Three Reasons Your App Should Be Free

By Author: Susan Smith
Total Articles: 132
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Deciding whether your company is going to offer its app as a free or paid option is undoubtedly a decision that will eventually need to be made. It may seem like the simplest of choices, and in some ways it is, except that a lot can ride on which direction you go. Most notably, a company’s profits and revenue can depend entirely on such a decision. In fact, it is best that you make the decision as early as possible in the development process, in order to give more time to plan accordingly. For those attempting to set their app’s pricing options, here are three reasons why you may want to offer it for free to mobile device users.

A Competitor Offers Their App For Free

One of, if not the biggest indication that you should offer your app for free, is if a competitor does so first. Unless your app is undeniably superior in its user experience, it will be incredibly hard to justify charging more money. While you may instinctually think your app is still of better quality, if you decide to charge for it, you should at least let your customers make the determination. In other words, if your customers think your app ...
... is equal or less than the quality of a competitor’s free app, you should most certainly not charge for yours.

You Can Make Advertising Revenue

With the current direction that mobile advertising is headed, an app has the potential to make a significant and constant revenue stream if users like it. If you believe your app has such potential, then you may wish to consider offering it for free in the hopes of increasing its user base. In doing so, you may be able to boost the number of users your app has, and subsequently garner more mobile advertising revenue. This is an important realization for your company to make. It boils down to how will you make revenue, and turn a profit. In some cases, profiting off of mobile ad revenue is most effective when an app is offered for free. If you deem this the case, then you should take the necessary course of action to boost revenue.

Your App Does Not Need Revenue

While it can be rare that a company does not need to make revenue from its mobile offerings, nonetheless, it is still an attractive position to be in. For larger companies that use their app(s) primarily for e-commerce, charging just does not make sense. If your customers are using your app to make purchases, which leads to revenue, then anything other than offering the app for free simply would not make sense. Not needing your app to make revenue is an ideal position to be in, not many companies have such a luxury, which is why you should use it to your advantage and that of your customers.

Conclusion

Choosing whether to offer your app for free or as a paid option entirely depends on the circumstances of your business. It is a simple decision that can hold serious weight in terms of the success of your app and company as a whole. If your app falls under any of the aforementioned three categories, you should seriously consider making it free. Otherwise, you can potentially jeopardize its success and the mission of your company to make a profit.

The author is associated with one of the leading enterprise application developer firms, iPhone application development Dallas and Dallas mobile app development company