1
Sell upgrades, consumables and subscriptions inside an iOS or Android app through the store's billing, at a 15-30% store cut.
Mobile app
8.0/10
In-app purchases sell things inside a mobile app: a one-off unlock (pro features, remove ads), consumables (coins, credits), and subscriptions (monthly or annual access to premium features or content). Apple and Google require their own billing for digital goods, take a cut, and in return handle payment methods, tax, receipts, refunds and renewals everywhere the app is sold. Subscription infrastructure… Read more →
Pros
- The store handles payment, tax, refunds and renewals in 170 countries
- Subscriptions renew automatically; a good app keeps 40-60% of subscribers past year one
- Pairs with ads: sell the ad-free tier to the users who hate ads
Cons
- Apple and Google take 30% (15% under $1M a year and for renewals after year one)
- Store review, policy changes and refund abuse are outside your control
- Most users never pay; the free experience must be good on its own
Earns: $20-150 per 1,000 monthly users; 2-5% of users pay · First payout: 1-3 months · Cost to start: $100-500 (developer accounts, tools) · in-app purchase app subscription revenuecat app store paywall screen
2
Charge a monthly or annual fee for software: the highest-margin, highest-multiple revenue on the web, and the most work.
Mobile appSaaSFree tool
8.6/10
Software as a service is the subscription business model applied to a tool: users pay monthly or yearly for continued access, and you keep improving it. Micro-SaaS is the one-person version: a narrow tool solving one problem for one audience, often born from a free utility or a spreadsheet you built for yourself. Pricing is per seat, per usage or… Read more →
Pros
- Recurring revenue that compounds; churn under 3% makes every customer worth 30+ months
- Sells at 3-8x annual revenue when you exit, far above content sites
- Billing (Stripe, Paddle, Lemon Squeezy) and hosting are commodities now
Cons
- Building, supporting and securing software is a full-time job before the first customer
- Churn, support load and competitors who copy features
- Free tools that become paid lose most of their users at the moment of the switch
Earns: $40-400 per 1,000 visitors; $10-100 MRR per customer · First payout: 3-9 months · Cost to start: $50-500/mo (hosting, tools) · saas mrr churn stripe freemium
3
Rewarded video, interstitials and banners inside an app, auctioned across networks by a mediation layer.
Mobile app
7.8/10
Apps monetize with ad units rendered by an SDK: banners at the edge of the screen, interstitials between screens or levels, rewarded video the user chooses to watch for an in-app reward, native units inside feeds, and app-open ads. A mediation platform (Google AdMob mediation, Unity LevelPlay, AppLovin MAX) asks several networks for a bid on each impression and serves… Read more →
Pros
- Rewarded video is the highest-paying and least-resented ad unit in existence
- Mediation (AdMob, LevelPlay, AppLovin MAX) auctions every impression across 10+ networks
- Pays the moment you have users; no sales funnel needed
Cons
- Interstitials at the wrong moment cut retention, which costs more than the ads earn
- Store policies and privacy changes (ATT, Privacy Sandbox) keep lowering targeting and eCPMs
- Needs SDK integration and constant tuning, not a script tag
Earns: $5-20 per 1,000 sessions, rewarded video up to $30 eCPM in the US · First payout: 1-2 months · Cost to start: $0 · admob rewarded video mediation ecpm interstitial
4
7.3/10
CPA (cost per action) marketing is affiliate marketing where the paid event is something other than a purchase: a completed form (CPL), an app install (CPI), a free trial, an email sign-up, a quote request, a deposit. Performance networks (MaxBounty, CPAlead, Performcb, ClickDealer, Mobidea, AdCombo) aggregate offers from advertisers in insurance, finance, education, dating, nutra, sweepstakes, games and software, each… Read more →
Pros
- Payouts for a free sign-up, quote or install, not a purchase, so conversion rates are high
- Networks pay weekly or bi-weekly once you have history
- Offers exist for every traffic type, including tier-2/3 geographies
Cons
- Networks vet affiliates and often ask how you will send traffic before approving
- Leads get "scrubbed" (rejected) at the advertiser's discretion, which you cannot audit
- Offers cap, pause and vanish; a page built around one is fragile
Earns: $1-50 per action; $10-60 RPM · First payout: 2-6 weeks · Cost to start: $0 · cpa cost per lead cost per install offers performance
5
7.1/10
Every property on this site is also an asset that can be sold: a content site, a newsletter, a SaaS, an app, a directory, a domain. Buyers pay a multiple of profit or revenue for the future income, and brokers, marketplaces and auction sites exist to connect the two sides. Domain sales are the simplest version: a name with demand… Read more →
Pros
- Converts years of future income into cash now, tax-efficiently in many countries
- Brokers (Empire Flippers, FE International, Quiet Light) handle valuation, buyers, escrow and transfer
- A buyer will pay for what you built even if you no longer want to run it
Cons
- You lose the asset and its future; sellers often regret selling at the bottom of a cycle
- Brokers take 5-15%; marketplaces attract low offers and time-wasters
- Diligence exposes everything: traffic sources, link sales, undisclosed risks
Earns: 30-45x monthly net profit for content sites; 3-8x ARR for SaaS · First payout: 2-6 months · Cost to start: $0 · website flipping exit multiple broker domain sale
