SSubida Skills

Esc to close · results from all notes, skills and people

Mobile apps›Web2app funnels

Why run web2app funnels (and when not to)

The business case for selling app subscriptions through a web quiz + web checkout instead of the app store — fees, cash flow, attribution, control — plus the cases where it underperforms.

Updated 2026-10-23·4 sources·web2appmonetizationuser-acquisitioneconomics

Why run web2app funnels (and when not to)

TL;DR

  • A web2app funnel = paid ad → web quiz → web paywall/checkout → app access via deep link. The user pays on the web, then uses the app.
  • Main wins: no 15–30% store cut, faster payouts, simpler ad attribution (no ATT), and full control over pricing, upsells and social proof.
  • It also opens audiences app-install campaigns exhaust: Android users who rarely pay in-app, and older users who are more comfortable buying on the web.
  • Big spenders (Headway, Coursiv) run most of their paid UA this way; it is not only a fee-avoidance trick.
  • Don’t assume that bolting a web checkout onto an in-app paywall helps — Steve has seen that perform worse than native Apple checkout.

Details

Economics. Apple and Google keep 15–30% of every sale; on the web that margin stays with you (minus payment-provider fees). Store payouts also lag ~45 days, whereas a provider like Paddle pays out much faster — meaningful for cash-flow-constrained UA1.

Attribution. Web events (registration, checkout, purchase) are easier to pass to Meta, TikTok, Snap etc. without depending on ATT prompts and MMP SDKs measuring in-app events correctly12.

Control. Store review is getting stricter on app types, updates and paywalls. On the web you decide what you show: live “X people bought in the last hour” counters, money-back guarantees, one-click upsells and downsells — things Apple/Google might reject or make impossible in-app23.

Market signals (as of mid-2026). AppsFlyer reports web-to-app as the fastest-growing owned-media channel (ahead of referral, email, SMS and QR-to-app); Google Ads now lets you unify web and app conversions; MMPs are shipping web2app measurement features45.

New audiences. Because web traffic isn’t platform-specific, web2app is the route to monetise Android users5. Headway told Steve (2023) that web funnels opened an audience normal app campaigns were exhausting6. Steve’s own hypothesis for an app targeting an older audience with great hook rates and CPIs but poor install-to-paid: older users may simply prefer to buy on the web, then use the app7.

Scale. Igor estimates Headway’s web funnels generate hundreds of millions of dollars a year (hard to verify — there is no Sensor Tower for web)8. Coursiv was ~$250k/month and Steve has never seen a Coursiv ad that sends traffic to the store9. One past App Masters guest (Arya) built a $1M ARR business on a web product alone and decided he didn’t need an app10.

Disagreements / caveats

  • Steve has seen an in-app “start free trial → web checkout” flow (Flo) perform worse than the default Apple subscription sheet11. Web checkout shines when the whole journey starts on the web, not as a store-checkout replacement.
  • Most enthusiasm comes from vendors (web2wave, Paddle sponsored the source videos) — discount accordingly.
  • US rules on in-app linking/charging changed in 2025; re-check current Apple/Google rules before relying on any in-app payment tricks.

See also

Footnotes

  1. The Web2App Playbook: Scale Your App Without App Store Limits @ 03:17 — Steve P. Young ↩ ↩2

  2. The Web2App Playbook: Scale Your App Without App Store Limits @ 04:27 — Steve P. Young ↩ ↩2

  3. The Web2App Playbook: Scale Your App Without App Store Limits @ 13:20 — Steve P. Young ↩

  4. The Web2App Playbook: Scale Your App Without App Store Limits @ 00:55 — Steve P. Young ↩

  5. The Web2App Playbook: Scale Your App Without App Store Limits @ 01:45 — Steve P. Young ↩ ↩2

  6. Copy Headway’s $100M+ Web2App Funnel Strategy (That Converts Like Crazy) @ 00:48 — Steve P. Young ↩

  7. Are You Ignoring These RevenueCat Features? (Stop Losing Money) @ 09:13 — Steve P. Young ↩

  8. Copy Headway’s $100M+ Web2App Funnel Strategy (That Converts Like Crazy) @ 02:09 — Igor Lyubimov ↩

  9. The Web2App Playbook: Scale Your App Without App Store Limits @ 08:23 — Steve P. Young ↩

  10. The Web2App Playbook: Scale Your App Without App Store Limits @ 05:18 — Steve P. Young ↩

  11. App Monetization Tactics No One Is Talking About @ 01:57 — Steve P. Young ↩