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1. Introduction to Computer Science (CS50x) - Harvard University

This is CS50x, Harvard University's introduction to the intellectual enterprises of computer science and the art of programming for majors and non-majors alike, with or without prior programming experience. An entry-level course taught by David J. Malan, CS50x teaches students to think algorithmically and solve problems efficiently. Topics include abstraction, algorithms, data structures, encapsulation, resource management, security, software engineering, and web development. Languages include C, Python, SQL, and JavaScript, plus CSS and HTML. Problem sets inspired by real-world domains of biology, cryptography, finance, forensics, and gaming. The on-campus version of CS50x, CS50, is Harvard's most comprehensive course.

Students who earn a satisfactory score on nine problem sets (i.e., programming assignments) and a final project are eligible for a certificate. It is a self-paced course–you may take CS50x on your schedule.

‍2. Introduction to Computer Science and Programming Using Python - MIT

This course is the first of a two-course sequence: Introduction to Computer Science and Programming Using Python and Introduction to Computational Thinking and Data Science. Together, they are designed to help people with no prior exposure to computer science or programming learn to think computationally and write programs to tackle practical problems. Some of the people taking the two courses will use them as a stepping stone to more advanced computer science courses, but it will be their first and last computer science courses for many. This run features lecture videos, lecture exercises, and a problem set using Python 3.5. Even if you previously took the course with Python 2.7, you will easily transition to Python 3.5 in future courses or enroll now to refresh your learning.

3. HTML, CSS, and JavaScript for Web Developer

In this course, we will learn the essential tools that every web page coder needs to know. We will start from the ground up by learning how to implement modern web pages with HTML and CSS. We will then advance to learning how to code our pages such that their components rearrange and resize themselves automatically based on the size of the user's screen. You'll be able to code up a web page that will be just as useful on a mobile phone as on a desktop computer. No "pinch and zoom" required! Last but certainly not least, we will get a thorough introduction to the most ubiquitous, popular, and precise language of the web: JavaScript. Using JavaScript, you will build a fully functional web application that utilizes Ajax to expose server-side functionality and data to the end-user.

4. FrontEnd Masters - Four Semesters of Computer Science in 5 Hours

In this course, some big topics are discussed here in just five hours: Algorithms and Big O Analysis, Recursion, Sorting, Data Structures, AVL Trees, Binary Search Trees, Tree Traversals, and Path Finding. This is a paid course but worthy one.

5. Introduction to Computer Science using Java

This is a course in Java programming for beginners. It covers the fundamentals of programming, roughly the same material covered in a beginning programming course in a university or a high school AP Computer Science course.

Did you know that loyalty apps can boost repeat purchases by up to 40%?

As consumer acquisition costs rise, brands are shifting focus from one-time transactions to long-term loyalty. The global loyalty programs market is projected to grow 15.9% annually, reaching nearly $94 billion in 2025, driven by mobile-first engagement, AI-powered personalization, and gamification.

Apps like Fetch Rewards stand out because they don’t just reward purchases but understand user behavior. That’s where the market is headed. You now see smarter apps, real-time rewards, and contextual nudges that feel tailor-made to each of the consumers.

Who will benefit from this guide?

This guide is for founders, project managers, agencies, and enterprise teams who are exploring how to build or outsource a Fetch Rewards-like app. Whether you’re starting from scratch or expanding your current loyalty offering, you’ll find practical insights here.

At RaftLabs, we’ve been building loyalty apps for clients across industries for 3+ years. Some of our partners return every festive season to launch fresh campaigns. After peak cycles, we help them cut costs and streamline operations, so the app stays lean, but ready to scale.

This blog unpacks everything you need to know:

Why apps like Fetch are booming now

What features actually drive retention

How to build a rewards app from scratch (the right way)

What it costs, how long it takes, and what tech stack works best

Let’s dive into what it really takes to build a Fetch Rewards-like app in 2025 and how to do it without burning time or money.

The Fetch Rewards Phenomenon: What Makes It Tick?

Before you build an app like Fetch Rewards, it helps to understand why it works so well. Fetch didn’t just launch a rewards app. It built a movement, backed by smart tech, a simple value prop, and a strong user community.

Here’s what made it click:

1. A Simple but Addictive Flow

Users snap a photo of any receipt. The app scans it using AI + OCR and instantly awards points. No manual data entry. No barcode scanning. Just tap, scan, and earn.

2. Everyday Rewards, Everyday Behavior

From grocery runs to pharmacy visits, Fetch rewards users for purchases they’re already making. This low-friction loop fuels high frequency and habit formation.

3. Personalization That Feels Native

Fetch’s AI engine processes billions of transactions to suggest offers that match users’ real shopping habits. It’s not just personalization, it’s relevance built from actual behavior.

4. Gamification That Drives Retention

With streaks, brand challenges, and seasonal bonuses, Fetch keeps engagement high. Features like Fetch Play reward users for trying mobile games, creating new revenue streams and daily use cases.

5. A Community-Driven Brand

When their systems crashed in 2017, the team processed receipts manually for weeks. That transparency earned them trust. Today, that “Fetch Fam” culture keeps users loyal and engaged.

6. Clean, Focused UX

The app stays lightweight. No clutter. No distractions. Just clear points, rewards, and an interface that works for all age groups — vital for building a wide user base.

7. Real Business Value Behind the Scenes

Fetch monetizes through affiliate deals with brands. Retailers pay to be featured, and in return get purchase-level insights that help them improve targeting. This full-funnel adtech model keeps the app free for users while driving ROI for partners.

8. Scalable and Investor-Backed

With over $500M in funding and a $2.5B+ valuation, Fetch shows how a rewards app can scale when it combines data, loyalty, and performance marketing into one tight ecosystem.

As you plan to develop an app like Fetch, keep these core levers in mind. What made Fetch work isn’t magic. It’s clearly a mix of sharp product thinking, user-first execution, and a business model that benefits everyone in the loop.

Market Trends and Competitive Landscape

If you’re planning to build a rewards app like Fetch, understanding the market landscape is not optional, it’s foundational. You need to know what users expect, what competitors are doing well, and where the real gaps lie.

1. The Loyalty App Market Is Growing Fast

The global loyalty programs market is projected to hit nearly $94 billion by 2025, growing at 15.9% annually. Mobile-first usage, gamified experiences, and AI-driven personalization are the baseline.

2. Digital Loyalty Is Becoming a Daily Habit

Over 80% of consumers are open to downloading loyalty apps. Many use them weekly, if not daily. This isn’t passive participation — it’s a shift in behavior. Strong mobile UX and personalized touchpoints now drive repeat use.

3. Engagement > Transactions

Modern loyalty programs are moving away from simple points-for-purchase models. Gamified experiences, brand missions, and experiential rewards are proving more effective in building long-term engagement.

4. Why Market Research Matters Before You Build

Studying other apps like Fetch helps you avoid missteps. You learn what resonates with users, where existing apps fall short, and how to position your product more effectively in a noisy market.

5. Who You’re Up Against (and What to Learn)

Studying the competition gives you a front-row view of what’s working — and where there’s room to improve. Here are some of the top players in the space and the angles they’ve leaned into:

Fetch Rewards: Known for simplicity, wide retailer support, and personalized offers powered by AI.

Ibotta: Focuses on cashback deals, especially for groceries and household staples.

Merryfield: Designed for health-conscious users, with a clean UI and partnerships with ethical brands.

Others to Watch: Apps like Drop, Swagbucks, Rakuten, Guusto, and Awardco bring unique loyalty strategies — from card-linked offers to employee recognition platforms.

6. What Sets a Fetch Rewards-Like App Apart

If you want to develop an app like Fetch, here’s what sets high-performing loyalty apps apart from the rest. These are the principles worth building around:

Easy-to-use UI with minimal learning curve

A broad and growing network of partner retailers

AI-powered recommendations based on real purchase behavior

Meaningful data insights that benefit both users and brand partners

7. How to Stay Ahead: Listen to Your Users

Great loyalty apps don’t just launch and forget. They evolve based on how users actually interact with them. Building feedback loops early on helps you stay ahead of changing needs:

Add in-app tools like open-ended surveys, shake-to-report features, and NPS widgets

Run A/B tests and behavior heatmaps to improve flows and identify friction

Conduct short interviews and feedback surveys before pushing major features

Map the entire customer journey to uncover moments of drop-off or confusion

Observe real-world usage over time to find unmet needs or opportunities for delight

8. Continuous Feedback Drives Growth

The best apps don’t just launch, they learn. Keeping a feedback loop helps you adjust fast, stay relevant, and deliver updates that matter. In a fast-moving market, that adaptability becomes your advantage.

When developing an app like Fetch, you’re not just building for today or tomorrow. You’re crafting an experience that must evolve alongside your users, their behaviors, and the constantly shifting competitive landscape. That’s why having the right product mindset and the right development partner can make all the difference for your business.

Defining Your Rewards App’s Purpose and Unique Value Proposition

After exploring what makes apps like Fetch succeed, the next step is to define your own path. Whether you’re building for a niche audience or targeting mass adoption, clarity on purpose and positioning is what sets your product up for long-term growth.

