What are the six ways, at a glance?
Apple Ads (it used to be called Apple Search Ads) are the ads at the top of App Store search. Every way below runs the same ads. What changes is who does the work, and what you pay on top of the ads themselves.
| Option | What you do | What it does for you | Cost on top of the ads | Good fit when |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Do it yourself | Pick keywords, set bids, check results and adjust, week after week. | Nothing. You get Apple's full controls and reports. | Only your time. | You want to learn how Apple Ads works and have a few hours a week. |
| 2. Apple Ads Basic | Set a monthly budget and the most you'll pay per download. | Apple chooses where your ad shows in search results. | Nothing extra. You pay per download. | You want the simplest start and a predictable cost per download. |
| 3. Advanced with Maximize Conversions | Set up a campaign, a daily budget and a target cost per download. | Apple's auto-bidder sets the bid for each search. | Nothing extra. You pay per tap. | Your budget covers at least five downloads a day and you can wait two weeks. |
| 4. A tool you run | Make the decisions, with better reports, rules or alerts to help. | Saves time on the work you already do. | A monthly fee. Some tools have free plans. | You know the basics and want to spend less time on them. |
| 5. An agency | Agree goals and a budget, then review their reports. | People plan and run your campaigns, often with creative work too. | A fee the agency sets. | You spend enough that a person's time pays for itself. |
| 6. An AI agent | Connect your account, set a monthly limit, read the updates. | Software picks keywords, sets bids and pauses waste on its own. | A monthly fee. AdSitter is from $29 per app. | You want it done for you and can't justify an agency. |
1. Can I run Apple Ads myself?
Yes. Apple Ads Advanced gives you every control. In a Manage Bids campaign you choose the keywords and set the max you want to pay for a tap. A tap is someone touching your ad. You pay only when that happens, never more than your bid, and you control spend with a daily budget for each campaign.
It costs nothing beyond the ads. The price is your time: choosing searches, reading reports, raising bids on what works, and pausing what doesn’t. Our guide to how campaigns are set up walks through it.
Suits you if you want to understand your ads and have a few hours a week. Less so if you would rather spend that time on your app.
2. What is Apple Ads Basic?
Basic is Apple’s simplest option. Apple’s own summary is “No keywords or audience settings. Set your goals and let us do the rest.” You pick an app, the countries, a monthly budget and a maximum cost per install (the most you’ll pay for one download). Apple suggests that maximum, and recommends using its suggestion so your ad is more likely to show.
- Ads show in App Store search results only.
- You pay only for installs, at a cost you choose, not for taps.
- The budget is capped at $10,000 (U.S.) per app, per month, and you can promote up to 50 apps.
- Reports are a quick-view dashboard, with no keyword data.
Suits you if you want the simplest start and a known cost per download. Less so if you want to see which searches work, aim at paying customers rather than downloads, or let a tool or agency help. Basic has no access to the Apple Ads Platform API, the connection outside tools use.
3. What does Apple's own automation do?
Inside Advanced, Maximize Conversions is Apple’s auto-bidder. It aims to get the most tap-through installs at a target CPA that you set. Target CPA is the average you want to pay per download. Apple’s system sets the bid for each search, and Search Match (Apple choosing relevant searches for you) is required in its automatic ad group.
- It runs in search results only.
- You still pay when someone taps your ad.
- Apple recommends a daily budget that allows at least five conversions per day, and letting it run at least two weeks before judging it.
- To set your own keyword bids, Apple points you to a Manage Bids campaign instead.
Suits you if your budget covers five downloads a day and you can leave it alone. Less so if your budget is small, or you care about paying customers more than downloads. More in manual bids or Maximize Conversions.
4. What does an Apple Ads tool do?
A tool connects to your Apple Ads account and helps you run it: clearer reports, rules that change bids when a number crosses a line, alerts, or suggestions you approve. Apple built its Apple Ads Platform API so that developers, agencies and third-party platforms can manage campaigns and pull reports. You can give a tool access with a secure Apple sign in, and limit a user to one or more campaign groups.
Most tools charge a monthly fee, and some have free plans. The important question is who makes the changes. With most tools, you still decide. They make the work faster, but it is still your work.
Suits you if you know the basics and want to spend less time on them. Less so if you have never run ads and don’t want to learn.
5. What does an agency do?
An agency is a team of people who run your ads for you. You invite them into your Apple Ads account with a role, for example one that can view reporting and manage all campaigns in a campaign group. Good agencies also do work software doesn’t: strategy across ad channels, ad creative, and custom product pages (versions of your App Store page made for one group of searches).
Agencies set their own fees, and they vary a lot. Ask for the total monthly cost at your budget before you sign.
Suits you if you spend enough on ads that a person’s time pays for itself. Less so if your whole ad budget is a few hundred dollars a month.
6. What is an AI agent for Apple Ads?
An agent is software that makes the changes itself, the way an agency would, inside limits you set. You connect your account and set a monthly limit. It picks keywords, sets bids, pauses what wastes money and tells you what it did.
