Creating an app is a fantastic side hustle to beef up your bank account. But, figuring out the right type of app and its features can be overwhelming. That's why we've compiled a list of the 50 best app ideas to help spark your creativity and guide you toward success.
Whether you're considering an upfront fee, subscription models, or other monetization strategies, this article will provide you with various profitable app concepts and tips on how to make money from them.
Let's dive into these exciting ideas and start your journey to app success!
Best App Ideas for Making Money
There are infinite app ideas, so we divided our list into categories. This makes it easier to narrow down your mobile app ideas and determine which one best suits your interests. Choose from the following:
- Personal Productivity Apps
- Health and Fitness Apps
- Educational Apps
- Social Networking and Community Apps
- Travel Apps
- Finance and Investment Apps
- Apps for Your Business
Ultimately, your app aims to make users' lives easier. That’s why we've explained how each app idea achieves this.
Specific features are needed to ensure your app works as intended. We've also included three essential features each app idea must have.
Personal Productivity Apps
Personal productivity apps will help you organize your day-to-day tasks. Use them to ensure every chore, task, or list item is accounted for. These app types can also help you plan family events, meals, and vacations to ensure you’re fully prepared.
1) Task Manager App
A task management app streamlines daily activities by organizing tasks according to your preferences, reducing mental clutter. You can prioritize tasks, set deadlines, and create reminders.
Ultimately, this app will keep all your tasks in one easy-to-find place. You won’t need to focus on achieving your goals without the stress of remembering every detail, leading to improved work-life balance and GSD (getting stuff done).
Essential Features
- Calendar integration: It syncs with users’ calendars to set reminders and deadlines, ensuring accurate task scheduling.
- A progress tracker: For providing a visual representation with charts, graphs, and task completion timelines and deadlines. This feature also motivates users.
- Customizable alerts: To send notifications for reminders about upcoming tasks and updates, ensuring no task slips through the cracks.
How This App Can Make Money
Make certain features accessible, like the calendar integration, but require in-app purchases for other features, such as customizable alerts or unlimited list items.
2) Habit Tracking App
It provides a structured way to cultivate and maintain beneficial habits while allowing you to keep your bad habits in check. You can take notes when you partake in any habit, good or bad, and the conditions present.
For instance, if you’re cutting down on sugar, you input that you had only 1 piece of cake at your friend’s birthday party, which is a step up from your typical 3.
Essential Features
- Habit notifications: Send push notifications to yourself at customizable intervals to avoid bad habits and adopt good ones.
- Customizable habit scheduler: Create and customize a list of daily habits you want to undertake or bad ones you want to ditch.
- Motivational insights and tips: Provide educational content, quotes, and tips for inspiration so your users will stay focused on their goals.
How This App Can Make Money
Allow simple habit tracking as a free perk, but make special features, like sending reminders as push notifications, a paid-premium feature.
3) Sleep Tracking App
This app will provide important feedback about one of the most important biological functions: sleep. It monitors sleep patterns, providing insights into sleep quality and identifying sleep cycles, disturbances, and overall sleep duration.
With this app, users can determine optimal sleep conditions to tackle whatever the next day throws.
Essential Features
- Integration with a sleep tracker: Integrating with a sleep tracking tool like Whoop will help ensure you get accurate app biometrics.
- Environmental recording: Record sounds and light levels throughout the night to eliminate sleep disruptions.
- Smart alarm: This alarm uses a user’s sleep metrics to wake them up within a designated time window during their lightest sleep phase.
How This App Can Make Money
Make it possible to enter sleep times manually and determine how users feel when they wake up free. Users must pay a premium price to integrate their Whoop strap data or leverage a Smart alarm.
4) Daily Journal App
You can regularly document your thoughts and feelings in a daily journal app. Writing daily entries will improve your mindset, help you hit your goals, and reduce stress. Your daily journal app will also help you gain insight into your behavior and emotional state over time.
Essential Features
- Export and backup options: To save space, users can export their journals to a hard drive or a PC.
- Search and organize: With a simple search, app users can reference certain emotions, what caused them, and how they reacted. Users can organize entries by date, category, or keyword.
- Word-processing interface: A simple, user-friendly notebook-style interface for quick and effortless journaling.
How This App Can Make Money
Create a free version with a limited number of words users can enter. If users want to write more, they must pay for it. You can charge per word (like $0.005/word) or offer a flat fee for unlimited words.
5) Event Planning App
This app streamlines organizing personal and professional events, making it easier and less stressful for users to manage event details, timelines, and communications. You’ll be able to consolidate all aspects of event planning into one intuitive and easy-to-use platform, helping ensure any event runs smoothly.
Essential Features
- Event scheduling calendar: A calendar that sets dates, times, and deadlines and sends reminders for approaching deadlines.
