Answer in brief
You need an MMP when you pay for app installs on two or more ad channels and have to decide where the next dollar goes. With no paid traffic, or with a single channel and a small budget, the app store consoles and that channel's own reports are usually enough. Add an MMP shortly before you add the second channel, so the first comparison starts with clean data.
The short answer by situation
| Your situation | Need an MMP? | Why |
|---|---|---|
| No paid ads, growth from search and word of mouth | No | There is no credit to assign. |
| One ad channel, testing with a small budget | Not yet | The channel's own report answers "is this working". |
| Two or more ad channels | Yes | You need one count that no channel produced for itself. |
| Creators, email or web pages that send people to the app | Yes | These sources have no ad platform report at all. |
| You optimise for purchases or subscriptions, not installs | Yes | An MMP ties revenue in the app back to the campaign across channels. |
What you can see without one
The App Store and Google Play consoles show how many people downloaded the app. Each ad platform shows the installs it counts for its own campaigns. For one channel, that is a workable picture.
The picture breaks when sources overlap. Say a person sees your ad on one platform, taps a different ad on another the next day, and installs. Each platform can count that install as its own, and your totals add up to more installs than the store reports. You also cannot tell how many installs would have happened anyway, which is the question of organic versus paid installs.
The signs that it is time
You are ready when at least one of these is true.
- The platforms' install counts, added together, exceed your store downloads. Some installs are being claimed by more than one platform.
- You are about to move budget between channels. That decision needs one referee applying one rule, usually last-touch attribution, to every channel.
- You want the ad platforms to optimise for a later event. Sending trial starts or purchases back to each platform from one place is a job an MMP does.
- You use links outside ad platforms. A creator's link, a QR code or a web page needs a tracking link to be counted, and a deep link to land the person on the right screen.
Reasons to wait
An MMP costs money and developer time, and it measures traffic you are already buying. It does not create demand. If the app does not yet keep the users it gets, measurement will describe the problem in more detail without solving it. That boundary is set out in what an MMP does not do.
Waiting has one cost you should know about. Attribution starts on the day the SDK ships. Installs from before that day cannot be credited to a campaign afterwards. If a second channel is two months away, install the SDK now and let it collect a baseline.
A low-risk way to start
- List the channels you run and the one event that means a user is valuable to you.
- Choose a plan you can start and stop without a long commitment. A free trial or a free plan both work for this.
- Ship the SDK, connect the channels, and compare the MMP's install count with each platform's for two weeks.
- Keep it if the comparison changes a budget decision. Remove it if it does not.
When you reach step 2, building your own shortlist keeps the choice tied to your channels and budget.
Questions and answers
Can I run app install ads without an MMP?
Yes. Each ad platform reports the installs it claims, and you can run campaigns on that alone. The limit shows when you add a second platform: both can claim the same install, and nothing outside them settles which one earned it.
Is an MMP worth it for an app with only organic growth?
Usually not for attribution. It can still be worth it for deep links, for example referral links or links in emails, because the same SDK provides them. If you need neither, wait.
Continue reading
Guide
How to build your own MMP shortlistA five-step method for building your own MMP shortlist: fix your constraints, set must-haves, cut on public facts, and trial only two or three vendors.
Guide
Ten questions to ask every MMPTen questions to put to every mobile measurement partner, grouped by cost, coverage, data and exit, with what a clear answer looks like for each.
Guide
What an MMP does not doAn MMP attributes installs and events to ads. It does not buy media, analyse product behaviour, send messages, store your warehouse or fix a weak offer.
Guide
Why deep linking and attribution are bought togetherDeep linking and attribution use the same link, the same SDK and the same install match. Why teams often buy them from one vendor, and when to split them.
Guide
Ad fraud prevention: what it is and when it mattersWhat mobile ad fraud prevention does, the four common fraud types it looks for, and how to tell whether a small app team needs it yet.
Shortlist
Best MMPs: a shortlist of six and who each one suitsSix mobile measurement partners, what each is known for, and who each one suits, with every fact linked to the provider's own page.
Cite this page
Airbridge. “Do you need an MMP at all?.” bestmmps.com. Reviewed 2026-11-10. https://bestmmps.com/do-you-need-an-mmp