Are you interested in building an app, but you’re not sure what?
Well, ever seen a simple but wildly successful app that made you go “No way this makes that much money.”
Here are six apps so simple yet profitable that they’re guaranteed to piss you off.
Then you’ll HAVE to stop procrastinating and nail your million-dollar app idea.
And hey, if nothing else, at least we got to piss you off 😛
1. Linktree: A Billion-Dollar Page of Links
If you know Linktree, you knew it would be on this list.
From the day it launched in 2016, all it does is give you a page so you can link to other pages.
Just for that, Linktree now generates $37 million annually with over 50 million users and a $1.3 billion valuation.
The idea took off when Instagram only allowed one bio link at the time, frustrating influencers, businesses, and creators.
But here’s what will really make you mad: The co-founders built the first version in just six hours!
2. Bitly: The $100 Million URL Shortener
Bitly is another well known app that proves you don’t need a complicated idea to make millions.
It shortens URLs—that’s its entire business model!
Why shorten a URL? Because long ones look ugly and scammy and get in the way of character limits on social media platforms.
Bitly wasn’t the first—TinyURL did it first in 2002. But Bitly came along in 2008, added better tracking analytics, and took over the market.
Plus, Bitly offers custom branded links for businesses, a feature they’re happy to charge for.
As of 2022, Bitly was pulling in $100 million in revenue with over 500,000 users.
3. Calendly: $3 Billion Just for Scheduling Meetings
Calendly’s entire purpose is to lets people book meetings without back-and-forth emails.
Ok when we put it like that it actually sounds like it solves a huge pain in the butt.
Still, it competes against the likes of Google Calendar and Microsoft Outlook, both free alternatives, and yet boasts:
- $270 million in revenue (2023)
- A $3 billion valuation
- 20 million users, including 86% of Fortune 500 companies
At the end of the day, it’s a calendar app–and it’s making billions.
4. WhatsApp: The $19 Billion SMS Replacement
WhatsApp is essentially SMS but better—before WhatsApp, SMS was expensive, and messaging apps like Facebook Messenger weren’t built for phone contacts.
But the capabilities were already there, it’s just that nobody thought to connect the dots.
Until, of course, WhatsApp bridged that gap in 2009 with a free internet-based messaging service resulted in:
- A Facebook acquisition of $19 billion in 2014
- 1.3 billion in revenue in 2024
- Just under 3 billion users worldwide
And best of all, WhatsApp’s revenue source isn’t consumers—it’s businesses paying for messaging features.
WhatsApp basically took a B2C industry and made it freemium with B2B as their targets.
Always nice when big companies subsidize stuff for us peasants!
5. Texts: The $50 Million All-in-One Messenger
Texts was founded in 2020 and acquired in 2023 for $50 million by the owners of WordPress.
Its function? It aggregates messages from WhatsApp, SMS, Telegram, Signal, Messenger, Instagram, LinkedIn, Discord, Slack, and more into one inbox.
A simple but obvious solution—one that’s now worth millions.
We now want to hurry on over to the last example.
The one most guaranteed to send you into a city-destroying rage.
6. Pinboard: A 20K Bookmark Maker
Pinboard isn’t the most lucrative app on this list, but it’s by FAR the simplest.
So simple that even if it made 20 bucks a month, we’d send an Obama not bad meme its way.
But it doesn’t make 20 bucks a month–it makes $20,000!
Just to be a digital bookmark for people to save their favourite links!
You know, as in that feature that ALL internet browsers come with for FREE?
Yup that, Pinboard does that and it makes $20K a month.
Anyone could make a clone in an hour with a no-code app builder–in fact Pinboard’s founder clearly knows this—on his X profile, it literally says don’t try to fight him.
To their credit, Pinboard isn’t an overnight sensation or trend. It’s been around since 2009.
This means from 2009 to 2025 people are still willing to pay for a bookmarking tool!
We hope you’re properly pissed off now.
Let’s get even.
Simple Ideas Win
Some of the most successful apps are built on ridiculously simple ideas and an equally straightforward monetization strategy—things anyone can do.
So instead of staying jealous, use that frustration as motivation.
What’s the next simple but genius idea waiting to be turned into a fully functional app?
Find the perfect idea and build your next million-dollar app—before someone else does!
If you’re looking to build a mobile application, check out our portfolio of past projects and contact us if you like what you see. Also, consider joining our mailing list for a one-stop resource on everything from micro-SaaS validation all the way to execution and promotion. Get a nifty list of questions to ask app developers when you sign up!
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