1. Know What You’re Really Solving

A rewards app isn’t just a points engine. It’s a behavior design tool. Before you build, define what habits you’re trying to reinforce — repeat purchases, engagement, referrals, or a mix of all three.

Loyalty programs work best when tied to real value moments, not just transactions

Your rewards should align with how, when, and why users interact with your brand

The app becomes an extension of your customer journey, not an add-on

2. Define Your Unique Edge Early

Standing out in the loyalty space takes more than offering cashback or gift cards.

You’ll need to answer: Why will users choose your app over others and keep using it?

Here are angles that create lasting differentiation:

Niche Positioning: Serve a specific audience (eco-conscious shoppers, frequent travelers, local buyers) with tailored experiences

Community-Led Design: Let users earn through reviews, referrals, or creative input.

Partnership Value: Collaborate with aligned brands to expand your ecosystem and reach.

Mission-Driven Rewards: Offer impact-based redemptions like carbon offsets, donations, or social pledges.

Ownership Loops: Let power users unlock tiers, co-create rewards, or influence upcoming features.

3. Align Features with Purpose, Not Trends

It’s tempting to adopt every buzzword like AI, gamification, and wallet integrations. But don’t think about it unless it maps to your core value else it just adds noise. Start lean. Scale features only when they serve the purpose.

AI personalization works best when tied to real data and intent

Gamification works when it rewards behavior you want to encourage, not just activity

Partner programs work when they unlock benefits your users actually want

4. Let Purpose Guide Your Build Decisions

From onboarding to reward logic, every feature should reinforce your app’s core promise. We use this alignment to keep builds focused, costs predictable, and outcomes measurable.

A Fetch Rewards-style app works best when it goes beyond functionality and is built with clear intent. That’s what makes users stay, scale possible, and loyalty real.

Essential Features for a Modern Fetch-Like Loyalty App

Here are the essentials:

1. Receipt Scanning (Physical + Digital)

Let users upload paper receipts or auto-import digital ones from their inbox. This not only drives repeat visits but also gives your platform verified, high-quality purchase data.

2. Flexible Points System

Create a simple points engine that rewards users for eligible purchases and actions. Make it easy to track, understand, and redeem. This becomes the habit-forming core of your app.

3. Personalized Offers

Use AI to tailor deals and reward opportunities based on user behavior. Personalized loyalty programs see significantly higher engagement and redemption rates than generic campaigns.

4. Gamification Elements

Add features like challenges, streaks, levels, and badges. These help turn passive users into active participants and add reasons to return beyond just earning points.

5. Social and Referral Features

Let users refer friends, join challenges, and share milestones. Social interactions not only boost reach but also build a sense of community and accountability.

6. Digital Receipt Integration

Fetch Rewards-like apps improve retention by minimizing friction. Auto-fetching digital receipts ensures your users don’t have to manually upload every transaction.

7. Rewards Catalog and Redemption Flow

Present reward options in clear categories, from digital gift cards to charitable contributions. Keep redemption fast, simple, and accessible on any device.

8. Real-Time Notifications

Timely updates about earned points, expiring offers, or challenges drive urgency and increase daily engagement.

9. Strong Data Privacy and Security

Implement encryption, secure authentication, and fraud monitoring. Trust is foundational when you’re dealing with purchase histories and personal data.

A successful rewards app is more than just a list of features. It must deliver a continuous and engaging user experience.

At RaftLabs, we build that experience by mapping user journeys, learning from top apps like Fetch, and tailoring every detail to your business goals.

FeatureKey Technology StackPopular Tools/PlatformsReceipt ScanningOCR, AI/ML, Cloud StorageGoogle Cloud Vision, AWS Textract, Firebase StoragePoints SystemRelational Database, Rule Engine, Custom APIsPostgreSQL, Redis, Node.js, Firebase FunctionsPersonalized OffersAI/ML Models, CRM, AnalyticsAmazon Personalize, Segment, Mixpanel, HubSpotDigital ReceiptsEmail Parsing APIs, Cloud Functions, Automation WorkflowsMailparser, Zapier, AWS LambdaGamificationEvent Tracking, Analytics, Push Notification ServicesMixpanel, OneSignal, Firebase AnalyticsSocial FeaturesSocial Auth APIs, Referral Tracking EnginesBranch.io, Firebase Auth, Facebook SDK, Google IdentitySecurityEnd-to-End Encryption, Biometric Auth, AI-Based Fraud DetectionAWS Cognito, Auth0, Plaid Signal, AES-256 Encryption

Technology Stack and Development Approach

1. Choose Your Platform

Loyalty programs can be delivered through mobile apps or web platforms. Choosing between web or mobile depends on where your users prefer to engage.

For mobile, React Native and Flutter let you build apps for both Android and iOS with a shared codebase. Swift and Kotlin are better if you want fully native apps with advanced features.

For the web, a responsive design ensures your loyalty platform works smoothly across all devices and screen sizes without needing a separate app.

For example, if your users mainly interact with your program on their phones and want features like push notifications, a mobile app might be best.

But if your users prefer quick access from any device without downloads, a responsive web app could be the way to go.

Choose the platform, web or mobile, that fits your audience’s habits, your budget, and your growth plans.

2. Design a Scalable Back-End

The back-end takes care of everything behind the scenes, such as rewards logic, user profiles, and data syncing. It needs to be flexible and capable of handling increasing traffic as the app grows.

Node.js, Django, or Spring Boot for application logic and APIs

PostgreSQL or MongoDB for managing structured and unstructured data

Redis or Firebase Realtime Database for features like live challenges or scan progress

A modular approach allows updates without full rebuilds.

3. Use AI Where It Adds Value

AI plays a useful role in making the experience more personalized and secure.

Recommendation engines (like Amazon Personalize or Vertex AI) tailor offers to user preferences

Fraud detection models help flag abnormal patterns using behavior or location data

Segmentation tools improve how and when users are re-engaged

The goal is to use AI to improve performance and experience without overcomplicating the system.

4. Set Up Scalable Infrastructure

Your cloud infrastructure should be ready for changing usage patterns, especially if your app gains traction quickly.

Cloud platforms like AWS, Azure, or Google Cloud offer flexibility and reliability

Serverless tools (e.g. AWS Lambda, Firebase Functions) support performance without manual scaling

CI/CD pipelines like GitHub Actions or Bitbucket automate testing and deployment

Structured environments (dev, staging, production) make ongoing work smoother and safer.

5. Build With Analytics in Mind

Analytics helps you understand how users interact with your app and where improvements are needed.

Mixpanel, Amplitude, or Firebase Analytics for behavior tracking

Event tagging to monitor drop-offs, usage patterns, and conversion flows

Notification tools like OneSignal to re-engage at the right moments

Clean data leads to clearer decisions.

6. Address Security Early

It’s important to prioritize data security from the start instead of trying to patch it in afterward.

AES-256 encryption for sensitive data

OAuth 2.0 for secure login and authentication

Biometric login, fraud monitoring, and compliance with data privacy laws (e.g., GDPR, CCPA)

It’s about protecting user trust and minimizing legal or operational risks.

7. Prioritize Usability in Design

Good UX keeps users engaged. Simplicity isn’t accidental; it’s the result of intentional design.

Begin with low-fidelity wireframes and evolve into clickable prototypes

Keep each screen focused and navigation consistent

Ensure essential actions like scanning, earning, and redeeming are fast and obvious

User testing helps identify friction early and adjust before launch.

8. Test for More Than Functionality

A solid test strategy looks beyond whether things “just work.” It checks for performance, security, and usability under real-world conditions.

Test all major flows: registration, scanning, earning, redeeming

Run stress tests to simulate user spikes

Use tools like BrowserStack, Firebase Test Lab, and TestFlight to check across devices and environments

Catching bugs early prevents bigger issues later.

9. Launch in Stages

Instead of rushing to a big launch, rolling out gradually helps spot issues and make improvements faster.

Start with a soft launch (private beta or limited region)

Gather feedback and fix high-priority issues

Prepare app store listings with clear descriptions, visuals, and keywords

A staged launch offers more control and more learning opportunities.

10. Plan for the Long Term

Apps like Fetch Rewards aren’t static. They need ongoing updates, new features, and periodic performance reviews.

Maintain a product roadmap with short- and long-term goals

Set up regular analytics reviews to track feature usage

Stay updated with OS, API, and compliance changes

Loyalty apps that succeed usually grow gradually and improve through ongoing iterations, rather than trying to do everything at once.

Estimated Cost Ranges by App Complexity

Understanding how much it costs to build a rewards app like Fetch depends largely on the features you want, the depth of integrations, and how scalable your product needs to be from day one.

1. Basic Version (MVP)

This version includes the essential features needed to test the concept and validate user interest.

Core Features:

Receipt scanning

Basic points and rewards logic

Simple user registration and profile

Basic admin dashboard

Ideal For: Startups testing market demand

Estimated Cost: $10,000 to $20,000

2. Mid-Tier Version

A more robust build with user engagement tools and integrations.

