8 steps to making money from your vibe-coded app

Building an app is easier than ever in the age of vibe coding, where you can build software using prompts in your own language. But for small business owners and entrepreneurs, the harder question is, “How do I make money from my app?”

“Building an app and growing a business are two different things,” says Rebecca Tomasis, head of organic growth and AI visibility at Wix and AI app builder Base44. “But growth is a system, not a button you press on launch day. Pick one channel, measure it and keep improving it before you add another.”

While growth channels might look different for different types of apps, there are some tried-and-true strategies entrepreneurs can keep in mind as they launch and scale.

First, know your audience

Once you’ve researched app ideas and decided on your product, you’ll need to identify your audience. Essentially, who are you building your app for?

Create user personas that detail their demographics, behaviors and pain points. You can gather this information through surveys or by talking to potential users. Knowing your audience ensures you build something they’ll actually want to download, use and pay for.

Plan your app’s features

List all the features you want to include, then prioritize them. Start with your must-haves, or the core functions your app needs to work. This means you’ll need to learn how to make a minimum viable product, which keeps your initial build focused and manageable. You can always add the nice-to-haves later.

Choose your monetization model

Research similar apps in your category and see how much they charge and whether they have different subscription tiers. This tells you that people are willing to pay for these services and helps you anchor your own costs.

Now, you’re ready to think through ways to monetize an app. You could sell products, offer paid subscriptions for premium content, charge a one-time download fee or run in-app ads. Some apps use a “freemium” model, where the basic app is free but users can pay for advanced features. Choose a strategy that aligns with your app’s purpose and what your users will find reasonable.

Most profitable apps rely on one or a combination of these strategies.

Freemium model

Users download the app for free but you lock specific advanced features behind a paywall.

For example, if you had a photo editing app, you might let users edit photos for free but include a watermark that can only be removed if they pay. This is known as a gated feature. Or, you might limit usage to free users. Take a dating app: Users could get five available candidates a day, then they’d need to pay for unlimited access.

In-app advertising

If your app has a lot of users who don’t want to pay, you’ll essentially need to monetize their attention. For example, users can choose to watch a 30-second ad in order to get a reward in the app. This is a popular method used in games.

Another option: native ads. These are ads that look like regular content in your feed (common in social media or news apps). They’re less intrusive and have higher click rates, while interstitials are full-screen ads that appear during natural breaks in app usage, such as between game levels.

Subscriptions

Subscriptions are a great way to monetize an app because they offer stable and predictable income. This works best for content apps. Think: Netflix and fitness apps.

In this case, you’d charge a smaller monthly fee over a larger one-time purchase.

In-app purchases

These can be things like consumables used in the game, virtual currency or game health packs. Or it could be what’s often referred to as non-consumables, which means paying to remove ads permanently or unlock specific levels.

Affiliate marketing
This involves promoting other businesses inside your app. Let’s say you have a travel app and you include an affiliate link to buy suitcases; for every sale made through the link, you make a commission.

Sponsorship

If you have a specific niche audience (e.g., cyclists), a brand (e.g., a bike helmet company) might pay you to feature their logo or offer a branded challenge within your app.

You can also use a mix of the above. For example, you could offer a free app with ads but allow users to pay a subscription to remove them. This captures revenue from both paying and non-paying users.

Build your app

And keep revenue in mind throughout the process. Be conscious of how much you’re spending when building an app. “Whenever I was working with a development firm for 2 years, I spent over $125,000 trying to build that. And now for $400 a month, I can build a better product that is more appealing to customers,” says Zak Wright, founder of Grapevine Workplace, on the benefits of an AI app builder.

Publish and launch your app

Once you’ve built and tested your app, it’s time to get it in front of users.

For broader reach, you can also submit your app to the Apple App Store or Google Play Store. To submit, you’ll need to create a developer account ($99 per year for Apple, a one-time $25 fee for Google), prepare screenshots, write a description and set your pricing.

Before you submit, make sure your app store listing is optimized: Use keywords your target users would actually search for, write a compelling description and include high-quality screenshots that show your app’s core value in the first three frames.

Market your app and get your first users

You won’t make money if nobody finds your app. Here’s where to start.

App store optimization (ASO)

ASO is your baseline. Your app’s title, keywords and screenshots all affect where it shows up in search results. Think about what your target user types when they’re looking for a solution to the problem your app solves, and work those terms into your listing.

SEO and content marketing

“Organic search continues to be one of the most powerful and sustainable traffic drivers, especially for B2B businesses,” Tomasis says. “And when built into the site correctly, it creates a long-term growth engine that continues to deliver value over time.”

Content marketing—for example, in the form of blog posts—plays a part too. “If you’re looking to attract people to your website through search engines, blogging remains highly relevant. It’s a great way to get your website content ranking and generate organic traffic, but it’s also an important way to use content to build your brand’s search authority on key topics,” Tomasis notes.

Social media

TikTok, Instagram Reels and YouTube Shorts let you show your app in action, which is more compelling than a static ad. Don’t stress about gaining a huge following: A video showing a real problem your app solves can resonate with the right audience. Post consistently for the first 30 days after launch.

Social media ads can be a great value. “We generated an ad on ChatGPT, put $100 ad spend on Meta, then we woke up to a purchase. That blew my friend’s mind when it happened,” says Yoav Hornung, founder of Gift My Book.

Community-led growth

Community-led growth works especially well in the beginning when you can’t spend big on ads. Find forums, subreddits, Discord servers or Facebook groups where your target users hang out. Participate genuinely, and mention your app when it’s relevant.

Referral programs

Referral programs let your existing users do some of the acquisition work for you. If your app has a freemium or subscription model, offering users extra credits or a free month for referring a friend can drive significant organic growth.

Prioritize retention

Retention matters more than downloads; those are a vanity metric.

Retention is how many users come back on day 2, day 7, and day 30. A user who installs your app and never returns can’t be monetized, no matter how good your strategy is.

That’s why the most profitable apps invest so much in onboarding. A strong onboarding flow shows users the value of your app before asking them for anything. Push notifications, personalized recommendations, and regular updates all help keep users engaged. An early benchmark: aim for a day-7 retention rate above 20%. If users are dropping off before that, revisit your onboarding before anything else.

Automate what you can

This one’s a little indirect, but automating administrative tasks can save you time to expand your business. “Since I have the workflows automated, it allows me to stay focused on the parts that are going to grow the business and build the product,” Wright says. “I never fall back on being inconsistent on the marketing and sales side.”

Be patient

Even the apps that take off rarely do so overnight. Give your strategy time to work before you change course. “December is our first real profitable month,” Hornung says. “We’re pretty close to annualized revenue of $1 million dollars. It took like three months.”

Monetization is a long game, and the founders who win it tend to start before they feel ready. "If I would have done this two years ago, I would be a lot richer than I am now," Wright says.

This story was produced by Base44 and reviewed and distributed by Stacker.