AppleakHow Much Do Apps Make?
It depends almost entirely on where an app sits on the top grossing chart. The apps near the top earn millions a month from in-app purchases; most apps on the stores earn little. Here is how revenue is estimated from outside, and what some well-known apps earn.
In short
- 01Store revenue gathers at the top: the apps high on the grossing chart earn most of it.
- 02From outside, an app’s revenue is estimated from its place on the grossing chart and its prices, or quoted from a figure the company published itself.
- 03Appleak shows an estimate for any App Store app in its teardown, cross-checked against the grossing chart and its plan prices.
By Appleak · 9 Nov 2026
What some well-known apps make
| App | Both stores | App Store | Estimated |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cal AI | $2 million | $2 million | 20 Oct 2026 |
| Strava | $20 million | $15 million | 20 Oct 2026 |
| Duolingo | $55 million | $44 million | 20 Oct 2026 |
| Candy Crush | $76 million | $46 million | 20 Oct 2026 |
Each app has its own page with how it makes money, its prices and its place on the charts.
How app revenue is estimated from outside
- Its place on the grossing chart
- The stores rank apps by what they earn. Places near the top correspond to far more revenue than places lower down, so a place says a lot about the size of an app’s income.
- Its prices
- The plans and packs an app sells, and at what price, set what each paying user is worth.
- A figure the company published
- When a company states its own revenue, that figure beats any estimate, and it is quoted with who said it and when.
Any figure for someone else’s app is an estimate. Treat it as a size, not a number to the dollar.
When a company publishes its own figure
A company figure, quoted with its source
Cal AI is the AI calorie counting app startup built by two high school teenagers that soared to over 15 million downloads and over $30 million in annual revenue in under two years, MyFitnessPal tells TechCrunch.
Published figures often count more than store revenue: web sales, other platforms or a whole company. Read what a figure covers before comparing it with an estimate.
What about downloads?
The stores publish ranks, not download counts. A download figure for someone else’s app is a model built on its chart places, so read it as a range. The top free chart is the clearest public sign of which apps are downloaded most right now.
Check what any app makes
- Name the app. Ask about it from the dashboard, or open its teardown.
- Read the estimate. The teardown shows the app’s estimated monthly revenue, cross-checked against the grossing chart and its plan prices, and says when it could not be estimated.
- See how it earns. The same page shows its plans and prices, its ads and what its users say about paying.
Revenue estimates cover App Store apps. A Google Play app is read from its App Store version when it has one.
Questions
How much do apps make on average?
An average says little, because store revenue is very uneven: the apps near the top of the grossing chart take most of it, and most apps earn little. An app’s place on the grossing chart in its category is the better guide.
How is an app’s revenue estimated?
From its place on the top grossing chart and the prices it charges, checked against figures companies publish about themselves. Any figure for someone else’s app is an estimate, so read it as a size rather than an exact number.
Where can I see how much an app makes?
Open the app’s teardown in Appleak for an estimate of its monthly store revenue. For a few well-known apps, the pages linked here give the estimate with how the app earns and its prices.
Do these figures include web sales?
No. They are store revenue: what an app earns through the App Store and Google Play. Apps that sell on the web or elsewhere earn more than these figures show.
Can I see how many downloads an app has?
Not exactly. The stores publish ranks, not counts, so a download figure for someone else’s app is a modelled range. The top free chart shows which apps are downloaded most right now.
Read next
See what any app makes.
Its estimated revenue, its prices, its ads and what its users say, from one question.
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