How Much Money iOS Apps Make Per Download (By Category)

iOS apps are generally more profitable than Android apps. You can read about that on other sites. But have you ever wondered how much money iOS apps actually make per download?

We wondered the same thing. So we dug into our Store Intelligence data and took a look the revenue per download, for all iOS apps, worldwide.

Some categories, like games, are not surprising. But there are other categories that may make more than you think. If you are looking to create a new app, this data might help you pick a category that will give you the best return per download.

This data is also taken from before and after the holiday period, it is a good look at how profitable each download is during the holiday season. We all know that downloads and total revenue typically increase during December, but is each download actually more profitable?

Here is what we discovered...

All iOS Apps

We started by looking at all iOS apps worldwide, to establish an average of what iOS apps make per download. The average revenue per download is quite good, with a slight bump in December, due to the holiday season. Now let's take a look a each individual category.

Business

It's a little ironic, but Business apps have one of the lowest revenue per download numbers. There is a slight seasonal tendency, but it is pretty flat across the board.

Books

Book apps are slightly more profitable than Business apps, but not by much. Again, the revenue is pretty flat during the holiday season.

Catalogs

These apps don't make a lot of money per download. This is not surprising, given that companies usually don't charge for the apps and users typically don't purchase through the app.

Education

Education apps actually see a small bump in revenue in January. That is probably due to the fact that people are on break during the holidays and get back to studying after New Years. Overall, this is not a bad category to be in.

Entertainment

Now we are talking! Entertainment apps make roughly double the revenue per download, compared to the previously mentioned categories. This is definitely a category to consider if you are looking for a higher return per download.

Finance

You would think that Finance apps make a lot of money, but this is certainly not the case. The reason is that most apps are value add services for banks and other companies. So they don't generally generate revenue and they don't have in-app purchases.

Food and Drink

These apps are almost as bad as Finance apps. Again, people don't do a ton of buying within the app and they are usually free.

Games

No surprises here, Games make significantly more money per download than any other category. In fact, it is the only category that makes more than $1 per download. You can see why the biggest game companies can afford to pay so much money for advertising.

Health and Fitness

It is kind of surprising to me that these apps don't make more per download. But I guess there are a lot of free workout apps out there, so it keeps the average return low.

Lifestyle

I really didn't know what to expect from Lifestyle apps. But the average revenue is pretty low, so you would really have to do your homework when it comes to monetizing your app.

Medical

Revenue from Medical apps is slightly better than average. This is because people are typically willing to pay a little more for these apps.

Music

Music apps are generally pretty cheap, so I didn't expect the average revenue per download to be that high...and it's not. But it is higher than I expected, relative to categories like Lifestyle and Finance.

Navigation

Some Navigation apps on the top charts cost $149 or more. But that doesn't translate into a much higher average revenue per download.

News

The return per download for news apps has been declining since October. It's could be a seasonal thing and we wouldn't worry about it.

Newsstand

If you aren't going to make a game, you probably want to look at Newsstand apps. Really good revenue per download and it almost cracks the magic $1 per download mark.

Photo and Video

No surprise here. Free photo and video apps rule. Apps like Instagram usually strive to build a user base, instead of aggressively selling.

Productivity

Productivity apps help you organize your life, but they aren't too productive when it comes to revenue per download. These apps can be fun to create, but you really have to examine how you will monetize effectively.

Reference

Reference apps don't typically make a lot of money per download. But if you can come up with a very niche reference guide, it could do well.

Social Networking

This is a little surprising. Although the revenue per download is not high for these apps, it is higher than I would have expected.

I would have thought that apps like Facebook would bring the average way down. But as I looked through the apps on the Top Charts, it made sense. Dating apps hold up the average.

Sports

As you learned in our previous post, Sports apps get a significantly higher portion of their downloads and revenue on the weekends. But as you can see, sports apps do fairly well on a revenue per download basis.

Travel

With people traveling so often during the holidays, one might expect the return per download to be higher in November through January. Like in other categories, however, this is not the case. Again, total revenue and downloads are probably higher, but just not more profitable, per download.

Utilities

Utilities apps aren't that profitable, but that makes sense. Free apps tend to do better and this is a pretty crowded category.

Weather

Finally, we come to Weather apps. There are quite a few apps that use proprietary weather data and can therefore charge for the app. So unless you have access to this type of data, making a lot per download can be a little tough.

Conclusion

So that is what we estimate app publishers make per download, worldwide. This doesn't mean that you can't make a very profitable app in any category. There may also be other ways to monetize an app, outside the App Store, but this is the revenue that we can quantifiably estimate.

It just means that you have to really do your homework and find out what successful apps are doing. This is especially true in categories that typically have a low yield per download.

This data comes from our Store Intelligence product. If you would like to get the estimated downloads and revenue for your competition, schedule an Enterprise demo today.