Top 14 App Development Ideas

On-demand services boomed between 2019 and 2022, and their growth isn’t slowing down anytime soon – thanks to the pandemic that taught people they could order basics to luxuries, products, and even services and receive them on their doorstep at a tap of the button. 

This boom has further intrigued investors in developing and marketing on-demand mobile applications, and we have case studies of success, including Uber, Doordash, Soothe, Rover, Soothe, Drizly, and Postmates. If you, too, want to take a plunge and launch an app that works on similar mechanisms, here are 20 on-demand app development ideas:

1.    Car repair and wash app 

Like Uber, on-demand car servicing apps also have the potential to shoot to fortune overnight. While most people are busy with their jobs and businesses, an app that could match car owners with car repair professionals and washing staff will prove to be a blessing. 

Ideally, when the app offers on-demand services, it should synchronize when a car owner needs a repair or washing service and when the professional is ready to do the job. So, features should include organization and meeting tools like address, location, calendar, scheduler, etc.

2.    Beauty and skincare services 

The scope and opportunities in this single niche are endless. You can launch a skincare service booking app for different genders or services such as cosmetic treatments and party makeovers. The app idea has potential because of the target audience size, which you’ll obviously define and segment, but again, most segments are highly populated. 

If you already have a salon or beauty parlor functional, then booking home services would be ideal. But if you wish to go a different route, match app users with service providers and product sellers on the same platform, and monetize through commissions and promoting sponsored content.

3.    Laundry app 

According to Statista, the USA alone generated a revenue of over 14,000 million USD in the laundry segment in 2022. The market is expected to grow by 4.72%, with current global revenue of over 96 billion USD. 

Imagine targeting a chunk of this revenue through a mobile app that either directly provides laundry services or matches users with specific laundry service providers. 

Again, like Uber, this app has to synchronize the schedules of app users and service providers with features like calendars and schedulers because the busy lifestyle these days doesn’t allow everyone to do this task at any hour available. An in-app messaging feature, an offsite or onsite laundry option, etc., can skyrocket the user experience. 

You can monetize the app by charging hourly for such services, through commissions when you match service providers, or through promoting sponsored content. These service apps also qualify for monetization through on-peak and off-peak hours. This means that you can increase the hourly service charges during rush hours or hours in the morning that are typically busier than the rest of the day. This will help you maintain the right balance between the demand and supply of your services.

4.    On-demand event management apps

Events are essential parts of personal and professional settings. People need services like birthday party decorations or bridal shower arrangements at home. Companies need vendors to organize commercial events like PR gatherings, create commercial proposals, dinners, annual functions, award ceremonies, exhibitions, etc. So, there is again a considerable market for these apps.

While you can choose to provide all on-demand event management and preparation services under one app, we recommend niching down and starting with specialized services like:

• Decoration
• Catering
• Event planning 
• Venue bookings 
• Invitation design and handling 
• Gift and souvenir preparations 
• Guest management et

First, you must decide if you wish to enter a personal or corporate event space. Then choose the specific services you can provide and allow options for onsite and virtual event management services. Then decide if you’ll be onboarding your team for providing services or if you’ll match service providers.   

You will have to plan this app’s user interface and experience comprehensively. Still, once launched, the app will become a revenue-generating machine and will take one year of consistent efforts, marketing, and customer acquisition campaigns to skyrocket.

5.    Pet care services

The National Pet Owners Survey conducted by the American Pet Products Association revealed that around 70% of US families had at least one pet. This means 90.5 million families in the US alone need pet care.

And what if you provide such a service on the doorstep at the hour when it is desperately needed? While some apps already provide on-demand pet care services, the market is enormous and has considerable space for capitalization.

You can diversify and achieve a competitive advantage by niching down. For example:

• Pet care services like washing, showering, or overall pet care
• Subscription-based services like dog walking and feeding 
• Matching services for pet professionals and vets
• Daily pet grooming and training services 
• Pet breeding services 
• Kennel attendants or remote pet caretaking services

Again, there are many ways you can deploy to make money with such apps. Run featured ads, charge different for on-peak and off-peak hours, match service providers, promote affiliate products, charge commissions on service booking or product sales, and so on.

6.    On-demand healthcare service app

Again, a very competitive area of app development, but this has significant sub-markets that you can target according to your interests and business objectives. In this app domain, you can niche down with the following ideas:

• Diverse healthcare services for physical and mental health
• Matching users with therapists like Talkspace 
• Provide online and onsite meditation sessions 
• Book doctor appointments and charge online 
• Niche-specific medical services, for example, eye and ear care
• Elderly care, midwife, and nursing services

Amwell, Teladoc Health, and Go365 are some successful examples of on-demand healthcare apps with medical matching and telemedicine services. 

7.    Valet and car parking service 

Understanding that parking comes with hassles and a lot of trouble, especially when you are in a hurry, opens new opportunities for real-time valet services. While there are car parking apps available that show the real-time location of available vacant slots, an on-demand valet service can further revolutionize the space and provide a unique user experience. 

