Geekflare is supported by our audience. We may earn affiliate commissions from buying links on this site.
In Mobile Last updated: November 21, 2022
Share on:
Invicti Web Application Security Scanner – the only solution that delivers automatic verification of vulnerabilities with Proof-Based Scanning™.

Many developers have learned this lesson the harsh way, but you can directly try these Google Play store alternatives to have more financial stability. Stay tuned.

Android has a massive market share. Ergo, this is one of the first major app store developers upload their apps into.

However, algorithms change and bugs happen. These pitfalls sometimes wipe out small companies and indie developers, putting their revenue back to square one.

Google Play Store Alternatives

That’s where these 3rd-party app stores come into the scene.

So, trying out the ‘don’t put all your eggs in one basket’ might be a good idea, especially when there is no restriction by Google itself:

google-play-store
Source: Google Play Policies

In short, it says you are free to distribute to other app stores. This helps you take a break from Google’s billing policies and diversify the distribution.

As of this writing, Google Play Store charges a 15% commission on the first million dollars you earn and 30% subsequently.

The Google play store alternatives we will see charge anywhere from 10% to 30%.

And since only a very tiny amount (about 1% as per Google) of developers cross the one million revenue mark, the real benefit of other distribution channels is diversification to minimize risks of financial blackouts.

Here we go.

Aptoide

aptoide-Google Play Store Alternatives

Aptoide is an independent app store where you can submit your apps which also helps distribute to its partner stores via a single dashboard and billing system.

In a nutshell, we are talking about over 430 million users spread across 20 app stores, such as Aptoide, Oppo, VIVO, MI, etc., under the Catappult app distribution.

Catappult has two revenue-sharing schemes: store and self. Store app revenue attracts a 25% commission, whereas self-distribution costs you only 10%.

Catappult developer subscription bills 79 USD per year, which can be refunded in the first 30-days before app distribution initiates.

Amazon

amazon-app-store-Google-Play-Store-Alternatives

Amazon App Store is another worthy option to push your app into 236 countries to Android, Fire TV, tablets, and select Windows 11 devices.

One can host free and paid apps with Amazon. You get ‘standard’ royalties (70%) if the revenue exceeds a million USD.

For less than this, one can benefit from the Amazon AppStore small business accelerator program to bump payouts to 80%. In addition, this will have you 10% extra as Amazon Web Services credits putting the total profit close to 90%.

Besides, the standard royalties depend upon the app category and device type, as mentioned in the Amazon developer services agreement.

Listing on the Amazon app store is free.

Uptodown

uptodown app store

Uptodown presently covers over 130 million users in 26 languages on Android, Windows, and Mac. However, about 80% of the Uptodown app traffic belongs to Android users.

Currently, all apps hosted on this Google app store alternative are free, and developers can’t offer pay-to-download applications.

App publishing is free with a revenue split of 80-20.

Galaxy Store

galaxy-store-google play store alternative for samsung phones

Galaxy Store can serve you well due to its gigantic Samsung footprint and free publishing. However, it takes away 30% commission with no regard to the total developer revenue.

What makes it interesting is the clause, Revenue Share and Tax, indicating a window for possible royalty negotiation.

Notably, Galaxy Store is limited to Samsung devices, including its smartphones, smartwatches, etc.

AppGallery

app-gallery-google play alternative for primarily Huawei

AppGallery is meant for Huawei phones, though people can use it on other brands as well. It started with a developer-friendly 90-10 split only to follow the 70-30 model, effective from 2022.

In addition, developers in mainland China have a separate sharing ratio to be inquired from the Huawei operations department.

AppGallery listing charges are based on the services a developer uses for publishing. Some are free, and the paid ones have free quotas before they become pay-as-you-go.

Finally, AppGallery also features paid apps.

F-Droid

f-driod-open source-google play-alternative

F-Droid is a free and open-source app marketplace where you can host free applications with paid updates/features.

However, the application library is vastly limited, resulting in a limited user base.

So, it boils down chiefly to your love towards the open-source movement if not anything else.

Unfortunately, there isn’t any real alternative!

It’s a tough pill to swallow but an existing reality.

Google Play is too big to have equal alternatives or substitutes. These listed app stores will help you get only a fraction of revenue from what you would’ve made at the ‘Play’.

Still, they will come in handy if you somehow suffer performance bottlenecks or ban at the Play Store.

PS: Being a developer-friendly publication, we won’t limit ourselves to this. So, in addition, you can check these tools to boost Android app development.

  • Hitesh Sant
    Author
    Hitesh works as a senior writer at Geekflare and dabbles in cybersecurity, productivity, games, and marketing. Besides, he holds master’s in transportation engineering. His free time is mostly about playing with his son, reading, or lying… read more
Thanks to our Sponsors
More great readings on Mobile
Power Your Business
Some of the tools and services to help your business grow.
  • Invicti uses the Proof-Based Scanning™ to automatically verify the identified vulnerabilities and generate actionable results within just hours.
    Try Invicti
  • Web scraping, residential proxy, proxy manager, web unlocker, search engine crawler, and all you need to collect web data.
    Try Brightdata
  • Monday.com is an all-in-one work OS to help you manage projects, tasks, work, sales, CRM, operations, workflows, and more.
    Try Monday
  • Intruder is an online vulnerability scanner that finds cyber security weaknesses in your infrastructure, to avoid costly data breaches.
    Try Intruder