How to Build an App Like Talabat in 2024

Since the inception of food delivery apps, the preferences of people ordering food in their homes have increased significantly. According to statistics, more than 3 billion people worldwide during their food using apps like Talabat in 2024. Instead of going to restaurants, getting the food at home and enjoying the meal without wasting time on travel has emerged as a burgeoning concept, be it from a cost or a hygiene perspective. The scenario makes it an attractive option to build an app like Talabat. One can get a magnificent return on investment through this model. However, the very first thing that you need for the same is a bespoke food delivery app development company that provides custom app development services.

As per Statista, the online food delivery market is valued at $1.20 Trillion in 2024 which is all set to grow with a CAGR of 9% to achieve a valuation of $1.85 Trillion by 2029.

So, there is no doubt that the market is going to grow in the long term. Building a food delivery app with the right features can bring a huge volume of users to your platform to get good revenue. However, to make an app like Talabat, you must understand the development process, resource requirements, cost of development, timeline, and much more so that you can contribute toward the process.

What is Talabat App?

Talabat is a food delivery mobile app that connects users and restaurants where the end customers can scroll through the list of restaurants, access the menu, choose the food, and order it to be delivered to their doorsteps. The platform was founded in 2001 which enabled people to reach their nearby restaurants to order food. In the current version of the application, you can access all the details about the restaurant and read the food menu before placing a random order.

At the same time, you can also add the instructions that the restaurant has to follow while making your food. Talabat allows the users to leverage different types of payment methods including Cash on Delivery, Credit Card, or Debit Card. The application is available for both Android as well as iOS users. Currently, the majority of the user base of Talabat comes from Saudi Arabia, Oman, UAE, Jordan, Bahrain, and Qatar.

How to Build an App Like Talabat? [Easy 6 Steps]

There is a standard process to develop a food delivery app like Talabat. While the way of development might vary from company to company, there are certain phases that you will witness irrespective of the development team. Here are the core phases of creating a food delivery app like Talabat–

1. Market Research

Before making any decision, you must conduct thorough market research for better decision-making. Here, you will go through the current market trends in the food delivery app industry with the core competencies of the market leaders performing well in the market. At the same time, you also have to pick your target audience whom you want to serve. It will help you to decide upon the features which need to be imparted in the application.

2. Decide on the Business Model

There are different types of business models associated with food delivery apps that you can find in the market. By analyzing your target audience, you will have to find a certain business model that you want to integrate into your application. At the same time, the business model also determines the method that will help your app to make money in real-time. So, the monetization model is also hugely dependent on the business model.

3. Choose a Team and Finalize the Resources

Once you are sure about the type of food delivery app that you want to develop, it is time to choose an app development team for your project. With this team, you will be brainstorming about the features and functionalities of your app. At the same time, you will also determine the resources like team members, cost, and technical resources that will be required for developing the app. Moreover, the timeline of the project is also finalized at this step.

4. Prototype

When the app development team begins to make an app like Talabat, the very first deliverable from their side is a prototype. This prototype defines all the features, designs, themes, and navigation that will be integrated into the application. The core purpose of this prototype is for the stakeholders to analyze the functionalities and features of the application so that they can provide feedback and ask for changes at the early stages.

5. Core Development

Once the stakeholders are satisfied with the prototype of the application, the app development team begins to build an app like Talabat. For the same, they choose the right technology stack consisting of different programming languages, APIs, third-party integrations, and frameworks. The backend and front end of the application are built on this phase while imparting all the features and functionalities into the application.

6. Quality Analysis

The next phase is a quality analysis where a broad team of testers performs several tests to bring out the best quality of the product. A range of tests including unit testing, performance testing, feature testing, manual testing, automated testing, and much more are conducted in this phase. Moreover, all the identified bugs are also resolved in the quality analysis phase of the project.

7. Deployment

The final stage of the app development is deployment where the app development company will deploy your food delivery app on the respective app marketplace. The team will ensure adherence to all the legal practices, and compliances when deploying the application on the marketplace.

8. Maintenance and Support

This is an ever-going phase of the project which ensures that your application is functioning seamlessly in the long term. Whether it is removing the bugs from the application, providing the necessary updates, or adding/eliminating the features according to client requirements, the maintenance and support services cover it all.

[Also Read: How to Make an App Like DoorDash]

How Does Talabat App Work?

Talabat is a food delivery app that connects customers, restaurants, and delivery personnel. The business model of Talabat ensures that each person involved in the process gets the benefit without being overburdened or overcharged. The simple dashboard of the platform enables the restaurants to register by providing the relevant details. With their profile, the restaurants can add dishes, menus, pictures, pricing, and much more. More details help the restaurant to attract more customers and make quick orders.

Similarly, the customer panel on the application allows the users to sign up using their personal information. By setting the eating preferences and location, the user can easily access the list of restaurants that offer similar dishes and deliver them to that location. The user can go through the menu, add the food to the cart, provide specific instructions, and more. By providing the necessary details like contact number and address, the user can choose one of many payment options to get the food delivered at home.

