Google Play Promo Codes
Setting up your promo codes in Google Play Console
This guide assumes you already have your products set up in the Google Play Console.
Google Promotions or Promo Codes to give app developers the ability to create codes that are redeemable for one-time products or trials to subscriptions.
Types of Promo Codes
One-time codes are unique and auto-generated by the Google Play console. They are limited to a single-use.
Custom codes are codes created by the developer. They are redeemable as many times as the developer allows.
| Offer Type | Converts to subscriptions | In-App Products | Redemption Location | Applies To |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Custom Codes | ✅ | ❌ | In-app | New subscribers |
| One-time Codes | ✅ | ✅ | In-app or Google Play Store | New Users, Existing Users, Lapsed Users |
Limitations of Promo Codes with Subscriptions
Promo codes are limited to offering a free trial of a subscription.
Using a promo code in addition to an already free trial of a subscription will result in the promo code over-riding the length of the free trial regardless of whichever is greater.Ex. If a subscription has been configured to start with a 3-day free trial and a user applies a promo code that gives a 10-day free trial, the promo code trial length will override the 3-day free trial.
Creating Promo Codes
Navigate to Promo Codes Tab
To create promo codes for your app, go to Google Play’s Console ‘All applications' page and select your app from the list.
In the sidebar select Promo Codes.
Creating a Promotion
After selecting Create promo code, you will provide several pieces of metadata to provide to create your promotion:
| Configuration Key ( See figure below) | Metadata | Description |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Promotion Name | A name to identify the promotion. This is not shown to the users. |
| 2 | Start date/time | When the promotion begins. This date must be in the future. This can not be updated once live. |
| 3 | End date/time | When codes can no longer be redeemed. |
| 4 | Promotion type | Select from Paid app, In-app product or Subscription. Both In-app product and Subscription require selecting from a drop-down menu to link an existing product. This can not be updated once saved. |
| 5 | Code type | Select One-time or Custom code. Custom codes are not available if selecting a Paid or an In-app product. |
| 6 | Number of Codes | The number of codes available on the promotion. This can not be updated once saved. |
Sample configuration of a 10-day free trial for a current Annual membership.
After selecting Save your promotion will be created! 🎉
Accessing One-time Codes
Google automatically generates one-time codes. A link titled, "Download codes" provides access to the automatically generated codes.
Live Promotions
Promo codes become active once the status reads Live.
Promo Code Limits and Availability
Promo codes are limited by Google, on a per quarter basis. The amount of promo codes that Google limits varies by promo code type (one-time versus custom promo codes). Any unused codes will expire at the end of the quarter. Any codes that have been redeemed in the Google Play Store, but not redeemed in the app will stay active until the promotion ends.
For additional learning, review the promo code limits and availabilitydocumentation in Google's Play Console Help.
Redeeming Promo Codes
Promo code redemption can occur in-app or in the Google play store. All code redemptions are handled by Google and don’t require additional UI to be built.
In-App Redemption
In-app redemption applies to One-time and Custom codes.
To redeem a code, a user initiates the purchase at the paywall. At the Google Play purchase screen, a selectable down arrow next to the form of payment allows the user to select Redeem code. After selecting Redeem code and entering the code into the prompted field, then selecting the Redeem button applies the entered code.
Google Play Store Redemption
Google play redemption applies only to One-time codes.
To redeem a code in the Google Play Store, the user can manually enter the code in the Google Play Store by clicking the Play Store left navigation menu and selecting Redeem Code.
The code will then be applied when the user selects the subscription or In-App product they want to purchase.
For additional learning, review User redemption flow documentation located in Google's developer documentation.
Pro Tip ☝️
If you want to save your users the hassle of manually entering their one-time code in the Google Play Store, you can send them a deep link with the promo code already attached:
https://play.google.com/redeem?code=promo_code
Considerations
- In the RevenueCat dashboard, when a promo code is used for a subscription, it will show up as the user is starting on a trial for the length your promotion has specified.
- For In-app purchases, you will see your user has made a purchase, however, the reflected price will be $0.
- The purchase will come back from Google with the "purchaseType": 1, which, according to the API docs means that it was completed with a promo code.
- As of now, purchases with a promo code that come directly from Google don’t carry an orderId.
- In general there is likely to be some info missing if the code is redeemed directly in the play store as a limitation from the information that we gather from Google.
Next Steps
With Promo Codes created make sure you're setup for making purchases
Updated 2 months ago