5 Ways to Track App Installs Per Link (Ranked by Setup Time)

TL;DR

Five ways to track installs per link, in order of setup time:

• Plain redirect link — 30 seconds, tracks clicks only. Weakest signal, fastest to deploy.
• Tracking link + lightweight SDK — 5 minutes, tracks clicks and installs. Best fit for most indie devs.
• Tracking link + SDK + revenue integration — 15 minutes, adds per-link revenue. The honest ROI number.
• Deep-linking platform (Branch) — 2-4 hours, adds deferred in-app routing. Useful if content-to-app handoff matters.
• Full MMP (AppsFlyer, Adjust) — days to weeks, enterprise-tier measurement. Only necessary if you run large paid campaigns.

If you're an indie dev growing through creators, bio links, and email, option 2 or 3 is the right answer. The rest is overhead.

Full context on the underlying problem: how to track app installs with links.

1. Plain redirect link

Setup time: 30 seconds. Cost: free.

A redirect service takes one URL and sends users to another. Services like bit.ly or a simple Cloudflare Worker can do this with minimal setup. You get click counts, nothing else.

This is the starter version of per-link tracking. It's fine if you only want to know which link got tapped the most. It falls apart the moment you need to know which link drove actual installs, because a click isn't an install — users tap, browse, get distracted, and never come back.

Use this if: you're testing which content gets clicks before investing in install tracking. Don't use this if: you care about the funnel past the click. Which is almost always the case for app developers.

2. Tracking link + lightweight SDK

Setup time: 5 minutes. Cost: free to $40/mo.

This is the standard approach for most indie apps in 2026. You create a tracking link per source, drop a small SDK into your app (one line of initialization code), and the SDK reports install events back to a dashboard that ties each install to the link that produced it.

What you get: clicks, installs, and conversion rate per link. No IDFA. No ATT prompt. No ad network configuration. Works for creators, bio links, email, UGC — anything where you hand out a URL.

Tools: Instally, similar indie-focused tools.

Use this if: you want per-link install attribution without paying enterprise pricing or dealing with ad-network integrations. Don't use this if: you specifically need deferred deep linking into in-app content, or you're running scaled paid ads across multiple networks.

3. Tracking link + SDK + revenue integration

Setup time: 15 minutes. Cost: $40/mo and up.

Option 2 tells you which links drive installs. Option 3 tells you which links drive paying users.

You connect your subscription or IAP stack — RevenueCat, Stripe, Superwall, Adapty, Qonversion — to your install tracking tool. Now each link shows you clicks → installs → revenue. This is the number that actually matters for most apps, because an install from a creator who brings in 12 long-term subscribers is worth more than 200 installs that churn on day one.

Use this if: you have in-app purchases or subscriptions and want to know which channels are economically productive, not just top-of-funnel. Don't use this if: your app is free-forever with no monetization layer. In that case, option 2 is enough.

4. Deep-linking platform (Branch)

Setup time: 2-4 hours. Cost: free tier available, enterprise pricing past that.

Branch and similar deep-linking platforms specialize in routing users to a specific in-app screen after install. User taps a link to a specific article, installs your app, and lands directly on that article — not on your onboarding flow.

This is a real advantage for content-driven apps: news apps, podcast apps, social apps, marketplaces. It's overkill for most indie app categories.

Branch also does attribution, but it's their secondary use case. The primary reason to adopt Branch is deferred deep linking.

Use this if: a user who taps a link expecting specific content needs to land on that content after installing. Don't use this if: "tap, install, open to home screen" is acceptable. For most indie apps, it is.

5. Full MMP (AppsFlyer, Adjust, Kochava, Singular)

Setup time: days to weeks. Cost: $500/mo+, often annual contracts.

Mobile Measurement Partners are the enterprise tier. They handle ad-network attribution across 100+ networks, SKAdNetwork, fraud detection (click flooding, SDK spoofing, device farms), multi-touch attribution, cohort analysis, LTV prediction — the full measurement stack.

This is the right tool if you spend serious money on paid user acquisition across Meta, Google, TikTok, and similar ad networks. It's the wrong tool if you grow organically through creators, content, and social media, because 80% of the MMP feature set doesn't apply and the pricing reflects the enterprise use case.

Use this if: you run paid UA at scale and need ad-network-level attribution. Don't use this if: you're an indie dev with a few thousand monthly installs, mostly from organic channels. The cost and setup complexity vastly exceed the value you'd extract. Deeper look: how to track app installs without an MMP.

How to pick

A simple decision tree:

• Do you just want to know which link gets clicks? Option 1 is fine.
• Do you want to know which links drive installs? Option 2.
• Do you have subscriptions or IAP and want per-link revenue? Option 3.
• Do you need users to land on specific in-app content after install? Option 4.
• Do you spend $10K+/month on paid ads across multiple networks? Option 5.

Most indie devs are option 2 or 3. That's the honest answer.

What these options have in common

Regardless of which tool you pick, the mechanic is the same:

• Each source gets its own link.
• Something inside your app reports the install.
• The install is tied back to the link.

The differences are in how much the tool costs, how long it takes to set up, and how much of the measurement stack sits on top. For most apps below seven-figure revenue, simpler is better.

Start with option 2, upgrade later

The most common mistake is picking option 5 because it's "the professional choice" and burning three weeks of engineering time on an MMP integration you'll use 10% of. The second most common mistake is staying on option 1 forever and never finding out which channels actually work.

Option 2 is the defensible middle. It takes five minutes, costs nothing at low volume, and produces signal you can act on immediately. Upgrade to option 3 when you turn on monetization. Upgrade to option 4 or 5 only when the specific feature you need justifies the overhead.

If you want the full walkthrough of the default approach, see how to track app installs with links or start a free Instally account.