{"id":47174,"date":"2025-03-24T16:38:38","date_gmt":"2025-03-24T20:38:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mjtsai.com\/blog\/?p=47174"},"modified":"2025-03-24T16:38:38","modified_gmt":"2025-03-24T20:38:38","slug":"mobile-app-revenue-in-2025","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mjtsai.com\/blog\/2025\/03\/24\/mobile-app-revenue-in-2025\/","title":{"rendered":"Mobile App Revenue in 2025"},"content":{"rendered":"

Scharon Harding<\/a> (Hacker News<\/a>):<\/p>\n

If you’re frustrated by some of your favorite apps pestering you to sign up for a subscription, some new data may help you empathize with their developers more. According to revenue data from “over 75,000\" mobile apps, the vast majority have a hard time making $1,000 per month.<\/p>

The data is detailed in RevenueCat’s 2025 State of Subscription Apps<\/a> report. RevenueCat makes a mobile app subscription tool kit and gathered the report’s data from apps using its platform.<\/p>

[…]<\/p>

Some app categories with the smallest percentage of newly launched apps hitting the $1,000 mark are shopping, travel, and utilities. Photo, video, and gaming apps are the most likely to hit $1,000\/month within two years.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n

RevenueCat<\/a>:<\/p>\n

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The gap between winners and the rest is growing – At $8,880 the top 5% of newly launched apps make over 400x as much money after their first year, compared to the bottom 25% who make no more than $19. This gap has grown significantly since last year’s 200x.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

However, they are also analyzing more than twice as many apps as last year. Presumably, most of the apps new to the list are towards the bottom in revenue.<\/p>\n\n

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Churn hits hard and fast – Nearly 30% of annual subscriptions are canceled in the first month. If you don’t win them back over, at the end of that first year, they’re gone. Retention starts on day one.<\/p>\n

Low prices keep users locked in – Most apps with cheap annual plans keep up to 36.0% of users subscribed after a year. High-priced monthly plans? Just 6.7% stick around.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n

But even 36% retention sounds terrible.<\/p>\n\n

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The CPI gap between iOS and Play Store in North America is striking, with iOS CPIs reaching nearly 3x those of Play Store in some categories.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n

Does this mean that iOS users don’t want more apps? Or that the ad system doesn’t work very well?<\/p>\n\n

Previously:<\/p>\n