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Use when choosing paid, freemium, subscription, consumable, or hybrid monetization; designing free vs paid tiers, trials, paywall feature splits, pricing, payback, ARPU, or charge-readiness.
How this skill is triggered — by the user, by Claude, or both
Slash command
/product:beepus-maximus-ios-monetization-strategyThe summary Claude sees in its skill listing — used to decide when to auto-load this skill
The strategy layer above StoreKit: which model, what tiers, what to charge, and what goes behind the paywall. Implementation lives in `storekit`.
The strategy layer above StoreKit: which model, what tiers, what to charge, and what goes behind the paywall. Implementation lives in storekit.
Owns: Readiness assessment, model selection, tier design, free/paid feature split, trial type and length, price points, take-rate math, paywall economics, when to change price.
Does NOT own: StoreKit 2 code, transaction listeners, receipt handling (see storekit). Paywall UI implementation (see swiftui-mastery or design-screen). App Store description and screenshots (see app-store-marketing).
Do not monetize a product that is not ready. Charging a broken app burns trust and produces refunds.
| Signal | Ready | Not ready |
|---|---|---|
| Core value | Clear and differentiated | Still finding fit |
| Retention | D7 > 20% | D7 < 10% |
| Demand signal | Users asking to pay or for premium features | Silence or complaints |
| Feature depth | Enough to split free / paid honestly | Everything feels essential |
| Differentiation | Something competitors don't do | Commodity feature set |
| Polish | Professional | Rough edges throughout |
Decision:
Used daily or weekly?
├── Yes → Ongoing value (sync, content, AI, tracking)?
│ ├── Yes → Subscription
│ └── No → One-time purchase (+ optional tip jar)
└── No → Utility/tool?
├── Yes → One-time purchase or freemium unlock
└── No → Content-based?
├── Yes → Subscription or consumable IAP
└── No → Freemium with premium unlock
| Model | Recurring revenue | Implementation | Works small audience | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Subscription | Yes | High | Yes | Daily-use, ongoing value, content, sync, AI |
| One-time paid | No | Low | Yes | Self-contained tools, niche pro tools |
| Freemium + IAP unlock | No (per user) | Medium | No (needs scale) | Mass-market apps, viral potential |
| Consumable IAP | Variable | High | Possible | AI/API-cost apps, games, generation tools |
| Tip jar | Almost never | Low | No | Open-source-adjacent, passion projects |
| Ad + premium | Partial | Medium | No | High-DAU casual apps |
| Scenario | Apple cut | You keep |
|---|---|---|
| Standard, year 1 of subscription | 30% | 70% |
| Subscription year 2+ | 15% | 85% |
| Small Business Program (< $1M/yr) | 15% | 85% |
Always net Apple's cut from revenue projections. $9.99/mo on SBP = ~$8.49 to you.
Two-tier (recommended default): Free has core functionality with usage/storage limits; Pro removes limits and adds power features (sync, widgets, export, optional priority support).
Three-tier: only when "personal user" and "professional user" have genuinely different willingness to pay. Don't add a third tier purely to anchor.
Free tier: demonstrate core value (not a crippled demo). Useful enough that users invest data/time before hitting the paywall. Natural upgrade moments ("hit the limit", "sync needs Pro").
Paid tier: unlock power and convenience, not basic functionality. Feels like "more of what you love", not "stop annoying me". At least one hero feature worth paying for alone.
Bad splits: view free / edit paid (hostile). 3-day full trial then total lockout (no ongoing free value). "Remove ads" as the only hook (weak).
Good splits: 5 projects free / unlimited + templates paid. Basic tracking free / insights, trends, export paid. Single device free / sync + widgets + Watch paid.
| Tier | Monthly | Annual | Lifetime | Best fit |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Low | $2.99-4.99 | $19.99-29.99 | $29.99-49.99 | Utility, habit, single-purpose |
| Mid | $6.99-9.99 | $39.99-59.99 | $59.99-99.99 | Productivity, creative, health |
| High | $14.99-29.99 | $99.99-199.99 | $149.99+ | Pro tools, B2B, niche specialist |
Annual discount: 15-40% off monthly equivalent. ~30% is the empirical sweet spot — enough to drive annual selection, not so much that you discount your best customers.
Raise when conversion > 8% (likely underpriced), significant new features shipped, costs increased, or competitors charge more for less.
