<![CDATA[Providers of digital health applications must reach financial viability through monetization, while users need services that are affordable and valuable. These elements are rarely synthesized in a single framework. This focused narrative review, which is not a systematic review, maps monetization strategies, examines their relationship with service affordability and customer value, identifies conditions of alignment or conflict between commercial and user interests, and develops a conceptual framework linked to business model viability. Searches were run on 31 October 2026 on PubMed, PubMed Central, ScienceDirect, and JMIR journal websites. Of 60 records identified, 32 sources were retained: 26 evidence sources and 6 context, theory, and method sources. The synthesis shows that monetization takes three forms, namely direct pricing, subscription or freemium (with thin evidence in health), and data monetization; that willingness to pay varies systematically with education, income, country, and service modality; that data monetization moves the tension from affordability to trust; and that customer value has functional and relational dimensions. Four propositions are formulated: monetization visibility (P1), user population heterogeneity (P2), provider incentive structure (P3), and the two dimensions of customer value (P4). Viability cannot be judged from revenue alone or from user access alone. Implications for Indonesia, where telemedicine regulation and personal data protection law shape monetization choices, are discussed together with practical recommendations and a research agenda.]]>
