Price of Niagara Pro

Niagara Pro is our premium in-app upgrade to unlock all of Niagara Launcher's features. We offer multiple subscriptions, but all unlock the same content. To keep prices fair for everyone, they can vary by country. Here's how much Niagara Pro costs:

Yearly subscription: $9.99/9.99€/₹120 a year
Lifetime purchase: $29.99/29.99€/₹360 (once)

Why Niagara Pro is subscription-based

TL;DR With our monthly/yearly subscription, we opted for a sustainable source of revenue to keep the project alive as long as possible. But we heard from our community that some people couldn't stand subscriptions, so we also decided to offer Niagara Pro Lifetime with the same features and a higher but one-time fee.

In the mobile world, subscriptions are not that well-received, though you often get the feeling that some developers switch to a subscription model to rip you off. That's why we find it especially important to explain my decision and Niagara Launcher's monetization model.

But first, let's begin by going through the income sources of other apps:

Alternative monetization strategies

What about placing some funny and colorful ads in between apps? Also, you wouldn't mind watching a short video before changing your app icons, right? No, just kidding, that won't happen. Most of us, especially me, can't stand advertisements. Ads just don't fit into a clean launcher.

Besides, a lot of other apps have a so-called freemium model. You get the basic features for free and can purchase a pro version with additional features if you enjoy using it. But there is one big caveat with this model from a developer's standpoint: it is too unreliable, and it doesn't guarantee sustainable income compared to a normal job. One-time purchases might return higher revenue in the first months, but they will most certainly decrease over time. You need to acquire new users to keep it going, and the old users usually lose relevance. That's not what Niagara Launcher is about; it's no one-time product. The app is not even close to being finished yet, and we doubt it ever will be; it should and will keep flowing and evolving. With more than 100 submitted open issues and suggestions tracked on GitHub, it seems that we're not running out of creative ideas any time soon.

I could go on about why we chose this system, but the YouTuber Polymatter has explained this matter way better in one of his videos:

Other Launchers

There are many launchers out there, and almost all of their Pro versions can be unlocked by a one-time purchase. As a result, the model seems sustainable at first glance, but this is a deceiving picture.

For example, Action Launcher has a second in-app purchase for further features. Chris lacy, the mind behind Action Launcher, also wrote about how he's struggling with the monetization system. Moreover, Action Launcher was "re-released"; you had to pay again to unlock all features.

One launcher that has gone too far is Apex Launcher, in my opinion. Lately, the app serves a pop-up ad every time you open your browser.

In 2022, Nova Launcher was acquired by the analytics company Branch. While Kevin, the creator of Nova Launcher, states that they don't misuse user data—and we do trust him—the sales of Nova Launcher Prime are a negligible part of Branch's revenue stream. They sell advanced launcher search features to device manufacturers and use Nova Launcher as a platform to test what features work.

There's also Microsoft Launcher. It doesn't even offer a pro version. Microsoft also doesn't want to generate revenue from the launcher itself. The launcher intends to bring you into their ecosystem instead with Office apps, Outlook, Cortana & Skype, and by syncing your phone with your Windows PC.

We recommend reading the article from the developer of Ulysses where he further explains the differences between the freemium and monthly-support system and why he switched to the latter.

All in all, the histories of several launchers show that a one-time purchase for just an independent launcher is not enough to support ongoing development costs, in my opinion. Okay, now let's get down to the nitty-gritty:

The price

When it comes to subscriptions, a lot of them seem overpriced in comparison to one-time purchases. Taking a quick look in the Play Store's subscription tab reveals that most subscriptions range from five to fifteen dollars a month.

Niagara Pro will cost a lot less, only a few dollars a year. Additionally, in countries having low-income rates, even that price may be too high. Thus the price will be adapted there.

Even though subscriptions are way more sustainable, we also want to offer a one-time purchase for those who can't stand subscriptions.

Keeping Prices Fair Across the Globe

We're trying our best to keep our prices fair for everyone; please see our dedicated article for that.