- Checklist and timeline creations: Customizable checklists and timelines let your audience view when they’ve completed specific tasks.
- Collaboration tools: These tools allow individual team members to collaborate in real time and notify everyone when they’ve completed jobs.
How This App Can Make Money
You can only allow a certain number of items per checklist for free. Charge a premium if users want to write longer lists.
6) Recipe App
A recipe app can be a game changer if you want to save money by limiting restaurant visits or just trying to eat healthier. You can save recipes in different categories, like vegetarian meals, post-workout meals, or ethnic cuisine.
Essential Features
- Extensive recipe database: You’ll need a large database to support a constantly growing number of recipes for various cuisines, dietary needs, and cooking skill levels.
- Social sharing and community: Let your users share their cooking experiences, showcase photos of their latest dish, and share tips with a community of fellow food enthusiasts.
- Cooking tutorials and videos: Include step-by-step cooking videos and tutorials for complex recipes.
How This App Can Make Money
Connect with companies that provide cooking products or food and feature these on your app as ads.
7) Grocery List App
Leveraging a grocery list app ensures your shopping experience goes smoothly and you don’t forget anything. You’ll be able to organize your list in the order you walk through the grocery store and cross off items as you put them in your cart.
You can opt for regular list items to repeat each time you visit the store, saving time.
Essential Features
- User-friendly list creation: This allows users to add and categorize items to a list seamlessly.
- Recipe integration: Suggest shopping lists based on selected recipes.
- Push notifications: Alert users if they forget to grab an item or remind them that their scheduled trip to the grocery store is coming up soon.
How This App Can Make Money
Feature certain food brands for in-app advertising or make certain functionality, like recipe integration or a paid-premium feature.
8) Home Inventory App
List all your big purchases, such as your TV, oven, fridge, air conditioner, etc. Record each item’s purchase date, warranty timespan, and when it needs scheduled maintenance. Refer to this list when you think it’s time to upgrade or fix a home appliance.
Essential Features
- Detailed item cataloging: Ability to log items with photos, descriptions, and purchase details.
- Barcode scanning: Quickly add items to the inventory using a barcode scanner. Record the barcode to your app and send it to the manufacturer when it’s time for a warranty claim.
- Value tracking: Automatically update and track the depreciation or appreciation of items over time. This feature can help you determine a price to sell an item or appliance.
How This App Can Make Money
Offer a limited number of entered items for free and create pricing tiers dependent on the number of items the user enters (10 for $5/month, 25 for $10/month, etc.).
Health and Fitness Apps
Health and fitness apps are useful to various folks: Fitness instructors, die-hard exercise nuts, or those just getting into workout routines. Fitness apps can track workouts and spotlight progress toward fitness goals.
9) Workout Tracker App
This app optimizes fitness routines by giving users detailed tracking of their workouts. Users can monitor progress to help them attain their specific fitness goals. It can also help motivate and remind people to do their daily workouts.
Essential Features
- Detailed exercise logging: This feature lets users record every detail of their workouts, such as miles ran, amount of weight lifted, or yoga poses completed.
- Goal setting and tracking: Let users set fitness goals, like weight loss, one rep max, running 50 miles per week, and more.
- Integration with wearables: Ensure your app integrates with wearable devices like heart-rate bands and watches to get detailed workout data.
How This App Can Make Money
Advertise specific health and fitness products or put a paywall around certain features, such as the ability to integrate with health-tracking wearables.
10) Meditation App
A meditation app promotes mental clarity, reduces stress, and boosts emotional health. It allows users to schedule daily meditation sessions for any time and set notifications for when their next meditation session will begin.
Essential Features
- Guided meditation sessions: Create various sessions focusing on techniques and goals, such as deep-breathing meditation, meditation to improve focus, and more.
- Progress tracking: Let users track the frequency and duration of each session so they can progress toward their meditation goals.
- Background sounds and music: Integrate with a music player so users can meditate on sounds or music to drown out background noise or improve focus.
How This App Can Make Money
You can partner with wellness brands geared towards meditation and advertise them on your app.
11) App for Personal Trainers
If you’re a personal trainer or gym owner, creating your personal training app for scheduling clients, tracking their progress, and helping them reach their goals will help grow your business. For more info, check out our guide for creating a physical fitness app.
Essential Features
- Booking feature: Let clients see when you’re open so they can book directly with you using the app.
- Progress tracking: Record and track workouts, display calories burned, and show how close clients are to reaching their goals.
- In-app messenger: Allow clients to contact you directly through the app so they don’t have to fumble through their text messages.
How This App Can Make Money
This app complements your revenue model by providing an easy place for clients to pay. However, you could also become an affiliate for health supplements and sell them to clients directly from your app.
12) Fitness Challenge Social App
Help your users stay motivated to keep up their workout routines through a fitness challenge app. The app connects users to a community of like-minded fitness enthusiasts. Users can publicly state their goals and show progress while motivating others.