Additional Features:

Gamification (badges, streaks, challenges)

Real-time analytics and user behavior tracking

Brand integration and promotional campaigns

Push notifications and email triggers

Ideal For: Growing businesses looking to scale and monetize

Estimated Cost: $20,000 to $60,000

3. Premium Version

A high-end loyalty app tailored for scalability, personalization, and enterprise-level partnerships.

Advanced Features:

AI-driven personalized rewards and recommendations

Deep third-party integrations (CRM, payment gateways, e-commerce)

High-performance architecture for large user bases

Advanced data security and compliance (GDPR, CCPA, PCI-DSS)

Ideal For: Enterprise brands or VC-backed startups

Estimated Cost: $60,000 to $80,000+

ComponentEstimated Cost Range (in USD)UI/UX Design$5,000 — $15,000Front-End & Back-End Dev$15,000 — $50,000Testing & QA$5,000 — $10,000Maintenance & Updates$5,000 — $15,000/year

What Drives the Total Cost of Your Rewards App?

Understanding what influences the cost of building a rewards app like Fetch can help you plan smarter and avoid surprises down the line.

It is not just about how much code is written but about what you want the app to do, how you want users to feel while using it, and how well it integrates into your business ecosystem.

Let’s walk through the key elements that can shape your budget.

1. The Features You Choose Define the Foundation

Every feature you add such as receipt scanning, real-time rewards, AI-driven personalization, or tiered loyalty levels will impact the amount of work and cost involved.

A simple app with a points system and a rewards catalog requires less effort. An experience that feels personalized, gamified, and smart takes more time and resources.

Ask yourself these questions:

Do users simply earn points or do they complete challenges and unlock badges?

Is the reward system static or dynamically generated based on user behavior?

The more complex the features, the more time it takes to build, test, and improve.

2. Design Is More Than Looks and Impacts Cost

Great design is not just about appearance. The more customized your app’s look and feel, the more time it takes to create wireframes, prototypes, animations, and responsive layouts. If you want smooth transitions and intuitive user flows, expect the design process to require more effort and several rounds of revision.

Think about it as designing the user’s emotions and experience, not just screens.

3. Integrations Add Layers of Complexity

Most rewards apps need to connect with other systems such as payment gateways, point-of-sale systems, loyalty engines, CRMs, or marketing platforms. Each integration adds development work, testing, and sometimes coordination with external vendors.

The more systems your app needs to communicate with, the more resources it will require to build and maintain those connections reliably.

4. Multiple Platforms Require More Planning

Are you launching on iOS first, or do you want to target both iOS and Android from the start?

Do you also need a web dashboard for administrators or partners?

Building for multiple platforms means writing more code and testing on different devices. It also means extra work to keep features and updates consistent across platforms as your app grows.

5. Who Builds Your App Matters

Your choice of development team strongly influences your budget. Here are the common options:

Freelancers usually charge less but might need more supervision and may offer limited post-launch support.

In-house teams provide greater control but come with higher operational costs and hiring challenges.

Agencies or experienced technology partners often cost more upfront but deliver faster, maintain higher quality, and bring expertise that can save time and money over the long run.

You are not just paying for code, but also for reliability, speed, and ongoing support.

6. Development Team Location Affects Rates

Where your development team is located also plays a role in your budget. Hourly rates can vary greatly:

Teams in the US or UK typically charge between $100 and $200 per hour

Eastern Europe and Latin America usually fall between $40 and $80 per hour

South Asia, including countries like India and Bangladesh, often charge between $25 and $50 per hour

Choosing the right team is about balancing cost with communication, quality, and delivery expectations.

Keep in Mind the Ongoing Costs

Launching your app is only the start. You also need to budget for hosting, maintenance, and updates.

Cloud hosting costs, with providers like AWS, Firebase, or Azure, will depend on your number of users and data storage needs.

App Store fees include annual publisher fees and a percentage of any in-app purchases.

Regular updates for features and security patches are essential to keep your app running smoothly and users happy.

The total cost of building a loyalty app depends on your choices around features, design, development team, and long-term goals. You do not have to build everything at once. It’s better to start with what offers real value and grow your app thoughtfully as your users and business expand.

Monetization Strategies for a Reward App Like Fetch

After investing in development, your next focus should be sustainability. A well-planned rewards platform does more than improve engagement.

It also creates multiple revenue streams that grow over time. Here are the most effective ways to monetize an app like Fetch Rewards.

1. Affiliate Commissions from Partner Brands

Each time a user makes a qualifying purchase, the brand pays your platform a small commission. This model allows you to reward users while generating revenue from brand partners. It creates value for all three parties.

2. Sponsored Offers and Paid Placements

Brands can pay to be featured in your app. You can reward users with extra points when they engage with these offers. This drives exposure for advertisers and builds a recurring income stream for your app.

3. In-App Purchases and Point Packs

Allow users to buy points directly or unlock premium rewards. This adds an optional monetization layer for users who want to redeem faster. The experience stays free for others while giving flexibility to those who want to pay.

4. Subscription Plans for Power Users

Offer a paid membership that includes faster redemptions, bonus points, or early access to offers. Subscriptions provide predictable monthly revenue while delivering more value to your most active users.

5. Analytics and Brand Insights

With proper permissions, your app can gather anonymized insights about user behavior and spending patterns. These insights can be shared with partner brands to help them run smarter campaigns and optimize offers.

How RaftLabs Supports Your Journey to Building a Rewards App Like Fetch?

Building a loyalty app means crafting a story that turns everyday users into passionate fans. We specialize in loyalty platforms that do exactly that, delivering consistent and easy-to-use experiences across both mobile and web to engage users at every touchpoint.

We partner with you from the earliest concept all the way through launch and ongoing support, helping you shape a product that truly connects customers to your brand while driving meaningful business results.

We are one of the best choices if you are looking for a web or mobile app development company that develops loyalty apps designed to grow your business.

Real-World Experience with Loyalty Apps That Work

Our work is proven in real projects. For example, with AldiFest in Ireland, we built a rewards platform where users uploaded receipts to win event tickets and gift cards. Thousands signed up within the first week alone.

In another case, we developed Instantor Rewards, a B2B app where tradespeople earned points and competed for monthly prizes by submitting receipts. This helped improve customer retention and maintain steady engagement.

We have also helped other clients build loyalty and rewards apps and proudly witnessed an increase in customer engagement of over 60 percent within just a few weeks. These examples show how a well-designed rewards app can directly impact sales and build lasting loyalty.

From Idea to Launch, We Handle It All

Building a loyalty app requires more than great ideas. You need a strong foundation. That is why we take care of every layer, from user experience design and wireframes to AI-driven personalization and analytics dashboards.

We work side by side with you to prioritize features and make data-driven decisions that ensure your app delivers real value. After launch, we stay involved by monitoring performance, fixing issues quickly, and rolling out updates that keep your users engaged and satisfied.

A Flexible Approach Tailored to Your Needs

Every business is different. Whether you are a startup founder testing a new idea or a large enterprise modernizing an existing loyalty program, we adapt our process to fit your timeline, budget, and goals.

We focus on lean development and fast delivery cycles so you can see results quickly without unnecessary complexity. Our goal is to help you build a loyalty app that grows with your business and delivers measurable outcomes from day one.

Final Thoughts

Creating a rewards app like Fetch Rewards in 2025 is a real opportunity. The market is growing fast, user expectations are evolving, and brands are looking for smarter ways to build loyalty.

But success depends on more than great features — it takes clear strategy, the right technology, and a product experience people want to keep coming back to.

As mentioned, we’ve helped businesses launch high-performing loyalty platforms that engage users and drive measurable growth.

Whether you’re planning your first launch or looking to improve what you already have, we can guide you on how to make a rewards app that truly delivers.

If you’re serious about building a rewards app that keeps customers coming back, let’s connect. We love partnering with innovators ready to make a real impact.

Got a loyalty app idea? Let’s bring your loyalty software to life together, thoughtfully, efficiently, and with your long-term success in mind.

Let’s Begin With An Interesting Story

In 1906, Francis Galton, a cousin of Charles Darwin, visited a village fair with an ox and a challenge: guess the animal's weight correctly and win a prize. The farmers and villagers offered wildly varying guesses, but none were even close to the true weight.

Galton calculated the average, and to his delight, it was spot-on. The mean of all estimates was the exact weight of the animal.

The experiment proved the power of the crowd's collective decision, as it was more accurate than any individual's knowledge. Galton left the fair with a renewed sense of awe for the potential of collaborative intelligence, and his groundbreaking discovery would be celebrated for years to come.

What is PSi?

PSi (People Supported Intelligence) is a web application that uses natural language processing to collect and analyze conversation qualitative data at scale.

Like Galton, who demonstrated the power of collective intelligence in his "Wisdom of the Crowds" experiment, PSi is a primary research tool to leverage the insights of many people, generate actionable insights, and arrive at a stakeholder consensus in minutes.

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The app was built to create a decentralized, robust, and intuitive conversation platform for primary research that supports decision making. 

The app aims to make primary research data collection and analysis stress-free.

