When you spend time, money, and other precious resources on app development, you probably aren’t doing it out of the goodness of your heart. There’s a purpose to the madness and it probably is for increased revenue, improved brand reputation, and boosted subscriber rates.
If you are looking to make money from an app, and who isn’t, then we have created the ultimate guide for you. Keep reading to find out some tips that will ensure your free apps still end up making profits for you.
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Paid vs Free Apps
When you are building an app, you first have to decide whether you want to make your app paid from the get-go or if you wish to keep it free to download, and then charge on the backend. Both are viable options but do keep in mind that building a paid app will reduce the number of downloads.
Lots of people will download a free app and never use it, so there’s that as well. Consider both options carefully and then pick one.
In-App Purchases
You can make money by making it possible for customers to purchase coins, credits, or other upgrades inside the app, once they use it for a while. For example, in some comic apps, you can buy coins to get access to the latest comics faster or to special chapters.
In-App Advertising
If you don’t want to bug people to buy something from you, then you can have advertising in your app discreetly on top or the bottom, and make money that way. It’s an easy way to make money, and if your subscribers don’t like the ads, they can upgrade to an ad-free version for an added cost.
Upselling Them After a Free Trial
This is a popular way to make money from apps. Your free downloaders get a 7-day or a month-long trial where they can use the app as they desire. But once that trial period ends, they have to subscribe or they lose access to everything.
Selling Merchandise
If you have an app with special characters or emoticons, you could create merch out of these graphics and sell it to customers. It does require some dropshipping efforts on your part, but it’s well worth the profits you would make.
Asking for Donations
Some apps are absolutely free, but ask their subscribers to give donations to help support them. If the app is giving great benefits to the subscribers, then the subscribers would be happy to give a few dollars to support the creator.
Make Money From an App Using Several Methods
To make money from an app, you don’t have to stick to one method or another. You can choose several of them and use them all at once.
Just ensure you don’t annoy your customers too much by constantly notifying them about these opportunities to upgrade or buy.