Essential Features
- Social media feed: Like Facebook and Instagram, users will post workouts, tips, and progress toward their goals.
- Tracking and analytics: These tools will track workouts, progress, and health stats.
- Webinars: Provide an in-app video function for users to present how to reach their fitness goals or connect with other users.
How This App Can Make Money
Advertise for a myriad of fitness companies by posting ads for their products on your app’s social media feed. As the app founder, you can also aim to be an affiliate marketer for some products and release promo videos.
13) Trail Running App
Users can track their trail runs and share their favorite trails with other runners. Users can also time each run and integrate biometric tracking wearables like heart-rate monitors.
Essential Features
- Detailed trail maps: Allow for uploads and easy viewing of trail maps with distances, elevations, and difficulty ratings.
- GPS tracking: Allows users to track each run, distance, and elevation.
- Performance analytics: Integrate fitness wearable to get precise feedback on speed, calories burned, heart rate, and progress toward goals.
How This App Can Make Money
Connect with companies that make products for runners and advertise for them on your app.
14) Road Cycling Route App
Allow road cyclists to create tailored routes and share them on a social media feed. Cyclists can connect, ride together, and share their experiences with the community.
Essential Features
- Customizable route planning: Allow users to create new routes before they even begin riding using maps.
- GPS navigation: Users can show their location as they’re riding.
- Social integration: Create a social feed for users to routes, comment on routes, and discuss trends in the road-biking space.
How This App Can Make Money
You can give users free access to the social media integration, but they'll have to pay for the paid version to share routes or leverage the GPS feature. You can also post ads for road cycling gear on the main newsfeed.
15) Calorie Counting App
Track calories to monitor food intake for weight management. Users can select food from a premade database with an estimated calorie amount. This can help users think twice about their dietary goals before devouring that pint of cookie dough ice cream.
Essential Features
- Comprehensive food database: A food database includes calories per serving, serving size, and more.
- A meal logging feature: Input meals and their calorie density and save them for easy access.
- Progress tracker: Track daily intake and compare against dietary goals or daily calorie limits.
How This App Can Make Money
Offer a free subscription but with limited access to the food database. Charge a fee if users want full access.
16) Brazilian Jiu-jitsu Training App
This app makes Brazilain Jiu-jitsu (BJJ) even better. Users can log training sessions, record new techniques, and even video record rolls (sparring sessions). Then, users can share their progress with others in the community to improve their BJJ game.
Essential Features
- Interactive community feed: Create a social media wall for users to discuss techniques and share experiences.
- Video sharing: Users can record a video with their phones, upload it to their social feed, or send it via private message.
- A messaging feature: Users can send each other messages, videos, and photos to communicate their progress.
How This App Can Make Money
Users can chat and post on the community feed but must pay a monthly subscription fee to upload videos and pictures.
Educational Apps
Want to reach an audience of students worldwide or boost the effectiveness of your in-person classes? Educational apps are your go-to. You can post assignments, receive homework, provide supplemental material, and more.
17) Language Learning App
Provide live language lessons to students around the globe: If you’re a Japanese teacher living in Tokyo, your app can reach students on every continent. Students can book classes whenever you allow.
Essential Features
- Booking feature: Show your availability to students and allow them to book classes directly from your app.
- Live video: You’ll need to integrate with a video provider, like Zoom, to teach live classes in real time.
- Progress tracking: Provide charts or graphs that track student’s progress. These can show how many hours each student has learned with you, the total amount of words a student has learned, and more.
How This App Can Make Money
Like the fitness app for personal trainers, this app will complement your language learning services, which students will pay for at pre-determined prices.
18) STEM App
This app supports STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math) teachers and students. Build it to feature critical STEM concepts by providing interactive lessons, videos, and more.
Essential Features
- Interactive tutorials and lessons: Explain concepts of various STEM topics to students and ask them to post questions.
- Quizzes and assessments: Students can complete tests, quizzes, and assignments and submit their results directly on the app.
- Video integrations: Embed YouTube videos that explain STEM concepts and allow teachers and students to upload their videos to the app.
How This App Can Make Money
Provide a free version, allowing students and teachers to utilize interactive tutorials and videos. Teachers must go for the paid version to assign homework or quizzes and upload videos.
Another option is to allow a limited number of users full access to the app for free, but a fee is charged to every user over this number.
19) Math Games App
This app makes learning math interactive and enjoyable, especially for young learners. It presents concepts through engaging games, puzzles, and more. Ultimately, it fosters critical thinking, problem-solving skills, and a positive attitude toward mathematics, proving Jimmy Buffett’s “Math Sucks” song wrong.
Essential Features
- Various games: You’ll need puzzles, quizzes, and other problem-solving games to cover math concepts.
