakers and Topics

There is the following option for the speakers and topics that the user can use whenever they come across what they like to tailor their activity area. The following feature allows the user to be updated on all the activities of the speaker or around the topic.

14. Clubhouse Clubs

The clubs are just like groups in various social media apps. The users can join the clubs they like, and therefore they can come across people who have the same interests. The clubs also allow the users to view members, add members, and recommend chat topics.

15. Upcoming for you

The upcoming for you section contains all the upcoming discussions. It is like a schedule of events with the speaker’s name, chats, start time, and a short description of the event. The user can click on the bell icon to get the remainder of the event when it begins.

Business & Revenue Model Of Clubhouse

There are not many options for the monetization strategy when it comes to social media apps, and generally, the best monetization strategy is advertisements. However, when it comes to advertisements, they negatively impact the user experience as the users get easily frustrated by them.

As for now, the Clubhouse app is available for free. However, the app has announced that it will soon launch a donation feature that will allow the creators to earn money in their live talks, and this way, the app will get a share from the donations received. Moreover, advertisements are the best monetization strategy to keep any app free, and therefore, sooner or later, the Clubhouse app will adopt this monetization strategy.

How to develop an app like Clubhouse?

Developing an app like clubhouse is not an easy task. It requires a development team, the latest technology, designs, and step-by-step process methodology to develop a perfect app like Clubhouse. It also requires a lot of technical knowledge and proper teamwork. Here is what you will need to develop an app like Clubhouse.

Team Requires for Clubhouse App Development:

• Project Manager
• Android Developer
• iOS Developer
• Back-end Developer
• QA Engineer
• Business Analyst
• UI/UX Designer

Technologies Require for Developing an App like Clubhouse:

• Kotlin for Android Development
• Swift for iOS Development
• Node.js for Back-end Development
• AWS or Azure for Cloud
• SQL or MongoDB or Cassandra for Database
• Azure Stream Analytics for Real-time analytics
• Google Cloud Messaging and Apple push notifications service for Notifications
• WebRTC for Voice Streaming API
• Live sports streaming API
• Google Maps API for Geo-location

OR

The simpler option here is to hire a leading app development company to take care of all the technical parts of the development so that you can focus on marketing and other important tasks of your Clubhouse-like app. An app development company will be a better option as this can save you from hiring the team and purchasing the technology listed above, and their expertise can help you get the perfect app.

How much does it cost to develop an app like Clubhouse?

Developing an app like Clubhouse can cost around $30,000 – $40,000 for a single platform (Android or iOS) with all the basic features only. However, by including advanced features and developing the app for multiple platforms, the price can rise to $90,000.

Factors that affect the cost of developing an app like Clubhouse:

1. App Platform

The price of developing an app for Android is more compared to iOS. If you go for a single platform, the cost will come down, but the price will increase if you wish to develop an app for both platforms.

2. App Design

The designers have to put much effort while developing the UI/UX of the app to make it attractive and user-friendly. So if you want a simple design, the price will be less, but the price will be more if you want a unique design and more creative work.

3. Development Team

If you want to develop the app in-house, you have to hire all the team members mentioned above to ensure a perfect development process. In this case, you have to pay the salary of all the team members, and you also have to pay for the hiring process. It can be costly.

If you hire an app development company, you can outsource all the development work. This way, you have to pay the determined fee. It is a pocket-friendly alternative.

4. App Development Company

The cost also varies based on the mobile app development company that you choose.

Small Company Cost: $10 – $40 / Hour
Intermediate Company Cost: $40 – $100 / Hour
Enterprise-level Company Cost: $100 – $250 / Hour

5. Features

Each feature requires time for development, and therefore each feature has its own cost. If you add more features, the cost will increase and vice-versa. Therefore, the number of features that your app has will directly affect the development cost.

How much time does it take to develop an app like Clubhouse?

Developing an app like Clubhouse will take time around 20 Weeks. The time can also increase depending on your requirements, the features you choose, and the platform compatibility for Clubhouse-like app development.

Key Facts about the Clubhouse App

• Clubhouse App has 10 Million+ downloads, and the likes of Elon Musk, Kanye West, and Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg using the platform makes it much more favorable to score millions of downloads.
• The invite-only scheme has been a major factor behind the increasing number of users of the app. It is a psychological fact that we are drawn towards things that are not very easy to get, as that makes it a big deal. For example, if people near you are using a new app, you might not be interested in that as it is free to download and use; however, when this invite-only condition is used, it becomes a big deal to be on the app, and therefore you whole-heartedly want to be on the app.
• The clubhouse app has about 10 million weekly users.
• The app is valued at $4 Billion.
• The app’s success has influenced companies such as Facebook, Twitter, Discord, Spotify, Reddit, and Slack to start developing a direct competitors of the app.

Clubhouse has valued at $4 Billion in just a year of its launch

It has just been a year since the launch of the app, and in such a short span, the app is valued at $4 Billion. Three factors contribute to this; let’s have a look at them.

• Clubhouse is one of a kind application, and therefore this reason pulls the users to the app at a rapid speed.
• Clubhouse app has a great start thanks to the celebrities and tech innovators who first used the invite-only app.
• The app has launched at the time of the pandemic, and therefore there couldn’t have been a perfect time to launch the app, as this pandemic time is the golden time for mobile apps and games.

Clubhouse Added Gamification for More Engagement

After creating a lot of buzz in the town, the clubhouse reached an exponential level. And suddenly, Clubhouse got failed to keep captivating the users and fall down exorbitantly. And finally, clubhouse thought to add gamification in their audio podcast app; they have added gaming features in their recent April 2022 update. Users can play games with each other and make fun in the same room. And that’s how Clubhouse increased their app engagement 5x times more. They also received 2x times more downloads due to gaming peer referrals.

Why should you consider Capermint for Developing an App like Clubhouse?

Capermint Technologies is one of the leading mobile app development companies. We have a team of pro-efficient and effective developers who have immense talent for developing outstanding mobile apps. The apps that we develop are catered to the needs of our clients and are structured to transform your business/service. With the latest and robust technologies, our developers can effortlessly develop the best Clubhouse-like app for you, with various unique and innovative features, and that too with the most appealing UI/UX.

Wrapping Up

With almost 4.66 billion internet users, with 92.6% of them being mobile device users, online apps are extremely useful and profitable also. Clubhouse is a one-of-a-kind app and has shown immense possibilities and opportunities to become a dominating app. Therefore, the likes of Facebook, Twitter, Discord, Spotify, Etc., are also planning and working on their alternative app for Clubhouse. Therefore, this is the right time for you to launch your own Clubhouse-like app in the market to catch up in this race and to win it. Find the right App Development company for your Clubhouse-like app and start the app development today!