In the case of food delivery personnel, as soon as a user places an order, the delivery personnel gets notified about the same along with the restaurant name and delivery address. By picking up the order from the restaurant and delivering it to the doorsteps of the costumes, the payment is credited to the account of delivery personnel.

Cost to Develop an App Like Talabat

The cost to build an app like Talabat is highly variable and depends on a range of factors. While you can develop a food delivery app for as low as $10,000, the same app can cost you over $100,000. There is a huge team of app developers that works collaboratively on your project with different types of resources. So, there is a huge scope of cost differentiation that you might experience during the development. Here is a basic idea for the cost of food delivery app development based on the complexity- Basic Application- $20,000– $50,000 Medium Application- $50,000– $100,000 Advanced Application- $100,000+ Instead of sticking to a random number, it is a better idea to have an understanding of the different factors that help to determine the cost of making an app like Talabat.

1. Features and Complexity

When you plan to build a food delivery app like Talabat, it is very important that you have a clear vision about the types and number of features that you want to impart in your application. The complexity of the app is directly proportional to the cost of development. So, if you want to integrate a range of features, it will automatically increase the cost of development. Similarly, if you want to make a complex app by integrating AI, ML, AR/VR, and other relevant technology, it will also add dollars to the overall cost.

2. Expertise in Development Team

Moving ahead, the development team you are hiring to make an app like Talabat also has a significant impact on the cost of development. For example, you can hire a team with less experience and expertise at comparatively less cost as compared to hiring an expert team of developers. However, we suggest not to compromise with the efficiency of the development team to save a couple of dollars.

3. The Platform of the App Development

You can choose multiple platforms when planning to develop a food delivery app like Talabat. However, Android and iOS are the two major platforms where you can over 90% of the total target audience in one place. So, building an app for either of these platforms is always beneficial. However, there is a noticeable cost difference between building apps for either of these platform. Generally, the cost of developing an iOS app is higher as compared to building an Android app.

4. Location of Development Team

The country or region from where you are hiring one of the best food delivery app development companies also has a significant impact on your overall development project. The per-hour cost of developers in western or European countries like USA, UK, Australia, or Europe is twice as compared to the per per-hour cost of developers in Asian countries like India. So, you must choose the location of the development team wisely to develop a food delivery app like Talabat.

5. Design

The design of your user interface also contributes toward the mobile app development cost. While the app comes with a basic and usable interface that can help users navigate through the features, if you want to provide a personalized user experience and add intuitive or interactive elements on the screen, there are charges for the same. Customly designing the interface of the application increases the app development cost.

6. Third-Party Integrations

Relying on external APIs and third-party services to elevate the usefulness of your app can be a decision that might require you to increase your investment. There are several paid APIs and third-party integrations that are charged separately during the app development process.

[Also read: How to Build an App Like MyFitnessPal]

Features to Build a Food Delivery App like Talabat

Features are nothing less than the USP of mobile apps that make the software different from the competitors and help to achieve competitive advantages. At the same time, if you are not providing the necessary features to the app, it might be challenging for you in the long term to attract users and retain them on the platform. So, ensure to impart the required features according to the expectation of the target audience to perform well in the market. If you want to build an app like Talabat, here are some of the features for Restaurant Panel, Customer Panel, and Delivery Panel of a food delivery app like Talabat:

Tech Stack to Create an App Like the Talabat App

The technology stack is the suite of different technologies, frameworks, programming languages, and tools that combine to build a food delivery app like Talabat. Choosing the right technology stack is crucially important as it determines the scalability and strength of your app architecture. Here is a technology stack that will help you make an app like Talabat-

• Android Development– Android Studio, Kotlin, Java, Android SDK
• Frontend Development– JavaScript, WebAssembly, HTML, CSS
• Backend Development– Languages, Web Servers, Frameworks, Database Management Systems
• Registration– Facebook SDK, Gmail SDK
• Hybrid Development– PhoneGap, Ionic
• Payment– Stripe, PayPal, Braintree
• Analytics– FireBase, Google Analytics
• Direction Finding– MapKit, Google Maps
• Storage– Google, Azure, AWS
• User Location Finding– Google Place API

[Also explore: How to Create an App Like Careem]

Top 5 Food Delivery Apps in UAE

UAE is a burgeoning market in terms of technical landscape where a range of digitized businesses have blossomed and contributed to making Dubai one of the most luxurious places in the world. To meet the needs of food delivery regularly, there are a range of food delivery apps that connect hungry pals to restaurants. Here are the top 5 food delivery apps in UAE-

1. Talabat

Talabat is one of the biggest and most used food delivery applications in the UAE that provides affordable meal-ordering options to people in different regions. The platform works with an expert team of personnel, fast and fleeting order fulfillment, a robust customer care system, and many other resources. One can explore from the thousands of cuisines from popular food hotspots around the city. Having added the food to the cart, one can confirm it by choosing the preferred payment method. Access the history of your order if you crave the same taste ever again in the future. Use the guest checkout if you don’t want to create a profile on the app.

