How much does app store optimization cost? What you pay for
App store optimization has no fee on Apple's side: changing your metadata, localizing your page and running product page tests is free with the Apple Developer Program membership you already pay for. What ASO costs is the work around it, paid either in your own hours, in a keyword tool subscription, or in an agency or freelancer's fee. The right budget depends on how many markets you serve and how often you ship.
Below is how we think about the bill, line by line, after running ASO for our own three apps and for client apps alongside close to $100,000 a month in Apple Search Ads.
What Apple charges you for ASO: nothing extra
Every lever in App Store optimization sits inside App Store Connect. The title, subtitle and 100-character keyword field can be changed with any new version. Screenshots and preview videos can be swapped the same way. Localizations for other storefronts are free to add.
The two testing features are free too. Product page optimization lets you test alternate icons, screenshots and preview videos against your original page on real store traffic. Custom product pages let you build extra versions of your page for different audiences and link ads to them. Neither has a per-test or per-page fee.
So the only fixed cost is the developer membership itself. Everything else is labor.
Where the money actually goes
When we scope ASO for an app, the work falls into five buckets. These are the line items to ask about whether you do the work yourself or hire it out.
| Work | What it involves | How often |
|---|---|---|
| Keyword research | Finding terms people type, checking search popularity, mapping them to title, subtitle and keyword field | At launch, then each quarter |
| Metadata writing | Title, subtitle, keyword field, promotional text and description per market | With releases that change what the app does |
| Screenshot production | Design, copy and export of a full set, per device size and per language | Each test and each market |
| Testing and analysis | Setting up product page tests, waiting for enough traffic, reading results | Continuous, one test at a time |
| Localization | Rewriting metadata and screenshot copy for intent in each storefront | Once per market, then with each refresh |
The first two are mostly thinking and writing. The 30 characters of a title take longer than they look, which is why we wrote a whole piece on the 30 characters that decide your app's future. The third is where budgets go, because screenshots are design work and every test needs a new variant.
Localization is the bucket most teams skip and then underestimate. Translating word for word is cheap and usually wrong. Rewriting for what people search in each market is slower, and it is where we find the easiest wins, as covered in the markets most apps ignore.
Three ways to pay for ASO
Your own time
For an indie developer with one app in one or two markets, doing ASO yourself is realistic. Our estimate from our own apps: a first full pass (research, metadata, a new screenshot set) takes a few working days, and upkeep is a few hours per release. The cost is the features you did not ship in that time.
Start with the free version of the work before you buy anything. Our 20-minute ASO audit finds the biggest problems on most pages without a tool.
A keyword tool subscription
Third-party ASO tools track rankings, estimate search volume and show competitor keywords. They save research time but do not write metadata or design screenshots for you. Pricing is usually a monthly subscription that scales with the number of apps, keywords and markets tracked.
You can go a long way without one. Apple's own search popularity scores in Apple Search Ads, the App Store search bar's suggestions and your App Analytics data cover the first months for most apps. A tool earns its cost once you track dozens of keywords across several storefronts and need history.
An agency or freelancer
Outside help buys experience and time. Pricing models vary: fixed-price projects for a metadata and screenshot refresh, monthly retainers for ongoing testing, or ASO bundled with paid user acquisition. Because quotes are hard to compare, ask every provider for a written scope that names the deliverables in the table above.
A few questions that separate the quotes:
- How many markets and languages are included?
- How many screenshot sets, and who designs them?
- How many product page tests per quarter, and who reads the results?
- Do you get the keyword research as a file you keep?
- Is the work tied to your release schedule or to a calendar?
What makes ASO more expensive
The same work costs more under a few conditions. Each extra storefront multiplies metadata and screenshot work. Frequent releases mean more chances to update, which is good, but also more hours. Apps in crowded categories need more research to find terms where they can rank.
Paid traffic also raises the stakes. If you run Apple Search Ads, every point of conversion on your product page lowers what you pay per install, so the page deserves more attention. This is why we usually fix the page before scaling spend, and why custom product pages for each search intent are often the cheapest improvement an advertiser can make.
How to budget ASO without overpaying
Treat ASO as a recurring line tied to releases, not a one-time project. A refresh that is never revisited goes stale as the app changes and the category moves.
A practical order for a small team:
- Run the free audit on your own page and list every gap.
- Fix metadata first: it is writing work and costs the least.
- Produce one new first screenshot and test it with product page optimization.
- Add your next storefront only when the main one is in good shape.
- Buy a tool or hire help when the time cost of doing it yourself is higher than the fee.
If you are already spending on ads, put a small share of that budget into the page those ads send people to. The page is the multiplier on everything else.
ASO is cheap on paper and expensive in attention. The money question is really a time question: who does the research, the writing and the screenshots, and how often. If you want a second opinion before you spend anything, our written audit is free and takes about a week.
Common questions
Is app store optimization free?
The store side is free. Apple does not charge to change your title, subtitle, keywords, screenshots or localizations, and product page optimization and custom product pages cost nothing. You still pay in your own time or in someone else's fees.
How much does an ASO agency cost?
Pricing varies widely and most agencies quote per project or as a monthly retainer, so ask for a written scope. Compare quotes by what is delivered (keyword research, metadata per market, screenshot sets, tests run) rather than the headline price.
Do I need a paid ASO tool?
Not to start. The App Store search bar, Apple Search Ads search popularity and your own App Analytics data cover the first months. A paid tool starts to earn its cost when you track many keywords across several markets.
How often should ASO work be repeated?
Review metadata and screenshots with each meaningful release and at least once a quarter. In our accounts, a keyword set that is not revisited for six months usually holds rankings that no longer match what the app does.
Is ASO cheaper than Apple Search Ads?
They are not substitutes. ASO raises the conversion rate of every visit, paid or organic, so it makes each Apple Search Ads tap cheaper. Most apps should fix the product page before scaling ad spend.
Sources
Written by Osman Kantarcıoğlu, founder of KNT App Studio. He designs and ships the studio's iOS apps (Dreamify, Viola and GERG) and runs Apple Search Ads and ASO for the studio and the teams it works with. Posts describe what we did and what it cost; when a number is an estimate, the text says so.