What inspired the creation of the PSi app?

Have you ever struggled to make a decision within a group? 

Co-Founders Georgie Denis and Niccolo Pescetelli certainly have. As a Project Manager, Georgie has facilitated group decision making for diverse stakeholders in the health sector, ranging from patients and carers to legal teams and engineers. 

Meanwhile, Niccolo, with a Ph.D. from Oxford and experience at MIT, has researched group decision making and collective intelligence. 

Combining their expertise, they planned to build an app for decision making that empowers people to make better decisions based on the wisdom of their stakeholders.

But they couldn't have done it alone - a team from RaftLabs joined forces with them to bring their vision to life. 

When they approached RaftLabs, the co-founders of the PSi app shared their vision of creating a platform that businesses could use to conduct primary research and support participatory group decision making among their stakeholders and the general public. 

As co-founder of PSi, Georgie Denis stated, "One day I hope PSi can support businesses to engage their stakeholders and the general public in the same kind of participatory decision making." 

The RaftLabs team worked closely with the co-founders to make an app for decision making harnessing collective intelligence. Our aim was to create an app that empowers individuals and groups to make a collective decision.

Why is the PSi App Important for Remote decision making in Current Times?

The PSi app secured funding from the MediaFutures EU,  IDEO CoLab, and others to develop decision making features along with an audio application. This achievement is a testament to the importance and relevance of the PSi app in today's world, where collective decision making has become a crucial aspect of many industries and organizations.

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Let's explore how this app is addressing the needs of our current times:

The PSi app allows decision-makers to gather and analyze qualitative and quantitative data from large groups of people in real-time without the need for in-person meetings or focus groups.

The app enables organizations to engage with their communities and stakeholders more effectively, allowing for greater inclusivity and diversity of perspectives.

The app provides a faster and more efficient way to gather insights and arrive at a stakeholder consensus, saving time and resources.

By leveraging machine learning and natural language processing, the PSi app can collect and analyze large amounts of qualitative data at scale, making it easier for organizations to make informed decisions.

The PSi app is intuitive and user-friendly, allowing anyone to leave their views on critical decision making, engage in live anonymous conversations, and vote for impactful ideas with a few clicks.

Overall, the PSi is a powerful app for decision making in a world where remote work and virtual interactions have become the norm. It allows organizations to make better decisions faster and with greater stakeholder engagement.

Unlock the Power of AI for Collective Decision Making Without Any Technical Expertise

In the following section, we will explain the working steps of the PSi app.

Step 1: Plan the Perfect Discussion

You can collaborate with the PSi platform’s team to design a discussion that meets your needs and goals.

It helps you to define the right question and identify the relevant stakeholders with our qualitative research best practices.

Step 2: Hold the Discussion

The app empowers your community to participate in the discussion with ease.

It provides guidance to ensure everyone is comfortable using the PSi platform.

It allows you to unlock the power of collective intelligence and maximize stakeholder input.

Step 3: Powerful Analytics, Faster Decisions: 

It enables you to analyze the conversation data and helps you to fetch key insights.

You can gain a deeper understanding of your community and make informed, efficient decisions.

Last but not least, you can benefit from the speed and accuracy of AI-driven analytics.

Key Advantages of PSi App

Get in-depth insights: PSi provides deeper insights into stakeholders' thoughts, feelings, and needs, unlike shallow results from time-consuming surveys & polls.

Make informed decisions: With PSi, you can remove guesswork, stressful logistics, and overwhelming data interpretation, making informed decisions based on the collective intelligence of your stakeholders.

Increase stakeholder buy-in: PSi increases stakeholder buy-in and reduces decision risk by involving stakeholders in the decision making process and increasing their commitment to the outcome.

Promotes participatory decision making: PSi makes it easy for local governments and communities to incorporate public consultations, participatory decision making, and decentralized governance into their daily practice.

Speed up decision making: Map out stakeholders' views in less than an hour using PSi, saving time and making decisions more quickly and accurately.

Foster collaboration: PSi allows for group decision making and deliberation, fostering collaboration among stakeholders and promoting a sense of ownership over the decision making process.

Increase transparency: PSi increases transparency by allowing all stakeholders to contribute their ideas and opinions on a particular decision or issue. It allows for a more inclusive decision making process where all voices are heard and considered.

Efficient group facilitation: With automatic group facilitation, PSi helps to streamline the process of idea generation and solution finding. It can help save time and resources by promoting equal participation and thorough consideration in decision making processes.

Ensures consistency: PSi's scalability ensures that the app will produce the same results regardless of the size of the community or group. This consistency can provide greater confidence in decision making and strengthen trust between stakeholders.

Thus, by harnessing the power of collective intelligence, we were able to build an app that enables decision-makers to tap into the knowledge and creativity of their communities to make informed decisions quickly and efficiently. Explore the power of collective intelligence in business decision making with the ebook "Leveraging Collective Intelligence For Strategic Decision Making". This valuable resource provides insights into what is meant by collective intelligence, the principle of collective intelligence, its significance, and the benefits it can offer in today's digital age. Discover the most effective ways to conduct collective intelligence research and make informed decisions that can give your business a competitive edge. 

Discover our exceptional work in building an app for decision making that utilizes and processes the collective decision from all participants, resulting in unbiased outcomes>> Click here.

Learn How PSi Empowers Diverse Fields

Corporate:

Brainstorming: Engage employees to brainstorm ideas and gather insights across global teams.

Team building: Facilitate team building activities and discussions.

Training: Provide interactive training sessions and gather feedback.

Public Sector:

Public consultations: Have conversations with a larger group of people over any issues and gain solutions.

Decision making: Gather feedback from citizens to aid in collective decision making processes.

Decentralized governance: Encourage decentralized governance by allowing citizens to have a voice in local decision making.

Academic:

Debate clubs: Provide a platform for debate clubs to hold discussions and gather feedback from participants.

Student engagement: Engage students in discussions on a variety of topics.

Research: Collect data and insights from research participants.

Brands and Clubs:

Consumer insights: Get insights from consumers by setting up discussions for collective decision making and inviting fans to join the discussions.

Fan engagement: Encourage fan engagement by providing a platform for discussions and feedback.

Market research: Collect data and insights from discussions to aid in business decision making using collective intelligence.

Non-profits and NGOs:

Engage stakeholders: Non-profit organizations and NGOs can use PSi to engage with their stakeholders, including volunteers, donors, and beneficiaries.

Collect feedback: They can gather feedback, brainstorm ideas, and make informed decisions that align with their mission and values using PSi.

Enhance commitment & transparency: Involving stakeholders in the group decision making process can increase their commitment to the organization's goals and improve transparency.

Recognition For The App For Decision Making

The PSi app was recognized for its potential to assist civic organizations, such as local councils, in tapping into the knowledge of individuals who best understand the needs of their community. 

If you're looking to create innovative and impactful apps, such as an app for decision making leveraging collective intelligence, consider partnering with RaftLabs, a versatile software development company. 

 The web app development price may vary depending on several factors. The cost will be less if you go for an application with basic features. 

 Do you want to enhance the user experience by customizing your UI?

Does your app need extra features like analytics or video streaming services?

 These additional requirements may cost you more while developing your web app. So, we provide you with a price estimate to create a web app with standard features based on the size of the projects:

Small projects: US$ 10-25k

Middle-sized projects: US$ 25-50K

Big projects: starts from US$ 50K

Everyone wants to build a web app at the least cost without promising quality. Knowing the factors influencing a web application's build expense will help reduce costs.

1. What is a web app? 

A web application is a software program residing on a remote server. It runs in an internet browser and is accessible via a web browser. They are similar to mobile apps. Unlike most mobile apps, running a web app requires an active internet connection. They adapt according to the device of the user.

2. What are the top 5 benefits of building a web app?

The answer is quite simple. Web apps help companies to reach their potential customers easily. 

Let us see the benefits of a web app:

Platform Agnostic: Web apps run on any platform with browser compatibility. 

Low Costs: Web-based apps need less development time. They demand less support and maintenance. You need fewer developers to build and support web apps. So the upfront costs will be less for web-based apps.

Easy Maintenance: You do not need to install any software to run web apps. You can directly access them through your web browser. They support automatic updates enabling users to use the latest version immediately.

No Marketplace Approval: Developers do not have to follow the rules of an app store while releasing a web app. 

Increased Security: The technical team has to monitor and maintain only the dedicated servers. They can avoid checking many client computers. It enhances security and eliminates the chances of any potential breaches.

3. Typical use cases of web apps 

Gmail

Google provides this web application for email services.

Features

Compose emails

Sent reply emails

Archive important emails

Search functionality

Report spam messages

Star important messages

Google Analytics

Google provides this web app for businesses to analyze their website's traffic. 

Features

Custom dashboards

Real-time reporting

Funnel visualization

Identifying traffic source

Setting goals

Conversion tracking

Twitter Web App

Twitter’s web app allows users to access their Twitter account from any computer.  You can use the browsers like Chrome, Safari, Firefox, etc., to access the app

Features

Fast loading

Compose tweets

Perform retweets

Like and reply features

Schedule and save tweets

MailChimp

Mail Chimp is a web-based app. It aids businesses in carrying out advertisement campaigns.

