💡7 Pricing Insights

From studying the top 100 grossing apps & 20 of my favorite apps

Hello Friends 👋,

I have recently switched my team & focus from Retention to Monetization & Acquisition on the Duolingo English Test. So I want to learn as much as possible about pricing and packaging.

Finally, this weekend, I locked myself in a room and analyzed the purchase flow & offerings of the top 100 grossing apps on the App Store + 20 of my most used apps that didn’t make the list.

I learned a few things along the way that I would like to share today:

#1 Forever plans are priced at X2.8, the next highest tier

Regardless of whether the following pricing plan was monthly, yearly, or even weekly, forever plans are almost always priced between X2.7-X2.8, the next highest tier shown.

#2 Yearly plans are equivalent to 6 weeks or 10 months

Yearly Plans are priced at X6 weekly plans(or 90% discount) and X10 monthly plans (or 16% discount), depending on the other plan offered.

#3 The most common price points are $4.99 (weekly), $9.99(monthly), and $59.99 (yearly)

Half the weekly plans are priced at $4.99, a quarter of monthly plans are $9.99, and 10% of yearly plans are priced at $59.99.

#5 67% off is the magic discount number

Aggressive discounters use 67% off between yearly and monthly plans. The most utilized pricing points are:

• $9.99 (monthly) vs. $39.99 (yearly)

• Or $14.99 (monthly) vs. $69.99 (yearly)

Examples: Calm, Flo, and Loona.

#6 Streaming platforms like monthly-only plans

Unlike other categories like health & fitness, Education, and Productivity. More than half the streaming subscriptions only offer a monthly plan.
Examples: Spotify, Apple Music, and Youtube Premium

#7 Quarterly and semi-annual plans are underutilized

Of the 120 apps, including the top-grossing 100 apps on the App Store, only 14 offered a quarterly or semi-annual.

However, the small list includes companies with a strong experimentation culture.
Examples: Grammarly, Tinder, and Headway.

Until next week 😉,
Ali Abouelatta