A big mistake lots of developers make is charging a fixed, one-time fee for your app upfront. This is a completely dead idea that almost never makes sense anymore. The reason is there are two scenarios for an app you might launch in terms of monetization:

Your product is not something people are willing to pay for
Your product is something people are willing to pay for

If you have launched as a paid upfront app and you generate sales, that means you have validated point #1 — people are willing to pay. Great, this is a good place to be. That likely means you could launch with a subscription and successfully convert users. Subscriptions will net you significantly more money over the long run because of recurring purchases/monthly recurring revenue. So by doing paid up-front, you’re leaving money on the table.

If point #2 is the case and you aren’t able to generate sales from a paid up-front app, then you are missing out on all the downloads and user feedback you’d get from the feedback of free users. If you can’t convince people to pay, your #1 goal is figuring out why and iterating on the product to convince people that your app is worth paying for. User feedback is critical to this.

A much better idea if you don’t want to offer a free tier of your product is to paywall the majority of the app. If it’s a workout app, allow 1 or 2 free workouts for users and then require a subscription to continue. You can always introduce a lifetime subscription in the app but rather than trying to convince them to purchase just via your App Store listing, you can welcome them into your app and show them all the benefits of paying with a more in-depth paywall, videos, and text.

Zachary Shakked

Tip #3 – Don't Make Your App Paid Up-Front