Features

Crafting emails

Audience dashboard

Marketing CRM

Targeting audience

Whatsapp Web

Whatsapp web lets users use the messaging platform on their browser. 

Features

Send and receive messages

Transfer GIFs and videos

Send and receive images

Click pictures using the computer’s camera.

Jira

The web-based application runs on your browser. It helps manage a team's work.

Features

Plan the tasks

Generates reports

Scrum and Kanban boards

Track the projects

Medium

The web application provides a platform for users to publish stories and blogs. 

Features

Publishing content

Comment on articles

Provides analytics

Share URLs

HSBC

The banking app of HSBC allows people to perform digital banking activities.

Features

Manage bank account

Online transactions

Current bank account balance

Online bill payments

4. What is a PWA? What are the advantages and disadvantages of PWAs?

Progressive web apps are similar to regular web apps. They own some extra desirable features. Push notifications, offline access, and screen responsive pages are some of its specialties. In short, you get an excellent user experience through PWAs.

Advantages of PWAs:

Cost-effective

Require less time for development 

Quick installation

Available offline

No app store submission process

Updates instantly

They hold great potential in the future of web applications.

Twitter introduced Twitter Lite progressive web app on April 2017. The aim was to provide a faster and more data-friendly solution to users. The below numbers show that this experiment was successful.

The analytics found a 65% increase in pages per session.

The app recorded a 75% increase in tweets.

Twitter discovered a 20% decrease in bounce rate.

The data demonstrates the power of PWAs.

Disadvantages of PWAs:

PWAs have some drawbacks. Knowing the cons helps you decide whether a PWA is suitable for your business.

They have access to fewer functionalities. You cannot incorporate functionalities like Bluetooth, augmented reality, etc. 

They are incompatible with most legacy devices.

These applications drain the battery power of the users.

Apple does not grant PWAs access to features like Face ID, Touch ID, battery information, etc.

Native apps showcase better performance than PWAs.

5. What are the standard features of a web application?

Let us discover the key elements you must incorporate into your web application

Mobile-first design: 

As per the latest reports in 2022, mobile devices contribute 58.99% of global website traffic. Most users access web apps from their mobile phones. So your app must follow a mobile-friendly design to attract these users. Responsive web apps will have components that align with the users’ screen. It will help in reducing the bounce rates too.

Social Integration:

People love to log in quickly to your web apps. Integrating your web apps with popular social media platforms helps you achieve it. It will allow users to register or log in without filling out long forms. It increases the engagement rate of your website.

Insights & Analytics:

Integrating your web app with analytics helps understand customers’ behavioral patterns. The feature tracks the data of the traffic your web app receives and prepares a consolidated report. Businesses must identify the target audience and recognize the pain points. It will aid in increasing conversion rates.

Web Push Notifications:

Use web push notifications for your web app to connect with potential customers at the right time. These small messages remind the audience to use your service. It helps in improving the retention rate.

Live Chat Service:

Customers prefer to get solutions immediately. Live chat service strengthens the trust of your customers in your business. A live chat feature in your web app helps build valuable customer relationships.

Online Payments:

Include an online payment facility in your web app if you sell a product or service. A one-step checkout procedure makes the whole process easier. It would be even better if the web app could support various payment systems. 

Security:

Make your web app secure by encrypting sensitive data like passwords. Use HTTPS protocol. Carry out threat assessment sessions and security audits. Let your customers feel safe while using your web app.

Flexible & Scalable:

Your web app must have the potential to handle heavy workloads. A successful web app must perform well when the number of users increases. So build scalable web apps to have the best results for your business.

6. What factors influence the web app development price?

It is good to be aware of the factors that affect the cost of your web app. It helps you choose the right features and functionalities without exceeding your budget.

Complexity:

The more complex your web app, the higher the cost. It takes more time to develop an app with complex features. You may also need developers with higher expertise to create such web apps. The MVP version of a web app will have a simple design. It requires

Few necessary features

Low budget

Less turnaround time

Developing an MVP first helps determine the right features to incorporate into the final version. It saves you from wasting your budget. The important part is to develop a high-quality code that gives a robust result. So, providing enough time for the developers to build and test the code is necessary.

Features & Functionalities:

The features and functionalities of each app differ. More features demand a higher budget. 

A web application with good UI UX design increases conversion and engagement rates. 

Type:

Pre-designed templates are available, making the job of UI/UX designers easy. Choosing standard templates will cost you less. Web app development companies consider it easier to develop a standard app. They will have a similar code that they can reuse or use as a reference to build your web app.

To create a unique app, you must choose custom features and functionalities. For such apps, you will require developers and designers with higher expertise. Customized web apps will take more development time too. Such cases demand innovative solutions.

Hiring Options: You have three options for hiring developers to develop your web app:

1. Hiring freelancers

2. Giving the project to the In-house team

3. Outsourcing to web app development companies

Before settling for any of the above options, let us know their pros and cons.

Freelancers

Pros

Suitable for small projects.

The cheapest option for developing a web app.

They do not need an office setup.

Cons

Not a reliable option as they won’t dedicate their whole time to your project.

They are not bound to strict contracts. They may stop working on your project without prior notice before completing it. 

You will have to manage them and get the updates regularly.

Freelancers mostly have expertise in a single domain. So, you will have to hire more than one person to complete the project.

In-house Team

Pros

Suitable for running many projects simultaneously.

Have complete control over the team.

Seamless and direct communication.

Cons

Expensive due to hiring, office setup, and infrastructure development costs.

Relatively low level of expertise.

Development time is higher as they follow the waterfall model.

Outsourcing Web Development Companies

Pros

Suitable for building a project from an idea with high-quality code.

The price can be relatively lower than in-house development.

You will get developers with high expertise.

They will complete projects within the deadline.

They take complete responsibility for a project.

Cons

The expense can be higher than hiring freelancers.

Location:

The living standards and salary benefits differ for each country. The development cost will also vary according to the location of the outsourcing company. We can find web app development companies mainly in the USA, Canada, Europe, Asia, and Australia. Let us see the average app development cost per region:

So you can build a project with much lower cost by outsourcing web app projects in Asia or Europe than the US.

Check the reviews of their previous clients on Clutch or GoodFirms before giving your project to a company.

7. Key specialists in a web application development team

To build a successful web application, you may need the following specialists in the team.

Business Analysts: They determine the external factors. They analyze the market trends, define the target audience and determine the project’s scope. Web App Developers: The back-end and front-end developers are the heart of your project. They must be able to provide you with high-quality code to create a stable app. UI/UX Designers: The look and feel of your web app are in the hands of UI/UX designers. A good design urges a customer to engage with your web application. Project Manager: The project manager is the intermediary between the client and the company. A project manager ensures smooth communication with the client. The person also checks whether the project is moving at the right pace to meet the deadlines. QA Engineers: They test the web app and make sure there are no bugs before the final release.

8. Widely adopted tech stack for building web apps in 2022

Developers build web apps with various technologies. The tech stack will change according to the project requirements. Let us see some favorite tech stacks of software engineers for creating web apps.

Now let us see some popular backend technologies for web-based app development:

9. How much does it cost to make an app?

Have a technical discussion with the outsourcing company to know the final cost. If you are starting the project from scratch, it is better to start with an MVP. It will give you some relevant insights about the final features. Let us estimate the price of the standard apps.

Simple Web Applications

These are web apps with 4-5 relevant basic features. They usually have minimal content, less interactive elements, and simple UI/UX design. It takes less time (6-8 weeks) to develop simple web apps due to the simplicity of features and functionalities.

Budget Estimate: US$ 10-25k

Medium Web Applications

These web apps will have 6-9 relevant features. They will have a few interactive elements but more content. Additionally, you can have 3rd party integrations. We take 3-4 months to develop these types of web apps. 

Budget Estimate: US$ 25-50K

Complex Web Applications

These web apps will have 10-15 relevant features. You get them with highly lovable designs. The best part is that we develop them in ready-to-scale formats.

Budget Estimate: starts from US$ 50K

10. Formula for estimating web app development cost

Building a web app costs more when it takes more time. The development team will have a fixed rate per hour. So you can calculate an overall estimate budget using the formula below:

11. How to reduce your web application’s development costs?

The below tips will help in keeping your web app development costs minimal.

Firstly, develop an MVP. Then go for the full-featured version of the web application.

Choose your outsourcing company wisely. Consider the quality of their work along with the budget.

Explain your project requirements to the developers in detail. It helps the developers to develop your web app without making many modifications. It saves you time and money.

Integrate the web app with third-party tools to reduce costs.

Allow sufficient time for the developers to develop a robust web app.

12. Our case studies

A. Receipts & Rewards Web App

Objective: To build an engaging web application to execute a customer receipts and rewards program.

Industry: Enterprise & Retail

Target Audience: Customers

Check how our team successfully built the app within 14 weeks >> Click here.

B. Decision-Making Web App 

Objective: To build a highly scalable, robust, and voice-based SaaS application for people who wish to express their views and vote for impactful ideas.

