What to check in a contract for a funded creator app

The checklist

1. What costs you anything? There should be no build costs, fees or invoices for you. Have that written in explicitly.

2. How is the revenue share calculated? From which amount, after which deductions (store fees, payment processing, taxes, refunds), how often is it settled and can you see the figures? There is no standard share, it differs from creator to creator.

3. Who sets the prices? You. Prices, trials and promotions are part of your offer.

4. Who owns your content? You. The partner only needs a licence to run the app while you work together.

5. What happens when the partnership ends or the app is shut down? Ask about notice, deadlines and the aftermath: what happens to the app, your members, their data and your name in the store?

6. Who decides on approvals? Nothing should go live without your consent.

7. What may you do alongside? Ask whether you are bound by exclusivity, and how far.

8. No earnings promise. Whoever promises safe earnings promises too much.

9. Everything in writing before the start. The revenue share and the deductions are in the contract before development begins.

How to recognise a good partner

They answer these questions up front and without pressure, they carry the build risk themselves and earn only when your app earns. Be wary if money is asked from you before anything is built, or if answers to these points stay vague.

How we do it

At CreatorStack you never pay anything. We carry the risk of the build. The revenue share and every deduction are agreed in writing before we start development. Your content stays yours, you set the prices, and nothing goes live without your approval. We do not promise earnings.

Questions beforehand?

You can ask us anything first. The conversation is non-binding.

Keep reading

Pre-funded app or app builder : Who pays, who builds, who carries the risk: app builders and pre-funded apps compared.

From Instagram to your own app : Four steps from followers to members of your own app, with no promises.

What a subscription app costs : Custom build, app builder, platform or pre-funding: who pays what, including running costs, store fees and payments.

App, livestreams, memberships compared : Uscreen, Mighty Networks, Circle, Disciple and others compared, and when a pre-funded app fits better.

Providers paid by revenue share : Who builds a creator app with no upfront cost, what their pages say about cost, share and ownership, and what to watch for.

Subscription app without coding : Five routes to a community app with subscriptions without code, what stays with you and what Apple, Google and the law require.

When a subscription app pays off : No fixed follower count: break-even in paying members, scenarios with labelled assumptions, store fees and VAT.

App without start-up capital : Six ways to your own fan app without start-up capital, what pre-funded really means, and what applies extra to nutrition and health experts.

Income beyond ads : Ways to regular income without constant advertising: how the money recurs, fees according to providers, taxes in Germany and what nobody guarantees.

Is CreatorStack right for you? : What CreatorStack covers and what it does not: livestreams, a browser start, member chat, courses and follower count.

Own app name in the App Store : Name, icon and seller name in the stores: what Apple and Google set and what providers say about it on their own pages.

Requirements and process : What CreatorStack looks at in an application, how the partnership runs in four stages and what is agreed in writing before the build.