The Superwall Podcast · 2026-07-22

Steve Young - Beginners Guide to Buying & Selling Apps 2026

Steve Young (App Masters) explains his ASO-first approach to buying and building apps: find low-competition keywords (~30+ search volume, top competitors with few reviews and no keyword in title), name the app after the keyword, then monetize with a hard paywall. Case studies: a 2022 acquisition taken from $1-2K to $8-10K/month with a hard paywall and $60/year price (trial starts 6% -> 13%), a client app named after a keyword that hit #1 in week one, and a recent ~$500K/year acquisition. Also covers loan-financed acquisitions, Meta economics ($3 RPI floor) and traffic-source-based paywalls.

Play the episode

15 tactics

A niche subscription app · B2C · guest's 2022 acquisition

Buy an app that ranks #1 but charges $2, then add a $60/year hard paywall

Revenue up from $1-2K to $8-10K a month with the same downloads

“It was just charging a one-time fee of like $2, $3. No paywall on onboarding, no nothing. It was just very much undermonetized.”

Workedexit-mapaywall

The Superwall Podcast · 2026-07-22

A niche subscription app · B2C · guest's 2022 acquisition

Remove the X from the paywall so users must start a trial

Trial starts doubled from 6% to 13%; trial-to-paid unchanged; some one-star reviews

“The start trial rate went from 6% to 13% with the hard paywall. This was 6%. Trial-to-paid did not change, and that's the number you got to look at.”

Workedpaywall

The Superwall Podcast · 2026-07-22

A niche subscription app · B2C · App Masters client

Name your new app after a keyword with ~30 searches that nobody uses in their title

#1 in week one, 100 downloads a day, $1,600 first month, ~$20K MRR years later

“Because I found a keyword that I felt like I could rank for, and it was search traffic around 30, two keywords.”

Workedasopositioning-niche

The Superwall Podcast · 2026-07-22

Practitioner pattern · Steve Young (Runs App Masters, an ASO/Apple Ads agency and course business; ASO Mobile, the keyword tool he recommends, sponsors his channel)

Pick keywords where the top 3 apps have few reviews and lack the keyword in their title

Used to launch and buy apps that reached #1; no pooled numbers

“I always look at the search results for, let's say, migraine tracker, right? What are the apps that are showing up, like the top three apps? How many reviews do they have, and how many people have it in their title?”

Workedasomarket-selection

The Superwall Podcast · 2026-07-22

Green Noise App · B2C · green noise sleep sounds app

Name the app after the keyword and use the App Store autocomplete phrase as subtitle

Reached #1 for 'green noise'; still #3 with little upkeep

“So when when I first launched this app of ours, we called it Green Noise App, and then the subtitle was Green Noise for Better Sleep, because if you do the autofill result, it just says green noise.”

Workedaso

The Superwall Podcast · 2026-07-22

A health and fitness app · B2C · guest's recent acquisition

Target 24 more versions of the keyword you already rank #1 for, and cut Apple Ads

“There's 24 keywords that have at least 24 search volume and up. That's 24 keywords with the main green already in there that I can start to go after”

Unknownasoapple-search-ads

The Superwall Podcast · 2026-07-22

Indie App Santa · acquired app

Buy a profitable app with a 10-year loan and pay it back from the app's profit

Money back in 3-4 months on one purchase; example leaves ~$5K a month after loan payments

“So my math says, okay, I just paid you 350 for your app that's doing $10,000 a month. I have to pay back my loan for 5,000. I'm technically profiting $5,000 a month, right?”

Workedfinancingexit-ma

The Superwall Podcast · 2026-07-22

A health and fitness app · B2C · guest's recent acquisition

Buy apps that already get organic downloads but earn too little or skip a channel

Best buys fit this; one $18K purchase without it flopped

“So the best purchases I've made are the ones that have distribution, but are like either undermonetized or I can find a different distribution.”

Mixedexit-maportfolio

The Superwall Podcast · 2026-07-22

An organic-only app · B2C · guest's own app

Try Meta ads on a small organic app, including a hard paywall

Only ~$1 revenue per install; economics didn't work

“when I try Meta, our revenue per install is about a dollar, Joseph. So I'm like, I can't make the economics work with that type of numbers, and I could just and we tried hard paywall, and just didn't work as well.”

Failedpaid-socialpaywall

The Superwall Podcast · 2026-07-22

A subscription app running Meta ads · B2C · guest's past podcast guest

Send Meta sign-up, paywall-view and checkout events while still optimizing for purchases

Guest says the ad account got smarter; no numbers

“so he sends Meta registration event, content view event, which is a standard Meta event, that's a paywall view, initiate checkout, and then, obviously, he has no trial, so he does subscribe, like purchase event.”

Workedpaid-socialanalytics-attribution

The Superwall Podcast · 2026-07-22

A subscription app · B2C · example shared by Apphud

Show paid Instagram and Facebook users a paywall with no X; let organic users close it

Reported to perform a lot better; no numbers shared

“So I started thinking like, what if on if they search for the App Store, or they heard it through a friend, you're going to hit them with a soft paywall, just to negate some of the one-star reviews, right?”

