How Nino makes money, how it reaches people and what the numbers say. Facts carry a source number [1]. Everything else is an assumption to test, and is marked as one.
1The short version
People buy when their app first goes online, not three months later. So Nino is free to use, and the paid thing is the name: a web address of their own, paid once.
What Nino is for
Apps you make yourself, for the people you know.
A family calendar, a quiz for the kids, a holiday planner for friends, a score board for the Sunday football. Nino is your own little home for them. Businesses can use it too, but they are not who we build for.
Not for: apps that need to scale, apps you sell to others, or hosting software you didn't make.
45%
of new .com addresses are renewed after year one. After that, about 85% are. [3] Interest fades fast, so we take two years up front.
€29.85
left from each €59 web address, after VAT, two years of the address and card fees. [1][2][6]
~1,000
web addresses a month pay for a €30,000 monthly cost base. This is the number that decides everything.
2What people buy
No plans and no monthly fee. Every paid item is something people can point at: their name, a gift, a box.
Nino is ad-free. No ads in anyone's apps, and no data sold or used for advertising. People pay for Nino, so Nino works for them. The only promotion is our own small "Made with Nino" badge.
The deck's "Nino+ at €39 a year" is folded into the web address. One thing to buy instead of a plan follows the brand rule "not a menu of plans".
3Money per sale
One name covers every app under it. Each extra app costs us nothing more for the name: the addresses under it are free to create.
The address itself costs us real money every year. That is why €39 doesn't work and €59 does.
| One web address, 2 years | € | Basis |
|---|---|---|
| Price paid by the customer | 59.00 | Proposal |
| Belgian VAT (21%) | −10.24 | Standard rate |
| Two years of the address (average) | −17.78 | .com $10.98 + $0.20 a year [1], .be €5.50 [2], others €7 (assumption), +€1 reseller cost, at $1.121 per € [8] |
| Card fee | −1.14 | 1.5% + €0.25 for EEA cards [6] |
| Left for Nino | 29.85 | About 51% of the price |
Keeping it, per year
€10.34
left from €24.
One free Nino, per month
€0.011
Hetzner CX23 at €5.49 [7], 1,500 sleeping-capable Ninos per server and ×3 for copies and email routing (assumptions).
One referral
€17.78
Two address-years, one for each side.
If the sale happens inside an iPhone app, Apple takes 15% through in-app purchase or 10% through a link out, for small developers in the EU from 1 October 2026. [12] So people buy on the web, and the app links out.
4Market and competition
800M+
ChatGPT users, as quoted at the launch of its app directory in December 2025. [10]
60M+
projects built on Lovable alone by August 2026, from about 8 million users. Its paid plans start at $25 a month. [11]
79%
of EU enterprises with 10 or more people already had a website in 2025. Businesses are well served. Families and friends making their own apps are not, and that is where Nino starts. [19]
We found no reliable data on how long people keep using apps they make with AI. The only hard number is for domains: AI-built websites renew 20% more often than average. [3] We treat fast decay as likely, and price for it.
5Three-year numbers
Three scenarios from January 2027 to December 2029, Belgium and France first, Germany and the Netherlands from year 2. The difference between them is mostly one number: the share of new Ninos that buy a web address.
| Low | Base | High | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Assumptions | |||
| New Ninos, first month | 800 | 2,000 | 4,000 |
| Monthly growth, year 1 / 2 / 3 | 8 / 4 / 2% | 12 / 6 / 3% | 15 / 7 / 3% |
| New Ninos that buy a web address | 2% | 4% | 7% |
| Names kept after 2 years | 35% | 45% | 55% |
| Box buyers, per web address sold | 5% | 10% | 15% |
| Year 3 (2029) | |||
| New Ninos in the year | 42,770 | 209,154 | 620,341 |
| Web addresses sold, including gifts | 954 | 9,860 | 53,762 |
| Boxes sold | 48 | 986 | 8,064 |
| Revenue, net of VAT | €57k | €667k | €4.08M |
| Left after addresses, boxes, fees, hosting | €27k | €300k | €1.71M |
| Team, tools and marketing | €290k | €540k | €740k |
| Over three years | |||
| Revenue, 2027 → 2029 | €22k → €57k | €174k → €667k | €895k → €4.08M |
| Lowest cash point (money needed) | −€653k | −€589k | −€66k |
| Cash at the end of 2029 | −€653k | −€572k | +€1.61M |
| Covers its costs | Never | Not yet | From month 8 |
For reference: consumer apps that sell subscriptions convert 1.7% of free users on average, and ChatGPT about 2%. Planning for 10% or more is considered too optimistic. [18] A one-time name, bought at the moment of pride, should do better than a subscription. Whether it reaches 7% is the first thing to test.
Team costs are assumptions: about €150–220k in year 1 for two to three people, rising with the plan. Christmas lifts sign-ups by 40% in November and 80% in December, and gift sales triple. The model, with every input marked as a source or an assumption, is here as a Python file.
6Go-to-market
Each step tests one thing before money goes into the next.
Nov–Dec 2026
Sell "Gift a Nino" cards in Belgium and France for Christmas, usable from launch. It tests the price and the name idea with real money before the product is public. Shoppers buy in November (31%) and early December (30%). [16]
Goal: 500 cards
Jan–Mar 2027
Ninos go online in French, Dutch and English. "Send to Nino" is submitted to the ChatGPT app directory and offered for Claude. Gift cards are redeemed. Price tests: €39, €59, €79.
Goal: 2,000 new Ninos a month, 4% buy a name
Apr–Jun 2027
The first batch ships, sized by "Bring it home" pre-orders. Families are the focus: one family name, every app under it, and a box that lives with them.
Goal: referrals bring 20% of sales
Sep–Dec 2027
Teachers in September. Germany and the Netherlands. A full Christmas gift campaign, with the gift card and the box together.
Goal: 1,000 names a month by December
7Customer acquisition
With about €30 left per sale, Nino can't buy customers. It has to be found where apps are made, and passed on by the people who use them.
Conversion
Share of new Ninos that buy a name within 30 days. Target 7%.
Sharing
New Ninos that came from a badge, a referral or a gift. Target half of all new Ninos.
Sales
Web addresses sold per month. 1,000 a month covers a €30k cost base.
8Risks and first tests
9Sources