How to Get More App Downloads Without Spending Money

The Organic Download Playbook for Indie Developers

Paid user acquisition costs $1 to $5 per install depending on the category. For a funded startup burning through venture capital, that math works. For an indie developer whose app makes $300 a month, spending $500 on ads to acquire 200 users is a losing proposition.

The good news: organic strategies, when executed consistently, can drive thousands of downloads per month at zero marginal cost. The keyword you optimize for today continues driving downloads next month and the month after. The blog post you publish this week keeps generating traffic for years. The rating you build over time compounds into a conversion advantage that no ad spend can replicate.

This guide covers 10 organic strategies ordered by leverage -- highest impact per hour invested first. Not all of them will apply to your situation, and you should not try to execute all 10 simultaneously. Pick the three that make the most sense for your app and execute them well before adding more.

Strategy 1: ASO Fundamentals -- The Highest Leverage Free Activity

Why ASO Is the Foundation of Organic Growth

App Store search accounts for 65 to 70 percent of all app discoveries on both iOS and Android. That single fact makes ASO the most important organic growth lever available to you. Nothing else comes close.

Optimizing your listing metadata -- title, subtitle, keywords, description -- is high leverage because it compounds. Once you have the right keywords in place, they work 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, driving impressions and downloads while you sleep. Unlike content marketing or community building, which require ongoing time investment, a well-optimized listing delivers returns for months with minimal maintenance.

Every other strategy in this guide works better when built on a solid ASO foundation. If you are starting from scratch, our complete ASO guide walks through every element step by step. Content marketing drives traffic to your App Store listing -- but if that listing does not convert, the traffic is wasted. A Product Hunt launch sends a surge of visitors -- but if your screenshots are bare and your title is generic, most of them will bounce. Fix your listing first. Everything else follows.

The Minimum Viable ASO Checklist

Before doing anything else, make sure these fundamentals are in place:

Title (30 characters on iOS and Android): Contains your brand name and one to two high-value keywords. Reads naturally. Does not look like a keyword dump. Example: "Pennies - Daily Budget Tracker" -- brand plus primary keyword.

Subtitle (30 characters, iOS) or Short Description (80 characters, Android): Contains secondary keywords that complement the title. No duplication of title keywords.

Keyword field (100 characters, iOS only): Fully utilized. No spaces after commas. No duplicated words from title or subtitle. Every character counts.

Description first 3 lines: Communicates the problem your app solves and why the user should care. No technical jargon. No feature lists. A clear problem-solution statement that a non-technical person understands instantly.

Screenshots: At least 6 screenshots with benefit-focused captions. The first screenshot states your core value proposition. Subsequent screenshots highlight key features with captions like "Never miss a deadline" rather than "Push notification system."

Run through this checklist in 5 minutes. Every item you fail is costing you downloads right now. For a deeper look at the most common listing problems, see the ASO mistakes that kill your downloads.

Strategy 2: Ratings and Review Optimization

The Compounding Effect of Good Ratings

Your rating is both a ranking signal and a conversion multiplier, making it one of the highest-impact factors in your organic growth.

The conversion data is stark. Apps rated 4.5 and above convert from impression to download at nearly double the rate of apps rated 3.5 to 4.0. That means an app with a 4.7 rating gets roughly twice as many downloads from the same number of impressions as an otherwise identical app with a 3.8 rating.

This creates a compounding loop. Higher ratings lead to better conversion, which leads to more downloads, which leads to higher rankings, which leads to more impressions. Over months, a small rating advantage snowballs into a significant download gap. The inverse is also true -- a rating below 4.0 creates a death spiral that is difficult to escape without proactive intervention.

How to Improve Your Rating Without Being Annoying

The key to improving your rating is timing. Ask for reviews at moments of user delight, not moments of frustration.

Good timing: the user just completed a task, hit a streak milestone, finished onboarding successfully, or achieved a personal best. At that moment, they feel positive about your app. A review prompt via SKStoreReviewController (iOS) or the In-App Review API (Android) will yield a disproportionate number of 5-star reviews.

