20 December 2023

How much does an NFT marketplace development cost in 2024?

Starting to talk about NFT, the first thing we need to indicate is that the invention of a Non-Fungible Token (NFT) has solved a lot of various questions regarding the property right to digital assets taking into account the speed of development of digital economy in the modern world. Furthermore, despite its unexpected "appearance on the stage", the technology quickly became not only a breath of fresh air for cryptographic tokens but also a golden vein for creative personalities. The proof of this fact is a recent real boom amongst painters, artists, IT specialists, heads of large corporations, and even political activists who are using NFTs and selling their own unique creations.

Just in 2021, 40 billion U.S. dollars were spent on NFTs. Recent statistics show that about 10,000 NFTs worth around 15 million U.S. dollars are traded daily. If we take into account the art segment, for instance, it is necessary to say that from April 15, 2021, to August 15, 2022, the total cost of sales involving NFTs in this segment changed emphatically. As of April 15, 2021 NFT sales recorded on the Flow blockchains, Ethereum, and Ronin through the previous 30 days generated an aggregated value of about 78 million U.S. dollars. As of August 15, 2022 the aggregated sales value over 30 days amounted to roughly 43 million U.S. dollars.

Thus, in the article, we’re going to cover the following issues:

• what is an NFT marketplace;
• 5 Top NFT marketplaces;
• the most important features of an NFT marketplace;
• how much does NFT development cost?

At the same time, while some up-to-date information about NFT development appears every day on the Internet, we will dig a bit deeper. This article will look into the cost of NFT marketplace development and what potential NFT marketplace users should know when they will run into an NFT world and develop an NFT platform.

Therefore, without further ado, let’s get started with our research!

What is an NFT marketplace?

The most important thing about NFT is that fact it is non-fungible. Why is it called exactly non-fungible? The reason is that NFT is a unit of data in a digital ledger namely a blockchain. It should be added that NFTs are non-fungible with each other. Each NFT has a distinct and unique identifier that distinguishes it from others. As its name suggests, this token has only one highly significant property: an individual NFT cannot be exchanged for a similar one. Each token is as unique to its owner as the painting "The Starry Night" for the Museum of Modern Art in New York City.

This acts as proof of authenticity and confirms property rights on it in the digital world. In the following way, the token is rated as a unique digital item. The undermentioned objects can be given as good examples of NFTs: GIF animations, images, digital artworks, memes, music, texts, audio recordings, short videos, logos, game items or even characters, domain names, computer codes and this list can be continued even further.

If you wish to learn more about this topic, we recommend you to read the following article.

5 Best NFT marketplaces

OpenSea

Talking about the best NFT platforms, of course it is necessary to mention OpenSea. OpenSea is known as the first in the world and the largest NFT marketplace. Here people have the possibility to create, sell, buy and collect digital works of art tied to non-fungible tokens. Anyone can upload his/her art (for example, image, music, video, 3D model), turn it into an NFT, put it up for auction, and earn cryptocurrency. Certainly Bored Ape Yacht Club, CryptoPunks, and Doodles are ones of the most famous NFT collections on OpenSea.

On OpenSea you may find the next items for sale: domain names, plots of land, clothes from game worlds, virtual collectibles, etc. The possibilities of the site are perfectly applicable for creating and promoting thematic communities and supporting fan movements in the world of professional sports.

OpenSea is also based on the Ethereum ERC 721 standard. A crypto wallet such as MetaMask is required. It has to be said there are plans to trade NFTs without "gas fees" and switch to the FLOW blockchain soon.

Binance

The second NFT platform which we need to talk about is Binance. It is a cryptocurrency exchange that is currently considered the largest and the most popular in the world. The reason is that fact Binance offers the largest amount of cryptocurrency pairs for trading. It also has established itself as one of the most innovative and open user exchanges. The exchange reflects the market value of cryptocurrencies in hryvnias, dollars, and 45 other currencies.

It was developed as a part of the ICO project. The team issued the ERC20 called Binandna coin (BNB). Nowadays BNB has its own blockchain Binance Chain. BNB is taken as a means of payment in a large number of other projects, for example, PundiX. However, paying trading fees on Binance and listing cryptocurrencies on the stock market and tokens proposed in IEOs are BNB's main functions.

Creators, artists, and crypto-enthusiasts are all together on Binance NFT Marketplace for the reason of creating and trading the best NFTs. This platform includes as follows:

1. Events: Binance users have the great opportunity to buy exclusive NFTs created by leading global artists and also authoritative brands and names
2. Marketplace: Its users may choose to mint, purchase, and bet on NFTs from creators from over the world
3. Mystery Box: A chance to win rare NFTs from a "box full of surprises".

Rarible

Let's move further. The next platform which we need to remind is apparently Rarible. This platform allows its users not just to create, but although to sell and buy NFT as well. It should be mentioned that RARI is the Rarible Management Token.

