A white label app is a vendor's mobile or web application published under the badge of the agency, the studio or the consultant that resells it: the app in the stores carries the reseller's name and icon, the client's members or customers use it, and the vendor runs the code behind it. A white label mobile app is what the phrase usually means. It is the alternative to building an app, which is a development shop's service and a different purchase. This page sets out what the vendor builds, what the reseller owns in the badge, what the app store listing needs, how the resale is priced, and what the launch sheet on this site works out.
What the vendor builds, and what stays the vendor's
The application, the hosting, the updates the stores require and the features the app has today and tomorrow. The reseller's badge goes on the icon, the name, the splash screen and the listing; the code and the roadmap stay the vendor's. A reseller should know what happens when the vendor changes the app, because a feature the client depends on can leave in an update the reseller did not choose.
What the reseller owns in the badge
The name and the mark on the app are the reseller's, and they are worth registering: the USPTO's trademark basics set out what a registration involves and what it protects. An app in the stores under an unregistered name is an app whose name a competitor can take. The listing, the screenshots and the description are the reseller's work and should describe what the app does rather than what the vendor's sales page promises.
Pricing the resale to clients
Vendors wholesale branded apps as a monthly fee for the app plus a fee per client account or per end user; resellers price per client as a flat monthly fee, sometimes with a setup fee that recovers the branding work. The free launch sheet on this site takes the setup cost, the monthly and per-client fees, the price and the client target and returns the first-year cost, revenue and net and the clients needed to cover the monthly fee.
The client book an app reseller keeps
Every client on the app, the end users, the wholesale and retail price, the vendor and the agreement, the renewal date and the store listing details. When the vendor changes the app or its fees, the book shows the exposure client by client. Rebadgo Pro keeps that book and renders the proposal and the price sheet from it under the reseller's badge.
Questions people ask about white label app
Is a white label app the same as app development?
No. Development builds an app for you and hands over the code. A white label app is the vendor's app published under your badge; the code stays the vendor's and the fee recurs.
Should the app's name be trademarked?
It is worth it: the name and mark on a store listing are what a competitor can otherwise take. The USPTO's trademark basics describe the registration.
How is a white label mobile app priced to clients?
A flat monthly fee per client, often with a setup fee, against the vendor's monthly app fee plus a per-client or per-user charge. The launch sheet on this site works the first year from those figures.