Praycreen · B2C · pray-to-unlock phone app
Give non-payers a free version with an ad before each daily prayer
~$0.05 per user per day; ad spend paid back in 14-15 days
Workedpricingpaywall
What they did
Install-to-paid conversion was unremarkable (~2.5% as an example), meaning 97.5% of paid installs were being turned away. Because 60% of users were still praying 4 times a day at day 30, they added a free version funded by ads: users watch an interstitial ad before each prayer, about 4 ads per user per day.
What happened
Ads made about $0.05 per user per day and paid back acquisition spend in about 14-15 days.
- Stage
- monetization
In their words
The Superwall Podcast · Lotanna Ezeike - He Built a Simple $120k/Yr App, Then Sold It For Multiple 6 Figures!“Another way of looking at that is that you're basically telling 97.5 people to fuck off. So we were like, "Okay, our retention's super good, so what we should do is actually have a free version, but then have ads instead."”
“I think we were making like $0.05 per user per day um on ads. It took us like about 14 or 15 days to get a return on investment.”
“Because we did four ads a day for each person, cuz they have to watch an ad before they do a prayer”
Related topics
Get tactics like this every Monday
New tactics from the week's founder interviews, each linked to where it was said.
More from this episode
- Praycreen: Copy a proven app idea and rebuild it for Christians~$120K ARR in 5-6 months; first 'Bible focus' app, then 70 copycats
- Praycreen: Post shock-value TikToks across 10-12 accounts to get people arguing in commentsEarly comments were angry, then turned to 'I needed this'; main driver of growth
- Praycreen: In videos, flash the app's opening animation, then the main screen and the success screenFounder says it brands the video without showing onboarding; no numbers
- Praycreen: Put well-loved Christian songs under the TikToksViewers commented on the songs; founder says it helped
- Praycreen: Run the TikToks that already went viral as Instagram ads$0.39 best-day CPI, $0.70-0.80 average in the US; one video took 70% of spend
- BibleBuddy: Start as a WhatsApp bot before building the appGrew at first, but WhatsApp's ~$0.02 per conversation got too expensive
- BibleBuddy: Run X ads aimed at followers of the 20-25 most famous pastorsHost calls it an underpriced channel; no costs or results given
- BibleBuddy: Earn money only from banner ads, skipping full-screen adsCouldn't crack monetization; founder was wary of charging for faith content
- Magic Music: Build an app around a new AI tool within 4 days of its launch
- Toxic Traits: Show a text that's only arguably a red flag so viewers argue in commentsFounder says the formats worked; 330 videos ready, ads never tested
- Praycreen: Tweet that the app is for sale and take a fast close over top priceBuyers DMed; sold within a week (3 days) to a past BibleBuddy suitor
- Praycreen: Don't translate your apps yourself; leave it as upside for the buyerBuyers usually translate first; founder says it makes the app easier to sell
- Praycreen: Get apps to $5-10K a month, sell them, and take many shotsSeveral exits; buyers and funders now come back to him
- CarSpotr: Grow a simple first app with one TikTok and one Instagram account$8K MRR in about 4 months