The logical functioning of the app would start with a user booking a valet service for a specific time and area, and service providers can accept/offer work matching their schedules. This can come in handy for car pickups and drop-offs near commercial areas with many offices and airports.

8.    Home cleaning and smart home care services 

In households where both partners work full-time, home chores like room cleaning and dishwashing remain a daunting task. And such households are increasing quickly, now more than ever. An app that could provide spot-on cleaning services like Uber provides rides and would be a blessing in disguise, especially for working moms. 

Another service you can offer in the same app is a remote home monitoring service. This shares lines with security and safety and childcare services too. Because smart homes are automated and have cameras and intelligent security locks, children still need constant monitoring when parents aren’t around, and children are left alone with nannies.

9.    Shared accommodation app for students 

Do you want to replicate the Airbnb model with a platform, especially for students? Launch an app that matches international students seeking cheap shared accommodations and homeowners with vacant space for 1-2 persons and furniture. 

This app has a market in 1st world countries where students from overseas come to study and stay for 1 to 2 years but don’t want to pay for hostels for some reason. Building on this, the target audience for this app should be the USA, UK (London and Scotland), Germany, Australia, Canada, China, and Japan.   

Such an app can even get popular with students on semester transfer and exchange programs, youth attending international summer camps and conferences, internships, and traineeships. 

For the user interface of a student accommodation app, you need to consider different currencies and online payment options, facilities like attached bath and/or kitchen, hours of stay, cleaning options, personal details like allergies or diseases, etc.

10.  Plumbing and carpenter services

Uber for Plumbers and HOMEE are two quick and popular examples of applications that provide on-demand plumbing services. But there is still space for new and better apps in the market that offer similar yet diverse services in the niche. If you wish to launch such an app, you can niche down with the following ideas:

• Carpenter services for homes and small offices 
• Plumbing services for homes and small offices
• Service, repair, and maintenance of plumbing 
• Sanitary or kitchen plumbing 
• Construction or water supply plumbing 
• Installation services for gas pipes
• Roofing, framing, and cabinet carpentry 
• Scaffolding and staging services 

For these services, you can give your app users two options: book ad-hoc real-time services or schedule for the next day or next week’s services. Of course, users in an emergency would be willing to pay a higher hourly rate.

11. Lawn and garden care  

These services again can be for residential and commercial settings. Suppose you are experienced in related services, lawn care, indoor and outdoor gardening, and plant nursery maintenance. In that case, you can choose to launch a large-scale app-based business providing services only to corporates. 

Add on with the services of regular plant and garden caretakers and niche down with the following ideas:

• Weed prevention and protection
• Fumigation
• Garden cleaning and wind-up services 
• Garden planning and setup
• Garden accessories and plant care product sales
• Pest control and prevention 
• Plant doctors on demand 
• Plant deliveries 
• Weeding and trimming    
• Artificial plant setup and care 
• Water and organic garden set up and care 

You can apply the same model for residential and small office settings if you only wish to match garden care providers.

12. Interior and exterior decoration services 

While the market and target audience that will book services are considerable, there is less diversity in the content you can offer. So, for this kind of app, we recommend you offer multiple services together and don’t niche down. However, for sub-types, you can consider providing services in the following:

• Kitchen décor 
• Bathroom, washrooms, and wardrobe setups 
• Minimalistic home setup
• Modern architecture
• American craftsmanship 
• Pavements and ceiling services 

With décor, you can add landscaping services for walls, pathways, entryways, garage care, and patios.

13. Moving and packing services

Last, in the list of unique on-demand app development ideas, you can create a network of movers and packers and offer them as services on an app. For the target market, you can acquire customers, including people who are about to shift accommodation. These small offices are probably moving to other buildings and corporates that are changing locations altogether.

While such services need 360 coverage for success, here are service features you’ll need to bundle up:

• Packing and moving to warehouses
• Cleaning and winning up
• Transportation and repositioning

Considering this service’s nature, most app users will need your staff or vendor for more than one day. Ideally, you can charge for a bundle subscription or promote sponsored vendors. Charging for hourly rates is not ideal in this kind of business because you have multiple products and staff working together.

14. Astrology app with AI and ML

Humans are always keen to inquire about their future. And the scope of astrology has plagued numerous cultures and civilizations since ancient times leading up to the digital age.

Hence, various Astrology app development efforts use artificial intelligence and machine learning to improve and display future predictions for the users.

Consider Co-Star, a social networking platform providing personalized, real-time horoscopes. The app registered 800k visitors per month in December 2021.

Therefore, there is a rising demand for AI and ML-based astrology apps for businesses to explore.

Wrapping Up…

While on-demand app development needs a robust backend, database, and appealing user interfaces, the logical roadmaps of such apps have to synchronize what consumers want, what vendors are providing, their schedules, attendance, real-time booking and scheduling, and so on.

Most of these applications are not tickets to overnight fortune – they’ll need marketing and customer acquisition efforts. But once launched and tested in the market, these can help digital, and brick-and-mortar businesses achieve their revenue goals 2x faster.