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By industry · Mobile apps & utilities

Mobile app affiliate
programs, paid after
the install.

An app store sits in the middle of this funnel. Your click lands on a listing you do not control, and the payout waits for what the user does inside the app — a registration, a trial, a subscription, a purchase. Plan for that and the rest of the category is straightforward.

See app campaign types Become a publisher
  • Post-install events, not raw installs
  • Short, per-campaign country lists
  • Declared placements only
A hand holding a phone on a sunlit street, its screen showing a grid of soft coral circles, with blurred shopfronts and passers-by behind
Qualifying action
A post-install event, not the install
Payout models
CPA, CPL or RevShare, named per campaign
Attribution
Server-to-server postback with sub IDs
Markets
Short country lists, set per campaign

Have an app and want users? That is the advertiser side — the advertiser overview covers supported verticals, terms and onboarding, and how offers from several networks are merged into one format. Everything below is written for publishers sending traffic.

What is in this category

Twelve kinds of app campaign

Sorted by what the app asks the user to finish, because that is what your payout is attached to. Each line is the thing that changes your terms — the brief still names the real event, market list and placement rules.

  • Utilities & productivity

    Cleaners, scanners, keyboards, note tools. Short funnels, and usually a paid unlock or a trial rather than a plain install.

  • Subscription content & streaming

    Music, video, audiobooks. The first paid period is the event; the free week in front of it rarely is.

  • Mobile games

    The deepest event ladders in the category — a tutorial finished, a level reached, a first purchase. Read which rung pays.

  • Photo & video editors

    Install-to-open is fast, and the paywall sits right after the first export. Creative has to show the real editor.

  • Dating & social

    Tight market lists and strict creative rules. Age and imagery requirements are written into the brief, not assumed.

  • Health, fitness & wellbeing

    Includes mental health, sleep and habit apps. Anything that reads as a health claim falls under the strictest rulebook on the network.

  • Learning & language apps

    Lead-first funnels are common here, and the topic overlaps education — check which page the brief belongs to.

  • Sports, scores & fantasy

    Seasonal demand and market-by-market legality. Anything with a wager attached is a different category and a different rulebook.

  • Shopping & delivery apps

    Paid on a first order inside the app rather than a web basket, which is what puts them here instead of retail.

  • Finance & banking apps

    Account opening is the event, and the advertiser has to be licensed for the market. Those campaigns are governed as finance.

  • Security & privacy apps

    Mobile antivirus, blockers and identity tools, usually sold on a subscription with a device limit per plan.

  • AI assistant apps

    A free tier stands in front of nearly every one of them, so the paid upgrade is almost always the qualifying action.

What decides the category is the mechanic, not the subject. An app paid on an install plus an in-app event belongs here whatever it does; the same brand paid on a web checkout is e-commerce and retail, and a licensed account opening is finance and fintech. What is open to applications right now is in the campaign index.

How the funnel runs

There is a store in the middle

Every other category sends a click straight to the thing that pays. Here it lands on a store listing, and two of the five stages below belong to somebody else.

  1. 1

    Your link is stamped

    A click ID is minted and travels with the user. From here on the journey leaves your page and your analytics — everything you learn later comes back through the postback.

  2. 2

    The store listing decides

    The click lands on a store page, not on the advertiser's own landing page. Screenshots, rating, size and price do the selling, and none of them are yours to change.

  3. 3

    The app is installed

    This is where a browser funnel would pay. Here it usually does not: an install is the cheapest thing in performance marketing to manufacture, so it is rarely the qualifying action.

  4. 4

    The app is opened

    Installs that are never opened earn nothing. This is the hop that separates a placement that looks good in your report from one the advertiser wants more of.

  5. 5

    The event fires

    Registration, trial, subscription or purchase — whichever the brief names. The advertiser's attribution stack posts it back against your click ID and your sub IDs.

Two consequences worth planning for. Your creative has to set up the store listing rather than contradict it — a promise the listing does not make is the fastest way to lose a campaign. And because the last two stages happen off your property, the only honest measure of a placement is events per install, which is the number the advertiser is reading as well.

What actually pays

Five rungs, and only one of them pays

“App install affiliate programs” is the search; a post-install event is nearly always the payout. These are the rungs, lowest first, with what each one means for the publisher sending traffic.

  • 01

    Install

    Counted, almost never paid on its own. Where a campaign does pay per install it is usually on a narrow market list with volume caps attached — and the brief says so plainly.

  • 02

    First open or registration

    The first rung that proves a real device and a real person. Common on free apps that monetise later, and the reason a dead install is worth nothing to either side.

  • 03

    Trial or free tier started

    Pays where the advertiser is confident the trial converts. Expect a smaller amount than the paid rung below it, and read whether a cancelled trial reverses it.

