Compare MMP Quotes by Effective Cost per Install

What is an effective cost per paid install?

An effective cost per paid install is the total monthly MMP bill, including every add-on you need, divided by the paid installs it attributes, which turns any billing unit into one comparable number.

Vendors quote on different units, so headline rates cannot be lined up directly:

• Per attributed install: Linkrunner, $0.010 falling to $0.007 with volume.
• Per conversion: AppsFlyer Growth at $0.07 and Singular Growth at $0.05. On AppsFlyer, a conversion is an attributed install or a re-engagement.
• Monthly plan bands: Tenjin from $200 and Kochava from $500 a month.
• Per data point: Airbridge Core from $40 a month for 500k data points.
• Per MAU or custom: Airbridge Growth is priced on MAU or installs, Kochava Enterprise can be billed on conversions or MAU, and Adjust and Branch quote through sales.

Billing unit: the thing an MMP counts to work out your bill, such as an install, a conversion, a data point or a monthly active user.

What is the fairest way to compare MMP quotes?

Gather your own volumes first, convert every quote to a monthly bill at those volumes, add the features each plan is missing, then divide by paid installs. Repeat at double your volume, because the ranking often changes.

Step 1: collect five numbers about your app

1. Paid installs a month, from your ad accounts or current MMP.
2. Re-engagements a month from retargeting campaigns, because per-conversion plans bill them too.
3. Monthly active users, for MAU and data point quotes.
4. Events per user, if any vendor bills per data point.
5. Must-have features: deferred deep linking, fraud protection, raw data, seats, SSO.

Step 2: convert every quote to one number

Here is the method applied to an example app with 50k paid installs, 10k re-engagements and about 150k MAU a month, using each vendor's published list price.

How the numbers work:

• Ranges show whether re-engagements count. AppsFlyer's definition includes them; for Singular and Tenjin, ask.
• Kochava is on Enterprise because 50k is above Foundation's 33k-a-month cap.
• Airbridge uses its own estimate that $40 covers about 35k MAU, which puts 150k MAU at roughly 2M data points.

The monthly bills at other volumes are on the MMP pricing table and in the MMP cost calculator.

Step 3: add what each plan leaves out

The cheapest unit price is only cheapest if the plan does the same job. In the example, Airbridge Core has the lowest figure, but it includes two third-party integrations and keeps fraud protection and raw data exports on its custom-priced Growth plan.

Price the gaps:

• AppsFlyer: deferred deep linking is listed from the custom-priced Standard deep linking tier, and the Raw Data API needs a premium plan after a 30-day trial.
• Adjust: the Fraud Prevention Suite, SSO and 2FA are paid add-ons.
• Singular: no-code ETL is a paid add-on, and SSO is Enterprise only.
• Kochava: raw data queries are on Enterprise.
• Branch: fraud reporting starts on Essentials, and Basics is limited to 3 ad partners.

The hidden MMP costs guide on MMP Price Watch lists each add-on vendor by vendor. Add the quoted price of every gap you need closed, then divide again.

Step 4: rerun at double your volume

Per-conversion rates stay flat, so the effective cost does not fall as you grow. Plan bands step up at their edges, and volume tiers fall. At 100k paid installs, for example, Linkrunner's rate drops to $0.009, while Tenjin's XL plan tops out at 100k conversions before Enterprise.

Common mistakes when comparing quotes

• Dividing by total installs. Organic installs are not billed on AppsFlyer, and Linkrunner bills attributed installs, so divide by paid installs.
• Ignoring re-engagements. A retargeting-heavy app can pay for 20% more conversions than paid installs.
• Comparing year-one prices. Free allowances flatter the first months; see when each free MMP plan runs out.
• Taking a verbal discount. Get the per-unit rate at today's volume and at double it in writing.

For one vendor's bill in detail, see the AppsFlyer pricing breakdown.

Where Linkrunner fits

Where Linkrunner fits: Best for teams that want the effective cost to match the headline. Linkrunner bills attributed installs from $0.010 down to $0.007, and deep linking, fraud protection, raw exports and unlimited seats are on every plan, so there are fewer gaps to price in Step 3.

Check the published rate card against your own numbers on Linkrunner's pricing page.

FAQ

How do I compare a per-conversion quote with a per-install quote? Work out the monthly bill for each at your real volume, including re-engagements for the per-conversion plan. Divide both by paid installs to get an effective cost per paid install.

How do I compare an MAU-based MMP quote? Multiply the quoted MAU rate by your monthly active users, or take the quoted monthly fee, then divide by paid installs. Ask the vendor how it counts an active user before you compare.

Is the cheapest MMP quote always the cheapest option? No. A low unit price can leave out fraud protection, raw data or deep linking, which are sold separately by several vendors. Add the price of each missing feature before comparing.

What is a good effective cost per paid install for an MMP? On published list prices, the range runs from well under $0.01 to about $0.08 per paid install. Where your quote lands depends on your volume, retargeting share and the add-ons you need.

Should I count re-engagements when comparing MMP prices? Yes, whenever a vendor bills per conversion. AppsFlyer counts re-engagements as conversions, so retargeting raises the bill even when paid installs stay flat.