I want to share my experience with DealPipe and, especially, with David Marcheschi, who assisted me in selling my software business. It was a months-long process that David managed superbly, guiding and assisting me every step of the way through multiple buyer calls, demos, and negotiations. In the end we found a buyer who was ready to close without any third-party financing, which really sped things up. I can only imagine how hard David was working behind the scenes, vetting potential buyers and letting me focus on the important things. I could not have handled this on my own, and I heartily recommend David as a top-notch broker who will have your interests at heart.
Sell Your App
App Business Brokers & M&A Advisors
If you are searching “sell my app,” you probably already know the app is worth something. The harder part is proving it to a buyer who will check every number. Acquirers look at net profit after app store fees, subscription retention and churn, how users are acquired, whether the code base can be maintained by someone new, and whether the developer account can move cleanly to them. Answer those questions well and serious buyers compete. Leave them open and the deal drags or the price drops.
DealPipe’s app brokers and M&A advisors represent founders of subscription apps, mobile games, utility and productivity apps, consumer and B2B web apps, and app portfolios. We value the business on the earnings buyers underwrite, market it confidentially to screened buyers, and handle negotiation, technical due diligence and the store transfer through closing.
Wondering what your app could sell for? Start with a free, confidential valuation. It costs nothing and commits you to nothing.
“Can I Sell My App Myself?” Why Founders Use a Broker
Many developers first try to sell an app themselves: a post on a founder forum, a listing on a self-serve marketplace, a few cold emails to bigger publishers. Some of that works for tiny apps. Once the app produces real profit, the gaps show. Buyers ask for cohort retention, refund rates, ad network payouts and a code review, and a seller without organized answers loses leverage fast.
We prepare the app the way an acquirer will examine it. Revenue is reconciled to App Store Connect and Google Play Console payouts, subscription data from tools such as RevenueCat, and ad mediation reports. Earnings are recast as seller’s discretionary earnings (SDE) or EBITDA, with owner salary, one-time launch costs and personal expenses added back. We also flag technical risks early, such as outdated SDKs, a single unreplaceable developer or third-party licenses that will not transfer.
Then we run a competitive process. Instead of accepting the first inbound offer, you compare qualified bids on price, cash at closing, earnouts, and how long you will support the buyer after handover. Before you sign with any firm, read how to choose a business broker for the questions that matter.
What Drives App Valuation
Smaller, owner-run apps are usually priced off their last twelve months of profit, and multiples in the range of roughly 2x to 4x annual profit are common for them. Larger apps with a team and steady growth are more often priced on EBITDA through a structured M&A process. Within any range, these are the factors that move your number:
- Revenue quality. Auto-renewing subscriptions with low churn are worth more than one-time downloads or volatile ad revenue. Annual plans, healthy trial-to-paid conversion and low refund rates all help.
- User acquisition. Organic installs from app store search, referrals and brand demand carry less risk than growth bought entirely with paid campaigns. Buyers check whether payback periods still work at current ad costs.
- Engagement and retention. Day-30 and month-12 retention, active-user trends and review ratings show whether the product keeps its audience.
- Platform exposure. Apps that rely on one store, one ad network or a single feature that a platform policy change could break are discounted.
- Code and infrastructure. A clean, documented code base, current dependencies and predictable hosting costs make technical diligence short and buyers confident.
- Owner dependence. An app that ships updates and answers support tickets without its founder is easier to transfer and worth more.
For a quick starting figure, use our free business valuation calculator, and our team will sharpen it using recent app and software transactions.
Types of App Businesses We Sell
We represent app owners across platforms and monetization models, and we price each one on what its likely buyers care about:
- Subscription apps. Health and fitness, education, productivity and lifestyle apps with recurring revenue, valued on retention, churn and lifetime value.
- Mobile games. Casual and mid-core titles earning from in-app purchases and ads, assessed on retention curves, payer conversion and live-ops effort.
- Utility and tool apps. Scanners, editors, calculators and similar apps with steady organic installs from app store search.
- Web apps and cross-platform products. Consumer and B2B applications delivered in the browser and on mobile, often built with shared code.
- Marketplace and community apps. Two-sided platforms where buyers weigh network effects, transaction volume and moderation workload.
- App portfolios and studios. Several apps under one developer account, packaged for strategic acquirers and funds by our M&A advisory team.
This page focuses on apps sold as standalone businesses. Subscription software built mainly for companies, licensed software and development agencies have their own exit playbooks, which we cover on separate pages.
What Is Your App Business Worth?
Answer six brief questions about your app’s revenue and profit and get an estimated value range on the spot. No account and no phone number required.