Workedpaywallonboarding

The Superwall Podcast · 2026-07-22

A niche subscription app · B2C · App Masters client

Switch from a closable paywall with no trial to a hard paywall with a free trial

Performed a little better; no numbers

“When we launch the the app that I was talking to about, we did a soft paywall with no trials.”

Workedpaywall

The Superwall Podcast · 2026-07-22

App Masters · B2B · ASO agency and app studio

Launch a good-enough app, and only finish it if downloads show up

Speaker's standing process; no numbers

“and if if there's crickets and I'm not getting downloads, [laughter] I don't finish the product.”

Unknownvalidationaso

The Superwall Podcast · 2026-07-22

A design app · App Masters client

Rank for a niche keyword first, then climb to broader ones

Outranked Canva on a keyword

“Like one of our clients were able to like outrank Canva, and it started off just going after a niche keyword, and then eventually going up.”

Workedaso

The Superwall Podcast · 2026-07-22

An AI app in validation · B2C · host's client

Build just the viral feature as a TestFlight and let creators film it

“So I'm working with a client right now where we're just building a TestFlight that has only the viral feature, and then we give that to the creator.”

Unknownvalidationinfluencer

The Superwall Podcast · 2026-07-22

Numbers mentioned

Subject	Metric	Value	Quote
Steve Young's recent acquisition (health & fitness app, ~$500K/year)	revenue lifetime revenue, over $1M	USD 1M approximate	“March of 2024, it's made over a million dollars since the life of it.”
Steve Young's recent acquisition (health & fitness app, ~$500K/year)	revenue last year; mostly App Store Search, some Apple Ads	USD 500K/year approximate	“Last year alone, it did about 500,000, so it did a half-mil.”
Steve Young's recent acquisition (health & fitness app, ~$500K/year)	ad spend Apple Ads last month; being lowered to ~$5K this month	USD 10K/month approximate	“So last month I spent about 10,000 on Apple Ads, and this month I want to lower that”
Steve Young's recent acquisition (health & fitness app, ~$500K/year)	ad spend Apple Ads current month after scaling down	USD 5,000/month approximate	“Here, this one that we just purchased, I'm spending about 5,000. I'm I'm lowering it.”
Steve Young's recent acquisition (health & fitness app, ~$500K/year)	arpu revenue per install (RPI)	USD 3per install approximate	“the app that we purchased that I showed you that's doing half a mil, you know, it's about a $3 it's about a $3 RPI.”
Steve Young's recent acquisition (health & fitness app, ~$500K/year)	count keyword variants containing the main term with search volume >= 24 that the app can still target	24 keywords	“There's 24 keywords that have at least 24 search volume and up.”
Older health & fitness app doing $6M/year mostly from App Store Search	revenue last year; primarily organic App Store Search, hard paywall	USD 6M/year approximate	“It's made, last year it did 6 million.”
Older health & fitness app doing $6M/year mostly from App Store Search	revenue portion attributed to App Store Search	USD 4M/year approximate	“So, about 4 million with just App Store Search.”
App Steve Young bought in 2022 ranking #1 for two ~30-volume keywords	downloads organic, from ranking #1 for two ~30-volume keywords; unchanged after monetization changes	100–150 downloads/day approximate	“it was getting about 100 downloads, 100 to 150 downloads a day.”
App Steve Young bought in 2022 ranking #1 for two ~30-volume keywords	count search volume of the two keywords the app ranked #1 for	28–34 search volume approximate	“Like one's 28, one was like 34, right?”
App Steve Young bought in 2022 ranking #1 for two ~30-volume keywords	price price before acquisition; no onboarding paywall	USD 2–3/one-time approximate	“It was just charging a one-time fee of like $2, $3. No paywall on onboarding, no nothing.”
App Steve Young bought in 2022 ranking #1 for two ~30-volume keywords	price new annual price behind hard paywall	USD 60/year	“So hard paywall, increasing $60 a year, it went from $1,000 to $2,000 a month to $8,000 to $10,000 a month with just 100 to 150 downloads.”
App Steve Young bought in 2022 ranking #1 for two ~30-volume keywords	revenue before hard paywall and price increase	USD 1,000–2,000/month approximate	“Again, it was making about a thousand. It came into our portfolio right here, about a thousand, right? And to about maybe here, 2,000.”
App Steve Young bought in 2022 ranking #1 for two ~30-volume keywords	revenue after hard paywall, onboarding and $60/year price; same downloads	USD 8,000–10K/month approximate	“So hard paywall, increasing $60 a year, it went from $1,000 to $2,000 a month to $8,000 to $10,000 a month with just 100 to 150 downloads.”
App Steve Young bought in 2022 ranking #1 for two ~30-volume keywords	conversion rate trial start rate with a closable (X) paywall	6%	“The start trial rate went from 6% to 13% with the hard paywall.”
App Steve Young bought in 2022 ranking #1 for two ~30-volume keywords	conversion rate trial start rate with hard paywall (no X); trial-to-paid unchanged	13%	“The start trial rate went from 6% to 13% with the hard paywall.”
App Masters client doing ~$1M ARR at $60/year	arr app only; client also had a larger web product	USD 1M approximate	“The client was doing about a mil ARR, and they had a web product, too, that was doing much bigger.”
