Our kids' app is free with no business model behind it. How do you make "free" believable?
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Dino Kids has no paywall, no ads and no in-app purchases. Our software company funds it as a community project, not a revenue line.
We assumed "free" would be the easy part. But free with no visible business model can read as a red flag: plenty of free apps make money from data or ads later, or simply disappear. If we were the parent, we'd ask "what's the catch?" too.
What we do today: a plain-language privacy page, saying openly who funds it and why, and not requiring an account at all. We honestly don't know which of these, if any, changes minds.
If you've built something free (open source, side project, community tool): what made people trust that it would stay free and stay around? And as a user, what makes you trust one?
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I'd trust it more if the store listing said who pays for it and what still works offline. If the core activity can run in airplane mode, that's something a parent can check in a minute.
@al_kub airplane mode is a good test actually. the core stuff already works offline, we just never say it anywhere a parent would look before installing. same with who pays, it's only on our privacy page rn
what makes me trust a free thing is a public promise w teeth, like if you ever stop funding it you open source it or keep it up for x yrs. a tiny page w roughly what it costs to run and who pays goes a long way too, "community project" alone sounds a bit vague
@bacelj fair, "community project" is doing a lot of work in that sentence lol. open sourcing it isn't something we can promise on our own, that's a company call. a small page with rough running costs + who pays is doable tho. would a fixed "kept up until at least X" date be enough for you, or is open source the real ask?
One thing that works well for me as a designer: put the trust signal on the first screen a parent sees, not only on a policy page. Parents deciding on an app for their kid don't go looking for a privacy page. A one-line "Free, no ads, no account. Funded by [company]" next to the install or first-run screen does more than a long explanation. And if you ever plan to stop, saying how much notice people get is a quiet but strong signal that you've thought about it.
@knightsdev first screen vs policy page, yeah that's exactly our gap rn. the notice period bit is a good one too, hadn't thought of it that way. can't put a number on it myself but I'll pass it on
@digi_dinos no number needed, even "we'll tell you in the app well before anything changes" reads as a commitment. Glad it was useful, and good luck with Dino Kids.
@knightsdev ha yeah "we'll tell you first" is way easier to say than a date. thanks Prem 🙏
As a parent, the "what's the catch" question for me is less about money and more about what happens to my kid's progress. With no account, I'd want one plain line on that: does it stay on this device, and what happens when we switch to a new phone or tablet?
Kids get attached to streaks and collections much faster than we expect. An app that quietly loses three months of a 5-year-old's progress loses that parent's trust for good, free or not. Answering it upfront also backs up the "no data business" story: if the data never leaves the device, say so right there.
How does Dino Kids handle a device switch today?
One thing that worked for us: a row of plain privacy facts right under the install button, each one something a parent can check for themselves. Ours reads roughly "works offline / your data stays on this device / no ads or tracking", with a link to the details. Short, checkable claims beat a paragraph of reassurance, and they keep you honest because you have to keep them true.
The other half is saying where the money comes from, even when the answer is "not from you". We have a free side and one paid feature, and spelling out exactly what is paid ("everything here stays free; only building your own app costs money") answered most of the "what's the catch" questions before anyone asked. For you it could be a single line next to the install button: who pays, and that this app has no paid tier.
Disclosure: I'm the maker of EveryApp. The privacy row I mean is under the install button here: https://everyapp.pro/habit-tracker
@sam_ameer "short, checkable claims beat a paragraph of reassurance" is the line I'm keeping lol. a no paid tier line next to install makes sense, we haven't decided on touching the listing yet tho