Industry: Media and Communication

Target Audience: Individuals who wish to participate in polls

Check how we created a responsive web app within 14 weeks >> Click here.

C. Referral & Viral Marketing Platform

Objective: To build a cost-effective B2C SaaS referral and viral marketing platform.

Industry: Marketing Tech

Target Audience: Potential customers

Check how we created a scalable app within 14 weeks >> Click here.

Wrapping up

Finding the right team to develop your web app is crucial. Expert developers can build your web apps at a low-cost budget and within less time. Keep the simple points discussed in this article in your mind before approaching a developer. A successful web app can make your brand reach new heights.

The healthcare industry has always been very important in our world, but its significance to society grows as technology becomes more advanced. The blend of technology with health allows for a number of incredible discoveries that may save millions of lives years from now.

The massive amount of searches for doctors and hospitals, diagnostic centers, and pharmaceutical firms by more than billions of people globally have reinforced this category, which now encompasses nearly every health-related vertical.

As per Statista, the mobile health industry across the globe is expected to reach a market size of $100 billion by the year 2021. Now there are three important factors that are working towards making it happen: increased use of mobile devices in day-to-day life, rapid expansion in the world of mobile technologies, and innovations in the healthcare industry focused on offering excellent medical service to the patients.

Practo, one of India's most popular doctor search platforms, has managed to find significant success in the fast-paced healthcare market. We see the potential of Practo to dominate the healthcare market with its features and practices. Let's learn more about Practo, which we think is a role model in this respect.

Overview of Practo

Practo, an online doctor search, and a medicine ordering healthcare platform is gaining significant popularity in this highly competitive period to motivate health businesses to put their foot in and lead with many vertical offers under the umbrella of the healthcare app.

Practo has created a platform that allows patients to communicate with healthcare professionals, doctors, and nurses. The technology is developed to keep patients' data secure through cloud technology. This ensures that online patient records are always up to date and easily available to healthcare practitioners. The service users can book new appointments, check their treatment progress or corresponding records, and take care of accounting and payment services that can be performed online.

Practo used to manage 180,000 patients per month a few years back. Now, they manage 2 crore patients monthly and over 2 million doctors annually. Practo now aspires to be a one-stop solution for dealing with healthcare issues. They also want to grow and expand by targeting new markets and entering new categories. They also want to continue growing domestically and internationally.

Revenue Model of Practo

The revenue model of Practo consists of SaaS (Software as a Service) sales, a commission from buyers and sellers, and ad-space sales. With Practo, not just patients but also healthcare professionals gain benefits in abundance in terms of managing appointments & medical practice. Practo generates revenue from four sources:

Practo Reach --- Just like one may pay to feature in search results on popular websites like Google, Practo Profile sells premium listing, which could get you top search result listing on the site. Doctors using the platform to conduct online consultations will benefit by appearing at the top of search results which means they can do more business and generate more income.

Practo Ray --- Practo Ray, a cloud-based platform for doctors, is another part of Practo. This helps doctors manage the healthcare data of their patients and clinics. It is a PMS (Practice Management Software) for doctors. Doctors use this to manage their online presence as well as medical records, appointments, and devices required for various diagnostics, etc. For doctors to use this software, they need to pay a monthly fee for doctors to use this software.

Practo Plus --- Practo Plus is a yearly subscription plan that promises to ensure patients can always stay in touch with their healthcare teams through a paid service. It provides patients with limitless online doctor consultations, and Practo profits from this service.

Medicine Delivery --- Practo earns from medical delivery services too. Now that they have tie-ups with labs and pharmacies, they get some commission for making bookings and delivering medicines to patients. They also make profits by selling medicines directly to drugstores and chemists.

What Features Should an App Like Practo Have?

Successful healthcare applications are developed using the target audience's needs and implementing those needs in the form of features. Some noteworthy features just cannot be overlooked while developing a healthcare app. Notable features help doctors and patients to make their communication easier and more effective.

Patient Panel Module

Profile --- To create a profile, a patient submits their name, residence, gender, age, medical history, and other critical information required to begin the treatment process.

Find Doctor or Clinic --- Practo provides patients with a way to search for profiles of doctors & clinics in their area. Their profiles include information about their qualifications and experience, contact details, patient reviews, price per treatment, and other interesting insights that help you make a better decision about which doctor or clinic to choose for your needs.

Appointment --- One of the main advantages of healthcare apps for patients is that users may browse a list of doctors, read their profiles, and make an appointment with the doctor of their choice. This feature tells patients about a doctor's availability and makes it easy for them to schedule an appointment.

Real-Time Audio/Video Chat is another essential element in fostering patient-doctor confidence. Both parties can communicate via audio and video chat during a remote consultation. Doctors can recognize observable symptoms, allowing them to make a more accurate diagnosis, while patients may effectively convey their difficulties, just as they would during an in-person session.

Medical Records --- When patients create their accounts, they have access to Medical records that contain all of their information, including medical data and communication history. If required, the healthcare documents can be shared with another specialist, spouse, or other family members.

Medicine Delivery --- An additional feature you can add to the already existing online store that allows customers to purchase a wide selection of drugs and medicines in order to manage their health. In this case, all they need to do is search for a prescription or non-prescription medication by name or some other relevant key term such as instructions on how it should be taken, then place an order and have it delivered timely.

Payment Gateway --- Allow patients to make online payments by paying through the different modes of payment available, for example, using a debit card or credit card.

Doctor Panel Module

The doctor module will make it simpler for doctors to contact their patients by allowing them to do so via video calls or chat. On the doctor's dashboard, they'll find a number of helpful features.

Profile --- The name, address, photos, specialty, and availability of the doctor must all be provided. They may also share information about their expertise and education.

Appointment Management --- With the current circumstances, applications may get overburdened by the influx of appointments. This necessitates using a powerful feature capable of scheduling and listing a large number of remote appointments at once. The app requires an appointment management tool to enable the doctors to manage daily appointments while giving patients on-time service.

Patient Records & Medical History --- Doctors should be able to see their patients' medical records via the app in order to make effective and efficient diagnoses. Having a complete record will enable them to find solutions more quickly to keep both the patient and themselves safe and healthy.

Prescription --- Doctors should have the capacity to provide prescriptions directly from the app. Patients can use these prescriptions to purchase medication at medical institutions. The bottom line is that all of a patient's information is accessible to easily follow their appointments and results (like treatment plans, prescriptions, and medications).

Transaction & Analytics --- This software will help in keeping all the transactions organized and safe. It will also highlight whether the doctor has performed a proper job or not and how frequently he makes appointments with his patients.

Admin Panel Module

Admin Module keeps patient records, analyzes and reports on data, manages financial affairs, and more. Ensuring security measures ensure the complete safety of sensitive user information while cleverly implemented functions enable the seamless operation of your system.

Features:

Dashboard

User Management

Manage Appointments

Manage Doctors

Management of Diagnostic Center

Clinic Administration

Delivery Personnel Management

Payout Administration

Medicine Delivery Panel

The delivery panel is a window that gives members access to the order database containing the contact information, timing, and status of orders on the site. It ensures that all orders can be verified in one place for delivery personnel to provide their services quickly and easily.

My Account

View Delivery

Notification

How to Develop a Healthcare App Like Practo?

Goal --- Before going into the specifics of how to create an app (i.e., its features), you should be sure to explain why you want to build a healthcare app like Practo. Your application needs to achieve two primary purposes, 'your appropriate user goal' and Your business goal. Therefore, by developing your mobile application, you'll also want to make sure it can complete the following questions: Why do users need this app? How will your app accomplish this goal? How does this benefit my business? What potential challenges may arise from a mobile app attempt like mine?

Market Research --- Market research is a method of discovering and analyzing information about the market. It helps you identify what your competitors are doing, how they are faring, why people choose to buy their products instead of yours, and more. Understanding this information can be immensely helpful in shaping or targeting your product or service offering and figuring out how to best market it. You also can gain insight into how much such an app would cost you to make versus the money it takes in, thus refining your idea if needed based on actual inputs and market demand before actually going out there and building anything.

Features and User Flow --- Once you have compiled your research and are certain of your approach, it's time to put pen to paper. This should build a more concrete picture of what you want the product to be and how it will become a reality. Write all the features you wish to add and draw an example of user flow. Describe how the features will work, who will use them, and why people would buy them now or in the future. It helps you and developers who may need to make sense of this data, which affects every aspect of the project from conception to delivery.

Eliminate Irrelevant Features --- With these detailed texts, you can get a general idea of what can be removed from your application. Initially, it is recommended to keep only the main idea of your application. For example, you can easily update or add new features over time and accomplish all of your goals with accurate improvements. Removing less essential features will simplify basic application development and save your initial budget. It will also allow you to quickly bring your latest app to market, saving on application development costs.

Hire an app development agency --- Building a healthcare application, especially one like Practo, is no small feat. Even experienced agencies can sometimes get overwhelmed by technical hiccups and unforeseen budget problems, so it's certainly not for the faint of heart. If you are to go against our advice and try your luck at getting such a complex system built with freelancers instead of something more reliable like an outsourcing agency, be prepared to encounter several challenges that could eventually lead to you losing a lot of money entirely.