Lower when conversion < 1% and users cite price, or entering a new market. For seasonal moves use introductory/promotional offers, not a base-price change.
How to test: introductory offers for new price points (lower risk than base price change), A/B with offer codes to specific cohorts, announce upcoming increase to drive urgency.
| App type | Trial type | Length |
|---|---|---|
| Daily-use productivity | Time-limited full access | 7 days |
| Habit/health/fitness | Time-limited full access | 14 days |
| Creative tool | Time-limited full access | 7 days |
| Business/professional | Time-limited full access | 14-30 days |
| Education | Time-limited full access | 7 days |
| Freemium with premium unlock | Feature-limited free tier (no trial) | n/a |
Apple supports introductory offers (free or discounted) on subscriptions. For one-time purchases, time-limited trials require your own logic.
Onboard to premium features during trial (not free) — the user must feel what they're losing. Reminder 2-3 days before expiry, not at expiry. Surface value received ("you logged 47 workouts"). Offer annual at trial end with savings spelled out. Win-back offer 30+ days after non-conversion via promotional offer.
Back-of-envelope before designing anything:
Free → Trial start rate A
Trial start → Paid conversion B
Monthly retention (paid) R
Net price after Apple cut P
LTV = P × (1 / (1 - R)) [geometric series, assumes flat churn]
Payback months = CPA / P
Healthy: LTV ≥ 3 × CPA, payback ≤ 6 months
Common reality check: if R = 0.85 (15% monthly churn), each paid user lasts ~6.7 months, LTV ≈ 6.7 × P. If P = $4.24 net ($4.99 gross at SBP), LTV ≈ $28.40. CPA must stay under ~$9.50 for healthy unit economics.
Freemium + subscription. Sync paywall is powerful — but free tier must be useful on a single device. $3.99-6.99/mo, $29.99-49.99/yr, optional $29.99-79.99 lifetime.
Subscription with generous trial (14 days minimum). Never gate crisis or safety features behind a paywall. Frame as investment, not transaction. Apple Health integration adds disproportionate perceived value.
Parents buy, kids use. Subscription (family-friendly) or content packs. No ads (kids category requirement). Parent dashboard sells. $4.99-7.99/mo or $39.99-59.99/yr.
One-time purchase or freemium with subscription. Pro features: export quality, advanced tools, stock library. Trial = one project cycle (7 days).
Hybrid: subscription for base usage + consumable credits for overage. Subscription must include enough usage that average users never buy credits. Credits cover heavy users and offset variable API cost.
Lifetime or subscription. Developers prefer paying once. If subscription, justify with ongoing service (sync, cloud build, SDK updates). Higher prices acceptable ($14.99-49.99/mo).
Subscription. High willingness to pay if you save them money. Annual-friendly (matches financial mindset). Bank-grade trust signals matter more than features.
App Store Review Guidelines section 3 governs business models. Key rules:
Paywall UI rules: show price per period clearly, highlight annual savings, Restore Purchases reachable (App Review rejects otherwise), ToS and Privacy links visible, easy to dismiss (no forced paywall on launch with no exit), don't auto-select the most expensive tier. Canonical text: https://developer.apple.com/app-store/review/guidelines/
# Monetization Strategy — [App]
## Readiness
Score X/6 — [Ready / Soft-launch / Fix product first]
[Per-signal table]
## Recommended model
[Model] — [one-sentence rationale]
## Tier structure
[Free vs Paid table]
Annual: $XX.99/yr (XX% off monthly)
## Trial
Type: [intro offer / feature-limited / time-limited]
Length: [N days]
Conversion tactics: [bullets]
## Economics
Net price: $X.XX (after Apple cut)
Target conversion: X-X%
Estimated LTV: $XX.XX (assumes XX% monthly retention)
Target CPA ceiling: $X.XX (LTV/3)
## Implementation handoff
- Configure products in App Store Connect: [list]
- StoreKit work: see `storekit`
- Paywall UI: see `design-screen`
storekit — StoreKit 2 implementation, transaction handling, restore.app-store-marketing — paywall copy, App Store description, promotional text.analytics-interpretation — measuring whether the strategy is working.shipping — submission compliance for IAP-bearing builds.Creates, edits, and optimizes skills for Claude Code, including drafting, evaluating with test prompts, iterating on performance, and improving skill descriptions for better triggering accuracy.
npx claudepluginhub 4eleven7/claude-skills --plugin product