AdSitter is one. It checks your ads twice a day, keeps to a hard monthly limit, aims at paying customers once RevenueCat is connected, and explains every change in plain English. It costs $29 a month per app and up, set by your ad spend (see pricing), after a 7-day trial in which it only watches. Other agents exist. We compare AdSitter with one of them, fact by fact, on a separate page.
Suits you if you want it done for you without an agency’s fee. Less so if you want to make every decision yourself, or need creative work.
Apple Ads Basic or Advanced?
This is Apple’s own comparison, in plain words. Options 1, 3, 4, 5 and 6 on this page all use Advanced.
| Basic | Advanced | |
|---|---|---|
| Made for | Developers | Developers, advertisers or agencies |
| Where ads show | App Store search results | The Today tab, the Search tab, search results, or other apps' product pages |
| Keywords | None. No keywords or audience settings. | You choose them (Manage Bids), or Apple's auto-bidder does (Maximize Conversions). |
| How you pay | Per install, at a cost you choose | Per tap, up to a maximum price you choose |
| Reports | A quick-view dashboard | Detailed reports across your account |
| APIs (how other software connects) | The AdServices Attribution API only. No keyword data and no Apple Ads Platform API. | The AdServices Attribution API and the Apple Ads Platform API |
| Monthly budget | Up to $10,000 (U.S.) per app | No maximum |
| Apps you can promote | Up to 50 | Unlimited |
If you use Basic and want to try Advanced, you can start an Advanced account and still reach your Basic accountafterwards. You can run both, but for the same app it rarely helps: only one ad for the same app is eligible per auction, so you may just move views from one to the other. Changes you make in Advanced aren’t used by Basic.
Agency or tool?
Both connect to the same Apple Ads account. The difference is who decides, and what else you get.
- A tool helps you decide faster. You still need to know what a good bid looks like, and to find the time.
- An agency decides for you, and can add strategy and creative work. It costs more, because people’s time costs more.
- An AI agent sits between them: it decides for you like an agency, at a price closer to a tool, but it doesn’t make ads or plan other channels.
AdSitter's rule of thumb
If your ad budget is under a few thousand dollars a month, an agency’s fee is likely to be a large share of it. Start with Basic, your own campaigns, a tool or an agent, and consider an agency once ads are clearly working and you want more than bids and keywords.
Which one suits me?
AdSitter's rule of thumb
- You have never run ads and want to try cheaply. Apple Ads Basic, with a small monthly budget. If you want to know which searches work, or to aim at paying customers, move to Advanced.
- You want to learn Apple Ads. Run Advanced yourself, starting small. Our budget guide has starting numbers.
- You know the basics but have no time. A tool if you still want to decide, an AI agent if you want the deciding done too.
- You spend thousands a month and want creative and strategy. An agency.
Questions
Is Apple Ads Basic enough for a new app?
It can be a good first step. Basic needs no keywords or audience settings and you pay per install. The trade is that you can’t see which searches bring downloads, and it aims at downloads, not paying customers.
Can I switch from Basic to Advanced later?
Yes. Apple says you can start Advanced and still reach your Basic account. Running both for the same app rarely helps, because only one ad for the same app is eligible per auction.
What does cost per tap mean?
In Advanced you pay each time someone taps your ad, up to a maximum price you choose. In Basic you pay per install instead.
Do I need a tool if I only spend a few hundred dollars a month?
No. Apple's own options work at any budget. A tool or agent is worth it when it saves you time or money you would otherwise lose to wasted taps. Compare its fee with your ad budget before you sign up.
How much does an Apple Ads agency cost?
Agencies set their own fees, and they vary. Ask for the total monthly cost at your ad budget, and what it includes, before you sign.
Is AdSitter running ads for people now?
Yes. You can connect Apple Ads today with Apple's own sign-in. The first 7 days are a free trial in which AdSitter only watches and suggests. After that it costs from $29 a month per app.
Sources
Every fact about Apple Ads or another company on this page comes from that company’s own page, listed below with the day we read it. Pages change, so check the source before a big decision. Anything marked as AdSitter’s rule of thumb is our own judgment. Company and product names belong to their owners. Naming them does not mean they endorse AdSitter.
- Compare Apple Ads solutions ads.apple.com, checked
- Promote an app with Basic ads.apple.com, checked
- Switch Apple Ads solutions ads.apple.com, checked
- Use Maximize Conversions ads.apple.com, checked
- Maximize Conversions best practices ads.apple.com, checked
- Use the Apple Ads Platform API ads.apple.com, checked
- Invite users to your account ads.apple.com, checked
- Understand the billing cycle ads.apple.com, checked
- Pause or remove campaigns ads.apple.com, checked
Read next
Want it done for you?Try AdSitter for 7 days.
You set a hard monthly limit. AdSitter picks the keywords, sets the bids, pauses what wastes money, and explains every change in plain English. For the first 7 days it only watches and suggests. You add a card to start the trial, and you won’t be charged if you cancel before it ends.