---
title: "Free vs Paid Apps: Which Model Actually Makes Money?"
description: "Free with IAP, paid, or both? Store data on tens of thousands of apps shows which monetization model clears $1,000 a month, and how price points compare."
url: https://trendapps.dev/statistics/free-vs-paid-apps-revenue/
markdown: https://trendapps.dev/statistics/free-vs-paid-apps-revenue/index.md
updated: 2026-09-11
apps: 59282
source: TrendApps
license: CC BY 4.0
---

# Free vs Paid Apps: Which Model Actually Makes Money?

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

Free apps with IAP earn more than $1,000 a month 47.1% of the time. Paid apps without IAP clear the same bar 2.4% of the time. When a free-with-IAP app earns, the median is $50k a month. Among paid apps, no price point does better than 11.7%. Store revenue only; advertising income is not included, so ad-supported apps show as not earning here.

- **47.1%** — of free + IAP apps earn $1k+
- **2.4%** — of paid apps without IAP earn $1k+
- **$50k** — median among free + IAP earners
- **20×** — free + IAP vs paid, earning rate

## Four monetization models compared

21,145 apps are free with IAP and 47.1% of them earn more than $1,000 a month; 22,300 are paid with nothing to buy inside and 2.4% of those earn. Free-with-IAP apps clear the bar 20× as often as paid apps.

A free app with no IAP has no way to generate store revenue; its near-zero here is a limit of the measurement, not evidence that ad-supported apps fail. The fair comparison is between the first three models.

Share of apps earning $1k+/month, by model

| Item | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Free + IAP | 47.1% |
| Paid + IAP | 10.7% |
| Paid, no IAP | 2.4% |
| Free, no IAP | 0.1% |

How the catalogue splits by model

| Slice | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Free + IAP | 21,145 · 35.7% |
| Paid + IAP | 3,401 · 5.7% |
| Paid, no IAP | 22,300 · 37.6% |
| Free, no IAP | 12,436 · 21.0% |

Data table

| Model | Apps | Earn $1k+/mo | Median (earners) |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Free + IAP | 21,145 | 47.1% | $50k |
| Paid + IAP | 3,401 | 10.7% | $10k |
| Paid, no IAP | 22,300 | 2.4% | $9k |
| Free, no IAP | 12,436 | 0.1% | — |

## How much each model earns when it works

The median earning free-with-IAP app makes $50k a month. The median earning paid app makes $9k, and the paid-plus-IAP hybrid $10k.

Free entry removes the biggest objection at the moment of discovery; the users who stay are asked to pay once the value is clear, and subscriptions turn that into recurring revenue. A paid app has to win the sale on a store page against free alternatives one scroll away.

Median monthly revenue among earning apps, by model

| Item | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Free + IAP | $50k |
| Paid + IAP | $10k |
| Paid, no IAP | $9k |

## Do paid apps make more? Price points from $0.49 to $29.99

The most common paid price is $0.99, and only 0.8% of apps at that price earn more than $1,000 a month. Higher prices do better — at $11.99, 11.7% earn — but every price point lands far below the 47.1% of free apps with IAP.

At $0.99 you need over a thousand sales a month to clear the floor; a $14.99 app needs seventy. If you charge upfront, price like a tool, not like a candy bar.

Paid apps: share earning $1k+/month, by price

| Item | Value |
| --- | --- |
| $0.49 | 3.0% |
| $0.99 | 0.8% |
| $1.49 | 0.5% |
| $1.99 | 1.0% |
| $2.49 | 2.2% |
| $2.99 | 2.4% |
| $3.49 | 6.1% |
| $3.99 | 2.1% |
| $4.49 | 7.6% |
| $4.99 | 4.9% |
| $5.99 | 6.9% |
| $6.99 | 7.9% |
| $7.99 | 4.7% |
| $8.99 | 9.2% |
| $9.99 | 4.9% |
| $11.99 | 11.7% |
| $12.99 | 5.6% |
| $14.99 | 9.0% |
| $19.99 | 7.5% |
| $24.99 | 10.7% |
| $29.99 | 6.7% |

Data table

| Price | Apps | Earn $1k+/mo |
| --- | --- | --- |
| $0.49 | 233 | 3.0% |
| $0.99 | 5,074 | 0.8% |
| $1.49 | 581 | 0.5% |
| $1.99 | 4,095 | 1.0% |
| $2.49 | 224 | 2.2% |
| $2.99 | 3,306 | 2.4% |
| $3.49 | 148 | 6.1% |
| $3.99 | 2,005 | 2.1% |
| $4.49 | 118 | 7.6% |
| $4.99 | 2,807 | 4.9% |
| $5.99 | 822 | 6.9% |
| $6.99 | 573 | 7.9% |
| $7.99 | 514 | 4.7% |
| $8.99 | 293 | 9.2% |
| $9.99 | 1,463 | 4.9% |
| $11.99 | 120 | 11.7% |
| $12.99 | 216 | 5.6% |
| $14.99 | 402 | 9.0% |
| $19.99 | 467 | 7.5% |
| $24.99 | 177 | 10.7% |
| $29.99 | 193 | 6.7% |

