Free vs paid app?
Answer seven questions.
There's no universally "right" way to charge for an app — only the model that fits your audience, your costs and your goal. This free tool walks your specifics and recommends a monetization model: free, freemium, paid, subscription or hybrid. Every recommendation is computed from your own answers, and the logic is shown in full — nothing is hidden or random.
Answer all seven to unlock your result.
The five models at a glance
| Model | How it earns | Strengths | Trade-offs | Best when |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Free | Ads, sponsorships, data, or a loss-leader for another product. | Lowest barrier to adoption; fastest path to scale and network effects. | Monetization is indirect and thin per user; needs huge reach to pay off. | Mass audience, strong network effects, growth valued over near-term revenue. |
| Freemium | Free core tier plus paid upgrades for power features or higher limits. | Wide top of funnel that converts a slice to paying; land-and-expand. | You fund free users; conversion is often low and must be designed for. | Broad appeal with a clear premium tier and real upgrade triggers. |
| Paid (one-time) | A single up-front purchase to download or unlock the app. | Simple, honest, no ongoing billing; revenue on day one. | No recurring revenue to fund ongoing costs; every sale starts from zero. | Niche audience that already pays, low per-user cost, self-contained utility. |
| Subscription | Recurring monthly or annual fee for continued access. | Predictable recurring revenue that funds ongoing cost and improvement. | You must keep delivering value or users churn; higher commitment to buy. | Continuous value delivery and real per-user running costs to cover. |
| Hybrid | A blend — e.g. free with in-app purchases, or paid plus a subscription. | Captures several willingness-to-pay levels from one product. | More complex to build, price and explain; can confuse positioning. | Signals point at two models at once, or you have both consumables and a core product. |