  • 04

    Subscription or first purchase

    The rung most campaigns here settle on. It is far enough down the funnel to be hard to fake, which is exactly why advertisers like it.

  • 05

    A qualified in-app event

    A level reached, a ride taken, a deposit made, a second session. Written into the brief as a named event, and the only one worth planning traffic around when it is there.

How it is priced

Three ways an app campaign pays

The brief names which model is live and the exact event it fires on. This is what each one means once a store and an app sit between you and the money.

  • CPA

    A flat fee per qualified event

    One amount per named action.

    The default here. The brief names the event — a registration, a purchase, a subscription — and nothing else counts toward it. It is the model that survives fraud screening best, because the event is expensive to fake.

    Common on utilities, games and subscription apps.

  • CPL

    Paid on a qualified signup

    The advertiser accepts it first.

    Used where the app collects details it then screens: a finance account opening, a learning platform enquiry, a service booking. Quality rules sit in the brief, so a rejected lead comes back with a reason rather than a shrug.

    Common on finance, learning and service apps.

  • RevShare

    A share of what the user spends

    It keeps paying while they stay.

    Fits subscription apps and anything with repeat in-app spending. Slower to start than a flat fee on the same install, and worth more from an audience that actually keeps the app.

    Common on streaming, fitness and content apps.

A flat fee on a deep event and a share of a subscription can pay the same in month one and nothing alike by month six. Compare the models in full before you commit a season of media spend to one.

Attribution

No cookie survives a store

Mobile conversions are reported server to server, out of the advertiser's own attribution stack, against the click ID your link minted. Three things to get right, and the third is the one people skip.

  • The link

    • The same base link and the same five sub ID slots as anywhere else
    • One redirect hop, not a chain — every extra hop is a chance to lose the click
    • Label the placement, the app and the creative, not just the campaign

    The anatomy of a tracking link

  • The postback

    • Conversions report server to server, from the advertiser's own attribution stack
    • No browser cookie is involved, so a cleared browser changes nothing
    • The event, not the install, is what the postback is firing for

    How a reported conversion clears

  • The test

    • Fire a test click and confirm the row appears before you buy media
    • Check every sub ID reads back exactly as you typed it, casing included
    • Test on the platform you are buying — iOS and Android are two funnels

    What a reviewer checks first

The rule here

In-app placements run across declared, verified app inventory. An undeclared source does not get a warning — it gets its conversions rejected.

Before you apply

What to read on a mobile brief

The checklist that applies to every vertical is on the campaigns page. These are the ten lines a mobile brief is read for, five of which exist in no other category.

What to check on a mobile app campaign brief, what it decides, and where it is written
Term What it decides here Where you see it
Qualifying event Which rung of the ladder pays: registration, trial, subscription, purchase or a named in-app action. First line of the brief
Platform iOS, Android or both — and whether each one carries its own payout and its own creative set. Brief header
Store markets Where the app is actually available and priced. A click from outside the list cannot convert at all. Country list
Event window How long after the install the event still counts, where the campaign sets a limit. Validation rules
Placement declaration Which apps, networks and sources you named. Undeclared traffic gets its conversions rejected. Traffic checklist
Incentive tag Whether rewarded and cashback placements may run at all. No tag means no incentivized traffic. Traffic checklist
Payout model Whether you earn once per event or a share of what the user goes on to spend. Payout section
Hold period How long approved earnings wait while the advertiser screens the batch they came from. Brief, before you apply
Creative rules What the ad may promise. Screens, features and prices have to match the live store listing. Creative section
Caps How much volume the campaign will take, and over what period, before it pauses. Brief, per campaign

If you read only three, read the qualifying event, the store market list and the incentive tag. The checklist that applies to every vertical is on affiliate programs, compared.

Where the traffic comes from

Six sources, six things to settle

In this category the placement and the publisher type are the same question, because the advertiser is buying the source as much as the user. Find yours, settle its one line, then shortlist.

  • In-app & SDK inventory

    Banners and native units inside apps you own or buy. The network's own rule is declared, verified inventory — the app list is part of your application, not a detail.

    Settle first: every app in the path is named.

    Media buyer terms

  • Rewarded & offerwall placements

    Points, coins or cashback in exchange for an install. Allowed only where the advertiser has tagged the campaign for incentives, and in this vertical many do not.

    Settle first: the campaign carries an incentive tag.

    The incentive rule

  • App review & comparison content

    Round-ups, alternatives and how-to pages that end in a download. Slower than paid, and the traffic arrives already convinced, which shows up in the event rates.

    Settle first: the screenshots match the current listing.

    Content and SEO publishers

  • Short-form & social video

    Demos and first-run footage where the advertiser accepts social traffic. The claim in the video is held to the same brief as a banner.

