Branch and AppsFlyer alternatives for indie apps

Branch and AppsFlyer are the names that come up first when you ask how to track app installs. Both are large platforms built for marketing teams with paid acquisition budgets. If you're one developer or a small studio, you may need a fraction of what they do, at a fraction of the price, or something different altogether.

This roundup groups the alternatives by the job they do. Every fact about another company comes from that company's own page, linked, and was checked on 29 October 2026. Prices change, so check before you sign up. We make Unolink, one of the options below, and we've tried to be fair about where it fits and where it doesn't.

First: what do you actually need?

Free tools first

Whatever you choose, use these too. They cost nothing.

• App Store Connect campaign links. Add a campaign to your App Store link and App Store Connect shows downloads, sales and more per campaign, once a campaign has at least five first-time downloads (Apple).
• Google Play Console acquisition reports, which can break acquisitions down by UTM source and campaign from links to your store listing (Play Console Help).

They're aggregated and per platform, and they stop at the store: you won't see who finished onboarding or paid. The tools below fill different parts of that gap.

Full MMPs with entry-level plans

AppsFlyer Zero and Growth

AppsFlyer's pricing page has two plans below Enterprise. Zero is free and "not suitable for apps with paid activities". Growth is pay as you go: both include 12,000 free conversions in the first year, then $0.07 per conversion. So if you start small, you can use AppsFlyer itself without a contract. See Unolink vs AppsFlyer OneLink.

Branch Basics

Branch's pricing page lists Basics, Essentials and Enterprise, with no prices shown. Basics starts with a free trial and allows 3 ad partners; Essentials and Enterprise go through a demo. See Unolink vs Branch.

Tenjin

Tenjin's pricing page has an "All-Inclusive Free" plan with 2,000 free conversions a month and $0.04 per additional conversion, and paid plans from $200 a month. A conversion is "a mobile app install attributed by Tenjin to a paid user acquisition campaign".

Linkrunner

Linkrunner's pricing page offers the first 25,000 attributed installs free, then pay as you go from $0.012 per install, falling with volume. Every plan includes attribution, deep links, deferred deep links, postbacks and fraud protection. See Unolink vs Linkrunner.

Pick an MMP if question 1 was a yes. Postbacks to ad networks, SKAdNetwork tools and fraud protection are what you'd be paying for, and nothing simpler does them. Keep in mind that most are priced per conversion or install, so the bill grows with your success, and some need a demo before you see a price.

Smart-link tools

onelink.to

onelink.to's pricing page has a free plan with 3 links, and paid plans from $10 a month ($100 a year). Android deferred deep linking and UTM stats start on Team ($25 a month); custom domains and opening an installed app on Team Plus ($40 a month). It doesn't list install attribution. See Unolink vs onelink.to.

Pick a smart-link tool if question 2 was the whole story: you want a dependable link and QR code, and clicks are enough.

Links followed past the install

Unolink

Unolink sits between the two groups above. It's a smart-link tool on every plan, Free included: one link per app that sends each device to its store, and a campaign link for each post, creator or ad. Add the SDK on Pro and it answers the question MMPs answer for ads, for the channels small apps actually grow on, and then keeps going past the install.

What that means for an indie developer:

• A fixed, published price. Free, Indie at $6 a month, Pro at $19 and Studio at $49 (pricing). No demo, no quote, no fee per install. A post that goes viral doesn't raise your bill.
• Paying users per link, not just clicks. With the SDK (Pro and up), you see which link brought each install, then which onboarding screen people left on, who saw the paywall, who started a trial and who paid. You can follow any install from the click to the purchase.
• RevenueCat built in. The SDK (0.3.2 and later) connects to RevenueCat in one line, and trials, purchases, renewals and refunds arrive under the right link by themselves.
• Everything around the link in one tool. Landing pages for ads with up to 3 variants compared, a developer page with all your apps for your bio, and styled, tracked QR codes, from Indie.
• Privacy without fingerprinting, on iPhone and Android.
• Setup in minutes. The SDK is a small library for iOS, Android, React Native and Flutter.

What it doesn't do: no postbacks to ad networks, no SKAdNetwork tools, no fraud product, no deferred deep links on iPhone (by choice: they would need fingerprinting or a paste prompt) and no custom domains yet (coming soon). Deferred deep links work on Android.

Pick Unolink if question 3 describes you: you want to know which post, creator or ad brought people who finished onboarding and paid, at a fixed monthly price.

At a glance

For the longer version of the MMP question, see Which ad brought each install? Tracking without an MMP.