Bad timing: first app launch, immediately after an error, during a complex workflow, or after a crash. These moments produce 1-star reviews and frustrated users.

Apple limits you to three review prompts per user per 365-day period. Use them strategically. Many successful indie developers trigger the first prompt after the user's third or fourth successful session -- by that point, the user has formed a positive habit with the app.

For negative reviews that already exist, respond promptly and constructively. A response like "We fixed this in version 2.4 -- please update and let us know if the issue persists" gives the reviewer a reason to update their rating. Approximately 20 to 30 percent of users who receive a helpful developer response will revise their rating upward. We cover this topic in detail in our guide on how to get more App Store reviews.

Strategy 3: Getting Apple or Google Editorial Featuring

How the Editorial Process Works

Both Apple and Google maintain editorial teams that manually curate featured apps for their storefronts. Being featured can drive 10 to 50 times your normal daily downloads, making it one of the highest-impact events possible for an indie app.

Featuring is not random and it is not purely algorithmic. The editorial teams look for specific qualities:

Design quality. Apps that follow platform design guidelines (Human Interface Guidelines for iOS, Material Design for Android) and demonstrate attention to visual detail get priority. The editorial team notices polish.

Innovative use of platform features. If Apple just launched a new framework -- say, App Intents or Interactive Widgets -- apps that adopt those features early are prime candidates for featuring. Apple wants to showcase what its platform can do, and your app is the vehicle.

Timely relevance. Apps tied to seasonal events, cultural moments, or current trends get featured more often. A fitness app is more likely to be featured in January. A tax app gets attention in April. A back-to-school app peaks in August.

Accessibility. Apps that support VoiceOver, Dynamic Type, and other accessibility features get preferential treatment in editorial consideration. Apple explicitly prioritizes accessibility in its featuring criteria.

How to Nominate Your App

Apple provides a self-nomination form at developer.apple.com/contact/app-store/promote. Fill it out with care. Include your best screenshots, a compelling description of why your app is notable, and any upcoming updates that align with Apple's seasonal editorial calendar.

Google has a similar process through the Google Play Console under "Store Presence" where you can submit your app for editorial consideration.

Timing matters. Submit your nomination 4 to 6 weeks before you want to be featured, since editorial calendars are planned in advance. Tie your submission to something timely: a major update, a new platform feature adoption, or a seasonal relevance window.

Not every nomination leads to featuring. But the apps that never submit are guaranteed to never be featured. The effort is minimal -- 30 minutes to fill out the form -- and the upside is enormous.

Strategy 4: Content Marketing and SEO

Building a Blog That Drives App Discovery

A focused blog targeting search queries related to your app's problem space can drive consistent traffic that converts to downloads over months and years.

The strategy: identify what your target users search for on Google before they search the App Store. A budgeting app's target users search for "how to save money on groceries" and "monthly budget template." A sleep tracker's users search for "how to fall asleep faster" and "best sleep schedule." These web searches represent the top of your funnel -- people with a problem your app solves, but who have not yet thought to look for an app.

Write 5 to 10 articles targeting these queries. Each article should provide genuine value -- actually answer the question -- and include a natural mention of your app as a tool that helps with the problem. Not a hard sell. A contextual recommendation: "If you want to automate this process, [App Name] tracks your spending automatically and sends weekly summaries."

Basic SEO principles apply: include the target keyword in your title and first paragraph, write at least 1,500 words of substantive content, use descriptive headings, and make sure your site loads fast. You do not need to be an SEO expert. You need to write genuinely helpful content that answers a specific question better than the existing results.

A single well-written blog post can drive 100 to 500 organic visits per month from Google, indefinitely. At a 5 percent conversion rate to App Store click-through, that is 5 to 25 additional downloads per month from one article. Multiply by 10 articles and you have a meaningful, compounding traffic source.

Community Participation: Reddit, Indie Hackers, and Forums

Authentic participation in communities where your target users gather builds awareness without advertising. The key word is authentic. Communities have a finely tuned sense for self-promotion disguised as participation, and they will punish it.