- Progressive difficulty levels: Provide games for different skill levels that become more difficult as learners progress.
- Rewards system: Motivate learners to keep up the good work with badges, points, or certificates recognizing achievements.
How This App Can Make Money
Only a limited number of games or time are allowed to people with the free version; complete access is granted to users who pay a fee.
20) History Tours App
Provide detailed, immersive guides to historical sites around the world. You can choose these sites yourself or select sites from lists like UNESCO World Heritage. Create engaging narratives and multimedia content and make studying history a blast.
Essential Features
- Interactive map: Create a world map with several pinned locations so users can choose which site they want to visit.
- Augmented reality (AR): Allow users to immerse themselves in the site they choose using AR, so they’ll feel as if they’re visiting each site.
- Audio guides: Provide exciting narrated stories and historical facts that users can listen to while exploring in AR.
How This App Can Make Money
The map and basic information about each site will be available for free. Users will have to pay for AR and audio tours.
21) Your Legal Rights App
Provide easy access to legal information, such as constitutional rights and other resources. Educate individuals on their legal rights in specific scenarios, such as when police pull them over. You can also provide contact information for local attorneys.
Essential Features
- Appointment booking: Lists of attorneys in each user’s region and the ability to make swift contact.
- Comprehensive legal library: Feature an enormous database of legal documents, guides, and FAQs. Keep updated with the latest Supreme Court decisions and how users will be affected.
- Customizable push notifications: Allow users to receive push notifications about new legal trends, such as when a city or country passes a new law about property and zoning for housing construction.
How This App Can Make Money
Grant free access to all legal documents, but make the attorney booking feature and push notifications paid features.
22) Fine Arts App
Appeal to art lovers by making their visual art accessible and engaging. Provide an interactive platform to explore various art forms and learn about artists and historical contexts.
Essential Features
- An enormous database of high-resolution art galleries: Showcase classic and contemporary art with detailed descriptions. Categorize each work of art by year and style.
- Art recognition tool: Users can identify pieces of art and their historical and contextual info by submitting a picture taken with their phone.
- Artist profiles: Provide detailed biographies of the works and lives of artists.
How This App Can Make Money
Release a free version that allows users to access the app only a handful of times each month but gives unlimited access and the art recognition feature part of a paid version.
23) Teacher’s Assistant App
This app simplifies classroom management by providing tools that simplify lesson planning, grading, and student communication. Use it to reduce administrative tasks like attendance, classroom participation, grading, and more.
Essential Features
- Check-in feature: Students will download a version of this app so they can push a button when they arrive in class.
- Communication portal: Create a messaging system so that parents, teachers, and students can communicate with each other in one place.
- Calendar integration: Use this to manage homework deadlines, schedule field trips and parent-teach conferences, and more.
How This App Can Make Money
Sell this app as full-packaged educational software to individual schools, districts, or private schools.
24) Music Theory App
Teach music theory to any musician, from beginners to experts. Boost users’ musical understanding by offering interactive lessons that teach the basics of music theory and reading musical notation.
Essential Features
- Progress tracking: Let users see how many lessons they completed and which areas need improvement.
- Interactive audio examples: Provide sound clips and full songs to demonstrate theoretical concepts like scales, chords, and intervals. Allow users to play along and record.
- Customizable curriculum: This curriculum will appeal to users of all skill levels by allowing them to pick and choose which lesson to tackle.
How This App Can Make Money
Users must pay to use the play-along audio function and the ability to record.
Social Networking and Community Apps
Social networking and community apps allow users to connect and share information. While Facebook and Instagram are generally social networking apps, the ideas below are geared toward niche interests.
25) Job Seekers App
This app makes it easy for job seekers to find job opportunities and for companies to hire the best fit. It aggregates job listings by industry and facilitates applications while providing tools to enhance users' employability.
Essential Features
- Job search engine: This allows users to find work through a powerful search tool and lets them filter their search by industry, location, salary, and more.
- Resume upload tool: This tool lets users upload their resumes to each other and send them to employers with a seamless button push.
- Customizable job listing: Employers can create a job application tailored to their company’s needs.
How This App Can Make Money
This app can make money from two different players: job seekers and employers. First, it should allow job seekers a minimum number of free searches per month — if they want more, offer a paid version. Second, employers can post each job for a fixed fee.
26) Dog Owners App
Create a vibrant community where dog owners can connect, share, and offer dog-raising tips. Let users know each other’s areas and locations so they can meet up and find new friends for their dogs.
Essential Features
- Profile customization: Users can create profiles for themselves and their dogs, sharing photos and location details.
- Social feed: A central feed, similar to Facebook and Instagram newsfeeds, lets users post pet-friendly content.
- Direct messaging: Allow users to send each other messages through the app to communicate about meeting up.
