How to Market a New iOS App With No Budget

Short answer

Market a no-budget iOS app in this order: build a small tester list, fix your metadata, launch with a simple website and pre-order if it suits you, post where your users already talk, then ask for ratings and nominate your app for featuring. Most of this costs only time. No tactic is guaranteed, and the ones that last, such as search and ratings, are slow.

Apple and Product Hunt details were checked on November 1, 2026.

What is the order of operations?

How do you build an audience before launch?

Start with a TestFlight public link. You can invite up to 10,000 external testers per app, and you can share the link anywhere. You create an external group and add a build, and Apple says the first build needs App Review approval for TestFlight. You can cap the number of testers or filter by device.

Share the link in small, relevant groups first, and ask testers one specific question at a time. The words they use also feed your keyword research.

Then consider pre-orders. A new app can set a release date 2 to 180 days after the pre-order is published, once App Review has approved it. Your product page goes live, and Apple says pre-orders are discoverable in search results. On release day the app downloads automatically to people who ordered, and paid apps aren’t charged until then. In-App Purchases can’t be pre-ordered.

Pre-orders suit you if you have something to point people at. If you have no audience yet, a page sitting quietly for weeks gains you little.

What metadata should you get right first?

Your name, subtitle, and keyword field come first, because Apple says text relevance covers those fields plus your primary category.

1. Do keyword research with terms that a smaller app can realistically reach.
2. Fill the 100-character keyword field without repeats.
3. Test everything in the metadata checker.
4. Write a description that explains the app in its first sentence.

This is slow to prove itself, but it keeps working after launch week. Our ASO guide goes deeper.

Do you need a website?

Yes, but a single page will do. State what the app does, show screenshots, and link to the store with the link generator.

Add a Smart App Banner so iPhone visitors can reach your app directly. Put this tag in the page’s head, with your own app ID:

<meta name="apple-itunes-app" content="app-id=myAppStoreID">

Apple says the banner opens the app if it is installed, and goes to the App Store if not. It won’t appear inside a frame or in the iOS simulator, so test on a device.

What goes in a press kit?

Keep it to one shared folder: icon, screenshots, a short description, your story, and a contact address. Then write to the few writers who cover your niche, and say why their readers would care.

Apple lets you give press and influencers early access with promo codes, up to 100 per version, per platform. Don’t count on a reply.

How should you use Product Hunt?

Treat it as one launch-day channel, mainly useful if your users are the kind of people who browse it. Product Hunt’s guide says you don’t need a hunter, you need a personal account rather than a company one, and new accounts need access to post.

• Launch on the day you are most prepared. The guide suggests 12:01 am Pacific if you have no other limits.
• A 2023 Product Hunt post says you can schedule up to 30 days out and create a free teaser. Check that the option still exists.
• Don’t ask for upvotes. It is against the site’s policies, and repeated upvote contests may get a product unfeatured. Ask for feedback and comments.

The guide promises no placement, so plan as if launch day brings nothing.

How do you promote on Reddit without getting banned?

Read each community’s rules before you post, because they differ and they change. We could not open the current rules of r/iOSProgramming or r/SideProject while writing this, so check them, along with any pinned self-promotion thread, yourself.

A few habits apply in most places. Comment before you post, say plainly that you built the app, share what you learned, and answer replies. If a community says no promotion, move on.

How do you get ratings?

Ask after someone has done something useful. Use RequestReviewAction, because SKStoreReviewController is deprecated. The system shows the prompt at most three times in a 365-day period, and people can turn it off.

Apple’s guidance is specific. Don’t ask at launch or in response to a button tap. Avoid first launch and onboarding, and wait for a natural break. The prompt has no effect in TestFlight builds.

Apple says ratings and reviews can influence your search rank, but they build slowly. Reply to reviews too, as Apple suggests after major releases. OpenASO’s reviews guide shows one free way to do that.

How do you nominate your app for featuring?

Use Featuring Nominations in App Store Connect. Apple’s featuring page asks for at least two weeks’ notice and suggests up to three months for wider consideration. The nomination help page recommends a minimum of three weeks, so aim well past both.

Apple says there is no checklist. It considers things like user experience, localization, and your product page. Nominating costs nothing, and being picked is out of your hands.

When do In-App Events make sense?

Use them once you have a real moment to share, such as a challenge or a content launch. Apple’s rules allow up to 10 published events, each lasting up to 31 days and promoted up to 14 days early. You can submit them without a new app version. Apple says repetitive tasks and price promotions are not good candidates.

Know the catch for a new app. In search, Apple says the event card shows to people who have downloaded the app before, while everyone else sees your screenshots. Events are visible on your product page too. They help most once you have past users to bring back.

Should you spend anything at all?

You don’t have to. Apple advertises a 100 USD Apple Ads credit for eligible developers, and our Apple Ads guide covers whether ads are worth it.

Pick the next item in the table above and finish it this week.