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In today’s growing business industry, the competition is cut-throat and everyone wishes to have an app to better communicate with customers and bring in more business. However, on-demand app development services can be quite expensive. This is why more and more businesses are looking for ready-made clone apps.
Ready-made clone apps help you build your application in just a few steps, reducing the overall development time. These apps are also available at lower costs and seem like a win-win. However, the benefits of ready-made clone apps are numbered and there are numerous drawbacks you must consider.
Confused about whether ready-made clone apps are a good fit for your business or not? In the following article, we discuss what ready-made clone apps are, how they work, and their potential pitfalls and drawbacks. So, what are you waiting for? Jump right into it and learn more to decide between ready-made clone apps and custom mobile app design services.
Initially, the word “clone scripts” can give the wrong impression and seem like a copy of another website/application. However, it is not exactly a copy and are independent websites/applications developed from scratch. To help make the concept clearer and easy to understand, the following section discusses what clone scripts are, how they work, whether developers can modify them or not, and the most common ready-made clone apps in the industry.
Clone scripts refer to a replica of the code or architecture of an existing application in the market. Developers can use clone scripts to get the code for the application’s building blocks and build further on it for added features and functionalities.
Although basic clone scripts are open-source and readily available for further customization, clone scripts used by professional developers are expensive and must be bought before further development.
When an app is cloned, the purpose is to build a similar app that is modified as per client needs. Although the main benefit is reduced effort and completion time, ready-made clone apps are not always the perfect choice. Cloning an app means that it might be difficult for your business app to reflect your brand values and image.
This is why a lot of developers and professional development companies consider ready-made clone apps as the largest scam in the technical industry. But, fret not! Read on to know more about clone scripts before learning the best practices to build an application.
Most people think that ready-made clone apps are easily built by copying and pasting the source code of the existing app. However, it is not true as the code of most existing applications is secure and cannot be edited.
Clone scripts are created by professional developers from scratch by taking inspiration from the existing application. Moreover, most ready-made clone apps follow the latest technologies and designs to ensure they are up-to-date with industry standards.
Often, ready-made clone apps come with copyrights that prevent the buyer from making any changes. It is especially difficult to make server-side changes and build new functionalities after buying clone scripts. So, in most cases, developers cannot modify clone scripts to develop unique applications per their preference.
If you want to include some unique functionalities and features and simply draw inspiration from existing applications, we recommend hiring a developer and building your application from scratch. Or, you could buy a ready-to-go platform that comes with separate modules that you can use as building blocks for your application.
With so many applications flooding the market, there are a lot of clone scripts available. The most commonly-found ready-made clone apps in today’s market include:-
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There are a lot of ready-made clone apps flooding the market, but why so? Well, nowadays, you can easily find a number of successful start-ups with readymade clone scripts. This is why a lot of start-ups and new businesses are considering ready-made clone apps. Let us look at some of the advantages of clone scripts that can benefit your business.
One of the primary temptations of getting clone scripts is to save on time and overall development costs. Most clone scripts are open-source which means that your developers can easily add new functionalities. This helps businesses save both time and money which is one of the top advantages of getting clone scripts. Even if you buy professionally-developed clone scripts, they cost lower than getting a customized app.
Since ready-made clone apps have predefined scripts, they already have functionalities and are capable to run. This means that your business can easily launch the application and enter the market. So, you will be ready to occupy the market and benefit from the industry’s growth potential.
Ready-made clone apps come with the basic script and functionalities that the existing app has. This means that your development team doesn’t need to spend time developing the basic framework and structure of your application. All they need to do is develop additional modules for better, unique functionalities. This reduces the overall development time and simplifies the complete development process.
Although the advantages of using ready-made clone apps seem lucrative, there are several drawbacks to using clone scripts. These include:-
Although ready-made clone apps are legal, all of these apps come with the copyrights of the development company. Often, they introduce copyrights which means that you cannot use the clone as you please and are bound to offer them a cut of your profits.
Since clone scripts come with similar functionalities as existing apps, developers cannot introduce new modules. Although a lot of websites that sell clone scripts say that they are customizable, they are not. Even if they are, it can be difficult and time-taking. Instead, buyers ask the development team to add some extra features.
Development companies charge more for modifying the clone scripts to add other functionalities. So, the ultimate development cost increases, defeating the main advantage of clone scripts. This is also the reason why clone scripts are not scalable as per your evolving business needs.
Most ready-made clone apps are cheap which means buyers need to compromise on something. In most cases, these apps are not secure and do not follow design guidelines. It is also difficult to find a clone script that caters to the newest technologies and customer requirements.
Since ready-made clone apps are not developed by your in-house development team, you might not receive support in case of problems. In case of any changes or issues with the code, you will need to get in touch with the original team and rely on them. This means that there is a high risk of your code breaking down and your system won’t run again until the development company pays attention to your problems.
Now that we know why ready-made clone apps might not be the right choice for your company, let us look at the best practices for app development. These are as follows:-
Before you jump right into developing an application for your business, ensure you conduct comprehensive market research. You must research your brand, decide its mission and values, figure out the target audience, and analyze user behaviors. This will also help you develop user personas to recognize the main requirements of your app.
With so many apps flooding the market, you must stand out. But, how do you do so? Well, you can add in some extra functionalities or offer other benefits that can bring in more app users. We also recommend thinking about subscription plans or other financial revenue plans.
Since customizing ready-made clone apps can be difficult, you need to get in touch with a professional app development company. You can also get a custom app developed for your business to ensure your customer needs are better met.
Once you’ve developed and launched your app, only half the work is done. You must properly maintain your app to ensure consistent and better user experiences. Investing in quality assurance and security testing is also necessary to guarantee that your app is up to industry standards and that your user data is secure and protected.
Now that you know about the advantages and drawbacks of ready-made clone apps, we hope you will make a wise decision. In any case, we hope you get in touch with a professional mobile app development company to develop the best app in today’s industry.
So, what are you waiting for? Hire a dedicated developer today and get started with developing a unique app customized as per your business and user needs!
Yes, clone scripts are legal, but often come with copyrights. So, changing the app code and using it for business might cause legal problems. We recommend thoroughly reading the policies to be safe.
Yes, it is absolutely safe and legal to use ready-made clone apps for your business. However, they might not help your business stand out in the industry. You can also learn about their drawbacks in the above article and decide whether they would be beneficial for your business or not.
Most startups do not have a dedicated development team and might easily fall into traps like ready-made clone apps. To know how startups are bluffed about the usefulness of clone scripts, read their drawbacks in the above article.
Written by Atman Rathod
Atman Rathod is the Founding Director at CMARIX InfoTech, a leading web and mobile app development company with 17+ years of experience. Having travelled to 38+ countries globally and provided more than $40m USD of software services, he is actively working with Startups, SMEs and Corporations utilizing technology to provide business transformation.
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In today’s growing business industry, the competition is cut-throat and everyone wishes […]
