App revenue is becoming increasingly complex, with marketers and product teams navigating a highly fragmented landscape. The ecosystem spans multiple platforms, regulations vary by region, and compliance isn’t optional.
On top of this, changes to Apple’s App Store in the aftermath of the Epic v. Apple ruling are creating new openings for experimentation, while at the same time introducing new friction. With the App Store reform, there is now rising pressure on developers to implement web payment solutions.
Web payments are fast becoming a central piece of the monetization mix as they promise flexibility, higher margins, and better data. However, getting them right requires rethinking acquisition, onboarding, and retention from the ground up.
At App Promotion Summit London 2025, Paddle CMO Andrew Davies outlined what a successful web-based app revenue strategy looks like today. He emphasized that web payments can be a powerful growth lever, provided that app businesses fully understand the intricacies of web payments and how to implement them effectively.
Web-to-app ≠ just quiz funnels
Many marketers still default to quiz funnels when launching a web-to-app strategy. They work. They’re fast to set up. But they’re far from the only option. Davies pointed to data from across Paddle’s customer base showing a wide range of high-performing web onboarding models, each tailored to different audiences, products, and verticals.
Boost revenue: Intelligent pricing and payment
Source: App Promotion Summit
Whether it’s content-first flows, dynamic landing pages, or progressive onboarding journeys, the takeaway is that flexibility on the web unlocks experimentation. And in a market where user attention is fragmented, having multiple paths to conversion is a competitive advantage.
Web revenue isn’t just about avoiding Apple fees
The conversation around web monetization often starts with platform fees, but that’s a narrow lens. According to Davies, the real upside lies in owning the full funnel. From audience targeting and ad performance to pricing, checkout, and churn management, a web-based journey gives teams control and visibility that app store environments typically restrict.
This control pays off. One Paddle customer reduced churn by more than 100,000 users in three months by redesigning their cancellation flow. Another used behavioural signals to upsell offers, significantly increasing user LTV. Web payments allow for smarter lifecycle strategies, ones that respond to how users actually behave, not how platforms dictate.
Scaling web brings “champagne problems”
The shift to web comes with its own set of growing pains. Apple’s new policies may allow more flexibility, but they also raise the stakes for compliance, localization, and infrastructure. As Davies put it, scaling outside the App Store means rebuilding parts of the payments stack that Apple previously managed for you.
From global tax remittance to local payment methods, selling through the web requires real operational depth. Davies warned that plugging in Stripe or PayPal is only the starting point. Businesses must think about price localization, currency handling, tax calculation, and regional UX norms, each of which impacts conversion and revenue.
These are solvable problems, but they demand attention. And they mark the difference between a tactical web funnel and a global web commerce strategy.
Final words of web monetization wisdom
A web-first revenue strategy isn’t just viable in 2025, it’s increasingly essential. It gives teams the tools to test, optimize, and personalize every stage of the user journey, from ad click to renewal.
Paddle is betting big on this shift. With $1.5 billion flowing through its merchant-of-record platform and $19 billion tracked through its metrics tools, the company is positioning itself as the go-to partner for apps building beyond the App Store.
Web monetization may not be simple, but with the right structure, it doesn’t have to be hard either.
