Most Subscription Apps Don't Make Money, Report Shows (techcrunch.com) 33
According to a new analysis of the subscription app economy from mobile subscription toolkit provider RevenueCat, the top 5% of apps generate 200 times the revenue of the bottom quartile after their first year, while the median monthly revenue an app generates after 12 months is under $50 USD. From a report: The "State of Subscription Apps" report offers a bird's-eye view into the subscription app universe, as RevenueCat has nearly 30,000 apps using its platform's tools to manage their monetization. Outside of Apple and Google, that makes RevenueCat the largest collection of subscription app developers on one platform.
This report specifically looks at data from over 29,000 apps and over 18,000 developers who collectively generate over $6.7 billion in tracked revenue and have over 290 million subscribers. After crunching its data, the company found that only 17.2% of apps will reach even $1,000 in monthly revenue, but after they hit that point, the odds of them growing further increase.
This report specifically looks at data from over 29,000 apps and over 18,000 developers who collectively generate over $6.7 billion in tracked revenue and have over 290 million subscribers. After crunching its data, the company found that only 17.2% of apps will reach even $1,000 in monthly revenue, but after they hit that point, the odds of them growing further increase.
Subscription? Lol (Score:5, Interesting)
Any new subscription demand presented to me gets closed down right away. I and I assume most people have become allergic to subscriptions.
Two examples:
Passmore - A place to buy caviar online for an occasional treat. They stopped selling it like a normal product and switched to a subscription model. Fuck that.
Rocksmith - A good guitar playing game - pay for tunes you like, it detects your accuracy as you play along. They switched to a subscription model, Disabled all the music you had already purchased and added music no one has heard of from the bargain bin. Fuck that.
Re:Subscription? Lol (Score:4, Interesting)
I'm old school. I pay once and that's it. Until a new version comes, then I pay again. I apply the same principle to software I get for free, even though I don't have to pay for it.
Re: Subscription? Lol (Score:2)
I paid for a Windows app called "The Brain". What I was allegedly buying was future updates. Then they changed the name to "Personal brain" and claimed it was a different program, which it very much was not. Fucking scum.
Re: Subscription? Lol (Score:2)
I pay a subscription for a disc golf app. There is data that they collect on courses that would be less useful if it did not receive regular updates.
Re: (Score:2)
Ditto like AdGuard Pro. Thanks God I paid before they got rid of it and went subscription based.
Re: (Score:2)
I'm old school. I pay once and that's it. Until a new version comes, then I pay again. I apply the same principle to software I get for free, even though I don't have to pay for it.
Thats not "old school", that's called being a sucker.
Old School: I pay once, I own it in perpetuity.
Re: (Score:2)
I'm old school. I pay once and that's it. Until a new version comes, then I pay again. I apply the same principle to software I get for free, even though I don't have to pay for it.
Thats not "old school", that's called being a sucker.
Old School: I pay once, I own it in perpetuity.
That doesn't work for software. Once the version you have stop receiving security updates, it's not safe to use it. Also, I am not a sucker. Other than games and consoles, all the software I use at home is free, and since I can't code, nor can find time to translate, giving money to the projects is my way to contribute.
Re: (Score:2)
Most subscription "services" do not make money because there are either too niche, or too useless.
Niche are the apps that try to do one thing, but nobody really needs the service more than once. Who really needs a subscription to a food, do you really love that food that much that you'd eat it every day? No.
Like I enjoy subway, but I'm not going to buy the same Tuna Sub every day, I want the meatball sub, I want the steak sub, but more importantly I want something other than a damn sub.
The other side is the
Re: Subscription? Lol (Score:2)
It's why I don't buy any newly released games anymore. In one way or another, they have a monetisation component baked-in. I now only get games from GoG and I love it. I get to enjoy all the old/older games that I wanted to play as a child but never had time, reliving my childhood again.
For me sub = the kiss of death (Score:2)
I avoid subscription apps as hard as I can. If there's no other alternative I will grudgingly play along. So far the only ones I can't "live without" are RadarScope for doppler weather radar, and ForScore, a glorified PDF reader for the ipad with pencil support, layers, etc. it's geared towards musicians. I'm just a lowly piano / violin student but went paperless 3 years ago, not looking back.
So, hear this, app appy app devs -- Sub = death. Be a man, charge a price, we pay the price, we both walk away
Re: (Score:2)
My favorite mapping app, Locus Maps Pro, I think I paid $7 maybe 6 or 8 years ago?
They switched to a subscription service a few years ago, but I am perfectly happy with the app I one-time-purchased so I don't have their current software.
But the thing is, I can see how nobody can survive by getting $7 from each user once only - unless it is a runaway success with millions of users.
Re: (Score:2)
I'm okay with subscriptions for apps that provide ongoing services hosted by the vendor that I want. Streaming services, cloud storage etc, but I resent an app that should be stand alone like Office trying to be subscription-based. I always used Linux for servers, and would keep an old Laptop to run Linux, but now the situation is reversed and my daily driver is Linux Mint and the old PC has Windows 10 on it. i don't have sunscription BS on the computers anymore.
