New Feature Announcement: In-App Payments

Today is the day! After months of work, testing, and approvals – we are excited to announce that in-app payments are now available on Thunkable. In-app payments (IAP) allow our app creators to generate revenue through direct payment from their users within the app. Creators can create premium experiences with gated content, charge for certain features, or collect donations — all within the app experience.

“We have been working on this for a while. It was important to us to get this right for our users,” said Weihua Li, Co-founder and CTO of Thunkable. “Being able to generate revenue from your app is exciting for our creators. Thunkers now has yet another way to monetize their apps made on Thunkable.” Thunkable already offers Google AdMob as a way to passively generate revenue through in-app ads. In-app payments will allow creators to charge directly for the in-app experiences or content.

Depending on the type of app you’re building and desired user experience (UX), you can leverage in-app payments in a variety of ways. Here are a few examples:

• Charge for an experience: Charge your customers for access, either as a subscription or a one-time payment. Unlock content, experiences, or tiers by charging for these features.
• Collect a donation: Keep your app entirely free and ask users to support you by collecting donations.
• Create a “freemium” app: Make your app available to all users, but charge for certain features or functionality. With in-app purchases, users can unlock certain features, that would otherwise not be available for free users.

One example of in-app payments in action is Ronald Sherard, who created the Amazing Aurora app on Thunkable (iOS & Android). This app was built to help a passionate group of “light chasers” find and follow the Northern Lights. What started out as a fun side project turned into a passionate pursuit for Ronald. Over time, he was able to make Amazing Aurora into one of the most trusted Aurora Borealis trackers available. His app has thousands of downloads and is passionately used by light chasers from all around the northern hemisphere.

“IAP changed the game to me. I want to do everything without the fear of cost,” said Ronald. “I went from 20 users to 1000s, and in-app payments give me a way to generate revenue from the app I have built.” Check out Amazing Aurora if you want to chase the Northern Lights or see IAP in action.

Making app development accessible to everyone is the key mission of Thunkable. And today we are taking the next step – letting anyone take their idea, turn it into an app, and monetize their idea.

We’re excited to see what you’ll build next and how you’ll leverage in-app payments to turn your idea into a revenue-generating machine. IAP is available now on the Thunkable platform. To get started building your app, sign up for your account today.