An app doesn’t need millions of users to make sense.
See how subscriptions and advertising could add up for your publication. Change the assumptions. Make the numbers yours.
Your readers are on their phones. Be there.
News happens on mobile. An app gives your publication a place on the home screen — and a more direct relationship with readers.
56%
of U.S. adults regularly get their news on digital devices.
Your readers are already on mobile. Give them a reason to open your app.
Pew Research Center, 2025 (“often” get news from a smartphone, computer or tablet)
4.5×
more time spent in leading news apps than by the average news website visitor.
A better habit starts with a better place to read.
37%
less likely to cancel their subscriptions among readers who use their publisher’s app.
A reason to come back can become a reason to stay.
60%
more active readers after push notifications were introduced.
A useful alert can bring a reader back.
Pugpig, 2025. An increase observed over three months at one publisher, not an industry-wide average.
One tap away from your stories.
An app puts your publication on the home screen, without relying on a social feed or search result to bring readers back.
Give people something worth returning to, and make it easy to find.
A breaking story. A notification. A reader returns.
Breaking stories, favorite reporters and updates on ongoing coverage: useful alerts give readers a reason to return.
The goal isn’t more notifications. It’s better ones.
60%
More active readers after push notifications were introduced.
Pugpig, 2025. An increase observed over three months at one publisher, not an industry-wide average.
Make it easy to say yes to a subscription.
When readers decide your stories are worth paying for, don’t make checkout the hard part.
Apple and Google in-app purchase let eligible readers subscribe using payment details already on their phones. Fewer steps can mean less friction.
Reading
A reader opens a story and wants the rest.
The offer
Your subscription offer appears, in your brand.
Subscribed
They confirm with their Apple or Google account, and they’re in.
Curio configures in-app purchase and the connection to your subscriber system during implementation, subject to Apple’s and Google’s requirements. Readers who already subscribe on your website can sign in to the app.
More ways to earn from your audience.
Your app can bring subscriptions, advertising, sponsorships and reader engagement together under your brand.
Curio supports standard display advertising. Newsroom Pro adds more formats and placement options.
- SubscriptionsPaid tiers and in-app purchase
- Display advertisingAd slots placed by your editors
- Native and sponsoredIn-feed placements in your design
- Your shopA merchandise carousel in the feed
Newsroom ProAdvanced formats and placements on Newsroom Pro
The download is just the beginning.
What matters is what readers do next: return, read, subscribe and stay. Those habits are where long-term value begins.
A good app gives your publication more chances to become part of a reader’s routine.
37%
Less likely to cancel their subscriptions among readers who use their publisher’s app.
Financial Times data, reported by WAN-IFRA, December 2025From occasional reader to loyal subscriber.
Make it easier to discover a story, come back tomorrow and stay connected to your publication.
Run the numbers. You might be surprised.
You don’t need a million downloads to build a business case.
At $10 per month, 100 additional subscribers represent $12,000 in annual gross subscription revenue. Curio Publish costs $9,795 in its first year, including implementation.
That’s a useful starting point — before adding advertising, retention or other costs.
Now try your own numbers.
Your estimated mobile revenue
$17,228Estimated annual mobile revenue
- Gross subscription revenue, first year
- $15,308
- Subscriptions after 15% commission
- $13,012
- Estimated advertising revenue
- $1,920
+$5,137
Estimated revenue after Curio costs First-year estimate, not profit. Other operating costs aren’t included.
Full financial breakdown
- Gross subscription revenue, year one
- $15,308
- App-store commission 15% of subscription revenue
- −$2,296
- Subscription revenue after commission
- $13,012
- Estimated advertising revenue Before ad-serving fees or revenue shares; no store commission
- $1,920
- Combined revenue after modeled commissions
- $14,932
- Curio cost, year one 12 × $650 + $1,995 standard implementation
- −$9,795
- Estimated revenue after Curio costs
- +$5,137
- Subscriptions alone: remaining after Curio costs
- +$3,217
- Curio cost, each later year 12 monthly payments
- $7,800
Understand your break-even point
113subscribers cover Curio’s first-year cost from subscription revenue alone
77paying subscribers, on average, cover each later year
91subscribers cover year one once your advertising estimate is counted
At a 3% monthly cancellation rate, each starting subscriber pays for 10.2 months on average in year one, and about 107 of 150 are still paying in month 12.
This is a planning tool, not a forecast. Advertising estimates exclude ad-serving fees and revenue shares; app-store commissions apply to subscriptions only. Revenue after Curio costs is not profit, because other operating costs are excluded. Newsroom Pro implementation starts at the published price and may cost more for custom work. Results depend on your audience, pricing, promotion and retention.
Let’s run the numbers for your publication.
We’ll talk through your audience, pricing and goals, and show you what Curio could look like for you.