2. Careem

Careem is another popular name in the landscape of food delivery apps in the UAE. When you plan to build an app like Talabat, it can be a great idea to inspiration from Careem to get a slight idea about the features of the application. First of all, the customer can easily track the real-time location of their food to get an estimate of the delivery time. Moreover, there are a range of discounts and coupons that you can claim in Careem to make your meal more affordable. The application makes money by charting a delivery fee of AED 7.

3. Deliveroo

The huge delivery network of Deliveroo makes it one of the best food delivery partners that you can rely on. Irrespective of your taste, the vast network of the platform will always ensure that you get the food you are craving for. For a better user experience, the Deliveroo app categorizes the popular food hotspots according to the user’s location. There is a range of meal options like biryani, sandwiches, chicken masala, barbeque, curries, and more that you can choose from.

4. Noon Food

When talking about the best food delivery app in Dubai, Abu Dhabi, or Sarjah, Noon Food is one of the best options. Different modes in this application have contributed enormously toward the growing popularity of the app. For example, the Good Morning Mode is a great distribution technique that ensures that the delivery guy doesn’t call the customer during the delivery time between 5 AM to 9 AM.

5. EatEasy

EatEasy is also a popular food delivery app in UAE that you can use on PC, Android as well as iOS devices. This hybrid application provides a neighborhood-wide experience to all the customers looking for tasty foods in their nearby restaurants. The flawless meal ordering services enable the customers to scroll through the list of menus and restaurants to pick a dish and place an order using a range of payment methods.

[Also read: How to Build an App Like Expedia]

How to Make Money with an App like Talabat?

There is no doubt that it requires a huge investment to make an app like Talabat. So, it is obvious to have concerns about different monetization models that enable the app to make money. If you want to build an app like Talabat that can provide a good return on your investment, here are some of the monetization models that you can use in your app-

1. Per-Order Service Charges

This is one of the most common monetization strategies used by the food delivery giants. You can charge a fee according to each order placed by the customer. The fee can be charged either from the customer, the restaurant, or both. However, you will be able to make good money only if there are bulk orders placed on your website on an everyday basis.

2. Subscription Model

Another common monetization model that you can use to build an app like Talabat is the subscription model. With this strategy, you don’t have to charge a per-order fee from the users. On the other hand, the customers as well as the restaurants have to pay a periodic fee for using the services on your application. The fee can be charged in the form of a weekly, monthly, quarterly, or annual basis.

3. Advertisement

Advertisement is a great monetization strategy when you have a vast user base using your platform regularly. Just by allowing the partner brands to show their offerings on your platform, you can charge a hefty amount. If implemented well, advertisement revenue can surpass the return generated from any other monetization models.

4. Sponsored Listing

Food delivery platforms are a great place for restaurants to increase their sales tremendously. So, you can invite the restaurants and offer them prime space on your app so that they are the first preference of the customers looking for a certain dish. You can charge a good price for this sponsored listing from interested restaurants.

5. Data Licensing

When running a food delivery business in a broad region, you get the insightful data of thousands of people. You can provide this data to other parties for constructive reasons like marketing and advertising. For this data, you can earn good revenue from different business partners.

Conclusion: Build an App Like Talabat

Planning to build an app like Talabat consists of considering several factors that lead to better project management and an efficient outcome. In this blog, we have enlisted all the resources, costs, and processes that will be required for the quality development of the project. If you want to make a food delivery app like Talabat and looking for an experienced development team, The NineHertz invites you to our free consulting session where our experts will guide you throughout the development process.

FAQ’s: Make an App Like Talabat

Q.1 How Long Does it Take to Build a Food Delivery App Like Talabat?

Generally it takes 4-6 months to create a food delivery app like Talabat. However, the exact timeline of the food delivery app development depends on a range of factors like number of members in the app development team, the complexity of the app, and the third-party integrations.

Q.2 How Much Does it Cost to Build an App Like Talabat?

You can build an online food delivery app like Talabat in Dubai for a price range of anywhere between $40,000 to $80,000. The exact cost of development can only be determined by assessing factors like app complexity, number and types of features, location of the development team, etc.

Q.3 How Do you Generate Money From Food Delivery Apps?

Many monetization models help you to generate money from food delivery apps. The monetization models are but are not limited to, subscription, advertising, in-app purchase, data licensing, per-order commission, and sponsored listing.

Q.4 How AI is Used in Food Delivery Apps?

AI helps in variously optimizing the food delivery landscape. It can assess the order pattern for the restaurants and help them keep the dishes prepared during the bulk order time to meet the order demand seamlessly. Similarly, it can assess the routes with less traffic to help the delivery personnel take faster and safer routes.