How Much To Charge For Your Mobile App

August 16, 2014

All mobile app entrepreneurs are faced with the issue of how much they should charge for their apps. It is a difficult question. The answer lies in experience, savvy, and experimentation. Let’s explore some of the thought process behind finding the ideal price for your mobile app.

App Stores Prefer Free Apps

First thing is first. The trend in app stores is to make apps free. It is much easier for free apps to get exposure and downloads. Free apps get exponentially more downloads than paid apps. For that reason, the free apps make more money than paid apps because free apps can be monetized in a variety of ways like ads, in-app purchases, selling affiliate products, and much more.

The problem with making your apps free is obvious. As the developer, you probably prefer to make money from people paying you. You didn’t slave over your app just to give it away. And there is no guarantees that your free app will be lucrative because it is entirely up to you to experiment with different monetization strategies inside your free app, and there is no guarantee that you will ever find a great monetization strategy that is as effective as you need.

When It Makes Sense To Charge Money For Your App

Despite the app stores ecosystem pressuring developers to make their apps free, there are many different situations when you should make your app a paid app. Let’s consider them in no particular order.

One case when you can make your app paid is if you are able to get distribution from another platform. For example, if you have a large YouTube channel, you can funnel people from YouTube to buy your app. If you think about it, the whole point behind making your app free is to put it in a position to get downloads. If you get mass distribution from any other platform, and are able to funnel people from there to your app, you can make your app paid.

Another instance when you can make your app paid is when you don’t have the desire or resources to experiment with in-app monetization strategies. It can take a significant amount of your resources (time and money) to find an effective in-app monetization strategy, and there is no guarantee that you will ever find one. For that reason, you can just make your app paid.

Another case when you can make your app paid is if it is something very unique. For example, there is a famous app that lawyers use to study for legal exams. That app is paid, and it is expensive because it is a one of a kind app.

Another instance when an app can be paid is when you sell it to your existing customers as a product in your product line.

Another instance when an app can be paid is when the niche in which you are competing in is not competitive, and the app does not need to compete in the app store against similar apps that are free.

How Much To Charge For Your Paid Apps

Apps live and die by their reviews. What that means for your app price is that your users must be certain that they are getting a good deal when they buy your app. So you are forced to maintain low prices. The lowest price range is the $0.99 to $1.99 with 2.99 already considered mid-range for app pricing. These prices are very problematic because it it difficult to get people to open up their wallets, and when they do, you are only able to extract a few dollars. If a customer is ready to spend more money with your business, you have no way of making that happen.

For an app to be $4.99 or above, it should be quite special, or consumers will revolt by posting reviews that are not very good.

Mobile App Marketing Book And Course

This tutorial is just one section of my mobile app marketing book. Check it out on Amazon. It is available on the Kindle which means that you can read it on the Kindle app of any smart phone. Or take my mobile app business course on Udemy.