The rules of engagement: spend two weeks contributing genuine value before ever mentioning your app. Answer questions. Share knowledge. Help people solve problems. Build a reputation as someone who knows the subject matter. Then, when someone asks a question that your app directly addresses, mention it naturally as one option among several.

Specific communities worth considering by category: r/productivity and r/getdisciplined for productivity apps. r/personalfinance for finance apps. r/fitness for health and fitness apps. Indie Hackers for developer tools. Hacker News for technical products. Each community has its own norms -- read the rules and observe for a week before posting.

The effort is real -- 30 to 60 minutes per week of genuine participation. The return is slow but durable. Community members who discover your app through a helpful comment are more likely to become loyal users than those who find you through an ad.

Strategy 5: Product Hunt and Launch Platforms

Planning a Product Hunt Launch

A successful Product Hunt launch can drive 1,000 to 5,000 downloads in a single day and generate press coverage that drives traffic for weeks afterward. It is one of the highest-impact single-day events available to an indie developer.

But a successful launch requires preparation. Start 2 to 4 weeks before your target launch date.

Build your hunter network. Connect with active Product Hunt community members who might be interested in your product. Having a well-known hunter post your product carries more weight than posting it yourself.

Craft your listing. Your tagline needs to communicate your value proposition in one sentence. Your description should be concise and benefit-focused. Your first comment (posted by you immediately after launch) should tell the story of why you built the app, what problem it solves, and what makes it different. This first comment is where personality and authenticity matter most.

Prepare your assets. High-quality screenshots, a short demo video (30 to 60 seconds), and a clean landing page. The landing page should have a clear download link and load instantly.

Day-of execution. Launch at 12:01 AM PST (Product Hunt's day starts at midnight Pacific). Share with your network immediately. Respond to every comment on your Product Hunt page. Be genuine, helpful, and engaged throughout the day. Upvote momentum in the first few hours determines your visibility for the rest of the day.

Other Launch Platforms Worth Trying

Product Hunt is the biggest, but it is not the only launch platform worth your time.

BetaList is effective for pre-launch buzz. List your app 2 to 4 weeks before your App Store launch to build an email list of early adopters. Indie apps typically get 200 to 500 signups from a BetaList feature.

AlternativeTo is an underrated discovery platform. Users search for alternatives to popular apps, and if your app is listed as an alternative to a well-known competitor, you capture that intent traffic. It is free to list and the traffic is highly targeted.

Niche directories specific to your category -- app review sites, curated app lists, and category-specific communities -- drive smaller but highly qualified traffic. A mention on a popular productivity blog reaches exactly the audience most likely to download a productivity app.

Sequence your launches for maximum impact: BetaList first (pre-launch), Product Hunt on launch day, and niche directories in the following weeks. Each generates a burst of traffic that contributes to your App Store ranking, creating a compounding effect.

Strategy 6: Cross-Promotion With Complementary Apps

Finding Cross-Promotion Partners

Cross-promotion works because it connects you with an audience that is already proven to download and use apps in a related category. These users are warmer than any audience you could target with ads.

The ideal cross-promotion partner shares your target audience but is not a direct competitor. A meditation app partners with a sleep tracker. A recipe app partners with a grocery list app. A workout tracker partners with a nutrition logger. The users overlap significantly, but the apps serve different needs.

Finding partners: look at the "Customers Also Bought" and "Related Apps" sections on your competitors' App Store pages. These apps have algorithmically verified audience overlap. Reach out to their developers directly -- most indie developers are approachable via Twitter, their app's website, or Indie Hackers.

Your pitch is simple: "Our apps share an audience but do not compete. Want to recommend each other?" Most indie developers are receptive because the cost is zero and the benefit is mutual.

Structuring Win-Win Deals

The best cross-promotions feel like feature recommendations to the user, not advertisements.

In-app recommendation cards. After a user completes a relevant action in your app, show a contextual recommendation: "Love tracking your workouts? [Partner App] helps you optimize your nutrition too." The recommendation should feel helpful, not interruptive.