Buying or selling artworks or collectibles (or Marketplace Liquidity Mining) is usual for users of the Rarible platform, due to they may earn tokens from varied activities on it. It is worth noting that Rarible users' right to make decisions about system updates and manage the content sold on the platform is given by the RARI token.

Nifty Gateway

Nifty Gateway is a trading platform that is targeted at professional artists. Most often, Nifty Gateway lots are NFTs of already famous artists and people who have established themselves in the crypto space.

The platform team also pays attention to checking the quality of the works themselves. It is important to note that the platform charges a commission of 5% of the transaction amount for the purchase of the nifty.

It should be noted that Nifty Gateway is the complete opposite of the most popular NFT marketplace on the market – OpenSea. The concept of the latter, on the contrary, implies the complete openness of the market of non-fungible tokens to everyone.

A strict selection of lots allows developers to position Nifty Gateway as a contemporary art dealer. A lot of celebrities post their works on the platform. Among them, Beeple, Pak, Refik Anadol, and other well-known NFT artists are exhibiting at Nifty Gateway. It is worth mentioning that on Nifty Gateway a royalty of 10% of the sales of their nifty is available to digital artists.

Axie Infinity

The next participant in our research is Axie Infinity. It is a void token-based online video game, famed for its in-game economy that uses Ethereum-based cryptocurrencies. This is a blockchain technology game centered around virtual pets named Axies. Players may battle in PvP, or PvE mode to gain AXS and SLP tokens, which can be used to breed and bring up pets and earn real money.

Furthermore, each animal is unique and has a set of strengths and weaknesses. It is also an NFT token and belongs to the player. In addition to fairy-tale creatures, there are other items in the game, which are NFTs as well. All these users may without any effort sell and buy within the Axie Infinity ecosystem.

What are the features of an NFT marketplace?

Speaking about the most popular features of an NFT marketplace necessary to say about the next of them. There are 7 of the most common ones. Let's take a look at them.

The first is the storefront. The idea of an NFT marketplace is very closely intertwined with the usual online store. Therefore, it is necessary to create an interesting and attractive storefront, where it will be easy and without any difficulties to orientate.

The second one is the search options. Therefore, it is obvious that an NFT marketplace should be populated with an efficient and user-friendly search option. In this way, it will allow users easily and momentarily find out an NFT that they need regarding GIF animations, images, music, logos, audio, game elements, videos, etc.

The third one is the filters. And the main goal, of course, is to simplify the search process through the filtering options.

The fourth one is purchase and auction. Various sales tools on your site can be provided by NFT developers, for example, celebrities with a large amounts of followers, who usually get the best prices using auctions.

Next feature is the wallet. Users are generally looking for secure places to store their NFTs. In this case, creating a wallet will be one of the most secure solutions.

The following one is the listing status. Every party in an NFT marketplace requires all the details of the process. For buyers and sellers, the marketplace may provide information about the bids made in the auction, as well as the percentage of users who viewed the file.

The last one is ratings and reviews. All participants have the opportunity to leave their reviews and rate other participants. This directly indicates to others their level of trust. Those who manage to get the highest scores will receive effective rewards.

If you want to know more about this, please follow this article.

How much does it cost to create an NFT marketplace?

Finally, we have come to the most difficult, but exciting part of the topic. It is about the cost of creating an NFT marketplace. It should be emphasized that the cost may vary for many reasons. In other words, the price range for creating an NFT marketplace depends on the amount of work largely.

Thus, if you decide to choose a system that is already ready for installation, the cost for you will be lower. However, if you decide to use the services of a software company to develop the market for non-fungible tokens, then such services will cost more. This is directly related to the fact that developers will need to develop features, create a user flow from the very beginning, and also design a solution for the client. The same applies to the functionality of the platform: the more complex platform you create, the more amount of money you will have to invest in its development.

It should be emphasized that the cost of creating an NFT trading platform also depends on such factors: the level of customization, the number of features included, the technology stack, integration with a third-party API, development time, and developer salaries.

Through our company, the cost of the developed NFT marketplace at the start will be from 80 to 100 thousand dollars. Although, the option may cost more when it comes to a complex platform with dynamic functions.

Final Thoughts

Nowadays the development of an NFT marketplace is one of the recent trends with a constant increase in value all the time. Currently, the platform is attracting more and more new users with its attractive features and the number of non-burnable tokens is constantly increasing. Moreover, investors have increased according to their high trending chart in considering blockchain platforms.

So, if you see an opportunity to develop an NFT marketplace, but still have questions for us, no problem! Let's discuss everything together. Stfalсon specialists are always ready to advise you on any issue. Now there is the perfect time to get into the world of the NFT marketplace, that’s why we wish you to take the plunge and come to us. We will be glad to cooperate with you!