[Indie Dev Diary #7] September & October 2024 - A Brief Dip and a Strong Comeback

After a successful summer peak, revenue saw a significant dip in September. Fortunately, it rebounded in October, driven by expanded localization efforts.

Here’s a recap of the past two months, including the key highlights and growth metrics that marked this period of fluctuation and recovery.

Localization Efforts: Expanding Global Reach

After introducing initial localizations over the summer, I continued to expand Itemlist’s accessibility to users worldwide. This update was a major milestone, adding support for 16 additional languages, bringing the total to 24.

These new languages include Chinese (Simplified), Danish, Hungarian, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, Mexican Spanish, Swedish, Thai, Turkish, and Ukrainian.

This significant localization effort aims to make Itemlist more inclusive and user-friendly across diverse regions, enhancing the app’s appeal and accessibility to a global audience.

Setapp Mobile Open Beta Launch

A significant event in this period was the open beta launch of Setapp Mobile, allowing users across the EU to download and explore the platform. Itemlist’s inclusion in Setapp Mobile is a big step forward, potentially reaching an entirely new audience. I’ve shared more about this collaboration in a previous post, but if you’d like to try Setapp Mobile, you can get a 7-day free trial here.

App Growth Summit in Barcelona

I was also privileged to attend the App Growth Summit in Barcelona, a fantastic opportunity to connect with fellow indie developers, the team behind Setapp, and other inspiring industry professionals. This experience not only provided valuable insights into growth strategies but also reinforced the sense of community that comes with being part of the indie dev world.

September Revenue: A Temporary Dip

September saw a decrease in revenue, with a drop of 38.37% compared to August. Revenue fell from $985 in August to $607 in September.

MRR Comparison

Despite the decline in total revenue, Monthly Recurring Revenue (MRR) continued to grow, showing a solid 9.58% increase from $261 in August to $286 in September.

Active Subscribers: A Steady Increase

Active subscriptions rose by 10.37% in September, going from 135 in August to 149.

October Revenue: A Strong Rebound

In October, revenue rebounded with an impressive growth of 63.93%, rising from $607 in September to $995. This significant increase was driven by localization efforts.

In October, around 40% of revenue came from outside the US.

MRR Comparison

The MRR maintained its upward trend, growing by 13.99% from $286 in September to $326 in October.

Active Subscribers on the Rise Again

The number of active subscribers saw another substantial rise in October, with a 15.44% growth from 149 in September to 172.

Embracing New Opportunities

The past two months have been a journey through both challenges and achievements. While September’s revenue dip was a setback, the steps taken to localize Itemlist and reach a wider audience paid off, as evidenced by October’s strong recovery. With the app now supporting 24 languages and attracting international users, I’m excited to see where these localization efforts will lead in the coming months.

Thank you for following along with this journey. Your feedback and support continue to inspire me as I work to make Itemlist even better for users around the world. Stay tuned for what’s next!