How to promote an iPhone app with no budget: 12 ways (2026)

By Sigsten Gustavii· 23 September 2026· Updated 27 October 2026· 9 min read

Most apps on the App Store are never found by anyone the maker does not know. The good news is that the things that get an app noticed cost time, not money: a clear product page, a few clear videos, and showing up where the right people already are.

Here are twelve ways to promote an iPhone app without paying for ads, in roughly the order they pay off. Each one uses something Apple or the wider internet gives you for free.

1. Make the product page sell the app

Every other idea on this list sends people to your App Store product page, so start there. The name and subtitle each have 30 characters; use the subtitle to say what the app does, not a slogan. The screenshots matter most: they appear in search results too, so make each one a single clear benefit with a short caption, shown on a real screen of the app.

Write the description for a person deciding in ten seconds: what it does, who it is for, what makes it different. Promotional text, up to 170 characters, can be changed without a new submission, which makes it handy for news.

2. Choose keywords people actually search for

Apple's search page says results depend on text relevance, meaning matches in the title, subtitle, keywords and primary category, and on behaviour such as downloads, ratings and reviews. The keyword field holds 100 characters, separated by commas without spaces. Do not repeat words already in the name or subtitle, and do not use other apps' names. Promotional text does not affect ranking.

Pick specific phrases a person would type, like "plant watering reminder" rather than "plants". Our App Store optimization guide for beginners walks through the whole page, field by field.

3. Post short videos of the app in use

Short vertical video is the cheapest reach there is. The format that tends to work for apps is simple: the problem in one line, then the app solving it on screen, in under thirty seconds. Record your iPhone's screen, or the app running on a computer, and talk over it or add captions.

• Show, don't describe. The hook is a result: a budget that balances, a plan made in two taps.
• Post often. One video rarely does much; a series of small ones, each showing a different use, finds its audience.
• Answer comments with new videos. A question in the comments is the next video's script.
• Put the App Store link where the platform allows, usually your profile.

4. Show up in communities, as a member

Somewhere online, people who need your app are already talking: a subreddit for runners, a Discord for language learners, a Facebook group for small-shop owners. Join, help, and mention the app when it genuinely answers a question. Read each community's rules about self-promotion before posting, and say plainly that you made it. One useful reply in the right thread can bring more installs than a week of posting links.

5. Post it on Product Hunt

Product Hunt is a site where makers post new products and the community votes and comments through the day. It suits apps for people who like trying new tools. Prepare a short tagline, a few screenshots or a video, and a maker's comment explaining why you built it, then spend the day answering every comment. Tell your own circle it is live, but ask them to try the app and comment honestly rather than just vote.

6. Make a press kit and use promo codes

Writers and creators cover apps that are easy to cover. A press kit is one page on your website: what the app does in two sentences, who made it and why, screenshots, the icon, and a contact email. Then write short, personal emails to people who cover your kind of app.

For a paid app, Apple's promo codes let you give free copies. According to Apple's promo codes help page, you can request up to 100 per version of each platform, each one works once and stays valid for four weeks. People who redeem a promo code cannot rate or review the app, so codes are for coverage, not ratings.

7. Nominate your app for featuring

Apple's editors pick the apps on the Today tab and in collections, and you can tell them about yours. Use Featuring Nominations in App Store Connect to share a new app, a significant update or new content. Apple's getting featured page asks for at least two weeks' notice and suggests nominating up to three months ahead for wider consideration.

There is no checklist, but Apple lists what its editors weigh: user experience, UI design, innovation, uniqueness, accessibility, localization, and the product page itself, with compelling screenshots, previews and descriptions and positive ratings and reviews. A nomination costs nothing and takes an hour.

8. Run in-app events

An in-app event is something timely inside your app, like a 30-day challenge, a new season of content or a live session. In-app events appear on your product page and in search results, and Apple may pick them for the Today, Games and Apps tabs. An event can last up to 31 days and be promoted up to 14 days before it starts, and it goes to review on its own, without a new version of the app. It gives people searching the App Store a reason to notice you this week.

9. Make custom product pages for each audience

You can publish up to 70 extra versions of your product page, each with its own URL, and different screenshots, promotional text and preview videos. If your habit tracker suits both students and runners, give each group a page that shows their use, and share each URL where that group gathers. Apple's custom product pages page explains the setup.

10. Use Apple's free badges, QR codes and short links

Apple's marketing tools make short links, QR codes and embeddable code that lead to your product page with your icon or the official App Store badge. Put the badge on your website and in your email signature, a QR code on a poster or business card, and a Smart App Banner on your website so iPhone visitors see a link to the app at the top of the page.

11. Make word of mouth easy

The people who already like your app are your cheapest marketing. Add a Share button that sends a friend your App Store link with a short line about what the app does. For a subscription app, Apple's offer codes let you hand out free or discounted access, as single-use codes or a custom code such as SPRINGPROMO, which works well for a club, a class or a newsletter.

Keep it clean: Apple's guideline 5.6.3 forbids manipulating charts, search, reviews or referrals. Reward real sharing, never fake installs or paid ratings.

12. Earn ratings and reviews

Ratings show in search results and on the product page, and Apple says they can influence how an app ranks. Ask with Apple's own rating prompt after someone has finished something in the app, reply to reviews in App Store Connect, and fix what people complain about. Our guide to getting more App Store ratings within Apple's rules covers each step.

A simple weekly routine

Promotion with no budget is a habit more than a campaign. A week that keeps an app growing might look like this:

1. Monday: read new reviews and reply to each one.
2. Tuesday and Thursday: post a short video showing one use of the app.
3. Wednesday: answer two or three questions in a community where your audience talks.
4. Friday: change one thing on the product page, a screenshot caption or a keyword, and note the date.
5. Once a month: plan an in-app event or an update worth a featuring nomination.

Promoting an app you made with Borel

The fastest promotion is an app that is quick to improve. With Borel you describe an iPhone app in plain words, and Borel writes it in Swift and builds it on its own Mac, so when a comment says "I wish it did X", you can add X the same day. You try every change on a live iPhone in your browser, free, before anyone else sees it.

Borel's publish flow also covers much of the product page: you choose the name, icon and category, with a category Borel drafts from your app; you upload screenshots and Borel crops them to Apple's sizes; and Borel fills the keywords from your app's name and hosts the privacy policy and support pages Apple asks for. Then Xcode builds, signs and uploads the app on Borel's Mac, with no Mac of your own.

Building starts free, with 5 free credits a day, up to 30 a month. Publishing takes Borel Pro, from $20 a month, and Apple's Developer Program, $99 a year. See how Borel works and the pricing page.

Add a Share button to the settings screen that shares this text: "I use this app to plan my week in two minutes" followed by the App Store link. Put it above the About section.

The bottom line

Promoting an app with no budget comes down to two jobs: a product page and keywords that convert the people who find you, and steady, useful appearances where your audience already spends time. Add Apple's free tools, the featuring nomination, in-app events, custom product pages and promo codes, and ask for ratings at the right moment. None of it costs money; all of it rewards doing a little every week. If your app is not built yet, make it with Borel and keep improving it from what people tell you.

I have spent far more time on free promotion than paid, and the thing that works is showing the app doing something useful, again and again. If one of these works for you, tell me which.

– Sigsten

Make your iPhone app in Borel

Describe the app you want and see its first screens before you pay anything.