Short answer: Most MMP price rises arrive at renewal or through plan changes, not through a higher headline rate. Write down what your plan actually includes, keep your links on a domain you control, avoid long prepaid terms, and benchmark against published rate cards before you sign again.
What is an MMP price hike?
An MMP price hike is any change that makes you pay more for the same measurement, whether that is a higher rate, a lower free allowance, or a feature moved to a paid tier.
The third kind is the hardest to spot. Your invoice can stay the same while your plan quietly does less. Common forms:
- Feature moves. Deep linking, raw data exports or fraud tools shift from a free or entry plan to a paid tier or add-on.
- Allowance changes. A free plan's cap shrinks, or a "free" allowance turns out to be time-limited.
- Renewal repricing. A contract renews at a new rate, or a new minimum, because volume grew or the vendor changed its plans.
- Seat and access limits. Shared logins or invited users are removed, so teams need a higher plan to keep working together.
How do MMP price rises usually happen?
They usually happen at renewal or through a plan change announced by email, rather than as a headline rate rise. The clearest dated example is AppsFlyer's free Zero plan, which lost branded link domains, user invites and raw data exports on 15 September 2026.
What that change looked like, in order:
- 13 May 2026: Zero accounts received a three-month trial of Deep Linking Advanced (trial entry).
- 15 September 2026: accounts that had not upgraded moved to the reduced Zero plan (plan cut entry).
- After the cutover: existing bulk links and smart banners keep running but are read-only, and AppsFlyer's notice warns that revoked branded domains "may result in inactive links".
A shutdown is the extreme case. Google switched off Firebase Dynamic Links on 25 August 2025, and page.link links stopped routing users entirely.
Six ways to protect your budget
- List what's in your plan. Write down every feature you rely on: deep linking, deferred deep linking, raw data, fraud protection, seats, integrations. These are the first things to move to paid tiers.
- Keep links on your own domain. Branded domains you control can be repointed to a new provider. Vendor domains, such as page.link after the Firebase shutdown, cannot.
- Avoid long prepaid contracts. Annual prepay locks in today's price but also today's plan. Monthly billing keeps your options open if a vendor changes terms.
- Export your data regularly. If raw exports move to a paid tier, you will still hold your history.
- Benchmark before renewal. Run your volume through two or three published rate cards. If your quote is several times higher, you have leverage, or a reason to move.
- Watch the change log. Subscribe to price change alerts so you hear about plan cuts before they reach your account.
Read the small print on free allowances
Several free and entry plans carry limits that only show up later:
| Vendor | Entry plan | The catch |
|---|---|---|
| AppsFlyer | Zero, 12k conversions | Welcome Package must be used within the first 12 months |
| Adjust | Base, 1.5k conversions a month | Free for the first 12 months only |
| Branch | Basics | Trial only, length not published, 3 ad partners |
| Airbridge | Core trial | 30 days, then from $40 a month |
| Linkrunner | Free, 25k installs | One-time allowance, 30-day data retention |
Any of these can be fine for your stage. The risk is assuming they last indefinitely. See the full list in the free MMP plans guide.
What to ask before you renew
Put these questions to your vendor in writing:
- Rate: what is the per-unit rate at my current volume and at double that volume?
- Unit: am I billed on installs, conversions, re-engagements, MAU or data points?
- Minimums: is there a monthly or annual minimum, and what happens if I fall below it?
- Features: which features I use today sit outside my plan or could move to an add-on?
- Exit: can I export all raw data, and can I keep my link domain if I leave?
If the answers are vague, treat that as information. Vendors with published rate cards, such as Tenjin, Kochava and Singular, let you check the arithmetic yourself. Several others, including Adjust and Branch, quote only through sales.
Choosing a plan with fewer renewal surprises
Where Linkrunner fits: Best for growth teams that want to avoid annual lock-in and prepaid commitments. Linkrunner bills postpaid each month, publishes per-install rates from $0.010 down to $0.007, and includes deep linking, exports and unlimited seats on every plan.
Price tracking on this site only began in October 2026, so check any vendor's current terms, Linkrunner's included, against the price index before you sign.
For a monthly, no-contract alternative to compare against your renewal quote, see Linkrunner's rate card.
FAQ
Can an MMP change my plan mid-contract? It depends on your contract terms, so check the change and notice clauses. Free plans usually carry no contract at all, which is why changes such as AppsFlyer's Zero cut could apply to every free account on one date.
Is annual prepay ever worth it? It can be if the discount is large and your volume is predictable. The trade-off is that you lock in the plan's features as well as its price, so any feature you need later may cost extra.
What happens to my links if I switch MMP? Links on a branded domain you control can be repointed to the new provider's setup. Links on a vendor-owned domain usually stop working or keep pointing at the old provider.
How much notice do vendors give before a plan change? It varies by vendor and is not standardised. AppsFlyer announced its Zero change with a trial starting on 13 May 2026, roughly four months before the 15 September cutover.
How do I hear about MMP price changes early? Follow the change log or subscribe to the RSS alerts. Each entry records the date, what changed and a link to the vendor's own source.