Building a Health & Fitness App (0 → 1k → 10k MTR)
A Triple Diamond Playbook (Discovery → Definition → Development → Rollout) to launch and iterate on health & fitness apps.
Only 15% of Health & Fitness apps that enable billing ever cross $1k in monthly tracked revenue (MTR), and fewer than 5% reach $10k MTR. Consumer subscription businesses are tough — there are only a handful of unicorns in this category (such as Flo and Noom). But they are relatively straightforward to understand, a great way to hone product management skills, and don’t require large teams.
This guide is a tactical playbook for going from zero to launch, based on what worked for us and what current benchmarks suggest. We'll use a Triple Diamond Playbook, in which I applied the Triple Diamond framework to the realities of building the consumer subscription businesses as follows:
I. Problem Discovery and Market Research
Goal: Prove demand and define the opportunity size.
Outcome: A validated problem statement, competitor map, and viability benchmarks.
Start with people, not features. Interview 10–15 potential users across your target group — gym regulars, home workout fans, people who’ve bought programs. Ask three direct questions in one line: which apps have you tried, why did you quit, and how do you currently solve the problem (YouTube, PDFs, timers, spreadsheets)? If the same “hacks” come up again and again, you’ve found demand for a better solution.
Move to competitive intelligence. Use data.ai or Sensor Tower to filter apps making more than $5k/month — if in the niche none of the apps make enough to be visible on the radar (5k USD revenue and 5k installs are the thresholds to be visible), the niche could be too small. In each subcategory (tracking, yoga, HIIT, nutrition), pick the top 5. Download them, try them, and take screenshots of onboarding, core flows, and their clear “killer feature.” Tag what’s polished, what’s clunky, and where the gaps are. Build a comparison table with downloads, MRR, ratings, and reviews. This shows you what it takes to compete organically and what feature gaps exist.
Finally, anchor yourself in benchmarks to estimate the potential economics. According to RevenueCat’s State of Subscription Apps 2024, Health & Fitness apps outperform the average:
- Trial conversion: 44.5% vs 37% across categories.
- Retention-based LTV: $0.56 at 14 days, $0.72 at 60 days — highest of all verticals.
- Annual plans: 69% of subs are annual, a strong commitment signal.
Your viability formula is simple, you want LTV > 3 × CAC, breaking it down:
LTV = C1 * T1 * ARPU * (1 - %Fees) * LT
Where:
C1 = conversion from the install to a trial start (median 7%, top decile 10-15%)
T1 = conversion from the trial start to the paid subscription (40-50% median)
ARPU = average gross revenue from the subscription (5-30 USD)
Fees = your % of the store fees and taxes (15% for smaller apps + taxes)
LT = your subscription lifetime for an average user (3-6 months for monthly, 1,5 years for yearly)
CAC = CPI from the paid sources (2-3 USD in Tier-3 countries, 5-10$ for average niches, up to 30 USD for premium niches, such as weight loss and coaching)
Out of the apps, that enabled billing, only 15-20% of Health and Fitness apps cross the 1k MTR (gross monthly tracked revenue) and <5% cross the 10k MTR, so if you can’t make the math work theoretically, think twice before writing code (if you do it for the love of the game - then just do it!). Note, that the acquisition channels differ by available trafic and it's incremental cost. The channels such Apple Search Ads provide 1-10k of installs per month, but quickly run out of available traffic, while the channels with bigger capacity (think Meta or other UAC) that require significantly bigger budgets to make it work, as they need at least 10 conversion events per day to learn.
II. Definition
Goal: Define the MVP and validate it with users.
Outcome: A clickable prototype with one killer feature tested.
Scope your MVP down to the essentials: onboarding, workout browsing, playback, and completion tracking. Then choose your killer feature — is it a unique workout library, superior tracking, or AI-powered personalization? Build the MVP around that and nothing else. You can opt to build an MVP of the killer feature as a standalone product to test the viability.
Prototype quickly. Start with sketches, then move to Figma. Run tests with 5–10 users: can they complete the main flow without help? If not, iterate before writing a line of production code. Use the screenshots you've gathered during the discovery phase - don't try to reinvent the UI, unless it's absolutely neccesary.
Today, AI tools accelerate this phase:
- Lovable AI can scaffold a working full-stack app from a description.
- Replit Agent lets you “chat” your way to a deployable prototype.
- Cursor and Claude Code make pair-programming and debugging faster.
- On platform specifics: Swift Playgrounds and Android Studio with Gemini can generate snippets to bootstrap iOS/Android flows.
Don’t neglect content. A fitness app without it is empty. Produce at least one full peace of content before launch. Options: film your own instructor-led content (best for brand), license stock, or use AI-powered tools. For audio, record human voiceovers if you want premium feel, or use ElevenLabs TTS for faster iteration and multiple languages.
III. Development
Goal: Ship a working MVP, instrument it, and test with users.
Outcome: A beta-ready app with crash monitoring.
Choose a modern, lean stack:
- Platform: Flutter/React Native for speed; native Swift/Kotlin if you need maximum polish.
- Backend & CMS: Firebase or Supabase for auth, database, and storage. If you need a structured library, consider GraphQL + a headless CMS (Strapi, Contentful).
- Monetization: RevenueCat or Adapty to manage subscriptions across stores and test paywalls.
- Analytics: Firebase to start, add Amplitude or Mixpanel once you hit scale.
- Notifications: FCM or OneSignal.
- Content Hosting: AWS S3 + CloudFront, or Mux for smooth streaming.
Run 2-week sprints or simply use Kanban - just create bite-sized tickets using Trello or other board software. Use AI coding assistants (Replit Ghostwriter, Lovable scaffolding, Cursor debugging) to move faster. Ship early builds to TestFlight (iOS) and Google Play’s internal track. Set up Crashlytics from day one.
Once you have a working prototype, try to find beta testers - ask your friends, collegues, and use the product yourself.
IV. Rollout
Goal: Launch in stores, validate metrics, and prepare for exit.
Outcome: Approved listings, early retention curves, and a clear path to scale or sell.
Pass store checks methodically:
- Apple requires privacy policy, disclaimers for health advice, and a Data Safety form. Reviews usually take 1–3 days, though the whole approval can stretch to weeks.
- Google Play requires the same privacy declarations. New personal accounts must go through a closed test release. Reviews are often same-day and generally much easier than Apple.
Launch softly in one or two smaller geographies (e.g., Canada, New Zealand). You can opt to build a simple web funnel (landing page + SEO + email capture) with deep links to the store. Optimize your App Store listing: keywords, screenshots, and first 20–30 reviews matter to accelerate the adoptioin.
Acquisition doesn’t need to be heavy at this stage: partner with a few micro-influencers, seed posts in communities, and run a small paid test ($500 budget) to confirm CAC and gather some data on the funnel.
Track your retention and funnel data from the first 500 users. Plot D1/D7/D30 against benchmarks. If you’re close, you have a real shot.
Exits & Valuations
Building a health app isn’t just about growth — it’s also about exit potential. Marketplaces like Flippa and Acquire are full of small subscription apps changing hands. Benchmarks:
- Apps with $1k–10k MRR usually sell at 2–4× annual profit.
- Stronger apps with $20k+ MRR and good retention can fetch 4–7× EBITDA, sometimes more with micro-PE funds.
- Buyers care most about: retention curves, subscription conversion, RLTV, and store reputation.
If you’re building lean, a good exit can come much faster than “unicorn” scale.
Summary
Few people take an idea all the way: publish it, get one paying subscriber, scale to $1–10k MRR, exit. Each step is a battle won — and each one teaches you something worth the grind.