What Happens After First Year With a Kin App

Before signing up for an app, most owners ask one question: what happens after first year on a Kin App plan? Kin App and Kin App Pro both run on a 12 month minimum. Here is what happens after first year ends, in plain terms.

Why there is a 12 month minimum

Building an app is front-loaded work. We design your screens, load your menu or catalog, set up your loyalty card, and submit the app to Apple. Kin App's setup fee is $1,500. Kin App Pro's is $3,500. The 12 month minimum lets us spread that setup cost into the monthly price instead of charging it all up front.

During those 12 months you pay $199 a month for Kin App or $399 a month for Kin App Pro. That covers hosting, every iOS release so the app keeps working after Apple's yearly update, bug fixes, and two edit requests a month, app or site.

The included Core website is part of both plans from day one. It is not something you add later. Apple's app listing needs a web page anyway, so the website and the app launch together.

What Happens After First Year

After the 12 month minimum, you can cancel any time. There is no second contract and no renewal fee.

If you cancel, we hand over your data. If you stay, nothing changes. You keep paying the same monthly price for the same hosting, updates and edit requests.

Either way, the app itself is already yours. Apple requires every app to be submitted from the business's own Apple Developer account, not ours, under its App Store Review Guidelines. Apple charges its own separate fee for that account, paid to Apple directly, not to us. Because the app lives on your account, it stays listed under your name even if you stop paying us. It will not get new features or bug fixes without the monthly plan, but it does not disappear the day you cancel.

What "hand over your data" means

Your data is your customer list, your loyalty card history, your menu or catalog content, and your photos. If you leave, we give you an export of what is in the app so you are not starting over with a new vendor.

What we cannot hand over is the code behind Kin App and Kin App Pro, because that is the same codebase every Kin client runs on. If you need an app that is fully yours to take anywhere, that is a Custom App, built from $25,000 with its own code, quoted after a call. Our custom quotes so far run from $25,000 to $45,000, with half due to start and half when it is live on the App Store.

Who this fits

If you are not sure you want an app for a full year, start with the website. Core is $79 a month plus $149 setup, with no minimum term. You can move up to Kin App later once you know regulars actually want the loyalty card and push notifications.

If you already know customers come back every week, you may want the app now. The 12 month minimum is the trade-off for a lower setup cost than a custom build. You are not locked in after that. The website that comes with your plan keeps working the whole time.

An add-on worth knowing about either way: an AI assistant that answers customer questions and sends restock and pickup alerts runs $99 a month on top of either app plan. It is not required to start.

Next step

See how the loyalty card, push notifications and ordering look on a real phone. The apps page has five working demos, built as spec builds and not for a business that hired us. The pricing section lists Kin App, Kin App Pro and Custom side by side. Compare the setup fee, the monthly price and the minimum term before you call.