Newsletter swaps. If both apps have email lists, swap a mention in each other's newsletters. This is a one-time effort that reaches an engaged audience.

Social media shoutouts. A genuine recommendation on Twitter or Instagram from a respected indie developer carries significant weight with the indie app audience.

Start with one partner and measure the results before scaling. A single well-matched cross-promotion can drive 50 to 200 downloads with zero cost and zero ongoing effort.

Strategy 7: Social Proof and Word-of-Mouth Loops

Building Word-of-Mouth Into Your Product

The most sustainable organic growth comes from users telling other users. This does not happen by accident -- you need to design shareable moments into your app.

Achievement sharing. If your app tracks progress (fitness, learning, habits, finances), make it easy to share milestones. A "Share your streak" button after a 30-day habit streak generates organic social media exposure from your most engaged users.

Invitation flows. If your app has any multiplayer or collaborative features, build an invitation flow that benefits both the sender and the receiver. "Invite a friend and you both get premium features for a week" creates an incentive loop that drives growth organically.

Inherently social output. Some apps naturally create content that users want to share: photo editors produce images, design tools produce graphics, music apps produce tracks. Make your app's output watermarked with your app name (subtly) or include a "Made with [App Name]" tag that recipients can tap to download.

Leveraging Social Proof in Your Listing

Social proof elements in your App Store listing directly improve conversion rates.

In your screenshots: Include a screenshot that shows a rating badge ("4.8 stars from 10,000+ reviews"), a press mention ("Featured in TechCrunch"), or a download milestone ("Trusted by 100,000+ users"). This screenshot should appear in position 4 or 5, after you have established what the app does.

In your description: Mention press coverage, awards, or user milestones. "Featured by Apple in 'Apps We Love'" or "Winner of the 2025 Apple Design Award" are powerful trust signals.

In your "What's New" text: Highlight community milestones. "We just passed 50,000 users! Thank you for your support" signals momentum and builds trust.

If you do not have press coverage or awards yet, start with what you have. Even "Loved by 500 users" is social proof. Every app starts somewhere.

Strategy 8: Localization to Less Competitive Markets

The Localization Opportunity for Indie Apps

The US, UK, and Australian App Store markets are the most competitive in the world. Thousands of apps compete for the same English-language keywords, and breaking into the top 10 for any meaningful term requires significant download volume and authority.

Localizing to markets like Spain, Brazil, Japan, Germany, or South Korea changes the equation dramatically. In many of these markets, fewer than 10 percent of apps have properly localized metadata. You can rank for keywords in Spanish or Portuguese that would be impossible in English simply because nobody else is trying.

The numbers support this strategy. Developers who localize to 5 additional languages typically see a 30 to 80 percent increase in total downloads. For utility apps and productivity tools, the gains tend toward the higher end because the core functionality translates well across cultures.

Japan deserves special mention. It is the second-largest App Store market by revenue, and Japanese users have high willingness to pay for quality apps. Localizing to Japanese is more complex than European languages, but the revenue potential is significant.

Minimum Viable Localization

You do not need to localize your entire app to benefit from localized metadata. The minimum viable approach: translate your title, subtitle, keyword field, description, and screenshot captions. This is metadata-only localization, and it captures search traffic in new markets without requiring any code changes.

The process for each locale:

1. Research autocomplete suggestions in the target language's App Store. Do not assume direct translations work -- search patterns differ by language and culture.
2. Write your title and subtitle using the locally relevant keywords, not translated English keywords.
3. Populate the keyword field with terms from your autocomplete research.
4. Translate your description with cultural adaptation, not just literal translation. A native speaker review is ideal; at minimum, use a high-quality AI translation and have it reviewed.
5. Translate your screenshot captions. Keep them short (5 to 8 words) and benefit-focused in the target language.

Prioritize locales by market size and competition. The best opportunities for most apps: Spanish (Spain + Latin America), Portuguese (Brazil), German (Germany), French (France), and Japanese (Japan). These five locales cover a massive portion of global App Store traffic.

