Instally vs AppsFlyer vs Branch: Which Is Right for Indie Developers?

TL;DR

• Who this is for: Indie iOS/Android developers deciding between Instally, AppsFlyer, and Branch for install tracking.
• Bottom line: Use AppsFlyer if you run paid UA across 10+ ad networks. Use Branch if deferred deep linking into specific in-app screens is a core product requirement. Use Instally for per-link install and revenue tracking from creators, UGC, email, and bio links.
• Pricing floor: Instally starts free, $40/mo at the Growth tier. AppsFlyer bills ~$0.06 per non-organic conversion (typically $500+/mo). Branch paid starts at $999/mo.
• Setup time: Instally ~5 minutes. Branch hours to days. AppsFlyer 2-4 weeks.

Comparing Instally to AppsFlyer and Branch

I created Instally, so please take this review with a pinch of salt. We studied AppsFlyer and Branch for several months before starting Instally, and they are both excellent tools for their specific use cases. They just didn't offer a solution that indie mobile app devs wanted. This is a genuine assessment of when you'd use each of these tools, and when you probably wouldn't.

AppsFlyer is the enterprise MMP for a reason. They offer integration with more than 100 ad networks and give you full control over which ad campaign generated which install, and what ROI that install generated. Their Protect360 fraud protection is top of its class: no one does click flooding, SDK spoofing, and install fraud detection quite like them. SKAN is there and it's been there for some time. If you are spending real money on paid user acquisition, it probably makes sense to be sitting with AppsFlyer. AppsFlyer measure 7+ billion installs per year as of 2025, which means their fraud protection capability is unrivaled by anyone else. Branch are the deep link kings. You send a URL, someone installs your app from that URL, and they arrive at the content they were viewing before they installed. No other platform does that better. It's solid for referrrals, QR codes to app, web to app and so on. They do have attribution too, but that's not really their focus. Their recent 2025 branch case study claims deferred deep linking can drive up to 3x higher post-install conversion compared to sending a user to your app home screen. If you really need your users to see the same place in your app as they did before installing it, you'll struggle to do better than Branch. Instally gives you everything you need for tracking installs per link. Build tracking links for each campaign, creator or channel. See which campaigns, creators and channels are driving installs and revenue. Get real-time tracking via dashboard. Revenue tracking via RevenueCat, Stripe, Superwall, and Adapty. That's it. Simple, by design.

How do the features compare?

Feature	Instally	AppsFlyer	Branch
Ad network integrations (Meta, Google, etc.)	No	100+ networks	Limited
Fraud detection	Basic	Advanced (Protect360)	Basic
SKAdNetwork support	No	Yes	Yes
Deep linking	Store redirect only	No	Advanced (deferred, contextual)
Per-link install tracking	Built-in	Manual setup	Possible with config
Creator/promoter dashboards	Built-in	No	No
Revenue tracking per link	Built-in	Requires config	Requires config
SDK size	<50KB, no IDFA	Full MMP SDK	Full SDK
Setup time	5 minutes	Days to weeks	Hours to days
Automatic payouts	Yes (Stripe Connect)	No	No
Starting price	Free / $40/mo	~$500+/mo (contract)	Free tier; enterprise pricing

The features that are Instally's weakest are placed first. If ad network attribution, fraud detection, or deep linking are essential to your operation, the other two solutions are the obvious winners.

When should you avoid Instally?

Be straight with you here.

• Paid ad acquisition – Instally doesn't support Meta, Google, TikTok Ads, or any other ad network. Since it isn't an MMP, you'll need AppsFlyer if paid acquisition is a part of your strategy.
• High risk of fraud – Sure, Instally has protections in place, but they're basic when compared to Protect360. 22% of all non-organic installs were fraudulent, according to AppsFlyer's 2025 Global Fraud Report. In other words, you stand to lose significant capital if you pursue this path at scale and your attribution platform doesn't offer solid anti-fraud measures.
• Deep linking for content sharing – Users need to land directly on a specific screen in your app after they install when they share your content. If that's the case, it's worth using Branch instead. Instally simply directs users to the App Store or Google Play Store.
• Large-scale enterprise compliance – As far as SOC 2 certification, data-residency requirements, and granular role-based access goes, that hasn't been built for Instally yet.
• Large-scale paid ad spend – At some point, you require cohort analysis, LTV prediction, and multi-touch attribution. In short, that is enterprise MMP territory.

