How to Actually Make Money From Your App
You built a cool app, and now you need to find a way to actually earn money from it. The good news is that there are proven ways to monetize apps that work. The bad news is that picking the wrong strategy can make people uninstall the app, and never return.
We’ve composed a list of what works in 2025.
Before You Choose a Model
Don't just copy what your biggest competitors are doing, the model they’re using won't necessarily work for your app. Before picking a monetization strategy, figure out three things:
Know Your Users
Are they willing to pay upfront? Do they hate ads? Would they subscribe to ongoing value? Find out what your coming users might be most interested in. A gaming audience might love rewarded ads, but users of a professional tool will probably pay to avoid them entirely.
Most apps work best in a freemium / subscription model, but if that model can’t work for you, it’s worth considering if the app should be fully paid for upfront, or it should have a free app + paid app versions.
Don't Kill the Experience
Aggressive monetization kills apps; no one wants to watch full-screen ads every 30 seconds. People will delete your app and leave a 1-star review, which is the fastest way to make your app completely worthless.
Watch the Numbers
Track everything possible, what is working, what isn’t working, look at user retention, lifetime value, and how people actually interact with your monetization. If half your users close the app, or even uninstall after seeing your paywall, something's wrong. It can be a lot of things, but figuring out what the issue is early is worth a lot. Often, it comes down to the premium version not giving enough value or being too expensive.
The Three Main Ways to Monetize
1. Charge for the App
The simplest model: people pay to download, but this only works if your app offers something they can't get for free elsewhere.
You need either unique features, premium content, or a way better experience than the free alternatives.
Free Trial: Let people use the full app for a week or a month, then charge them. Shows them the value first, then makes them pay. It works because people get hooked on the features before they have to pay.
Freemium Version: Give away a basic version for free, charge for the good stuff. LinkedIn does this. So does Tinder. You get enough functionality to be useful, but the premium features are locked behind a paywall.
Pay Less First Month: Many apps lately have moved to charging a very low amount for the first month, then the full amount later. It’s a bit more sketchy, as many of these apps live on people forgetting they signed up for the subscription.
The problem with paid apps? Way fewer downloads and people scroll right past paid apps unless they already know they want them.
2. In-App Purchases
This is the largest and most widely used model, free to download, but you can buy it in-app.
Almost all games use this model, where you can buy coins, power-ups, and extra lives. Productivity apps do it too for unlocking premium features, buying templates, and removing ads.
The advantage is you get a ton of downloads because the app is free, then convert the people who actually use it into paying customers. The downside is that many users uninstall quickly if they’re not really interested in the first few minutes of the experience.
Three types of in-app purchases:
Consumables - Buy it, use it, buy it again. Think extra lives in a game or credits in a photo editing app. Gets bought repeatedly.
Non-Consumables - Buy it once, keep it forever. Premium filters, ad removal, pro features. One-time purchase, permanent access.
Subscriptions - Pay monthly or yearly for ongoing access. This is huge right now. Apps love subscriptions because they create recurring revenue instead of one-time payments.
Subscriptions can auto-renew (user gets charged automatically) or non-renewing (they have to manually resubscribe). Auto-renew makes more money but can annoy users if they forget to cancel.
3. In-App Ads
Free app, show ads, get paid. This is how most free apps make money.
The trick is not being annoying about it. Too many ads and people delete your app, and maybe even leave a bad review.
Types of ads that work:
Banner Ads: Small ads at the top or bottom of the screen. Easy to implement, don't interrupt much, but don't pay great either. Angry Birds uses these.
Interstitial Ads: Full-screen ads that pop up between actions. Like between game levels. They pay better but can be annoying if you show them too often. Candy Crush does this between levels.
Rewarded Video Ads: Users watch a video ad and get something in return - extra lives, in-game currency, bonuses. These actually work well because users choose to watch them. Temple Run does this.
Native Ads: Ads that blend into your app's design so they don't look like ads. Less annoying, better user experience. Apps like Flipboard use these.
The best apps mix ad types. Show banner ads during gameplay, interstitials between levels, rewarded videos as an option.
What Actually Works
Subscriptions are king right now. Recurring revenue is way more valuable than one-time purchases. If you can justify a subscription model, do it.
Combine strategies. Lots of apps use freemium + in-app purchases + ads. Free version with ads, paid version removes ads and unlocks features, giving users more options, and yourself more revenue potential.
Test everything. Try different price points. Test ad frequency. See what users actually respond to. The data will tell you what works for your specific app and audience.
Premium features need to be worth it. If your paid features aren't solving real problems or adding real value, nobody's buying.
Common Mistakes
Charging too early. If you ask for money before users understand the value, they bounce.
Too many ads. Showing ads every 10 seconds makes people hate your app.
Complicated pricing. If users can't figure out what they're paying for, they won't pay.
Ignoring user feedback. If people are complaining about your monetization, listen. They're telling you why they're about to delete your app.
The Real Answer
There's not a simple answer to the monetization strategy as it’s different for each niche, games can get away with aggressive in-app purchases where productivity tools need subscriptions or one-time payments more often than not.
Figure out what your users will tolerate, what value you're actually providing, and test different approaches until you find what works.
Most successful apps didn't get their monetization right on the first try, in terms of pricing and structure, but the chosen model should not be changed too often, as it will confuse your customers. Everyone has to test, adjust, and refine until they find the balance between making money and keeping users happy.