After the invention of perfect idea for a new application, there is one more decision to be made before you start developing it. Chosen business idea should match your goals and expectations from the product. Let’s check all pros and cons of paid and free apps.
– Paid application is obviously the most appropriate option for developers. Programmer will do his best, knowing, that he will receive money from each downloading. So, some users are ready to download new apps for money, because they are sure in its quality and ads absence. Selling the application directly to consumers seems to be safest and most sure way to make a profit. Is it? Most researches show, that only 20% of paid apps are downloaded more than 100 times. There is also a difference between Android and iOS marketplaces. Android users are more skeptical of paying for the apps and prefer free applications, while iOS customers are quite tolerant to different paid apps. To sum up, paid apps are valuable, as they don’t demand extra charges, are well-made and usually have astonishing design and interface. But in the crowded marketplace of nowadays, there are too many competitors, which can offer free substitute for your product. So your paid application has to be more or less unique and catchy in order to be successful and popular.
– Freemium Model is an idea for the product to be downloaded for free, but with consideration for some paid purchases. This option is obviously the most convenient both to the programmer and to the customer. In such way, user can check the application in order to make a decision, if this app is OK and he is going to use it, he will pay for the new features. Of course most people prefer to download apps for free and use only no-charge functions. That’s why some developers provide limits in usage in order to force users to pay for unlimited opportunities. So, free apps with paid purchases could be a perfect option for the user and the developer, but it isn’t appropriate for all kinds of applications.
– Free apps are the most popular among users. You can download it and delete it immediately, if you don’t like the app, as many times as you want. The most distractive thing for users in this business model are ads. For the developer, ads are the only way to make money. If you want to grow your user base by developing free apps of good quality, you should be careful with ads you’re putting in. Banners and pop-ups have to be appropriate and match the category of people, which use your application. Especially, if age limit of your product allow children to download it.
Developing an application of good quality is a hard work. Making profit from its selling isn’t an easier procedure. There is no definite answer to the question, which monetization strategy is better. The trick is to explore the marketplace, to take into the consideration the subject of your app and not to forget about possible competitors.