How This App Can Make Money
Provide paid ads for brands in the canine industry, such as grooming tools, dog food, treats, and more.
27) Skill Swap App
A skill swap social media app allows users to exchange skills and knowledge. For instance, users can offer lessons in their expertise, such as coding, writing, or financial modeling.
After meeting on the platform, they’ll conduct one-on-one meetings and teach each other their skills.
Essential Features
- Customizable profiles: Users can list their skills, accomplishments, and accreditations while submitting which new skills they want to learn.
- Matching algorithm: Connects users based on their profile info.
- Direct messaging and video integration: Allows users to communicate with an in-app messenger while allowing them to meet virtually.
How This App Can Make Money
Offer users a 30-day free trial to test the app and connect with others. After the trial ends, charge a monthly subscription fee.
27) First-Time Parents App
This app helps first-time parents by offering a dedicated platform to connect, share experiences, and learn together. It also provides a supportive community where new parents can find advice, vent frustrations, and make friends.
Essential Features
- Multiple community forums: Create several forums on different topics about newborn care so users can easily find discussions about particular topics and connect to folks who have the answers.
- Private messaging: Allow users to chat privately for more personalized interactions.
- Resource library: Provide informative articles, videos, and tutorials on everything related to parenting newborns.
How This App Can Make Money
Generate revenue by advertising specific baby products in your forums, such as baby supplements in a Nutrition Forum.
28) Beach Comber App
Provide a social network for beach-combers (i.e., those using metal detectors to find hidden treasures under the sand). Give them a place to share their findings, connect, and a list of several beaches worldwide.
Essential Features
- Beach maps and profiles: Detailed information about beach locations worldwide. Include historical significance, weather, and past items found there.
- Social sharing function: Let users post photos of their hauls, updates, and reviews.
- Interactive maps: These maps use GPS technology to locate beaches and precise areas where users find items, artifacts, or treasures.
How This App Can Make Money
Limit the number of posts and connections a user can make each month. Offer a paid version for unlimited privileges.
29) Neighborhood App
This app connects neighbors, simplifies communication, and ensures everyone receives important information. Every household in a Homeowner’s Association, apartment complex, or community can stay updated with current neighborhood news.
Essential Features
- Private messaging: This allows neighbors to communicate easily with each other, so no one needs to fiddle with Google or the Yellow Pages.
- Public notification board: Post important news on a public message board. So, everyone will know that garbage collection day has changed to Friday.
- Event calendar: Ensure everyone knows important events, such as the annual barbeque or monthly inspections.
How This App Can Make Money
Sell this app to homeowner associations, apartment complexes, or communities. Offer pricing tiers based on the number of users.
30) Language Exchange App
This app connects users who wish to learn languages worldwide. People can browse lists of native speakers of a language they want to know, send messages, and set up time to have virtual conversations.
Essential Features
- User profiles: Detailed profiles showing native language, learning goals, and availability.
- Chat feature: Enable users to send each other direct messages about setting up learning sessions.
- Video chat: Integrate with Zoom or other video conferencing software so people can meet virtually.
How This App Can Make Money
Provide users with a free version that lets them browse the community. Then, when they get started, users will be charged a per-session fee.
31) Art Showcase App
Spark connection between artists with an app that allows them to showcase and share their work. Artists can critique each other’s art, helping everyone in the community grow as an artist. Allow artists to sell their art that’s listed on the platform to buyers around the world.
Essential Features
- User profiles: Let artists create profiles to showcase biographies and art portfolios.
- Gallery display: Create a photo gallery feature that lets artists share pictures of their work.
How This App Can Make Money
Allow artists and art buyers to create profiles and access the entire app for free, but take a small commission on each piece of art sold.
32) Musician Finder App
If your band wants more publicity or if you’re a bar owner or event manager looking to book some live acts, a musician finder has got you covered. Browse through artist and band profiles and watch live recordings of their gigs. Book the acts that fit your venue.
Essential Features
- Profile customization: Allow musicians and bands to create detailed profiles showcasing their genres, member information, and what kind of gig they want. Let venue owners do the same so artists and owners can contact each other.
- Audio/video integration: Let musicians upload live performances or studio recordings so venue owners can better understand each musician or band.
- Private messaging feature: When the venue owner finds a match, they can use the app’s messaging feature to contact the band or musician.
How This App Can Make Money
Allow users to browse a fixed number of profiles for a specific fee.
Travel Apps
Are you looking for advice about where to book your next trip? Or maybe you just want to find special restaurants selling a specific cuisine? Travel apps help provide an enjoyable and memorable travel experience.
33) Eco-Friendly Retreat App
Travelers who want to book the most eco-friendly accommodation will appreciate this app. Like Booking.com, this eco-friendly retreat app curates its listings and allows users to reserve rooms on the app.
