Super Unlimited · B2C · free VPN app
Charge for no ads, faster servers, more locations and use on every device
Company growing and very profitable; no conversion numbers
What they did
What happened
In their words
How the World's #1 VPN App Reached 1 Billion Downloads – Tanuj Chatterjee, Super Unlimited
David BarnardSo then, you're a business, how do you make money? What are the features that you put behind the paywall? How do you entice people to actually subscribe when you do provide such a fantastic freemium product?
Tanuj ChatterjeeThe extra value that we can provide with a paid product is, of course, no ads, top tier customer support, but also a lot more locations and access to higher 10G servers and whatnot. But now, starting late last year, multi-platform where once you subscribe, you can use the VPN for all the platforms.
Tanuj ChatterjeeSo, we are upping the value game. That's how we make money. By the way, we are growing very nicely. We are very profitable. The investors are not pushing me otherwise, so it's a good position to be in.
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More from this episode
- Read your reviews and rivals' reviews, then fix what people complain aboutCredited as the main driver to #1 for 'VPN'; no single number tied to it
- Let people use the app right away: no login, one tap to connectVisits last ~30 seconds; guest credits it for organic volume and ratings
- Ask for a rating only after the app has done its job2M+ high ratings on the App Store; no before/after given
- Test modern, prettier store screenshots against your plain old onesModern designs lost 80% of tests; winners gave no meaningful lift, so old ones stayed
- Hire an SEO agency that knows your field to publish programmatic pages~1,600 app downloads a month; poor conversion; some AI-search traffic, not top 5
- Give away an unlimited free version, paid for with an ad or twoLow paid conversion, but 1M+ mostly organic downloads a day and very profitable
- Don't show any ads the first time someone opens the app
- Keep the free service running in poor and censored countries, even at a loss15M downloads in 4 days during a Turkey Instagram ban; each spike leaves a higher baseline
- Show an ad for your new eSIM app to all existing VPN usersDidn't work: no travel intent; now planning timed promos before summer
- Buy search ads in Apple and Google stores only where the return holds upSpend capped by ROAS; some cannibalization of organic installs accepted
- Have the head of support report to the head of productGuest says product hears about problems right away; no numbers
- Walk into elevators with a debug build to test dropped connections
- Compare your ratings country by country and dig into the low onesGuest says it helped a lot; no numbers
- Launch a new feature in 5 countries behind a switch, then expand
- Start on the cloud, then move heavy traffic to your own rented serversMakes a free tier affordable; cloud still absorbs surges
- Launch a Windows version and promote it to your mobile usersNamed biggest win of the year; people buy on the website directly, no numbers
- Build the product so free users cost almost nothing to supportLets the company keep a generous free tier; no numbers
Tags: paid-tier-benefits, multi-platform, bundle