Strategy 9: Update Frequency and "What's New" Text

Why Regular Updates Matter for Rankings

Both Apple and Google use update recency as a ranking signal. Apps that have not been updated in six or more months gradually lose ranking position. Apple has also started removing long-dormant apps from the store entirely, and Google Play flags apps that do not target recent API levels.

Beyond the algorithm, users interpret update frequency as a quality signal. An app updated two weeks ago feels maintained and trustworthy. An app updated 18 months ago feels abandoned. This perception directly impacts conversion rate -- users are less willing to install an app they suspect is no longer being maintained.

The optimal update cadence for ASO purposes is every 4 to 6 weeks. You do not need a major feature release each time. A bug fix, a minor improvement, or even an iOS version compatibility update is sufficient to reset the freshness signal.

Writing "What's New" Text That Engages

Most developers waste the "What's New" section with "Bug fixes and performance improvements." This generic text communicates nothing and wastes a free piece of marketing real estate.

Write "What's New" text that serves three purposes:

Excite existing users. Highlight a specific improvement they will notice: "New: Widget support -- check your daily stats from your home screen." This reduces churn by reminding users the app is getting better.

Signal quality to potential users. New users browsing your listing read the "What's New" section. Active, specific update notes signal a well-maintained product: "Version 3.2: Redesigned the dashboard based on community feedback. Added export to CSV. Fixed a sync issue affecting users with multiple devices."

Include relevant keywords. The "What's New" text is indexed by the App Store algorithm. Naturally include your target keywords: "Improved budget tracking accuracy" is better than "Fixed some calculations" because it includes the keyword "budget tracking."

Strategy 10: Deep Linking and App Clips / Instant Apps

Removing Friction From Discovery to Download

The traditional path from discovery to download has significant friction: user sees a mention of your app, opens the App Store, searches for it, finds the right result, reads the listing, and taps download. Each step is a drop-off point. Deep links and instant experiences reduce this friction dramatically.

Deep links send users directly to specific content within your app (or to your App Store listing if the app is not installed). A link in a blog post, a social media share, or a message from a friend can take the user straight to the relevant screen, bypassing the search step entirely.

App Clips (iOS) and Instant Apps (Android) let users try a lightweight version of your app without installing it. The user scans a QR code, taps a link, or encounters an NFC tag, and a 10MB-or-smaller experience loads instantly. If they like what they see, they install the full app with one tap.

Use Cases That Drive Downloads

QR codes on physical materials. If your app has any connection to a physical product or location -- a restaurant menu app, a fitness app for a gym, a transit app -- QR codes linked to App Clips or Instant Apps remove the install barrier entirely.

Shared links in messaging apps. When a user shares content from your app via iMessage, WhatsApp, or similar, the recipient should see a rich preview with a direct link to that content. If the app is not installed, the link leads to your App Store listing or triggers an App Clip.

Web-to-app handoffs. If you have a web version or landing page, Smart App Banners (iOS) and similar Android patterns detect when a user visits your site on mobile and offer a direct link to install. This converts web traffic into app installs with minimal friction.

For indie developers, deep linking is the most practical of these technologies. Universal Links (iOS) and App Links (Android) require some configuration but no additional development beyond what you have already built. App Clips and Instant Apps require more development investment but offer the highest conversion rates for specific use cases.

Prioritization Framework: Effort vs. Impact Matrix

Mapping Strategies to Your Situation

Not every strategy is right for every app. Here is how they break down:

High impact, low effort (do these first):

• ASO fundamentals -- highest leverage, a few hours of one-time work
• Ratings optimization -- add a review prompt, 1 to 2 hours of development
• "What's New" text optimization -- 15 minutes per update cycle

High impact, medium effort (do these next):

• Localization -- 3 to 5 hours per locale, but significant download increases
• Product Hunt launch -- 2 to 4 weeks of preparation, one day of execution
• Deep linking -- a few hours of configuration

High impact, high effort (long-term investments):

