Is buying app source code the same as buying an app business?

The two purchases can look alike on a listing page, but they are different products. Source code is a starting point for building something. A running app business is something already built, already in people’s hands and already earning, or not. Which one suits you depends on whether you want a head start on development or a business you can operate from the first day.

What a code purchase usually includes

Typically you receive the code, perhaps design files and documentation, and a licence that sets out what you may do with them. You do not receive users, reviews, a store ranking or a track record. Read the licence carefully. Ask whether you may change and resell the code, whether the same code has been sold to anyone else and whether any other buyer can use it.

What a running app adds

An app business can include the store listing, the developer accounts, the user base, active subscriptions, reviews, ad-network and payment accounts, and a history of revenue. Each of those pieces is a separate item to check. Ask which can be transferred and how, and whether any depends on the seller personally. The checks are laid out in mobile app business due diligence.

Questions about the code itself

Whichever you choose, ask who wrote the code. Was it the seller, an employee or a contractor, and is there a written assignment of the rights? Ask which third-party libraries it uses and under what licences. Your lawyer can tell you whether the seller actually holds the rights it is offering, and whether a licence or an assignment is being sold.

Weighing the trade-offs

Purchased code means you must still win users, run support and keep the app working. Taking over an operating app means existing users and history, along with its habits and its problems. For the wider picture, see buying a mobile app business.