Sturgeon's law would seem to apply here (Score:2)
https://simple.wikipedia.org/w... [wikipedia.org]
"90% of everything is crap."
Re: (Score:2)
"90% of everything is crap."
I'm afraid that's up to 95% now. Inflation, and all that.
Re: (Score:2)
Sturgeon was an optomist.
Most apps don't make money (Score:3)
Do most "serious" apps make enough to pay for an annual LLC fee? Possibly.
Do most "serious" apps also make enough to pay for a computer every few years? A few.
Do most "serious" apps also make enough to pay for the development team's time? Rarely.
Do most "serious" apps also make a non-trivial cash flow beyond all expenses? Hardly any.
The app market could be characterized as a "hobbyist" market. That said, a "hobbyist" could create a great high quality app. But that is only part of the problem. There is also the app fulfilling a decently sized need or want of the market, and doing so better than any competition.
In many cases an app is a good way for a person to show a potential employer they can build something that works. From idea to publishing. To finish what they start. That can differentiate an applicant of low formal experience from the rest. I expect many apps do have this value to their developer.
Re: (Score:3)
So, a person creates an app, that fits a niche enough to start making money and a knockoff appears that literally steals customers. That's the real competition. And it sucks.
Re: (Score:2)
So, a person creates an app, that fits a niche enough to start making money and a knockoff appears that literally steals customers. That's the real competition. And it sucks.
Well that's the situation in every market. Digital, physical, online, brick and mortal, local, global, etc.
That's why copyright and trademark are important so that customers are at least knowingly buying the competing product rather than doing so by mistake.
That's also why investors ask about patents. Vastly preferring intellectual property protection over plans based upon marketshare and switching costs (network effect). Now if you already have a large marketshare and if the switching cost is high, t
Re: (Score:2)
The only on that stop people unknowingly buying someone else's product is trademark. I can place in big bold letters no money is an unauthorised copy of a song and I am still breaking copyright, and I can make a thing that clearly states not the original on and it still breaks patents.
Competition is good it forces companies to be efficient and make good products without it they just produce crap you have to deal with because no one else is allowed to do better.
It only really serves to protect big players be
Re: (Score:2)
Without it the only winners will be the largest entities that exert monopolistic and other pressures. Copyrights and patents level the playing field. Small startups use them every day to get off the ground.
Re: (Score:2)
Without it the only winners will be the largest entities that exert monopolistic and other pressures
How is that different from what we have now.
Copyrights were a good idea until corps started abusing them left, right and center.
Re: (Score:2)
Without it the only winners will be the largest entities that exert monopolistic and other pressures
How is that different from what we have now.
The very next sentence explained that: "Copyrights and patents level the playing field. Small startups use them every day to get off the ground."
Re: (Score:2)
If someone made the campground search all that I want, I'd pay $100/year for it.
Re: (Score:2)
Most "serious" apps don't make money, whether fully paid up front, utilizing in-app purchase, or subscriptions. "Serious" meaning the goal was to repay and reward one's efforts in its creation and maintenance.
Do most "serious" apps make enough to pay for an annual LLC fee? Possibly.
Do most "serious" apps also make enough to pay for a computer every few years? A few.
Do most "serious" apps also make enough to pay for the development team's time? Rarely.
Do most "serious" apps also make a non-trivial cash flow beyond all expenses? Hardly any.
The app market could be characterized as a "hobbyist" market. That said, a "hobbyist" could create a great high quality app. But that is only part of the problem. There is also the app fulfilling a decently sized need or want of the market, and doing so better than any competition.
In many cases an app is a good way for a person to show a potential employer they can build something that works. From idea to publishing. To finish what they start. That can differentiate an applicant of low formal experience from the rest. I expect many apps do have this value to their developer.
Developers don't make money from Apps... they make money by convincing everyone and their dog that they need an App (that is essentially a web browser) and charging themselves out by the hour.
I think we're reaching the post app age where companies are realising they don't need an app but rather just a functional, easy to find website so when I type "mybank" into google it takes me to mybank.co.uk and there's a big, easy to find button that says "Online Banking" which is what I wanted in the first place.
Customer base? (Score:2)
I reckon those top 5% earners are the 'best' in their categories with a general appeal to the population, and the lowest earners are either bad or so incredibly niche they only have a handful of potential users even before seeing if people want to pay for it.
In other words: This is how markets work.
It's actually simpler (Score:2)
Most Apps Don't Make Money
Most apps done by students / hobbyists (Score:2)
Expected larger discrepancy (Score:3)
I'm surprised the top 5% of apps only made 200 times the revenue of the bottom quartile. I would have expected that multiplier to be in the the millions, as I expected the average earnings of the bottom quartile to be nearly $0.
I'm curious what they meant by a subscription app. About half of the apps on my phone's home screen require paid subscriptions, but I don't pay them in the app store. Examples include Netflix, Prime Video and YouTube, all of which I have a monthly or yearly subscription for. But I don't think I have a single subscription which is managed by Google's Play Store.
Re: (Score:2)
This among apps using a revenue tracking service. Those making $0 are unlikely to be in that cohort.
Better than OnlyFans (Score:2)