Possible to Get lots of app installs without using GooglePlay Store ?

I have had bad experiences with GooglePlay being way overly strict on apps and banning accounts to the point I got out of messing with apps for a while. But I got pondering tje prospect of using all the "other" app stores outside of Googleplay, but is this a valid option ? Has anyone on here ever done successful things with apps while forgoing the GooglePlay store as an upload location ?