App Masters client doing ~$1M ARR at $60/year	price	USD 60/year	“they were charging $60 a year.”
App Masters client app named after a low-competition keyword	time to milestone time to rank #1 for the keyword the app was named after	1 weeks approximate	“we were able to get to number one within the first week.”
App Masters client app named after a low-competition keyword	revenue first month after launch (also described as first 21 days), no free trial	USD 1,600/month	“we brought in $1,600 within the first month.”
App Masters client app named after a low-competition keyword	downloads right after launch, from ranking #1	100 downloads/day approximate	“it just launched and we got 100 downloads a day, just because we found the right keyword and I got it to number one.”
App Masters client app named after a low-competition keyword	mrr reached with ASO only, a couple of keywords	USD 12K–15K approximate	“we were able to get it to about 12, 15 with just ASO, with just like a couple of keywords, and that was it.”
App Masters client app named after a low-competition keyword	mrr a few years after launch; now adding other channels	USD 20K approximate	“It's now close to 20k MRR a few years later.”
Migraine Buddy	revenue	USD 50K/month approximate	“Migraine Buddy does about 50,000 a month.”
Migraine Buddy	revenue iOS, per Sensor Tower, from ~30K downloads	USD 70K/month estimate	“Migraine Buddy, is like 70k a month from 30k downloads on on iOS”
Migraine Buddy	downloads iOS, per Sensor Tower	30K downloads/month estimate	“Migraine Buddy, is like 70k a month from 30k downloads on on iOS”
Green Noise App	rank search rank for 'green noise' (was #1 for a while)	3 rank	“one of our apps is still number three for green noise.”
Steve Young's organic app doing ~$3K/month	revenue all organic	USD 3,000/month approximate	“Cuz we tried Meta for one of our apps doing about 3k a month, and that's been all organic”
Steve Young's organic app doing ~$3K/month	arpu revenue per install on Meta traffic	USD 1per install approximate	“when I try Meta, our revenue per install is about a dollar, Joseph.”
App Steve Young bought for $18,000 that flopped	exit price price App Masters paid; the app flopped	USD 18K/one-time	“I bought another one and we paid 18,000, and it flopped.”
Indie App Santa	payback period time to earn back the acquisition price	3–4 months approximate	“we purchased Indie App Santa in 2024, and we were able to make that money back in like 3 or 4 months.”
benchmarkMinimum revenue per install before running Meta ads	arpu RPI floor to consider Meta	USD 3per install estimate	“you got to be at least a $3 RPI before you can think about Meta.”
benchmarkMaximum cost per trial to consider Meta ads when optimizing for trials	cpa cost per trial	USD 10–15 estimate	“I think you got to be somewhere around at least a 10 to $15 cost per trial, or a $3 revenue per install to even consider it.”
benchmarkTarget install-to-trial-start rate for a new app	conversion rate install -> trial start	5–10% estimate	“My personal take is I want to see if I can get at least a 5 and maybe 10% trial start trial.”
benchmarkIndustry-average trial-to-paid rate; below it signals a product problem	conversion rate trial -> paid	30–40% estimate	“Now, if I'm not hitting my 30 to 40, which is industry average for trial-to-paid, then I know I have a product problem.”
benchmarkMinimum keyword search volume (ASO tool score) worth targeting	count two ~30-volume keywords at #1 ~= 100-150 downloads/day	30 search volume estimate	“So I'm looking for keyword volume, the search volume, for around 30-ish and up.”
benchmarkBeatable keyword: #2-#3 ranked apps have only ~100+ reviews and few apps use the keyword in their title	count	100 reviews estimate	“if there's not a lot of people targeting that keyword in their title, and the number two or three apps only have 100-plus reviews, then I know I could probably beat them.”
aggregateConsumer app founders Steve talks to who share big MRR publicly	roas many are at 90-100% ROAS, i.e. roughly break-even	0.9–1 x estimate	“I've heard really from people who are doing amazing MRR, but their ROAS is just like 100%, which is break-even for those who aren't math nerds. So I've heard from those, or just slightly under at 90%”
aggregateSteve's apps and clients plus founders he knows	mrr reachable with only one or two channels (mostly ASO, Apple Ads, Meta)	USD 5M estimate	“I think you can reach at $5 million MRR, and you only need one or two of these channels.”
benchmarkIllustrative loan-financed acquisition: $10K/month profit app bought for $350K with a 10-year loan	exit price	USD 350K/one-time illustrative	“Let's say you buy it for $300,000, or let's say 350, just to keep the math easy. 350, so you take out a loan for 350”
benchmarkIllustrative loan-financed acquisition: app profit	profit	USD 10K/month illustrative	“that's making 10 keep math easy, $10,000 a month profit, organically.”
benchmarkIllustrative loan-financed acquisition: 10-year loan repayment	debt monthly loan payment on a 10-year loan; leaves ~$5K/month profit, cash back in ~3 years	USD 5,000/month illustrative	“I have to pay back my loan for 5,000. I'm technically profiting $5,000 a month, right?”