## Monetization model by platform

Free-with-IAP apps earn 53.2% of the time on iOS and 41.7% on Android. Paid apps without IAP earn 1.2% of the time on iOS and 5.7% on Android.

Hold the model fixed and the two stores land within a few points of each other; change the model and the rate moves by an order of magnitude.

How each store's catalogue splits by model

| — | Free + IAP (share) | Paid + IAP (share) | Paid, no IAP (share) | Free, no IAP (share) |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| iOS | 28.7% | 7.8% | 47.9% | 15.6% |
| Android | 45.4% | 2.9% | 23.2% | 28.5% |

Share earning $1k+/month, by model and platform

| — | iOS | Android |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Free + IAP | 53.2% | 41.7% |
| Paid + IAP | 7.2% | 23.8% |
| Paid, no IAP | 1.2% | 5.7% |

## Games vs apps

Games earn more than $1,000 a month 40.8% of the time, against 16.8% for apps outside games, with a median of $60k among earning games.

Games are the free-with-IAP model in its purest form. The lesson for non-game developers is not to build a game but to borrow the mechanics: free entry, value first, a purchase when the user is invested.

Share of apps earning $1k+/month

| Item | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Games | 40.8% |
| All other categories | 16.8% |

Games vs everything else in the catalogue

| Slice | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Games | 3,930 · 6.7% |
| Other categories | 55,142 · 93.3% |

## What this means if you're building an app

If you are choosing a model for a new app, ship it free and sell something inside. That model earns 20× as often as a paid app and its earners make a median of $50k a month.

If you already have a paid app, the least risky move is the hybrid: keep the price for existing users, add an in-app subscription for the feature people ask for most, and watch whether it outgrows the sales. If your app is ad-supported, none of this measures you.

Next step: Browse top grossing apps by category → — https://trendapps.dev/top-trending-apps/?platform=ios&chart=grossing&category=all&monetizing_only=true

## Questions developers ask

### How do free apps make money?

Free apps earn through IAP and subscriptions, through advertising, or by selling a service outside the store. In store data, which only sees purchases, 47.1% of free apps with IAP earn more than $1,000 a month.

### Do paid apps make more money than free apps?

No. Paid apps without IAP earn more than $1,000 a month 2.4% of the time, against 47.1% for free apps with IAP. Even the best paid price point reaches only 11.7%.

### Can free apps make money without ads?

Yes — through IAP and subscriptions, which is the model most earning free apps use. Free apps with IAP that earn have a median store revenue of $50k a month, with no advertising counted.

### How much does Apple or Google take from IAP?

The standard store commission is 30%, reduced to 15% for developers under $1 million in annual revenue on Apple's Small Business Program and Google's equivalent tier, and to 15% for subscriptions after the first year. The revenue figures on this page are gross store estimates before commission.

### What is the best price for a paid app?

In this data, higher paid prices earn more often: $11.99 apps clear $1,000 a month 11.7% of the time, against 0.8% at $0.99. If you charge upfront, price like a tool. But every paid price point trails the free-with-IAP model.

### Do apps with IAP make more money?

Yes: adding IAP to a paid app lifts the share earning $1,000+ a month from 2.4% to 10.7%. Going free with IAP lifts it to 47.1%.

### Are games more profitable than other apps?

Games earn more than $1,000 a month 40.8% of the time, versus 16.8% for apps outside games. Games almost universally use the free-with-IAP model, which explains most of the gap.

## 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.

## Related

- [How Much Do Mobile Apps Make? Revenue Data From Every Tracked App](https://trendapps.dev/statistics/how-much-do-mobile-apps-make/index.md)
- [App Revenue per Download: What a Download Is Actually Worth](https://trendapps.dev/statistics/app-revenue-per-download/index.md)
- [Mobile App Revenue by Category: Which Categories Make the Most Money?](https://trendapps.dev/statistics/app-revenue-by-category/index.md)

Source: https://trendapps.dev/statistics/free-vs-paid-apps-revenue/ · Markdown: https://trendapps.dev/statistics/free-vs-paid-apps-revenue/index.md · Methodology: https://trendapps.dev/methodology/