Rewarded and earning apps
Pay when a new user finishes a first offer.
User acquisition for apps that pay users in cash, gift cards or points. Price the install, the first completed offer and the first cash-out separately.
- Install
- First offer completed
- First cash-out
Send a Test event. An advertiser event sent with test=true. It checks the event works and is never charged.What is a test event? for each earning step before launch. Tests are logged and never charged.
Running offers, not buying users? See offers for rewarded apps.
An earning app
iOS + Android · Store listing
- Setting up
- In review
- Live
- Countries
- USCAGB
Events you pay for
- Install and open install $1.00 Live
- First offer completed first_offer $2.50 Live
- First cash-out first_cashout $4.00 Live
01Where it runs
Where your rewarded app offer runs.
After review, your earning app is an offer publishers can choose. They join by request, and most reward their own users for offers, which makes them close neighbors of yours.
With rewards
- Rewarded and earning apps People who already earn from offers. Each publisher decides whether a competing app belongs in its own screens.
- Survey and research panels Members earn points for surveys, and another way to earn can sit beside them.
- Offerwall platforms and networks They pass your offer to the apps and sites they work with, each making its own call on earning apps.
For rewarded apps
The Hosted Offerwall hides offers we identify as rewarded apps by default.
Publishers on the Offer API get your full step list and decide how to show it. The Top Offers Feed carries your app once it's one of our top offers.
Without rewards
Rarely a fit- Media sites and blogs Inside articles and roundups.
- Comparison and review sites Listed beside the alternatives.
- Email newsletters Placed in an issue, to their readers.
- Media buyers On campaigns they run and pay for.
Earning apps do best with people already looking to earn, so most of these offers run with rewards.
How Offer Links work02What you can price
Pay little for the open, more for earning.
An example ladder for an earning app. Move a price, add another offer or change where this user stops.
- Steps a user never reaches cost nothing.
- Name the first earning action the way your app does, and send its event key.
- A $0 step is tracked and never charged.
An earning app
Tap a dot to move where this user stops.
- Install and open install tracked, not charged
- First offer completed first_offer tracked, not charged
- First cash-out first_cashout tracked, not charged
Add a step
Six steps is the most this example shows.
This user cost you
$3.50 USD
2 of 3 steps reached. Every step: $7.50.
03Where to start
Start on the first completed offer.
It's the first moment a new user has done what your app exists for, and your server sees it straight away. In our example it costs $2.50, against $1.00 for the install and open. An open tells you very little, so keep that price small or track it at $0.
The first cash-out at $4.00 is the step closest to a user who stays, but it arrives later. Price it second, once you know how long users take to reach your minimum.
Be wary of paying on sign-up alone: people chasing a reward will sign up and stop there. If your first offers are very quick to finish, move the price up to the fifth offer, which is its own step.
04Targeting and compliance
What you set, and what stays with your app.
Pick countries and platforms in the campaign. Your own abuse rules decide who can sign up or cash out.
You set in the campaign
- Countries
- USCAGB Where the campaign runs, by country code.
- Platforms
- iOSAndroidWebsite iOS, Android or both, or a website.
- Destination
- Your store listing, a store search for a term you pick or a sign-up page on your site.
- Steps and prices
- Each earning step's name, event key and US dollar price.
- Pause and resume
- Stop and restart a live campaign yourself.
Stays with you
- App store review
- Payout and cash-out terms
- Abuse rules inside your app
Rules for rewarded and earning apps
-
Store review is yours
App stores look closely at apps that pay users. Your listing and payout terms have to pass their review.
-
Pay on earning, not opening
An open tells you little about whether a user will stay. Put most of the price on the first completed offer or the first cash-out.
05Billing
Cash-outs you're never charged for.
Each first offer and cash-out your server reports comes back with a status, and only an approved live event draws on your balance.
first_cashout duplicate
The same user cashes out twice
Your first cash-out step is charged once per user. Report it again for that user and it comes back as a duplicate and costs nothing. Add “Second cash-out” as its own step if you want to pay for it.
Charged $0.00
Tests, events with no Click ID. A unique ID we give each tap, so a later install or event can be matched back to it.What is a click ID?, repeats and anything sent past the 48-hour limit are all free of charge.
Every status, in the setup guide06Measurement
Your server reports each cash-out. No SDK.
From tap to first cash-out in three steps, with a log of what each event cost.
-
A tap on your app's offer gets a click ID
We log the tap and carry its ID on the link to your store listing.
-
Your app saves it on the new account
Android passes it in the Play install referrer. Otherwise your app asks us at first open. Keep it with the user, because a cash-out can come days later.
-
Your rewards backend posts
first_cashoutYour payout system already knows when a cash-out clears. Post the event from there with the saved click ID, within 48 hours of it happening.
Event logs
Earning events your server sent. Tests carry a mark and cost nothing.
- Clicks
- 530
- Installs
- 141
- Spend
- $468.00
| When | Event | User | Status | Charged |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2:06 PM | first_ | u_48213 | Approved | $2.50 |
| 2:04 PM | install | u_48213 | Approved | $1.00 |
| 1:58 PM | first_ | u_48207 | Duplicate | $0.00 |
| 1:41 PM | install Opened with no click ID from us | u_48190 | Missing attribution | $0.00 |
| 11:20 AM | first_ | test_user | Approved | $0.00 |
07From our public list
How rewarded app offers are built here.
What rewarded app offers in our public US list asked of users on 29 October 2026, minus brands and payouts. On the public list these sit under Games. Each one paid once, at install, and the later steps reward the user. Your campaign can price the first offer or cash-out instead.
-
A play-to-earn app
11 steps · Android
- Play for 30 seconds
- Register
- First game
- First task
- Three tasks
- First payout
- $50 earned in rewards
- 4 other steps
-
A step-counter app
5 steps · Android
- Play for 30 seconds
- Track your first steps
- $1 earned
- First withdrawal
- $5 earned
-
A coins app
15 steps · Android
- Install
- Sign up
- Start 5 offers
- Earn 1,000 coins
- Withdraw 10,000 coins
- Play on 2 days
- Play on 7 days
- Play on 14 days
- 7 other steps
08Questions
What rewarded app teams ask us.
Does the Hosted Offerwall show rewarded apps?
Not by default. It hides offers we identify as rewarded apps or research panels, so one rewarded app's wall doesn't send its users to another. That applies only to the Hosted Offerwall: publishers using the Offer API still receive your offer.
What counts as a first earning action?
Anything your server can see and report: a first completed offer, a first survey, a first cash-out.
Can I pay only for the first cash-out?
Yes. One step, one price, charged once per user when your server reports it. Track the install for $0 if you want to see how many users stop before cashing out.
Can one user be charged for the first offer twice?
No. Each step is charged once per user, so a second completed offer can't trigger it again. To pay for a later one, add “Fifth offer completed” as its own step at its own price.
Can I run on Android only?
Yes. A campaign targets iOS, Android or both. All three rewarded app offers shown above ran on Android.
Do I need an SDK?
No. Your rewards backend posts each event to our API, and your app asks us for the click ID at first open. The setup guide covers both sides.