---
title: "App Statistics by Category: Revenue, Downloads and Monetization"
description: "Every app category ranked by how many of its apps earn more than $1,000 a month and what earners make — with a full report per category covering iOS vs Android, free vs paid, ratings, age and revenue per download."
url: https://trendapps.dev/statistics/categories/
markdown: https://trendapps.dev/statistics/categories/index.md
updated: 2026-09-11
apps: 59282
source: TrendApps
license: CC BY 4.0
---

# App Statistics by Category: Revenue, Downloads and Monetization

TrendApps Research · updated 2026-09-11 · 59,282 apps

Every app category ranked by how many of its apps earn more than $1,000 a month and what earners make — with a full report per category covering iOS vs Android, free vs paid, ratings, age and revenue per download.

## How the categories compare

33 categories have at least 200 tracked apps and their own report. Dating and Social Networking apps earn most often, at 60.4% and 43.7%. At the other end, Events apps earn 3.9% of the time. Earning often and earning big are different questions: Entertainment earners have the highest median at $200k a month.

Games are the largest category with 3,930 apps and one of the highest earning rates, because free-with-IAP is universal there. Store taxonomies differ: 2 categories exist only on the App Store and 10 only on Google Play, and each is labelled on its page. Categories with the same meaning on both stores — Social Networking and Social, Photo & Video and Photography, Utilities and Tools — are merged so a category page spans both platforms.

App categories, coloured by share earning $1k+/month

| Category | Apps | Earn $1k+/mo | Median (earners) | Revenue per download |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Games | 3,930 | 40.8% | $60k | $1.43 |
| Books & Reference | 3,420 | 18.3% | $40k | $2.00 |
| Utilities | 3,195 | 17.7% | $90k | $1.00 |
| Lifestyle | 3,013 | 15.7% | $70k | $2.00 |
| Entertainment | 2,489 | 22.7% | $200k | $3.33 |
| Travel | 2,459 | 10.2% | $20k | $1.00 |
| Productivity | 2,445 | 18.7% | $100k | $1.00 |
| Education | 2,407 | 21.0% | $80k | $1.50 |
| Finance | 2,383 | 17.5% | $20k | $1.50 |
| Music | 2,360 | 18.9% | $40k | $1.00 |
| Health & Fitness | 2,353 | 21.8% | $100k | $2.00 |
| Sports | 2,347 | 10.9% | $50k | $4.00 |
| Food & Drink | 2,224 | 8.5% | $10k | $1.20 |
| Medical | 2,211 | 11.0% | $10k | $1.25 |
| Business | 2,043 | 14.6% | $60k | $3.00 |
| Navigation | 1,939 | 20.1% | $20k | $1.17 |
| Weather | 1,854 | 11.8% | $20k | $1.00 |
| Personalization | 1,844 | 4.6% | $10k | $0.05 |
| Photo & Video | 1,761 | 25.8% | $80k | $1.00 |
| News | 1,753 | 19.3% | $20k | $3.33 |
| Graphics & Design | 1,542 | 26.7% | $30k | $0.83 |
| Shopping | 1,466 | 14.5% | $10k | $1.00 |
| Social Networking | 1,338 | 43.7% | $80k | $1.50 |
| Developer Tools | 1,275 | 5.2% | $10k | $1.00 |
| Events | 868 | 3.9% | $10k | $0.23 |
| Auto & Vehicles | 670 | 8.4% | $10k | $0.40 |
| House & Home | 665 | 8.4% | $10k | $0.50 |
| Parenting | 645 | 11.9% | $30k | $0.63 |
| Beauty | 513 | 10.5% | $8k | $0.25 |
| Communication | 474 | 31.6% | $30k | $0.43 |
| Comics | 472 | 9.7% | $30k | $0.50 |
| Libraries & Demo | 418 | 11.2% | $10k | $0.25 |
| Dating | 260 | 60.4% | $20k | $1.29 |

