An app that has stopped working usually leaves behind a website that still works. The landing page, feature pages, blog, help docs and changelog often keep ranking, and the coverage you earned at launch keeps pointing at them. If that site is still indexed and still brings in visitors from search, it is an asset you can sell, lease or keep, even though the app itself is gone. The work is mostly about separating the website from everything else the domain was connected to.
What your website is likely still worth
Marketplaces price apps on profit: on Flippa in 2025, apps sold for about 2.4x annual profit on average. A shut-down app with no revenue scores zero on that formula, and a running app with paying users is a different sale entirely, one that usually belongs with a marketplace or broker.
The marketing site is worth something on other grounds. Suppose your habit-tracking app got reviewed by two well-known tech publications, listed by a university wellbeing page and mentioned in a few roundups, and its blog posts on building routines still draw around 700 visits a month. Those authority links and that organic traffic keep working with the servers switched off. With numbers like that, the site is the kind we consider for lease-to-own, where payments typically run roughly $300 to $500 a month until the agreed price is paid in full; a strong one can also be bought outright.
What does not qualify: a single landing page with no content, a domain that already expired and dropped, or a site that was built mainly to show ads. We want the website of something real that people used.
What a buyer will check
A buyer looks at the website, not the app store rating:
- Is it still indexed? Pages that return errors because the app’s servers are off tend to drop out of search results over time.
- Real traffic. Your Search Console data is the best proof. Our guide on proving traffic with Search Console shows how to export it and give a buyer restricted access.
- Who links to you. Press reviews, university or nonprofit resource pages and partner announcements count most. If you are not sure which links are strong, read what counts as a strong authority link.
- Brand searches. Does the app’s name still bring up your site first?
- Clean transfer. Can the domain move without dragging the app’s infrastructure with it?
Two timing details are worth knowing early. Under ICANN’s Transfer Policy, your registrar must hand over the auth code within 5 calendar days of your request, and a domain that was registered or moved between registrars in the last 60 days can be refused a transfer. If you recently moved the domain to consolidate accounts, that transfer lock may affect when the handover can happen.
It also helps to gather a short history: launch date, download milestones you published at the time, press articles and any awards. You do not need revenue figures for a site like this. You need evidence that people once cared about the product and that the site still gets found.
Three risks specific to this situation
1. Logins tied to the domain. This is the one most developers miss. Your app store developer account, cloud hosting, payment provider, analytics, code repository and social profiles may all use an email address on the app’s domain. Whoever controls the domain can usually reset those passwords. Before any transfer, move every account to an address you will keep, and close the ones you no longer need.
2. Subdomains and live endpoints. App domains often carry subdomains for the API, the web app, status pages or email sending. Some of those may still be running and billing you. List every DNS record, decide what stays with you and what is switched off, and leave only the public website pages in place. A buyer wants the marketing site, not a half-working backend.
3. User data and promises to users. Old sign-up forms, account pages and download buttons can mislead visitors into thinking the service still exists. Replace them with an honest discontinued notice. Personal data from your users stays out of any deal: user databases, analytics exports and mailing lists live on your backend and accounts, not in the public pages, and they should not travel with the domain. Check that no export or backup sits in a public folder on the web server before handing anything over. What you owe those users under privacy law, including how long to keep or when to delete their data, depends on where they are and is a question for a qualified adviser; this page is general information, not legal advice.
What to do this month
- Check the domain’s expiry date with your registrar and turn on auto-renew.
- List every account that uses an email on the app’s domain and move each one to another address.
- Map DNS records and subdomains, and shut down anything that is not the public website.
- Replace sign-up and download prompts with a clear note that the app is discontinued, keeping the blog, guides and press pages intact.
- Export Search Console data and note your best press and partner links.
Your options
| Option | Best when | Main trade-off |
|---|---|---|
| Sell outright | You want a clean break and the site is strong | One payment, typically lower in total than a monthly route |
| Lease-to-own | You want a monthly income and no upkeep; we take over hosting, renewals and upkeep from day one | You hand over the site at the final payment |
| Keep it | You might relaunch or reuse the name | Renewals, hosting and security patches stay with you |
| Let it expire | The site has no traffic or links left | The name, history and links go with it |
If you plan to build again under the same brand, keep the domain. If not, compare the paid routes on lease-to-own vs outright sale, and read how a website transfer works so the handover holds no surprises. When you are ready, a quick run through our website value check shows how the site measures against our minimums.
Many developers feel a little awkward about this conversation, as if selling the site admits the app failed. It does not. Most apps stop for ordinary reasons: the market moved, the team moved on, the platform changed. The coverage and traffic you earned are a record of real interest in something you made.
What to do next
- Move every login off the app’s domain before you talk to any buyer.
- Keep the public site online and honest about the app being discontinued.
- Send us your site for a free valuation and we will tell you whether it fits and what the monthly route could look like.
Frequently asked questions
Should I redirect the old app's website to my new project?
Decide before you do it, because a redirect is hard to undo. Once every page forwards to another site, visitors and the links you earned point at the new project, and the old website stops existing as something you could sell or lease on its own. If the new project is closely related, a redirect can make sense. If not, keeping the old site intact keeps your options open.
Do I have to hand over the app code or user data?
No. A buyer of the website wants the domain, the public pages and their history. The app's code, backend, user accounts and personal data are separate, and in most cases they should stay with you or be deleted according to your obligations. Ask a qualified adviser about data protection rules for the users you had.
What should I do about accounts that use an email on the app's domain?
Move them before any transfer. Developer accounts, app store logins, cloud hosting, payment providers and social profiles are often registered to addresses on the app's domain. Whoever controls the domain can usually receive password reset emails for those addresses, so switch each account to an email you will keep.
Should I keep the app's privacy policy and support pages online?
Keep a clear, accurate page saying the app has been discontinued, and keep any legal pages your app store listing or past users may still need for as long as your adviser recommends. Remove or update pages that invite new sign-ups or downloads, so nobody is misled into thinking the service still runs.
Find out what your website is worth before it expires.
Send us the site in about a minute. We check index status, organic traffic, authority links and history, then come back with a cash offer, a monthly lease-to-own option, or a plain no.
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