--- title: How to Evaluate an MMP: 17 Key Criteria description: A step-by-step way to evaluate a mobile measurement partner: set your requirements, weight them, score vendors on published facts and send the same RFP to each. url: https://mmpscorecard.com/how-to-evaluate-an-mmp/ --- [Scorecard](https://mmpscorecard.com/) / How to evaluate # How to evaluate an MMP A step-by-step way to evaluate a mobile measurement partner: set your requirements, weight them, score vendors on published facts and send the same RFP to each. **Short answer** Write down what you need before you talk to vendors, weight each need from nice to have to must have, score every MMP on its published facts, then send the same written questions to your shortlist. Treat anything a vendor does not publish as a question, not a fail. ## What is an MMP evaluation? An MMP evaluation is a structured comparison of mobile measurement partners against your own weighted requirements, ending in a shortlist and a set of written answers you can hold vendors to. **Mobile measurement partner (MMP):** the tool that records which ad, link or campaign led to each app install and in-app event, and passes those results back to ad networks. See the [glossary definition](https://linkrunner.io/glossary/what-is-a-mobile-measurement-partner?utm_source=mmpscorecard&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=how-to-evaluate-an-mmp). Most teams evaluate an MMP once every two to four years, usually when a contract renews, a free plan runs out or a price rises. That gap is why the process often starts from a sales deck rather than from what the team actually needs. ## Step 1: list your requirements before any demo Start with the work your team does each week, not with features. A useful list covers six areas, and each has its own page on this site: - **[Pricing and cost](https://mmpscorecard.com/criteria/pricing/):** published prices, a free plan, the price at your volume and whether fraud protection costs extra. - **[Privacy, SKAN and compliance](https://mmpscorecard.com/criteria/privacy-and-skan/):** SKAN 4, SOC 2 and ISO 27001, and whether data can stay in your own cloud. - **[Deep linking and channels](https://mmpscorecard.com/criteria/deep-linking-and-channels/):** deferred deep links, web-to-app journeys and connected TV. - **[Data, exports and integrations](https://mmpscorecard.com/criteria/data-and-exports/):** raw exports, warehouse delivery and the size of the partner list. - **[Agencies and teams](https://mmpscorecard.com/criteria/agencies-and-teams/):** seats and agency access. - **[Support and region](https://mmpscorecard.com/criteria/support-and-region/):** a team in your region and the vendor's track record. ## Step 2: weight each requirement Not every need matters equally. Give each one a weight from 0 to 3: - **0, skip:** not relevant to you. - **1, nice to have:** helpful, but you would not switch vendors for it. - **2, important:** a gap would cost you time or money every month. - **3, must have:** a gap rules the vendor out. Be honest about the must-haves. A team that only runs Meta and Google app campaigns does not need CTV attribution, and a seed-stage app rarely needs a self-hosted deployment. Over-weighting rare needs pushes the score towards whichever vendor sells the biggest contract. ## Step 3: score each vendor on published facts Mark each vendor against each requirement from its own pricing page, help centre or trust centre. The [scorecard](https://mmpscorecard.com/) does this for nine MMPs: - **Yes** scores the full weight. - **Partly** (top tier only, paid add-on, or part of the need) scores half. - **No** scores zero. - **Not published** also scores zero in the confirmed score, but it is shown as a question mark and added to your RFP, because a missing fact is not a missing feature. The result is two numbers per vendor: a confirmed score and a best case if every unknown turns out to be a yes. A vendor with a wide gap between the two is one you need answers from before you can rank it. The full rules are on the [scoring method](https://mmpscorecard.com/scoring-method/) page. ## Step 4: test where the leaders win A fair evaluation includes needs where the largest vendors are strongest. AppsFlyer, Adjust, Kochava, Singular and Tenjin all publish partner lists in the thousands or above 1,000, and AppsFlyer, Adjust, Airbridge, Branch, Kochava, Singular and Tenjin were each founded more than ten years ago. If your app runs dozens of smaller ad networks, or procurement requires a long track record, weight those needs at 2 or 3 and let the score reflect it. The reverse also applies. Price at your volume, a free plan without an expiry date, deep links on the entry plan and exports without fees are areas where newer and smaller vendors often score higher. ## Step 5: send the same RFP to every vendor Turn your weighted list into written questions and send the same set to every shortlisted vendor. The [MMP RFP template](https://mmpscorecard.com/mmp-rfp-template/) holds the full question bank; the scorecard builds a version with only the questions for the needs you weighted, ready to copy or download as a text or CSV file. Three rules make the answers comparable: 1. Ask for the answer in writing, with a link to the help-centre or pricing page that confirms it. 2. Ask for the all-in monthly cost at your volume and at twice your volume. 