Short answer: If your MMP bill grows faster than your installs, switch to a vendor that bills on a unit you control, such as attributed installs, conversions or a flat monthly plan, rather than every event. On published list prices, per-install billing runs from $0.012 down to $0.007 (Linkrunner) and per-conversion billing is $0.05 to $0.07 (Singular, AppsFlyer).
What is per-event MMP pricing?
Per-event MMP pricing is a billing model where the vendor counts the events your app sends, such as sessions, purchases or custom actions, and charges for the volume, instead of charging for the installs it attributes.
Of the vendors on this site, two publish a rate tied to events or data points:
- AppMetrica: installs and basic events are free, and the free plan covers 100M custom events a month. Each extra million custom events costs $0.80.
- Airbridge: Core is priced per data point, with 500k included and $0.0001 for each one after that. Airbridge's pricing page notes that every tracked event counts toward usage.
Data point: a unit of tracked activity, such as an event, that Airbridge counts towards your monthly usage.
Why do per-event MMP bills spiral?
The bill is units multiplied by rate, so it grows with whichever unit is counted. Installs grow when you spend more on ads. Events grow when you add tracking, retain users or ship a new feature, even if installs stay flat.
- More events per user: adding purchase, level and funnel events multiplies the count without a single extra install.
- Better retention: a loyal user who opens the app daily sends more events than a lapsed one, so success raises the bill.
- Fixed rate, moving unit: Airbridge's $0.0001 looks tiny, but 20M data points in a month adds about $1,950 on top of Core's $40 base (19.5M beyond the 500k included, at $0.0001).
- Hard to forecast: a product release can change events per user overnight, whereas paid installs follow a budget you set.
Our MMP charges per event and costs are spiralling. What are the alternatives?
Move to billing on attributed installs or conversions, or to a monthly plan band, because those units follow your ad spend and can be budgeted in advance. Ask each vendor what exactly it counts, then compare quotes on one cost per paid install, as in how to compare MMP quotes.
| Vendor | What the published price counts | Published price |
|---|---|---|
| Adjust | Conversions (annual bands) | Free to 1.5k conversions a month in year one, then quote |
| Airbridge | Data points | From $40 a month on Core |
| AppMetrica | Custom events | Free to 100M a month, then $0.80 per extra million |
| AppsFlyer | Conversions (installs, re-engagements) | $0.07 on Growth |
| Branch | Not published | No public prices |
| Kochava | Monthly plan bands | Free to 10k conversions a month, then from $500 |
| Linkrunner | Attributed installs | $0.012 down to $0.007, 25k free |
| Singular | Conversions | $0.05 on Growth, 15k free |
| Tenjin | Monthly plan bands | Free to 2k conversions a month, then $200 to $1,000 |
How do install, conversion and plan billing compare?
- Per install: you pay for each install the MMP attributes. It tracks ad spend, and in-app event volume never changes the bill. Linkrunner bills this way, and its own pricing page says re-engagements are not billed.
- Per conversion: you pay for each attributed install or action. On AppsFlyer, the pricing FAQ says a conversion includes installs, re-engagements and re-attributions, so retargeting adds to the bill.
- Plan bands: a fixed monthly fee up to a conversion cap. Tenjin's $200 plan covers 10k conversions and Kochava's $500 plan covers 33k, but Kochava's next step starts at $2,000 a month.
- Per event or data point: the unit moves with product usage, which is the pattern behind spiralling bills.
Effective cost per install: the full monthly MMP bill divided by the paid installs it attributes, which puts every billing unit on one scale.
What should you compare before switching?
- The billed unit. Ask whether organic installs, re-engagements, reinstalls and custom events count.
- Your event volume. On Linkrunner, the plan limits cover 1M custom events a month on Free and 10M on Growth, and billing stays on attributed installs. Check that any vendor's event allowance covers your real volume.
- Band edges. A cap such as Kochava's 33k can turn $500 into at least $2,000 a month.
- What the plan leaves out. Fraud protection, raw data and deferred deep linking differ by plan. The free MMP comparison lists the limits.
Per-event pricing is not always the dearer choice. AppMetrica's allowance of 100M custom events is generous, so a team that mostly needs analytics and tracking, and does not need Google App Attribution Partner status, may find it the cheapest option.
At 100k paid installs a month, Linkrunner's published rate of $0.009 per attributed install comes to about $900, against about $7,000 at AppsFlyer's $0.07 per conversion. Linkrunner is a newer company, founded in 2024, with fewer public reviews than the incumbents, so check references before a large move. Its rate card lists every volume tier. Try your own volume in the MMP cost calculator.
FAQ
Which MMPs charge per event? Of the vendors checked here, AppMetrica charges $0.80 per extra million custom events after 100M free, and Airbridge Core charges $0.0001 per data point after 500k. AppsFlyer, Singular and Tenjin bill per conversion.
What is the difference between per-event and per-conversion pricing? A conversion is an attributed install, plus on AppsFlyer a re-engagement. An event is any tracked action, so event counts are usually many times higher and harder to predict.
Is there an MMP with no event fees? Linkrunner, Singular, AppsFlyer and Tenjin quote a price per install or conversion rather than per event, and Linkrunner states that re-engagements are never billed.
How do I stop my MMP bill growing faster than installs? Pick a billed unit that tracks ad spend, ask for the rate card in writing, and cap or sample low-value events in your SDK.