Best ASO tools for indie developers: a shortlist by job, price band and trial

Decide what the tool must do this month

Indie developers usually overbuy ASO software because comparisons are organised around feature lists. Organise yours around jobs instead. Common jobs are: choose a keyword shortlist for the next release, record sampled positions so you can tell whether a release moved anything, read competitors' public listings for language gaps, answer reviews, run Apple Ads and report downloads and revenue. Most solo developers need the first three and can do the rest in Apple's own tools.

Once the jobs are written down, the market sorts itself. Research and tracking tools are cheap or free to start. Ads automation, review operations and market intelligence are sold to teams with budgets and staff. If your jobs are all in the first group, a platform's extra capabilities are not a bonus; they are the reason the price is higher.

The shortlist, by the job each vendor advertises

This shortlist is publisher-authored by Back My Side and is not an independent ranking. We reviewed each vendor's public homepage on 9 September 2026 and recorded what it advertises. We did not buy every plan or run an accuracy benchmark, and we quote no third-party prices because they change. Each row links to a longer alternatives article where one exists.

Treat the table as a map of who claims what. Two tools claiming keyword research can define popularity and position quite differently, and that difference matters more than a checkmark.

AppTweak alternatives

Sensor Tower alternatives

App Radar alternatives

MobileAction alternatives

AppFollow alternatives

Appfigures alternatives

What the free and trial routes actually include

Free tiers and trials are the cheapest way to test a tool against your own app, but they differ in kind. A time-limited trial shows the full product for a few days and then charges unless cancelled. A free tier shows a reduced product indefinitely. A demo shows what a salesperson chooses to show. Know which one you are entering before you paste a card number.

Back My Side's free route is a permanent reduced tier: the public report shows the full score with one measured row per section and the rest locked, and a free signed-in account shows two keywords plus one saved app and five tracked keywords. Paid plans at publication are Starter, Growth and Max at 15, 25 and 57 US dollars a month after a one-dollar three-day trial, with limits listed on the pricing page. App Radar advertises a 7-day trial, Appfigures a free start without a card, AppTweak a free trial and Sensor Tower a free sign-up; check each vendor's current terms rather than relying on this summary.

Check current Back My Side plans and limits

Questions to ask before paying for any ASO tool

Ask how a keyword position is measured: which storefront, how many results are sampled, how often and what is shown when your app is absent. Ask what popularity or volume means and where it comes from; Apple publishes no keyword search volume, so every figure is an estimate or heuristic. Ask whether the plan counts apps, keywords, storefronts or seats and whether exports are included.

Then ask what the tool cannot do, because vendors rarely volunteer it. Back My Side, for example, covers the iOS App Store only, has no Google Play or App Store Connect integration, does not manage ads and does not publish metadata. Every tool has an equivalent list. A clear answer to that question is a good sign; a vague one usually means you will discover the list after the first invoice.

• How is a position sampled, and how is absence displayed?
• What does the popularity figure measure, and is it labelled as an estimate?
• Which units does the plan count, and are CSV exports included?
• Does the trial convert to a charge automatically, and how is it cancelled?
• Which stores and which of my jobs does the tool explicitly not cover?

Read keyword popularity correctly before comparing tools

A one-week evaluation that fits an indie schedule

Pick one app and ten to fifteen queries you already care about, including two you expect to rank for and two you expect not to. Run the same list through each candidate on the same days and record what each reports, how it labels missing results and how long the task took. Note anything you had to look up to interpret a number.

At the end of the week, choose the tool whose output you could defend in a conversation with a colleague, at the lowest price that covers the jobs you wrote down. Set a review date three months out. If your jobs change, for instance an Android launch or a first ad budget, revisit the shortlist rather than upgrading by default.

Set up a consistent tracking routine before comparing tools

Prepare a launch baseline you can measure against

Frequently asked questions