Tweetbot

Paul Haddad and Mark Jardine of Tapbots launched Tweetbot for iPhone in 2011. Tapbots was already known for building beautifully crafted iOS utility apps, and Tweetbot brought that same craft to Twitter clients. The app featured mute filters (mute keywords, hashtags, retweets), multiple account support, a timeline that remembered your position, and a visual design that felt premium in an era of free first-party apps. Tapbots charged a one-time purchase price — $2.99 on iPhone, later $4.99, then $19.99 on Mac. Despite Twitter's own free app, hundreds of thousands of power users paid for Tweetbot because of its UX quality and mute filters. Tapbots generated an estimated $50k+/month across iOS and Mac. When Twitter severely restricted third-party API access in 2023, effectively killing third-party clients, Tapbots pivoted to build Ivory for Mastodon using the same UI framework. Tweetbot became one of the most beloved examples of premium indie app development — a story of design excellence justifying a paid price in a free app world.