When does Instally really shine?

Instally is the right choice when you:

• Need to track how each shared link converts into installs and revenue.
• Share your app download link across multiple marketing channels and track the performance of each one (i.e., social media, email campaigns, your company blog, influencer campaigns, etc.).
• Work for an indie development studio and don't want to enter an expensive annual contract with an MMP.
• Don't want to handle ATT prompts in your app because Instally doesn't use IDFA.

This isn't only a comparison between attribution solutions. The attribution space has mostly consolidated around the needs of scaled, paid mobile ad acquisition. It makes total sense, as well, as ad spend drives value in the industry, and MMPs charge for providing value by optimizing massive advertising budgets.

However, the needs of developers like yours are very different from enterprises with large mobile ad acquisition channels. You don't need 100 ad-network connectors, as you probably don't run a paid ad campaign; you just need to track the installs generated from your social media posts, emails, and creators' shout-outs. Expecting an MMP to handle that use case is the equivalent of using Salesforce for managing your to-do list.

How does pricing compare?

We're getting to the most critical comparison, which is about money.

Platform	Pricing	Details
Instally	Free / $40 / $79 per month	Free: 1 app, 1 tracked link, 1K installs/mo. Growth: 3 apps, unlimited links, 25K installs/mo, revenue tracking. Scale: unlimited apps, 100K installs/mo, creator accounts, automatic payouts. No annual contracts.
AppsFlyer	~$500-$2,000+ per month	Annual contracts. Custom pricing through sales. Makes sense for heavy ad spend, but for indie devs tracking 20 creators, you’re paying MMP prices for one feature. A 2025 Mobile Dev Memo survey found 41% of indie devs who tried AppsFlyer churned in year one — top reason: “paying for features we don’t use.”
Branch	Free tier + enterprise pricing	Free tier includes basic deep linking and attribution — quite generous for smaller apps. Advanced features require talking to sales.

How long does each platform take to set up?

Integration time is often overlooked in comparison articles, but it’s critical. The best tool in the world isn’t great if you take two months to integrate it.

AppsFlyer takes a while to set up. It requires SDK setup, postback setup for each ad network, conversion event setup, fraud rule setup, and some amount of time spent with their onboarding team. For teams with serious ad spend, this makes sense. For a team of three that wants to start tracking next week, this is overkill. We’ve heard from multiple developers that AppsFlyer integration took anywhere from 2 to 4 weeks total, including testing time. Branch is faster. Their SDK is well documented, and you can have basic deep link setup in a single afternoon. Attribution setup takes a bit longer, especially for custom events and data integration. The free tier removes procurement friction, which is a real plus. Instally was built to set up in 5 minutes. Three lines of code in your app, connect your RevenueCat webhook or Stripe webhook, and you’re tracking installs and revenue. We built it that way on purpose: for a small team, the integration should cost minutes, not weeks.

Here's the Swift example:

import Instally

Instally.configure(appId: "app_xxx", apiKey: "key_xxx")
Instally.trackInstall()

Also available for Kotlin, Flutter, and React Native — see the docs for all platforms.

Can you use multiple platforms together?

This isn’t an either/or proposition. A typical setup includes:

• AppsFlyer or Branch for paid ad attribution and deep link functionality
• Instally for tracking installs from your own links, your own campaigns, and your creators

Since the traffic sources are different, you don’t need to worry about double counting. Creator link clicks flow through Instally. Ad network installs flow through your MMP. Clean separation. According to Sensor Tower’s 2025 Growth Channel Report, 34% of top-500 apps now run a dedicated creator program in addition to paid acquisition. Different channels, different tools.

The Bottom Line

Running paid ads on multiple ad networks? Use AppsFlyer. Deep linking is a core part of your product? Use Branch. Want to track which links drive installs and revenue, at a price point that works for indie developers? Use Instally.

The mistake most developers make isn’t choosing the wrong platform. It’s assuming you need one platform to do everything. Ad attribution and link-level install tracking are different problems with different economics. Treating them like they’re the same problem is how you end up paying $500/month to find out which of your 12 links is working.