The Real Cost of Free Apps
Privacy policy
Last updated: October 9, 2026
We do not collect your personal information. There are no accounts, no sign-in, and no tracking.
The short version
- When you search, the app name you type is sent to Apple’s or Google’s app store to look up prices.
- Your settings stay on your own phone or computer, except the two-letter store country, which is sent with app lookups.
- We do not have accounts, and we do not collect names, emails, phone numbers, or other personal data.
1. Your searches go to Apple’s and Google’s stores
To show what an app costs, we have to ask the app store. When you type an app name and tap Search:
- iPhone: your phone sends the app name straight to Apple’s App Store search.
- Android: your phone sends the app name, and the Google Play id of any app you open, to our own server, which asks the Google Play store and sends the prices back. We do not store or use your searches ourselves, but our hosting provider (Netlify) may keep standard request logs that can include the app name or Google Play id in the request address.
To find extra in-app prices for an iPhone app, your phone sends that app’s App Store number (not what you typed) to our own server, which reads the app’s App Store page and sends the prices back. We do not store or use these lookups ourselves, but our hosting provider (Netlify) may keep standard request logs that can include the App Store number in the request address. No outside page-reading or relay services are used.
When our server asks Google or Apple, it does not pass on your internet address or any other information about you.
To keep the app fast, Netlify may cache store results, including the search address, for up to about a day. These cached copies are not linked to you or your device.
Apple and Google handle these requests under their own privacy policies. Like any website, they can see your device’s internet address when your phone contacts them.
2. Your settings are stored only on your device
The app remembers a few choices so you don’t have to pick them again:
- Where you live and whether to add sales tax
- Which money to show prices in
- Whether you use an iPhone or Android
- The streaming services you checked on the household list
- The latest currency exchange rates
These are saved in your browser’s storage on this device only. They are not sent to us. The only exception is the two-letter store country (for example ‘us’), which is sent with app lookups so the right store’s prices are shown. To erase them, clear this website’s data in your browser settings.
3. No accounts. No personal data.
There is nothing to sign up for. We do not ask for or collect your name, email, phone number, address, contacts, or location. We do not use ads, tracking cookies, or analytics.
When you tap Text this to family, your phone opens its own sharing or text message screen. We do not see the message or who you send it to.
4. Other services the page uses
Fonts and exchange rates are loaded from third-party services (Google Fonts and currency-rate sites), which may see your internet address like any website would. No searches or settings are sent to them.
The page loads its fonts from Google Fonts and gets currency exchange rates from public rate services (open.er-api.com, jsdelivr.net, and frankfurter.app). The website is hosted by Netlify, which may keep standard server logs, such as internet addresses, to run and protect the site.
5. Changes and questions
If this policy changes, we will update this page.
Questions? Email us at therealcostoffreeapps@gmail.com.
Not affiliated with Apple or Google.