Pricing Apps: More is Better

AppsFire recently did some work trying to determine which apps on Apple’s AppStore are the most profitable? Surprisingly, it’s not the cheapo $0.99 apps that are making all the money (through volume, everyone assumes). It’s the high quality apps that charge more:

This list computed using the simple UNITS SOLD x UNIT PRICE formula may yield a few ‘outliers’ and the science is not perfect [...]. In any case, the findings are staggering: the money makers are real apps, all very solid, all but one with a price tag greater or equal to $2.99, but often well above $10.00. The top app costs $899 and the second one $99. These apps solve real issues, and are made by solid developers. And guess what, they are deriving serious revenues too!

The key takeaway here is for the developers and businesses that are hard at work developing apps: if your app brings something real to the table, be it a game or a utility similar to the ones you find on the left, then price it accordingly. The price is right when there is a salary at the end of the month. Don’t succomb to the temptation of the $0.99 app, it’s a lure and only serves to feed the get-rich-quick fairy tales that even kids would find hard to believe.

The only app I ever put up on the AppStore is Chewy Xbox, and it was free because Microsoft said it had to be (because it accesses their Xbox Live information). And I’ll be re-releasing the app soon, with some improvements. Most of my work was done for other people, and I now have a full time job doing iPhone work. [Update: I won't be releasing the app after all. The source of Xbox Live data I use is no longer reliable, and I can't find a replacement. Microsoft has ignored me.]

So I can’t say from experience that apps that sell for more than $0.99 do better than the 99 cent apps. But if I ever do end up selling an app on the AppStore, I plan to sell if for more than 99 cents. Because I think all the time and effort I’d put into an app is worth at least the price of a coffee.