How UniApplyForMe Makes Money While Staying Free for Students

‘Free’ doesn’t mean ‘unsustainable’.

UniApplyForMe has always been free for students. No registration fees, no premium tiers, and no paywalls on application guides or APS calculators. That was a founding principle, and it hasn’t changed. But free platforms still have running costs — servers, domains, developer time, content — and those costs are real.

So how does it work? The short answer: advertising revenue, done carefully.

Google AdSense as infrastructure revenue

We integrated Google AdSense on UniApplyForMe, and since September 2024 the platform has generated over R100K in revenue from ad impressions and clicks. That number will surprise people who assume edtech in South Africa can’t generate meaningful ad revenue. It can — if you have the right traffic.

The key is organic search traffic. UniApplyForMe ranks well for high-intent queries: students searching for specific university application deadlines, bursary eligibility, and NSFAS requirements. That traffic converts well for advertisers because the intent is clear. A student researching funding options is a valuable audience.

SEO is the real investment

The AdSense revenue didn’t happen by accident. It’s the result of years of deliberate SEO work: structured content, proper heading hierarchy, fast page loads, mobile optimisation, schema markup, and consistent publishing. Tools like Yoast SEO, Ahrefs, and Google Search Console were part of the workflow from early on.

The lesson: for a content-heavy platform in a niche with genuine search demand, SEO is not optional. It’s the growth engine. And in the South African context, where paid acquisition is expensive relative to the audience’s purchasing power, organic is often the only viable channel.

What the revenue funds

Server costs, domain renewals, plugin licences, the mobile app’s Play Store presence, and the team’s time. It doesn’t make anyone rich, but it keeps the lights on and allows the platform to grow without depending on grants or sponsorships that come with strings attached.

There are other revenue streams we’re exploring — partnerships with institutions, sponsored bursary listings, and enterprise tools for schools. But the advertising model works today, and it works without compromising the student experience.

The principle behind it

If you’re building something for a community that can’t pay you directly, find a way to make the platform valuable enough that someone else will. In our case, advertisers. The students don’t pay. The platform survives. Everyone wins.