3. Ask which plan each answer applies to. Many features in a demo sit on a higher tier than the one quoted. Our sister site lays out [how to compare MMP quotes line by line](https://mmpcompares.com/blog/compare-mmp-quotes/). ## Step 6: run a short paid or free trial Before signing, integrate the SDK on a test build, send a few test installs through a tracking link and check that the result appears in the dashboard and in the ad network. A vendor's answers on paper matter less than whether your developers can go live in days rather than weeks. ## Where does each MMP fit? Most MMPs cover the core: install attribution, SKAN and links. The differences that decide a shortlist are price, which features sit behind a higher plan, and how much data you can take out. **Where Linkrunner fits:** Best for growth teams that want published per-install pricing ($0.012 down to $0.007 per install, with 25k free installs that do not expire), and deferred deep linking, fraud protection and raw data exports on every plan. Founded in 2024, it scores lower where a long track record or a partner list in the thousands is a must-have. For the trade-offs behind that kind of choice, Linkrunner's own piece on [why transparency matters when evaluating an MMP](https://linkrunner.io/blog/evaluating-mmp-trust-transparency-mobile-attribution?utm_source=mmpscorecard&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=how-to-evaluate-an-mmp) sets out the questions on pricing and data access that this guide also asks. ## Questions **How long should an MMP evaluation take?** Two to four weeks is typical: a week to agree requirements and weights, a week for written answers from three or four vendors, and one or two weeks for a test integration. Longer evaluations usually stall on pricing answers, so ask for the rate card first. **How many MMPs should be on a shortlist?** Three is usually enough. Score every vendor you can find on published facts, then send the RFP to the top three, plus any vendor your ad networks or agency already require. **What is the most common mistake in an MMP evaluation?** Comparing a demo of the top plan with the price of the entry plan. Ask which plan every feature in the demo belongs to, and score the plan you can afford. **Should a vendor that does not publish a fact score zero?** In the confirmed score, yes, because you cannot rely on it yet. It should not be treated as a no: the scorecard marks it with a question mark and adds it to your RFP so the vendor can answer. **What is an MMP scorecard?** An MMP scorecard is a weighted list of requirements used to compare mobile measurement partners. Each vendor is marked yes, partly, no or not published on each requirement from its own published facts, and the weights decide the final score. **What questions should I ask MMP vendors in an RFP?** Ask about the all-in cost at your volume, which plan each feature sits on, raw data exports, SKAN 4 support, deferred deep linking, seats, security certifications and support response times. The MMP RFP template on this site has the full list, free to copy. ## Criteria in detail - [**Pricing and cost** Published pricing, free plan, low price at your volume, fraud protection included. What the MMP costs at your volume, whether you can start free, and which features cost extra.](https://mmpscorecard.com/criteria/pricing/) - [**Privacy, SKAN and compliance** SKAN 4 support, enterprise compliance, self-hosted option. iOS measurement under SKAN, security certifications and where your raw data lives.](https://mmpscorecard.com/criteria/privacy-and-skan/) - [**Deep linking and channels** Deferred deep linking, web-to-app attribution, ctv attribution. Deferred deep links, web-to-app journeys and connected TV.](https://mmpscorecard.com/criteria/deep-linking-and-channels/) - [**Data, exports and integrations** Unrestricted data exports, warehouse delivery, large partner ecosystem. Getting raw data out, into your warehouse, and how many partners the MMP already talks to.](https://mmpscorecard.com/criteria/data-and-exports/) - [**Agencies and teams** Unlimited seats, agency multi-client access. Seats for the whole team and access for the agencies that run your campaigns.](https://mmpscorecard.com/criteria/agencies-and-teams/) - [**Support and region** India support, long market track record. A team in your region and how long the vendor has been in the market.](https://mmpscorecard.com/criteria/support-and-region/)