## Every category, ranked by size

| Category | Apps | Earn $1k+/mo | Median (earners) | Platforms | Report |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Games | 3,930 | 40.8% | $60k | Android + iOS | https://trendapps.dev/statistics/categories/games/index.md |
| Books & Reference | 3,420 | 18.3% | $40k | Android + iOS | https://trendapps.dev/statistics/categories/books-reference/index.md |
| Utilities | 3,195 | 17.7% | $90k | Android + iOS | https://trendapps.dev/statistics/categories/utilities/index.md |
| Lifestyle | 3,013 | 15.7% | $70k | Android + iOS | https://trendapps.dev/statistics/categories/lifestyle/index.md |
| Entertainment | 2,489 | 22.7% | $200k | Android + iOS | https://trendapps.dev/statistics/categories/entertainment/index.md |
| Travel | 2,459 | 10.2% | $20k | Android + iOS | https://trendapps.dev/statistics/categories/travel/index.md |
| Productivity | 2,445 | 18.7% | $100k | Android + iOS | https://trendapps.dev/statistics/categories/productivity/index.md |
| Education | 2,407 | 21.0% | $80k | Android + iOS | https://trendapps.dev/statistics/categories/education/index.md |
| Finance | 2,383 | 17.5% | $20k | Android + iOS | https://trendapps.dev/statistics/categories/finance/index.md |
| Music | 2,360 | 18.9% | $40k | Android + iOS | https://trendapps.dev/statistics/categories/music/index.md |
| Health & Fitness | 2,353 | 21.8% | $100k | Android + iOS | https://trendapps.dev/statistics/categories/health-fitness/index.md |
| Sports | 2,347 | 10.9% | $50k | iOS | https://trendapps.dev/statistics/categories/sports/index.md |
| Food & Drink | 2,224 | 8.5% | $10k | Android + iOS | https://trendapps.dev/statistics/categories/food-drink/index.md |
| Medical | 2,211 | 11.0% | $10k | Android + iOS | https://trendapps.dev/statistics/categories/medical/index.md |
| Business | 2,043 | 14.6% | $60k | Android + iOS | https://trendapps.dev/statistics/categories/business/index.md |
| Navigation | 1,939 | 20.1% | $20k | Android + iOS | https://trendapps.dev/statistics/categories/navigation/index.md |
| Weather | 1,854 | 11.8% | $20k | Android + iOS | https://trendapps.dev/statistics/categories/weather/index.md |
| Personalization | 1,844 | 4.6% | $10k | Android | https://trendapps.dev/statistics/categories/personalization/index.md |
| Photo & Video | 1,761 | 25.8% | $80k | Android + iOS | https://trendapps.dev/statistics/categories/photo-video/index.md |
| News | 1,753 | 19.3% | $20k | Android + iOS | https://trendapps.dev/statistics/categories/news/index.md |
| Graphics & Design | 1,542 | 26.7% | $30k | Android + iOS | https://trendapps.dev/statistics/categories/art-design/index.md |
| Shopping | 1,466 | 14.5% | $10k | Android + iOS | https://trendapps.dev/statistics/categories/shopping/index.md |
| Social Networking | 1,338 | 43.7% | $80k | Android + iOS | https://trendapps.dev/statistics/categories/social-networking/index.md |
| Developer Tools | 1,275 | 5.2% | $10k | iOS | https://trendapps.dev/statistics/categories/developer-tools/index.md |
| Events | 868 | 3.9% | $10k | Android | https://trendapps.dev/statistics/categories/events/index.md |
| Auto & Vehicles | 670 | 8.4% | $10k | Android | https://trendapps.dev/statistics/categories/auto-vehicles/index.md |
| House & Home | 665 | 8.4% | $10k | Android | https://trendapps.dev/statistics/categories/house-home/index.md |
| Parenting | 645 | 11.9% | $30k | Android | https://trendapps.dev/statistics/categories/parenting/index.md |
| Beauty | 513 | 10.5% | $8k | Android | https://trendapps.dev/statistics/categories/beauty/index.md |
| Communication | 474 | 31.6% | $30k | Android | https://trendapps.dev/statistics/categories/communication/index.md |
| Comics | 472 | 9.7% | $30k | Android | https://trendapps.dev/statistics/categories/comics/index.md |
| Libraries & Demo | 418 | 11.2% | $10k | Android | https://trendapps.dev/statistics/categories/libraries-demo/index.md |
| Dating | 260 | 60.4% | $20k | Android | https://trendapps.dev/statistics/categories/dating/index.md |
| Video Players & Editors | 36 | 19.4% | $20k | Android | — |

## Questions developers ask

### Which app categories make the most money?

Dating apps earn most often (60.4%); Entertainment apps earn the most when they do (median $200k). Every category with 200+ tracked apps has its own report.

### Which app categories have the least competition?

Among categories with their own report, Dating (60.4% earning, 260 apps), Communication (31.6% earning, 474 apps), Parenting (11.9% earning, 645 apps) combine a small field with a high earning rate. Each category page lists the rating counts of the apps currently winning, which is the practical measure of competition.

### Why are some categories missing a report?

Categories under 200 tracked apps are listed without a report: the sample is too small to split by platform, model, ratings and age without the bands becoming noise.

### Why do iOS and Android categories have different names?

The stores use different taxonomies. Categories that mean the same thing (Social Networking and Social, Photo & Video and Photography, Utilities and Tools, Books and Reference and Books & Reference, News and News & Magazines, Travel and Travel & Local) are merged; categories that exist on one store only are labelled iOS only or Android only.

## Methodology

- An app counts as earning when its estimated monthly store revenue is above $1,000. Estimates below that sit at a floor of $1,000, so every population-wide figure is the share of a segment above that floor; medians are computed only among apps above it.
- Revenue and downloads are estimates in bands ($5k–10k by $1k, $10k–100k by $10k, then by $100k and $1M). Medians among earners are the median band.
- Store revenue only — paid downloads and IAP (in-app purchases, including subscriptions). Advertising income is never included, so ad-supported apps show as not earning.
- Apps enter the catalogue from the US top charts, including Top Paid, so paid apps are over-represented. Ratios by monetization model are unaffected; overall ratios lean slightly paid.
- Delisted apps are excluded; unrated apps are excluded from rating charts. Recomputed after every crawl.

Source: https://trendapps.dev/statistics/categories/ · Markdown: https://trendapps.dev/statistics/categories/index.md · Methodology: https://trendapps.dev/methodology/