Is in-app advertising or in-app purchase better for a free app?
Advertising earns a small amount from almost every user; in-app purchases earn a large amount from a very small minority — and for most non-game utility apps, advertising is the more reliable of the two. The reason is conversion: typical in-app purchase conversion on a free app is around 1–3% of users, and in many utility categories well under 1%, so purchase revenue depends on a handful of paying users you may not have. Advertising monetises the other 97% at a low but predictable rate. The strongest apps combine them deliberately: ads as the default revenue floor, plus a paid “remove ads” or premium tier for the minority who dislike them, which converts precisely the users whose ad revenue you lose. Games are the exception where purchases can dominate, because the reward loop creates genuine willingness to pay.
Own a Google Play developer account?
ConsoleMint is an app monetization company: it builds Android apps, publishes them, maintains them and monetizes them with in-app advertising, then shares the ad revenue with the publishing partner whose Google Play account distributes them. Developer-role access only — never owner access, never a password — revocable with 30 days notice.
See how ConsoleMint works →A fixed monthly payout while the apps ramp up, then a share of the ad revenue.Related questions
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