    Settle first: social is on the allowed list.

    Creator campaigns

  • Native & display networks

    Widget-level buying with sub IDs per source. Useful here because it lets you cut a bad app or site out of the path without touching the rest.

    Settle first: a sub ID per placement, from day one.

    Filter the live index

  • Cashback & loyalty apps

    Your own users, your own wall. Same tag rule as any rewarded placement, and the payout model on those campaigns can differ from the open one.

    Settle first: the tagged rate, before you promote.

    Cashback and deal rules

Validation

What survives screening, and what does not

Device-level checks run on every batch in this vertical. That is not a threat — it is the reason payouts here can sit on events instead of on a number anyone could generate.

  • What a clean batch looks like

    • Real devices in the campaign's own market list
    • Installs that get opened, on a normal spread of times
    • Every source declared, down to the app and the network
    • Sub IDs that let you cut one bad placement, not the whole campaign
    • Creatives that show what the store listing actually shows

    How approval works

  • What gets a conversion rejected

    • Emulators, device farms, bots and proxied clicks
    • A GEO mismatch against the campaign's country list
    • Installs from a source that is not on your application
    • Rewarded traffic sent to a campaign with no incentive tag
    • An event that never fired because the app was uninstalled first

    See the traffic standards

Bot and bought traffic, brand bidding and misleading creatives are refused across the whole marketplace, in this category and every other one. What is specific here is the depth of the checking: a batch is read device by device, so one bad sub ID is visible long before it is profitable.

Discovery to promotion

Your first app campaign, in order

Five steps, each stated once. The inside of the review and the mechanics of a tracking link live on their own pages.

  1. Shortlist by platform and market

    Start where your traffic actually is. An Android-only campaign with six countries on the list is not a campaign for an iOS-heavy US audience, whatever it pays.

  2. Declare your placements honestly

    Name the apps, networks and sources you will use. This is the line advertisers in this vertical check hardest, and the one that gets conversions rejected when it is vague.

  3. Wire the postback before you spend

    Fire a test click, confirm the row appears, and check your sub IDs read back correctly. Do it on each platform you plan to buy.

  4. Start narrow, then read the events

    Run one market and one placement first. The number worth watching is events per install, not installs — that is the number the advertiser is watching too.

  5. Cut by sub ID, not by campaign

    When one app or widget produces installs that never open, remove that sub ID. Pausing the whole campaign throws away the placements that were working.

Sub IDs, the test click and the postback are set up step by step on the tracking links guide, and how earnings clear covers what happens between an approved event and a paid balance.

Questions

Mobile campaign questions

What publishers ask most often before applying to mobile app affiliate programs.

Do you pay per install?

Rarely. Most mobile advertisers on the network pay for a post-install event they can verify, because installs alone are the easiest thing in performance marketing to manufacture.

What counts as a post-install event?

Whatever the brief names: a registration, a trial start, a subscription, a first purchase or a specific in-app action such as a level reached or a ride taken. It is the first line of the brief and the only event that pays.

Is rewarded or incentivized traffic allowed?

Only on campaigns the advertiser has tagged for it. Sending incentivized traffic to an untagged campaign invalidates the conversions and can pause your access. In this vertical many advertisers do not tag, so treat an untagged campaign as a no.

How is mobile tracking handled?

Through server-to-server postbacks with SubID parameters, so conversions report from the advertiser's own attribution stack rather than a browser pixel.

Why was my install rejected?

The usual causes are emulator or bot traffic, GEO mismatch against the campaign list, or an event that never fired because the app was uninstalled before the qualifying action.

Why are the country lists so short?

Because store availability and pricing differ by market. An app that is not published in a country cannot be installed there, and one that is priced differently can be worth a different amount to the advertiser, so the list is drawn per campaign rather than by region.

Do iOS and Android campaigns run separately?

Usually yes. The brief states which platforms are live, and each one can carry its own payout, its own creative set and its own market list. Test your link on the platform you are actually buying.

Can I promote an app without buying traffic?

Yes. App review content, comparison pages and short-form video all work in this category, and they arrive pre-convinced, which shows in the event rates. The campaign's traffic checklist still decides which of them is allowed.

Are shopping or finance apps in this category?

It depends on what pays, not on what the app does. Paid on an install plus an in-app event, it belongs here; paid on a web checkout or an account the advertiser is licensed to open, read the retail or finance category instead.

I have an app and want installs. Can I launch a campaign?

Yes, from the advertiser side of the network. The advertiser overview covers supported verticals, terms and onboarding, and there is a separate page on how offers from several networks are merged into one format. This page is written for publishers sending traffic.

Keep exploring

Categories that share an audience, a traffic pattern or a payout structure with mobile.

Keep reading

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