A payment link in a mobile game takes the player from one pack in your app straight to a web checkout for that pack. They pay, your backend grants the item, and they're back in the game. It's the shortest path from "I want this" to "it's mine", and it's where many publishers start selling on the web, because it works inside the in-game shop players already use.
Create your store free, and any pack in it can be opened straight from your game with one call.
How a payment link works
- The player taps a pack in your in-game shop.
- Your game asks your server for a player token. It's short-lived and signed, so the checkout knows who is buying without another login.
- The game opens checkout for that one pack with
purchase(sku, token). The player sees the pack, the price and a checkout in your game's colors. - Your server grants the pack when the signed
order.paidwebhook arrives, exactly once per order. - The player returns to the game. The return link tells the game what happened, so it can refresh the balance.
The return link is a UI hint. The webhook is the proof. If the player closes the browser before returning, the pack still arrives, because the grant never depended on the browser.
The code
// Your server, behind your own login:
app.post('/appside/token', requireLogin, (req, res) =>
res.json({ token: appside.playerToken(req.user.id) })); // 5-minute, single-use
// Your game, when the player taps a pack:
await appside.purchase('voyager', await freshToken());
// Your server, on the signed webhook:
// verify signature, then grant once per orderId
The same purchase(sku) call exists in the Web, Android, iOS, Unity, Flutter and React Native SDKs, with Node and Python on the server. The quickstart has each platform side by side, and the webhook guide covers signatures, retries and refunds.
Payment links with Appside vs Appcharge
| Appcharge Payment Links (docs, Oct 2026) | Appside | |
|---|---|---|
| Integration | Six parts: server checkout session, SDK open, award callback, deep link, SDK callbacks, server validation | Three steps: player token, purchase(sku), signed webhook |
| Creating a checkout | Your server creates a checkout session for each purchase | None. The player token is enough |
| Price | Not published. Partners typically pay 4 to 5% (Appcharge blog) | 3.9% per successful payment. No setup fee, no subscription, no minimum |
| Getting started | "Get in touch" form | Create your store free |
| Store and links | Separate products | One integration: openStore() for the store, purchase(sku) for one pack |
Moving over? The Appcharge migration guide maps each Payment Links step to its Appside equivalent.
What it costs
At 3.9% per successful payment, a $9.99 pack costs about $0.39 in Appside fees. On $500,000 a month of payment-link revenue, the difference between 3.9% and 5% is $5,500 a month, $66,000 a year. Taxes, refunds and currency conversion are separate; model your own mix in the app-store fee calculator.
Before you ship
- Check the platform rules for each storefront and region your game is in. Start with our dated guide: can iOS games link to a web store?
- Grant only from the webhook, once per order ID. Test a repeated webhook and an invalid signature.
- Show the player which account will receive the pack.
- Handle the return on every platform: completed, canceled and failed.
Create your store free, or see the full journey in the live demo.