Essential Features
- Eco-friendly listings: You must conduct due diligence to ensure each listing meets eco-friendly criteria.
- Booking feature: Build a booking feature so users can reverse their stay in seconds.
- Payments integration: Allow users to pay for their accommodation directly from the app with a Stripe, Square, or PayPal integration.
How This App Can Make Money
Charge a small listing fee and take a commission for each booking.
34) Pet Travel Advisor App
Are you traveling with a pet? Then, use this app to find pet-friendly hotels, restaurants, and other places. Since you’ll probably not be allowed to take your English Mastiff into the Louvre, use this app to find dog sitters in Paris.
Essential Features
- Pet-friendly destination database: Give users a comprehensive list of pet-friendly hotels, restaurants, and attractions.
- Pet-sitter listing: Connect with people who can watch pets in specific locations so users can enjoy all the attractions.
- Veterinary clinic finder: Is Fido feeling a bit under the weather? Leverage this feature to find vets in an unfamiliar area.
How This App Can Make Money
Provide a free version that gives limited access to available pet-friendly attractions. Users will need to pay a fee for full access.
35) Historical Site Finder
History buffs, listen up: This app makes discovering, exploring, and sharing worldwide historical sites simple. Users can find the location of particular sites and read descriptions about them. You can also allow users to add sites and descriptions to a map.
Essential Features
- Database of historical sites: Compile information and pictures on an ever-growing list of global historical sites.
- GPS integration and maps: Create a map showing the locations of each site and let users tap on an area to view its information. Users can also pin historical sites that aren’t in the database and write a review.
- Offline access: Allow downloadable maps and site information so users can still get to that temple 10km into the jungle.
How This App Can Make Money
Create a free version that lets users access the database, then charge for map and geolocation access.
36) Airport Navigation App
This app will let users know which airport terminal to arrive at, airline desks, gate locations, restaurant and shop information, entry-visa requirements, and more. It will make trips to the airport quick, easy, and painless.
Essential Features
- Interactive airport maps: Detailed maps showing gates, terminals, shops, and amenities.
- Real-time flight updates: Find notifications on flight status, gate changes, and delays from the convenience of your phone — no more scrambling to find a flight information screen.
- Navigation via GPS: Turn-by-turn directions leveraging geolocation to any place within an airport.
How This App Can Make Money
If users want the turn-by-turn geolocation feature and live flight updates, they must subscribe to the paid version.
37) Worldwide Food-Stall and Food-Truck App
For those who don’t want to eat at a sit-down place on your trip, use this app to discover all the food trucks and stalls in cities worldwide. Users (both truck/stall owners and customers) can share menus, pictures, and operating hours. Customers can leave recommendations and star reviews.
Essential Features
- User reviews and ratings: Users can post reviews and star ratings.
- Map and geolocation: Provide a map with a navigation feature so folks can easily find the food truck or stall.
- Profiles: Let food trucks and stalls create their very own profiles that they can put on the map.
How This App Can Make Money
Let restaurant owners post their food truck or stall location for free and charge users a monthly fee to access the map and geolocation.
38) Worldwide Festival Finder
This app connects festival lovers with as many festivals as they can shake a stick at. It has a comprehensive list of famous festivals worldwide and reviews how to prepare for each one and precautions, like the need for high-quality goggles at La Tomatina.
Essential Features
- A festival database with a map: Compile an updated list of global festivals with locations and descriptions.
- Social profile feature: Allow user profiles to show which festival each user has been to and which one they plan on experiencing soon.
- Direct messaging: Let users send each other messages to meet up and share each festival's unique experience.
How This App Can Make Money
Sell ads to hotels and restaurants near each festival.
Finance and Investment Apps
These apps help users manage their money effectively, make better financial decisions, and stay on track to meet their money goals.
39) Loan Finder App
This app lets users find the best personal, auto, student, and mortgage loan rates. Users can fill out forms, enter their credit scores, and get a loan list that best suits their needs.
Essential Features
- Comprehensive loan comparison: You’ll need APIs to get and compare loan options based on interest rates, terms, and lender reputation. When users find the best loan on your platform, they’ll click on it and apply for the loan directly with the user.
- Secure user interface: Users will enter their income, current debt level, credit scores, and more to find the best loan. You must ensure the interface is encrypted and secure, as users will input sensitive information.
- Educational resources: These offer guidance on borrowing, how to budget with a loan, and steps people can take to improve their credit scores.
How This App Can Make Money
Partner with lenders for a fee, as you’ll essentially advertise and bring them new business.
40) Socially Responsible Investing App
Let users invest in companies that align with their ethical and environmental values. Users will indicate which factors are the most important to them and then receive a list of stocks, bonds, and portfolios that meet their values.
Essential Features
- ESG scoring system: You’ll provide a rating system that evaluates various investments based on specific environmental, social, and governance criteria.
