Free Apps vs. Paid Apps

To buy or not to buy… that is the question many ask themselves while browsing the App Store or Play Store. And you may be asking yourself, what will make the most profit? Today we will explore the pros and cons of free apps with in-app purchase versus paid apps.

Free Apps

Free apps have no download threshold. There is absolutely no barrier for a customer to download an app, test it out and make a judgement on whether they want to keep it. This is a huge benefit for apps that are just launching and don’t have a ton of brand recognition. The lack of threshold makes it easy to get a ton of users, quickly. Monetizing a free app is relatively simple and when a user clicks on an ad in your app, you make money. With free apps, expectations are lower, so if your app isn’t completely polished yet, you won’t lose anything if someone deletes your app from their phone. Free apps are more likely to get positive reviews than paid apps, which is fantastic for app store optimization. The one real drawback is that with a free app, there is no guaranteed profit. If you don’t have a solid monetization strategy, you won’t make much money at all, so strategy is key.

Paid Apps

The moment someone decides to purchase your app, you’re making money. If you’ve got a large following, a paid app might be for you! You’ll need a solid marketing strategy and some major benefits to draw in users enough that they’ll want to purchase your app. If your app looks like 30 others on the search page, it’s likely you won’t make much of a profit, especially if there’s a free app that does the same things as yours. You can monetize a paid app, but users feel that if they’ve already purchased your app they shouldn’t have to be bombarded with ads. Now, if what you are selling is of high value to your followers, you’ll make easy money. Ensure you’re choosing a solid developer team that can make your app stand out in the crowd!

The Bottom Line

There are benefits and drawbacks to paid and free apps, and it’s up to you to decide what will best serve your business or passive revenue plans. By doing your research and exploring what is already available, you can decide on a strategy that will maximize your profits!