• Content marketing and SEO -- ongoing time investment, but compounds over years
• Community participation -- 30 to 60 minutes per week, slow but durable returns
• Apple/Google featuring nomination -- 30 minutes to submit, but the preparation (design quality, platform feature adoption) is an ongoing investment

Medium impact, low effort (opportunistic):

• Cross-promotion -- one-time outreach and setup
• Social proof in listing -- update screenshots and description once
• Launch platforms beyond Product Hunt -- a few hours per platform

Choosing Your First Three Strategies

If you are launching a new app: Start with ASO fundamentals, a Product Hunt launch, and a rating prompt implementation. These three cover immediate discoverability, a launch traffic spike, and long-term rating building.

If you have an existing app with low downloads: Run an ASO audit to identify gaps, localize to 3 to 5 additional markets, and optimize your "What's New" text. These address the most common reasons established apps underperform: poor keyword coverage, English-only metadata, and stale listings.

If you have an established app seeking growth: Add content marketing, cross-promotion, and an Apple/Google featuring nomination to your strategy. You have already covered the basics -- now you need new traffic sources and higher-impact events.

Monthly Action Plan for Organic Growth

Week-by-Week 90-Day Plan

Month 1: Foundation

• Week 1: Run the ASO checklist. Fix any failing items. Optimize your title, subtitle, and keyword field. Time: 2 to 3 hours.
• Week 2: Rewrite your description (first 3 lines especially). Add captions to all screenshots. Time: 2 to 3 hours.
• Week 3: Implement a review prompt at the right moment in your user flow. Submit an app update with optimized metadata. Time: 2 hours.
• Week 4: Set up your tracking spreadsheet. Record baseline metrics. Research competitors' listings. Time: 1 to 2 hours.

Month 2: Expansion

• Week 5: Research and plan your Product Hunt launch (or submit your app to BetaList if pre-launch). Time: 2 hours.
• Week 6: Begin localization research for your top 3 target markets. Use autocomplete probing in each locale. Time: 2 to 3 hours.
• Week 7: Write and translate metadata for your first localized market. Time: 2 hours.
• Week 8: Execute your Product Hunt launch. Write your first blog post targeting a search query related to your app. Time: 3 hours.

Month 3: Growth

• Week 9: Complete localization for remaining target markets. Submit localized metadata. Time: 2 to 3 hours.
• Week 10: Identify and reach out to 3 potential cross-promotion partners. Begin participating in 1 to 2 relevant communities. Time: 2 hours.
• Week 11: Write your second blog post. Submit your app for Apple or Google editorial featuring. Time: 2 to 3 hours.
• Week 12: Review all metrics from the past 90 days. Identify what moved the needle. Double down on what worked. Time: 2 hours.

Total time investment over 90 days: approximately 25 to 30 hours, or about 2 to 3 hours per week. That is manageable alongside full-time development work.

Measuring Organic Growth Progress

Track these metrics weekly:

• Total impressions: Are more people seeing your listing?
• Search impressions: Are your keywords driving visibility?
• Conversion rate (impressions to downloads): Are more people installing after seeing your listing?
• Organic downloads: The bottom line -- are more people downloading your app?
• Average rating: Is your rating trending upward?

Set realistic expectations. Most ASO changes take 2 to 4 weeks to fully impact rankings. Content marketing takes 2 to 3 months to gain search traction. Community building takes months to generate meaningful referral traffic.

The 90-day plan is designed to show measurable results by the end of month 3. The most common pattern: modest improvements in month 1 as ASO fundamentals take effect, a noticeable jump in month 2 from localization and launch platforms, and compounding growth in month 3 as all strategies begin reinforcing each other. Tools like StoreLit can help you benchmark your starting point and track improvement against real competitor data, so you know exactly which changes are moving the needle.

Do not optimize for speed. Optimize for consistency. The developers who grow their downloads organically are not the ones who execute the most tactics in the shortest time. They are the ones who show up every week, make one small improvement, measure the result, and iterate. Over 90 days, those small improvements compound into meaningful growth.