- Customizable portfolios: Allow users to create investment portfolios that they can customize with companies that meet their values.
- Market data: Connect with market data sources to offer investors real-time valuation info and breaking news.
How This App Can Make Money
Offer a free portfolio with up to 3 securities, then charge a small fee for every additional investment.
41) Investment App for Kids
Teach kids fundamental investment concepts like compound interest, stock valuation methods, etc. This app gamifies investing by allowing kids to make “investments” using in-game credits as if they were actual dollars.
Essential Features
- Interactive lessons: Create age-appropriate content on financial basics, investment principles, and more.
- Quizzes and tests: Test the understanding of each lesson to reinforce the concepts learned.
- Investment simulator: This simulator follows actual market movements and allocates a certain amount of credits to each user so they can make decisions in a risk-free environment.
How This App Can Make Money
Give users a set amount of in-game credits. Charge them if they want more. Additionally, you can put some of the interactive lessons behind a paywall.
42) Expense Sharing For Couples App
This app simplifies managing shared financial responsibilities. It provides a clear and simple overview of joint expenses, making tracking, splitting, and managing bills a breeze.
Essential Features
- Joint expense entry: Allows both partners to add and view shared expenses.
- Bill splitting calculator: Automatically calculates how much each person owes when you punch in the total bill.
- Payment app integration: An integration with a payment service like PayPal will enable you to make purchases directly from your app while the app will document each transaction.
How This App Can Make Money
Monetize the payment integration feature, as it’s one of the most convenient ways to track payments and organize bill splitting.
43) Subscription Management Tool
This app is for those with tons of subscriptions they never use while their bank account balance slowly dwindles. Users will get a consolidated view of all their subscriptions, a record of the time spent on each app, and the total amount of money spent.
Essential Features
- Comprehensive dashboard: This dashboard displays all active subscriptions, costs, renewal dates, and time spent on each one.
- Custom categories: This lets users categorize subscriptions (e.g., TV, utilities, news) for solid organization.
- Spending tracker: Analyzes and reports how much users spend on subscriptions monthly and annually.
How This App Can Make Money
Allow users to track 2 subscriptions for free and charge them for each subsequent subscription.
44) Dynamic Budgeting App
Allow users to take control of their finances by providing real-time budget adjustments based on their spending. Users can also manage their money more efficiently, save for future goals, and reduce financial stress.
Essential Features
- Real-time budget updates: Automatically adjusts budgets based on spending.
- Expense tracking: Categorize and record each transaction.
- Spending alerts: Send push notifications to users when they are close to exceeding budget limits.
How This App Can Make Money
Charge users to connect their bank accounts for easy and accurate tracking. Offer a free version that lets them manually enter money spent.
Apps for Your Business
You can make an app that simplifies almost any business process or administrative task. Some business apps are public-facing, which means customers will use them and make purchases.
Other apps are made for internal business tasks and help execute customer relationship and project management operations.
45) Real-Estate App
If you’re in the real estate business, use a real estate app to advertise, schedule client meetings, and more. Are you interested in making this app? Check out our real-estate app-building guide that walks you through every step.
Essential Features
- A gorgeous listing page: Ensure your page has eye-catching photos and all the information needed to pitch each property.
- In-app messaging: Create an in-app messaging function that allows users to communicate with you directly, so they won't have to sieve through text messages, WhatsApp, or Facebook Messenger.
- Third-party integrations: You can also list your properties through other services like Zillow and Trulia via an integration with Zapier.
How This App Can Make Money
While a real estate app complements your brokering, you can connect with companies selling appliances or landscaping services and sell them ads.
46) Booking App for Restaurants, Salons, and More
Whether you have a restaurant, salon, barbershop, or spa, a booking app can make scheduling appointments easier for clients. If you’re interested in building an app for booking or scheduling, read our guide on making a booking app.
Essential Features
- Calendar integration: Users can see your availability time and choose which fits their schedule.
- Push notifications: This feature will notify clients about their upcoming appointments, helping to reduce the number of no-shows.
- Payment integrations: Allow clients to pay for your services directly from your app, so you won’t need to waste time punching in numbers at a cash register.
How This App Can Make Money
While this app can boost your client base by making booking a breeze, you can also partner with various businesses within your industry and feature them in ads. Some ideas are nail polish companies for nail salons or a business selling concert tickets on your restaurant app.
47) eCommerce App
Want to make it easier for your customers to buy your gear? Make an e-commerce app – you can sell almost anything with one. Check out our article that discusses building an e-commerce app if you’re interested.
Essential Features
- Payment gateway: You’ll need an integration with a payment platform like Stripe to receive money.
- Product listings page: All products must be advertised with quality photos and enough information so customers know exactly what they’re getting.
