Best Free Ways to Promote an App

"Free" still costs hours. These are the free channels worth those hours, in the order a small app should turn them on.

1. Alma's posting workflow — so free channels actually get used

The App Store, TikTok, and Instagram do not charge you to post. The reason apps stay invisible is that nobody posts on Tuesday. Alma writes and designs the slideshows from your link and schedules them, so the free channels are not an empty calendar.

You can start there and keep the words it writes, or replace them with your own. Pricing: $29/month for 500 slides, or $199/month with no cap. The stores themselves are free. The tool is what makes the free part happen more than once.

2. Organic store search

Rename nothing cute. Use the words a person would type. Rewrite the first screenshot until a stranger can tell what the app does.

3. Your own profiles

TikTok, Instagram, and a simple site. Same promise as the store. Post the problem, not the logo.

4. Communities you are actually in

Answer the question. Mention the app when it is the answer. Leave when you are only there to drop a link.

5. Email the people who asked for it

A short note to beta users and anyone who replied to a post. One link. One sentence on what to tap.

Skip "free press coverage" as a plan. You cannot schedule a journalist. You can schedule a post.