How Much Do Apps Make per Download? Real 2026 Data

How much do apps make per download?

Most apps make well under a dollar per download, and the median is lower than most developers expect. RevenueCat’s State of Subscription Apps 2026 puts the median subscription app at $0.34 of revenue per install after 60 days. AppsFlyer’s State of App Monetization 2026 reports in-app ad revenue of $0.22 to $0.55 per user within 90 days of install across game genres, and in-app purchase revenue of $1.34 to $2.43 per user for casual, midcore and casino games. What your app earns depends on its category, the countries it gets installs from, how long users stay and which mix of ads, purchases and subscriptions it runs.

Below are the metrics that matter, the public figures for each model with their source and date, worked math you can reuse, and the levers that raise revenue per download. Figures were checked on November 4, 2026.

ARPU, ARPDAU, ARPPU, LTV and revenue per install

“Revenue per download” is usually reported under one of five names. They measure different things, so a number only means something once you know which one it is and over what time window.

Cohort RPI and cohort ARPU at Day N are the closest thing to a true “revenue per download”. The link between the metrics is simple: lifetime revenue per download is roughly ARPDAU multiplied by the number of days an average install stays active. That is why retention matters as much as monetization, and why app install retention benchmarks belong next to any revenue benchmark.

The market average: about $1 of in-app spending per download

Sensor Tower’s State of Mobile 2026 (January 2026) reports that in 2025 global in-app purchase revenue rose 10.6% to $167 billion while downloads across iOS and Google Play rose 0.8% to nearly 150 billion. Games brought in close to $82 billion of that, and non-game apps passed games in in-app purchase revenue for the first time.

Divide the two and you get roughly $1.10 of in-app spending per download in 2025. Treat that as context, not a benchmark. It is our own rough division, it mixes this year’s downloads with spending from users who installed years ago, it leaves out ad revenue, and it is dominated by a small number of top apps. The cohort figures below show how far individual apps and categories sit from that average.

Revenue per download by monetization model

These are the most useful public figures for each model, with source and data period. Each report uses its own sample, so compare figures within a row, not across rows.

Subscriptions

RevenueCat’s State of Subscription Apps 2026 covers more than 115,000 apps and more than $16 billion in revenue, with 2025 as its target period. Besides the per-install medians above, it reports a global median realized LTV per payer of $23 in year one ($32 in North America). Trial length matters: the median trial-to-paid rate was 42.5% for trials of 17 to 32 days and 25.5% for trials of 4 days or less. Subscription revenue builds slowly, so a Day 14 number understates where a cohort ends up.

In-app ads

Ad revenue arrives fast and stops fast. AppsFlyer’s State of App Monetization 2026 found that 89% of a cohort’s Day 60 ad revenue is already earned by Day 7, and hypercasual games earn 63% of their Day 60 ad revenue on Day 1. If your app is ad-only, your revenue per download is set almost entirely in the first week. Rewarded video vs interstitial ads compares the main ad formats.

In-app purchases

Purchases make most of the money in games, but only a minority of users ever buy. The same AppsFlyer report says 9.84% of non-gaming installers convert to buyers, and casino games lead gaming with a 4.95% one-time buyer rate. So IAP revenue per download is mostly a question of how many installs you convert to a first purchase, multiplied by what buyers spend.

Hybrid

Hybrid apps combine two or three models. AppsFlyer reports that among casual games, 47% monetize with IAP only, 28% with ads only and 21% with both, and that hybrid models are growing across game categories. In the cohort of apps with all three revenue streams, subscriptions grew from about 4% to nearly 7% of the revenue mix over the 15 months, while ads fell from about 63% to roughly 56%. Hybrid monetization covers how to combine models without hurting retention.

What moves revenue per download the most

• Country. RevenueCat’s median subscription RPI at Day 60 is $0.55 in North America and $0.11 in India and Southeast Asia, a five-fold gap. AppsFlyer finds ARPU in North America and Europe 20% to 25% above the global average, but only 5% to 10% higher per payer, which points to conversion rate as the main regional driver.
• Category. In RevenueCat’s data, Health & Fitness earns almost five times what Gaming earns per install from subscriptions, while games make their money from purchases and ads instead.
• Retention. Every extra active day adds another day of ARPDAU. What is retention rate? explains how to measure it by cohort.
• Store fees. Apple’s App Store Small Business Program and Google Play’s service fee page both list a 15% fee on the first $1 million of qualifying yearly revenue for enrolled developers, with higher standard rates above that and different rules in some markets (checked on November 4, 2026). Always check whether a benchmark is before or after store fees.

Working out your own revenue per download

You can estimate lifetime revenue per download from three numbers you already have: ARPDAU from ads, ARPDAU from purchases or subscriptions, and the average number of active days per install.

Then compare the result with what you pay per install. If you buy users, revenue per download must beat your cost per install over the window you can afford to wait. CAC vs CPA vs LTV and CPI vs CPA for apps cover that side.

How to raise revenue per download

1. Fix early retention first. Onboarding, the first session and the first reward decide how many active days each install gives you. For ad-heavy apps, the first week is most of the money.
2. Convert more users to a first payment. A starter pack, a well-timed paywall or a longer free trial can move conversion more than a price change.
3. Add a second model for non-payers. Most users never buy. Rewarded ads or an offerwall let them earn premium currency instead, which adds revenue without charging anyone. Offerwall vs rewarded video compares the two.
4. Price by country. Local pricing and country-aware ad settings matter because the regional gaps above are large.
5. Measure by cohort, platform and country, not by app-wide averages, so you can see which change moved the number.

For a wider plan by app type, see How to monetize an app, and for game-specific figures, mobile game monetization statistics.

Where an offerwall fits in revenue per download

An offerwall is a pay-per-result format: users complete offers from advertisers, such as reaching a level in another game or finishing a survey, and earn your in-app currency, while you earn per completed offer. It is not priced per impression, so it adds a revenue line that does not depend on eCPM. It fits apps that already have a currency or points balance and logged-in users. It does not fit apps without a currency, or apps for children.

How to add Moonetix to your app

If your app has a currency, you can add Moonetix in five steps.

1. Apply as a publisher at moonetix.com. Every application is reviewed by hand; once you are approved, apps you add are live right away.
2. Add your app in the dashboard and set the currency name, icon, conversion rate, user split and wall design.
3. Add the SDK for your stack: the Android SDK, iOS SDK, Unity plugin, Flutter plugin or React Native package. The Moonetix docs list every option.
4. Credit users only on your server from the signed postback, which arrives for every credit and every reversal.
5. Follow Test your app before launch, then put the wall where users look for currency, as described in offerwall placement.

For the full picture, with the rules that apply and an earnings estimate, see Moonetix for mobile apps.

Frequently asked questions