Your numbers
We value on your trailing twelve months, because that is what buyers underwrite. The prior full year sits beside it so we can read your growth. Round numbers are fine.
| Prior full yearCalendar 2025 | Trailing 12 monthsOct 2025 to Sep 2026 | |
|---|---|---|
| Revenue | ||
| less Cost of goods sold | ||
| less Operating expenses | ||
| equals Net profit | $0 | $0 |
| plus Add-backs | ||
| equals Seller’s Discretionary Earnings | $0 | $0 |
Add-backs are the expenses a new owner would not carry: your own salary, personal costs run through the business, one-time expenses, depreciation and interest. Adding them back to net profit gives SDE, the number buyers actually pay a multiple on.
What makes you valuable
0 selectedCheck everything that is true today. These are the levers that move your multiple up, and they count towards your estimate once your figures are in above.
Where the risk sits
0 selectedBe honest here. Buyers find these in diligence anyway, and knowing them up front is how we protect your price.
Your figures, and how we got this number
Get the full valuation report
Get your multiple, comparable app and software sales and a broker call, sent to you as a PDF.
This automated estimate is based on Seller’s Discretionary Earnings multiples our brokers see on live deals. Apps with heavy paid acquisition, high churn or platform risk may price differently. Use it as a guide, not as a formal appraisal, a purchase offer or financial advice. Your data is never shared.
Plan Your App Exit Strategy Early
The best app exits are prepared a year or two in advance. Move the developer account and app store payouts into a business entity if they still sit in your personal name. Keep monthly P&Ls that match store and subscription reports. Update outdated SDKs and libraries, document how to build and release the app, and make sure no single contractor holds knowledge nobody else has. If paid ads drive most installs, show that the economics hold before you go to market. Founders planning to step back or retire from the product benefit most from this groundwork.
Have questions about timing or structure? Read our seller FAQ, then map out your exit with an advisor.
The Process
Valuation & Data Review
Confidential Marketing
Offers & LOI
Diligence, Transfer & Closing
Talk to an App M&A Advisor
Who Buys App Businesses
Profitable apps attract several kinds of acquirers. Individual entrepreneurs and small holding companies look for apps with steady cash flow they can run with a lean team. App studios and publishers buy titles that fit their portfolio, where their user acquisition engine and cross-promotion can grow revenue quickly. Strategic buyers acquire apps that add users, features or data to products they already own, and private equity groups back larger app businesses with proven growth and a management team.
Each group values different things, so finding the best fit is part of the job. See the variety in our recently sold businesses, and read about the key stages of the business acquisition process to see a deal from the buyer’s side.
Our App Business Brokers
Recently Sold App Businesses
Selling an App Business: FAQ
Smaller app businesses are usually valued at a multiple of trailing twelve-month profit, often roughly 2x to 4x, while larger apps with a team may be priced on EBITDA. Subscription revenue with low churn, organic installs, strong retention and a clean code base push the multiple up. For a figure grounded in recent deals, request a free business valuation.
Organize twelve to twenty-four months of P&Ls that tie to App Store, Google Play and subscription reports, then get a professional valuation. A broker prepares a confidential summary, qualifies each buyer under an NDA, works the letter of intent through to signature and manages financial and code diligence, the sale contract, escrow and the move of the app and its accounts to the buyer.
Most app sales close within a few months of hiring a broker. Clean financials, documented code and an app that already meets store transfer requirements shorten the process. Larger transactions with institutional buyers, earnouts or complex backend migrations generally need more time for diligence and legal work.
Selling it yourself can work for a hobby-sized app when a quick exit beats a higher price. When your app earns meaningful profit, an app business broker usually pays for itself by recasting earnings, reaching private buyers, protecting confidentiality and negotiating terms like earnouts and support periods. Learn more about our process to sell your business with DealPipe.
DealPipe is paid on performance only. There are no upfront fees and no retainers, and the success fee is due only if your app sells. We set out the exact structure for your transaction during a free, confidential consultation, so you know the terms before the process starts.
Apple and Google both support moving an app to another developer account. On the App Store, a transferred app keeps its ratings, reviews and bundle ID, and users continue to receive updates, provided the app meets Apple’s transfer criteria. We check those requirements early and sequence the store, backend and payment transfers through escrow.
App buyers include individual entrepreneurs and holding companies seeking cash flow, app studios and publishers adding titles to their portfolio, strategic acquirers buying users or technology, and private equity groups backing larger app businesses. We match your app to the buyer type most likely to pay for its strengths.
An app broker usually handles owner-run apps and smaller portfolios, selling to individual buyers and operators. For larger app companies, an M&A advisor manages a formal, competitive sale that often draws strategic acquirers or private equity. DealPipe provides both, so the process matches the size and complexity of your exit.
No, not from us. Your app is marketed without its name. Buyers learn which app it is once they have signed an NDA and proven they can fund the deal. Store analytics, code access and contractor contacts are released in stages as a deal advances, so you choose when to tell your team.
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