DevCostGuard – Revenue early-warning for indie devs

Monitors App Store / Google Play downloads and revenue trends, alerting indie developers before income collapses

Problem

Indie developers increasingly rely on app store revenue, but over the past six months many have seen downloads drop and income nearly dry up. They lack a lightweight tool to attribute the cause: app store algorithm changes, competitor pressure, or AI-generated app flooding diluting overall traffic? Existing analytics tools are either too expensive or too complex to provide actionable warnings.

Solution

Connect to App Store Connect / Google Play Console sales and download data, monitor daily/weekly/monthly trends, and send email or push alerts when key metrics fall below thresholds. Compare with top apps in the same category to help developers distinguish self-issues from industry-wide trends, and suggest optimizations like pricing changes, renaming, or asset updates.

Users

iOS/Android indie developers and small studios that rely on app store revenue

MVP

One-click import of App Store Connect / Google Play sales reports; dashboard showing download and revenue trends; threshold-triggered email alerts; category-wide trend comparison chart; lightweight suggestions for pricing, renaming, or asset updates

Revenue

Monthly subscription (e.g., $5–10/month), tiered by number of apps; free tier limits historical data days and alert count

Why now

AI makes app generation extremely easy, intensifying store traffic competition and making indie revenue more volatile; developers urgently need low-cost revenue attribution tools to adjust strategies quickly