Sell your iOS app to a direct buyer

Which iOS apps do I buy?

• Utilities, productivity, business and everyday tools with real usage and a clean App Store history.
• Live for at least 6 months, earning steady revenue from subscriptions, one-time purchases, ads, or a mix.
• Any size from a few hundred dollars to $50K+ a month, in deals from $10K to $1M+.
• Not games, SaaS, or web-only products, and usually not brand-new or pre-revenue apps.

The full version, including the things that move the price rather than decide the fit, is in my acquisition criteria.

What do I check in App Store Connect?

Less than a marketplace’s due diligence process, and all of it specific:

• Proceeds, not gross. What Apple actually pays you after its cut, averaged over the last 3 months.
• The revenue shape: subscriptions vs one-time purchases vs ads, and for subscriptions the split between monthly and annual plans.
• Where the users come from. Organic App Store search is worth more than traffic you buy, because it keeps arriving after the sale. If you run paid ads, I look at what the app earns without them.
• Retention and refunds, which tell me whether the revenue survives the next 12 months.
• Store health: account standing, rejections, guideline issues, the last update date, and the rating trend.
• Your workload, because an app that needs you personally every day is a different asset from one that needs a few hours a month.

The seller’s checklist for all of this is in the app due diligence checklist.

What does an iOS app sell for?

I work from around 6–36x monthly profit (average of the last 3 months). Steady or growing revenue, organic downloads, a clean store history and low dependence on you push the multiple up; a recent drop, heavy paid acquisition, or a single country or plan carrying everything pull it down. Apps with strong downloads but low profit are a special case and can reach up to 120x monthly profit. The factor-by-factor version is in how I value an app, and the free app valuation calculator gives you a range in about two minutes without an email.

How does the App Store transfer work?

Apple has an official app transfer in App Store Connect that moves one app to another developer account. The app keeps its listing, ratings, reviews, users and active subscriptions; your developer account and your other apps stay yours. Apple has conditions (the app can’t use certain capabilities, and it must have no pending agreements or issues), so we check them before signing anything rather than after. The full walkthrough, including what breaks and what you need to rebuild, is in how do I transfer an app to another App Store developer account?

What do I pay, and how?

No fee, no commission, no listing. Payment runs through a reputable escrow service: the money is secured before the app moves and released once the transfer completes. We agree how the escrow fee is split up front. What you’d pay elsewhere, on the same sale price, is in the app sale fee calculator.

What’s the first step?

One email with your App Store link and two numbers. If you want to see the number first, run the valuation calculator; if you want to understand the route before you commit to anything, read selling your app privately.