This is why it's important to team up with a quality development agency that will create your app to align with your vision and handle any challenges you might encounter as you work together. This way, you also get to enjoy reduced costs thanks to the fact that many firms are open to flat rates --- this means that whatever happens with the project, the agency won't charge you extra and will stick by their quote!

So hire an app development agency and let your imagination become a reality.

Do You Need to Be HIPAA Compliant?

Yes. As a company that works with patients, you'll need to be HIPAA compliant at all stages. For example, doctor's notes and test results are considered PHI(Personal Health Information), and they must be protected under HIPAA regulations for patient data confidentiality. As such, it is important to use HIPAA-as-a-Service hosting services provided by companies like AWS and GAE so that you're protected at all times by them rather than having someone attempt to protect the data themselves using their own equipment.

So now you know what steps you need to do to develop your own healthcare app like Practo --- but it doesn't stop there. While this is an excellent place to begin, there are some important additional features that you should include in your app! Let's talk about them below:

API Integration

Building a healthcare app without market-ready APIs can easily take 1 to 2 years. However, with the components readily available in the market, a healthcare app can be built in 3--6 months. This doesn't mean that it's easier today than it was previously because setting up everything to work as desired isn't necessarily any less complicated or time-consuming than at any other point in history.\ Let's take a look at some of the leading ones:

Agora --- Agora allows you to quickly create a highly-engaging video and audio chat feature in your own application. It has diverse lists of libraries for Web and iOS platforms. We require real-time video conferencing software in healthcare app development, and we can attest that Agora is capable of handling mobile-to-mobile video messaging very smoothly. It works seamlessly in the Web interface as well, though if you're planning on amassing a large user base, you may want to consider using the dedicated program they have just for this purpose.

WebRTC --- WebRTC is a powerful, free, open-source platform that enables real-time communication in web and native apps. It has simple APIs that have been optimized to transmit audio, video, and data. This platform is supported by Firefox, Chrome, Opera browsers used on desktop and Android devices. It's also available for Android and iOS mobile devices which support native integration. macOS and Windows operating systems are not supported at this time.

Twilio --- Twilio works on all mobile devices without the need for any special plugins and can easily be integrated into the platforms you're working on. APIs offer voice, video, messaging, live chats, and more. Twilio boasts all the functionality one could want to deliver services through an app. Twilio is incredibly versatile and can be scaled instantly from starter to enterprise plan and also has the lowest latency than other available platforms and shows up to 50% better call quality.

For a healthcare app to help improve patient outcomes and treatment plans, it will be vital for them to communicate directly with their doctors and have easy access to real-time health updates. By using Agora, WebRTC, or Twilio, doctors and patients can interact in multiple ways when it comes down to getting all the relevant information they need directly through their favorite devices.

Technical Stack

Various programming languages, frameworks, cloud environments, payment gateways, databases, and third-party tools are examined by highly skilled developers during the healthcare app development process to establish a viable technical stack. So, on the technical side of healthcare app development, we believe the technology stack outlined below best fits the demands of remote healthcare services.

What Does It Take To Develop a Healthcare App Like Practo?

Without question, the primary goal of building an app is to make the most use of resources while keeping expenditures to a minimum. However, you will need to make some technical time, effort, and money investments. The number of developers will depend on the app design and features required.

The eventual usage of the resources will be determined by what the business expects from the app. The app idea may fluctuate from project to project, as will the business strategy and estimation.

In the form of several developers and other experts involved in the development team, human resources also significantly influence the app's budget, but we'll discuss the cost later. So, An ideal MVP development team should have the following members:

Project Manager

Duties: The project manager serves as a link between the world of business and IT. They think about everything that can go wrong in the project and make sure it doesn't, so your project is delivered on time and within budget. Project managers utilize tools to ensure that all communication channels are available and. Check out our blog on the finest project management tools.

Working Hours: 6--7 Weeks. Will engage part-time on the project.

Business Analyst

Duties: They're your best friend if you need to know if you should invest in one technology over another. If your company is still at the idea phase, a BA will test your business concept thoroughly to make sure you're heading in the right direction and suggest any improvements that might be needed before starting a project.

Working Hours: 3 Weeks. Will engage part-time on the project.

UI/UX Designers

Duties: UI/UX designers help you to transform your product vision into user-friendly designs and create user journeys optimized for the best user experience and highest conversion rates.

Working Hours: 4--5 Weeks. Initially will engage full-time and eventually become part-time involved.

App Developers

Duties: App developers produce the part of your application that people view and interact with directly. They ensure that everyone who uses the app has an equally seamless and user-friendly experience. They are also in charge of everything that goes on behind the app's hood, and they are your primary problem-solvers.

Working Hours: 30--32 Weeks. Will be engaged full-time on the project.

Front-end Developer

Duties: Front-end developers focus on visual layout and user interface/interaction. They create components that are directly accessed by a user through the front-end of a website or application. They translate wireframes from UI/UX designers into fully realized user interfaces by creating the buttons, images, links, and pages that all need to function efficiently, accurately, and quickly. Read in detail here.

Working Hours: 12 Weeks. Will be engaged full-time on the project.

Back-end Developer

Duties: As an important part of the front-end to back-end process, back-end developers are responsible for creating and improving server, server-side applications, and databases that allow users access to your products. The backend developers are also responsible for everything that stays behind the curtain, including all business logic, databases, and integration with Tubular, and third-party services. Know more about backend developers here.

Working Hours: 17 Weeks. Will be engaged full-time on the project.

QA Engineers

Duties: QA engineers are the testers that ensure that your application is bug-free, supports all devices/browsers, and meets all requirements. They make sure your app looks and runs the way it was imagined to look and run without any blockers.

Working Hours: 10 Weeks. Will engage part-time on the project.

What Is the Cost of Developing a Healthcare App Like Practo?

You will undoubtedly be concerned about the cost of developing an app like Practo, but various factors impact production expenses when building a mobile app or web app.

The optimum technology stack selection is crucial for application production and development expenses. Another essential framework is the app's interface, which attracts users' attention. As a result, to create an emotional relationship between the user and the software, you must include animation, images, and other sorts of UI/UX. However, each of these new design elements will raise production costs.

Healthcare apps cost anywhere from $120k to $200k to develop. It can depend on several factors, including the time frame and complexity of the app. You can develop yourself for less, but it will take longer. Or you can hire other specialists, either full-time or part-time, to work on the project alongside you who specialize in the functionalities of your app.

To create the ultimate healthcare app with all of its personalization and individualized elements throughout the user experience, please contact our team of experts who will analyze your specs and clarify the actual expenses of the app to assist you with your mobile app development.

Conclusion

The healthcare industry has undoubtedly evolved over the past decade, and there are many new players in the marketplace trying to get their share of this multi-billion dollar market. While building a healthcare application is by no means inexpensive in terms of time and resources invested, incorporating quality design can help your application stand out against its competitors. So, that aspect will have to be taken into consideration while planning to develop an application like Practo.

We hope this RaftLabs article has served as a brief introduction to the development process of an app like Practo.

Do you have a healthcare application project? Well, we'd like to help you with it. Explore our app development services and contact us here with your brief overview of the functionality you want to see in your healthcare application.

A JS task runner runs commands for you that would otherwise be tedious or impossible. Task runners provide value by automating numerous development tasks such as concatenating files, spinning up development servers, and compiling code. Task runner automatically executes processes behind the scenes, saving both work and time.

Here, we will look at some of the most popular task runner tools to choose from.  ‍

1. Grunt

The Grunt ecosystem is enormous, and it's growing every day. With literally hundreds of plugins to choose from, you can use Grunt to automate just about anything with a minimum of effort. You can choose from any of the plugins available, or you can create one for yourself with Grunt.    

Developed By: Ben Alman  

Pros:  

You can automate repetitive tasks with minimum effort by simply creating a setup file.  

Based on NodeJS, and is very flexible.  

Open-source.  

SASS compilation.  

Grunt has a great community.  

Allows developers to work with a new codebase as it has minimum infrastructure.  

Robust and can advantageously be used for big production sites.  

Top companies using this:  

Twitter  

Udemy  

Medium.com  

Accenture  

Fiverr  

Statistics:  

GitHub stars: 12.1k  

Initial Release: 4 April 2016  

2. Gulp

Gulp is another toolkit to automate and enhance your workflow. Leverage gulp and the flexibility of JavaScript to automate slow, repetitive workflows and compose them into efficient build pipelines. Gulp is efficient, flexible, composable, and provides you with speed and accuracy.  

Developed By: Eric Schoffstall  

Pros:  

Using code over configuration, utilize all of JavaScript to create your gulp file.  

Gulp lets you write individual, focused tasks and compose them into more extensive operations.  

Aspects such as file watching are built-in.  

Most plugins are simple and designed to do a single job.  

Works excellent with browserify.  

Gulp is easy to learn.  

