What "free" kids apps really cost you

Three common ways a "free" app pays for itself

None of these business models are secret or automatically bad, but a parent choosing an app for a young child is usually better off knowing which one applies.

Advertising. The app shows video or banner ads, sometimes between levels, sometimes as a "watch this to unlock the next round" gate. The app maker is paid by advertisers for the attention it delivers, not by the family using it.

Data collection. The app gathers information about how it's used, and in some cases about the child using it, then sells or shares that data, often to power the ad targeting described above, or to build behavioural profiles used elsewhere.

In-app purchases. The app is free to open but designed to prompt purchases once a child is engaged, sometimes through deliberately persuasive design aimed at a child rather than the parent who holds the payment method. Regulators in several jurisdictions have taken action against manipulative in-app purchase flows aimed at children; see your local consumer protection authority for specifics that apply where you live.

Plenty of apps combine two or three of these at once. None of them make an app worthless, but each one means the "free" price tag is doing some quiet work behind the scenes that isn't visible on the download screen.

A five-minute check before you install anything

You don't need to read a full privacy policy end to end to get a decent read on which model a free kids app is using. A few quick things to check:

• Open it and just watch for a minute. Does a video ad, a banner, or a "watch to continue" gate show up unprompted? If so, advertising is at least part of the model, whatever the app store listing says.
• Look for a privacy page, not just a privacy policy link. A plain-language explanation of what's collected and why is a good sign. A policy that's long, vague, and clearly written for lawyers rather than parents is worth a closer read, not a skip.
• Check whether progress or purchases require a sign-up. An app that asks a child to create their own login, rather than a parent-held account, is worth a second look at what identifying information that login collects.
• Try it with the network off. An app that stops working entirely without an internet connection is, at minimum, talking to a server regularly while your child plays. That's not automatically a problem, but it's useful to know.

None of this requires special expertise, just a few minutes of paying attention before handing a device to a child, the same way you'd glance at ingredients before handing over food.

None of this is about assuming bad intent on the part of every free app maker. Plenty of free apps are built by people trying to do right by families and simply need some revenue model to keep the lights on. The point of a quick check isn't suspicion, it's knowing which model a given app has chosen, so the choice to use it is an informed one rather than an assumption.

Why Word Safari is built to work without any of the three

We built Word Safari specifically to sidestep all three models above, not soften one of them. There is no ad slot anywhere in the app, no third-party trackers, and no data collected about a child beyond a nickname that stays on the device. The free tier plays the full library today, and isn't a stripped-down trial designed to build toward ads or purchase prompts later.

That means Word Safari's revenue has to come from somewhere else: optional paid tiers a parent chooses to buy, not from monetizing a child's attention or personal data. It's a more direct, less profitable model in the short term than ads or data would be, and that's a deliberate trade we made on purpose.

Questions parents ask