system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
ELI5: Why are phone apps so much cheaper than comparable desktop software?
gpt
There's many different things that affect the pricing.

First off, "comparable" is not always true. Let's take a word processing software for a PC and a word processing app for a phone. There's generally a vast difference in what they can do. Sure, they both can be used to write documents, but the mobile app is not usually able to do all the same stuff as a PC version can. To generalize, mobile apps are usually more light-weight.

Second, there's a different culture surrounding mobile phones and app markets. Users expect to get stuff for free. Have you noticed how a few years ago, there was just about two kinds of mobile games, "free with ads" and "ad-free but paid"? Nowadays almost all the popular games are free-to-play with in-app purchases. This puts developers in a difficult situation: they have to give their stuff away for free, but they have to make some money as well.

Third, and this is related to the second, some apps are sold piece-by-piece through in-app purchases and unlocks. This makes the apps seem free or cheaper as their competitors, but in the end they make their income selling these in-app purchases.

To reiterate: in the desktop world, people are used to pay for their software. Desktop software is usually a lot more capable and feature-rich compared to their mobile counterparts. Take some 3D modeling software for an example: the ones you have for mobile phones or tablets are practically rubbish if you want to do anything professional with them. On the other hand, desktop 3D software such as Maya or 3D Studio Max are used to create blockbuster movies and triple-A games by professionals around the world.