Top companies using this:  

Myntra  

doubleSlash  

Typeform  

Brilliant  

Statistics:  

GitHub stars: 32.3k  

Release Date: 26 September 2013

3. Yarn

The yarn has the reputation of being quick, secure, and reliable. Yarn caches every package it downloads, so it never needs to download it again. It also parallelizes operations to maximize resource utilization, so install times are faster than ever.    

Developed By: Facebook, Exponent, Google, and Tilde  

Pros:  

Yarn parallelizes operations to maximize resource utilization, so install times are faster than ever.  

It uses the Hadoop operating system, which means processes will be resilient and capable of distributing vast data sets.  

Yarn can install any npm package and works where npm fails.  

There is a central controlling authority which, among other things, allows for immense scalability.  

It is highly compatible with existing Hadoop MapReduce applications.  

Top companies using this:  

Trivago  

Revolut  

DoorDash  

Statistics:  

GitHub stars: 40k  

4. RequireJS  

RequireJS is a JavaScript file and module loader. It is optimized for in-browser use, but it can be used in other JavaScript environments, like Rhino and Node. Using a modular script loader like RequireJS will improve the speed and quality of your code.  

Developed By: David Mark  

Pros:  

Combines and streamlines modules into one script for optimal performance.  

In the case of large-sized applications, it can reduce code complexity.  

With React, debugging is more straightforward as it loads files from plain script tags.  

Top companies using this:  

Uber  

Accenture  

Coursera  

Asana  

Booking.com  

Soundcloud  

MasterCard  

Statistics:  

GitHub stars: 12.7k  

Release Date: 19 Feb 2010  

5. Brunch  

Brunch is an assembler for HTML5 applications. Brunch focuses on producing a small number of files that can be deployed from a large number of separate development trees. This front-end development tool provides a smooth and quick work experience. It's agnostic to frameworks, libraries, programming, stylesheet & templating languages, and backend technology.  

Developed By: Paul Miller, Elan Shanker, Nik Graf, Thomas Schranz  

Pros:  

Built-in dev server with live reload.  

Has many pre-configurable framework "skeletons"  

Notifies you about errors via console and system notifications.  

The commands are simple and easy to execute.  

It can create fast-zero builds as well as incremental builds.  

Top companies using this:  

Uber  

Red Bull  

Keakr  

CodeCombat  

Statistics:  

GitHub stars: 6.8k  

Release Date: 7 Jun 2011  

Ansible is an open-source software provisioning, configuration management, and application-deployment tool enabling infrastructure as code, including declarative language to describe system configuration. It runs on many Unix-like systems and can configure both Unix-like systems as well as Microsoft Windows.

Ansible was written by Michael DeHaan and acquired by Red Hat in 2015. It is agentless, temporarily connecting remotely via SSH or Windows Remote Management (allowing remote PowerShell execution) to do its tasks.

The 5 free resources to learn Ansible are as follows:

1. Ansible: Installation and Basics

A simple and basic video tutorial that teaches you the basics of Ansible. The basics of Ansible, like Playbooks, vaults, and roles, are appropriately covered.

Created by Server for Hackers.

2. An Ansible Tutorial‍

An article that helps you familiarize yourself with Ansible. More advanced features are covered on the way. Overall, it is a practical tutorial that helps the readers learn Ansible very well through code snippets, images, etc.

Created by Server for Hackers.

3. Ansible Hands-On Training

YouTube video tutorial that lets you learn Ansible. It’s a roughly 2hr long video that talks about installation, basics, and more advanced features. Everything is explained in detail.

Created by Glen Jarvis.

4. Getting Started with Ansible

An article that talks in detail about Configuration Management and Ansible. The article covers Ansible, Concepts of Ansible and Configuration Management, Pros and Cons. It will later take the readers to the basic implementation.

Created by Tom O’Connor.

5. Ansible Quick Start

A quick start guide to learn Ansible. The guide covers the basics of Ansible, starting from installation. It also gives an idea about different terminologies used in the technology. An excellent guide you are preparing for an interview or a test.

Created by Ryan Eschinger.

Google Chrome is one of the most reliable and polished web browsers available to us. It has an extensive library of extensions that you can easily integrate into your browser to make your life easier. Here, we will look at 12 handy tools that can make development easier.  

   1. ColorPick Eyedropper  

ColorPick Eyedropper is a zoomed eyedropper & color chooser tool that allows you to select color values from web pages and more. It can quickly identify any color on any web page and zooms in,  and select a border 1px wide.  

To use it, simply click on click on the color wheel icon to activate it, and your cursor will change to a crosshair to indicate that the extension is active. Then, simply hover over the section you want to identify, and it will show you the RGB values along with the HEX value.  

1,000,000+ users  

Average Rating: 4.3 out of 5.  

2. Grammarly for Chrome  

Grammarly is one of the best and most helpful Chrome extensions available on the market. If you make lot of  mistakes in emails or write many articles , Grammarly has got you covered. Grammarly helps you eliminate writing errors and find the perfect words to express yourself, from grammar and spelling to style and tone. You’ll get real-time feedback from Grammarly on Gmail, Google Docs, Twitter, Linked In, and nearly everywhere else you find yourself writing.  

You can also register your account to receive a personalized writing report each week to help you track your progress and identify improvement areas.  

10,000,000+ users  

Average Rating: 4.6 out of 5.  

3. Window Resizer  

Window Resizer is an extremely useful yet simple tool that lets you resize the browser window to emulate various screen resolutions. It comes in handy when working with responsive designs or apps.    

The most common sizes are covered, mobile, tablet, desktop, and the emulation are accurate. The extension also features customizable global key shortcuts, an option to export your settings and import them on another computer, and more.  

600,000+ users  

Average Rating: 4.3 out of 5.  

4. CSS Viewer  

CSS Viewer, as the name suggests, is a simple CSS property viewer. This add-on shows you the CSS properties of a given page wherever you hover your mouse. A small popup window appears, showing you the CSS data that makes up the element you’re pointing at.  

100,000+ users  

Average Rating: 4.4 out of 5.  

5. Wappalyzer  

Wappalyzer is a technology profiler that uncovers the underlying secrets behind a website. It quickly identifies web services, CMS type, analytics tools, plugins, JavaScript libraries, and a whole host of other apps.    

Just install the extension, select it while on a page, and a popup window will appear highlighting all identifiable apps running on that page.  

1,000,000+ users  

Average Rating: 4.6 out of 5.  

6. Picture-in-Picture  

Picture-in-picture is a Chrome extension that is offered by Google. It allows you to watch videos in a floating window (always on top of other windows) so you can keep an eye on what you’re watching while interacting with other sites or applications.  

You can enable the extension by the keyboard shortcut: Alt + P (⌥ + P on macOS).  

1,000,000+ users  

Average Rating: 4.1 out of 5.      

7. Fake Filler  

Fake Filler is a form filler that fills all inputs on a page with fake/dummy data. This productivity-boosting extension is a must for developers and testers who work with forms as it eliminates the need for manually entering values in fields. The plugin also ignores any captcha, hidden, disabled, and read-only fields.  

100,000+ users  

Average Rating: 4.4 out of 5.  

8. JSONView  

This extension is helpful for developers who regularly work with JSON files. It will help validate and view JSON documents easily. This extension makes it easier to view JSON data in a tree format rather than in raw format, which is difficult to read.  

1,000,000+ users  

Average Rating: 4.6 out of 5.  

9. React – Developer Tools Extension  

React is a Chrome DevTools extension or Chrome plugin that provides the open-source React JavaScript library for a website or web page. Upon installation, You will get two new tabs in your Chrome DevTools:

“ Components” and “ Profiler”.    

The Components tab shows you the root React components that were rendered on the page and the subcomponents that they ended up rendering.  

The Profiler tab allows you to record performance information.  

2,000,000+ users  

Average Rating: 4.1 out of 5.    

10. Ghostery – Security Extension  

Ghostery is a powerful privacy extension. It blocks ads, stops trackers, and speeds up websites.  Ghostery’s built-in ad blocker removes advertisements from a webpage to eliminate clutter, so you can focus on the content you want.  It allows you to view and block trackers on websites you browse to control who collects your data. It's  Smart Blocking feature speeds up page loads and optimizes page performance by automatically blocking and unblocking trackers to meet page quality criteria.  

2,000,000+ users  

Average Rating: 4.6 out of 5.    

11. GoFullPage  

GoFullPage lets you capture a screenshot of your current page in its entirety without asking for any extra permissions. Click on the extension icon (or press Alt+Shift+P), watch the extension capture each part of the page, and be transported to a new tab of your screenshot where you can download it as an image or PDF or even just drag it to your desktop.  

You can also crop, annotate, and add your favorite emojis to any screenshot with the new premium editor.  

4,000,000+ users  

Average Rating: 4.9 out of 5.

12. Dark Reader  

This extension basically applies dark mode on all the websites or the ones that you choose. Dark Reader inverts bright colors making them high contrast and easy to read at night.  

You can adjust brightness, contrast, sepia filter, dark mode, font settings, and ignore-list.  

3,000,000+ users  

Average Rating: 4.7 out of 5.