- Delivery and order tracking: Integrate with a delivery platform like FedEx and provide real-time updates on order statuses from purchase to delivery.
How This App Can Make Money
You’ll get paid for your products directly through the app. However, you can advertise complementary products — for instance, if you sell your botanical soap on your e-commerce app, put up ads for a towel maker.
48) CRM App
This app lets users streamline sales, account management, and marketing processes by centralizing customer data, simplifying communication, and automating marketing efforts. It can also serve as a funnel to help close leads.
Essential Features
- Contact management: Store customer information, such as contact details, communication history, and purchase records, in a searchable and easy-to-access database.
- Interaction tracking: Record every customer interaction, including calls, emails, messages, and meetings, to paint a complete picture of customer relationships.
- Reporting and analytics: Run analytics tools and create detailed reports and visualizations that offer feedback on sales trends, customer relationships, and marketing campaign effectiveness.
How This App Can Make Money
Offer a free version that allows users to store data for 2 customers. Then, create a pricing tier for 3 customers or more.
49) Project Management App
This app helps streamline and simplify workflows while improving team synergy. Users can create new tasks and projects and see completion in real time. A project management app also stores documents and helps ensure each project is within budget constraints.
Essential Features
- Task assignment and scheduling: Allocate tasks to team members, assign deadlines, and highlight priorities.
- Real-time collaboration tools: Allow communication between all team members, file sharing, and show live updates when jobs are completed.
- Progress tracking dashboards: When team members complete tasks, visualize progress toward project completion.
How This App Can Make Money
Create a pricing tier system that charges for the number of projects allowed and the number of people who can work on projects.
50) Revenue and Costs App
Users will be able to analyze and track revenue streams and costs. This will enable them to create budgets, analyze vendor costs, and forecast spending. Ultimately, the main draw to this app is that It will guide better financial decision-making.
Essential Features
- Integrations with accounting software: You must integrate with popular tools like QuickBooks, Xero, and more.
- Dashboard with real-time analytics: Visualize financial data using live graphs and charts for rapid analysis.
- Budget creation tool: Allow users to create their customizable budgets. Connect accounting software to provide up-to-the-second snapshots of income and expenses and how they affect budgets.
How This App Can Make Money
Offer a free version that lets users manually enter all their revenue and cost data. The paid version will integrate with accounting software, automating data entry.
Next Steps: Bring Your App Idea to Life
Now that you have some inspiration for your money-making app idea, you can start planning how you’ll build your app. Consider these 3 points first:
1. Building your app
Today, there are two ways to create your app. First, you can outsource your app’s development to a freelancer or app-building agency, which is the most expensive option.
For instance, outsourcing the development of a small app can cost from $10,000 to $50,000, while large and complex apps can cost more than $100,000.
The second option is to create your app by yourself. If you know how to code, you can use your skills to program your app. But if you’re like most people and don’t have technical or programming knowledge, you can still create an app using a no-code app builder like Adalo, Glide, or Softr.
Using an app builder is orders of magnitude cheaper than outsourcing. An app-building platform usually costs $40-$60 monthly.
For more info, check out our article explaining how much building an app costs.
2. Native mobile or web app
Do you want to publish your app on the web so people can access it as they would a web page using browsers like Chrome, Firefox, or Safari? Perhaps you also want to release your app on the Apple App Store and Google Play Store so users can download it directly to their phone.
Publishing to the web can get your app in front of a wide audience, while publishing to the app stores as a native mobile app makes it available to billions of app store users and allows you to add more powerful features.
Native mobile apps are the most powerful: They can use a device’s hardware, like GPS, camera, flashlight, and other processors. Web apps can’t do this because they don’t download directly to your phone.
We suggest you release your app on both the web and the app stores. Remember this, especially if you want to create your app using a no-code builder. Beware that some no-code app builders don’t allow you to publish to the app stores.
3. Market Research
You’ll need to determine your app’s target market and what they need from it. Many tools allow you to get accurate information directly from your audience.
For instance, you can connect with potential users and get their feedback using a platform like Survey Monkey or Google Surveys.
Adalo: The Perfect Platform to Make Any App Idea a Reality
Now that you’ve got a good idea of the best app ideas, you can build it with one of the best no-code app builders on the market: Adalo.
Adalo is an easy-to-use, no-code mobile app builder requiring zero technical knowledge or coding skills. It features an incredibly intuitive drag-and-drop interface that you can use right out of the box.
But don’t think Adalo skimps on power. You’ll have almost 40 premade templates, each sleekly designed and featuring screens, a database, and built-in logic. Add even more punch to your app by featuring plugins and third-party integrations — Adalo is packed with over 100 plugins and 5,500 third-party integrations.
Once you finish building, publish your app on the web, the Apple App Store, and the Google Play Store to get it in front of millions of users. Start using Adalo right now for free.
