As of 20 October 2026, most new apps make almost nothing in their first year. Of 6,786 apps launched on the App Store between October 2025 and March 2026 that reached at least 20 US ratings, 91% earned less than $5,000 in September 2026, according to Victoire's estimates of worldwide gross revenue. Only 452 apps (6.7%) reached $10,000 a month, and 75 (1.1%) reached $100,000.
That is the honest answer to "is an app profitable?". It does not mean the bet is lost. The apps that earn money do not look like the others: they are translated into more languages, updated more often, and most of them come from developers with a single app. Those differences can be checked before you write a line of code, and that is what this study is for.
What does a "profitable app" mean?
A profitable app is an app whose revenue covers what it costs to build, run and promote. On the App Store, revenue mostly comes from subscriptions and in-app purchases, and Apple takes a commission on each sale: 30% as standard, 15% for developers in the App Store Small Business Program (up to $1 million of proceeds in the previous year) and for subscriptions after their first year. What is left then has to pay for servers, AI calls, content, ads and your time.
This article measures gross revenue, before Apple's commission and before costs. It uses three thresholds:
Under $5,000 a month. At this level an app rarely covers one person's wages once the commission and running costs are taken out. It is a side project, or an app still looking for its audience.
$10,000 a month or more. This is the threshold used throughout the article. After a 15% commission, $10,000 gross leaves $8,500, enough to pay a solo developer in most countries if the app's running costs stay low.
$100,000 a month or more. At this level the app is a business. It usually pays a team, a paid acquisition budget, or both.
What are the key figures?
91% of new apps make under $5,000 a month. Out of 6,786 non-game apps launched between October 2025 and March 2026 with at least 20 US ratings, 6,178 were under $5,000 in September 2026. Only apps that already drew some attention are counted, so the real share among all launches is higher.
6.7% reach $10,000 a month, 1.1% reach $100,000. That is 452 apps above the first threshold and 75 above the second. Four apps reached $1 million in the month.
The top 1% take 63% of the money. The 67 best earners make about $23 million of the $36 million the cohort generates in a month. The ten best alone take 36%.
Revenue rarely shows up late. Of 885 apps under $5,000 in August, 15 reached $10,000 in September. Of the 266 apps at $10,000 or more in August, 238 were still there a month later.
Half of the winners are one-app developers. 228 of the 452 apps at $10,000 or more come from a publisher with a single app on the store, and 77% from a publisher with three apps or fewer.
Translated apps succeed more than three times as often. 4.0% of single-language apps reach $10,000 a month, against 14.3% for apps in five to nine languages.
Apps that make money are maintained. 9.2% of apps updated in the past 30 days reach $10,000, against 3.6% of apps left untouched for more than three months.
How did we count?
We took every non-game app released between 1 October 2025 and 31 March 2026 that had at least 20 ratings on the US App Store on 20 October 2026. That gives 7,356 listings. We removed 570 of them whose App Store ID shows an older listing that had been re-dated, such as a big brand's app republished under a new release date. That leaves 6,786 apps, roughly six months to a year old today.
For each app, we read Victoire's estimate of its worldwide gross revenue and downloads for September 2026, and, when available, for August 2026. These estimates are rounded: below $5,000 a month they are only given as "under $5,000", and above that they move in steps ($5,000, $6,000… $10,000, $20,000…). They give an order of magnitude, not an exact figure.
The bar of 20 US ratings has two effects. It excludes the many apps that never reach 20 ratings, which would push the failure rate even higher. It also under-counts apps that sell mainly outside the United States, which is why the France section further down uses a separate count based on French ratings.
How much does a new app make per month?
- Under $5,00091%
- $5,000 to $10,0002.3%
- $10,000 to $50,0004.3%
- $50,000 to $100,0001.3%
- $100,000 or more1.1%
| Monthly revenue (September 2026) | Apps | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Under $5,000 | 6,178 | 91.0% |
| $5,000 to $10,000 | 156 | 2.3% |
| $10,000 to $50,000 | 292 | 4.3% |
| $50,000 to $100,000 | 85 | 1.3% |
| $100,000 to $1 million | 71 | 1.0% |
| $1 million or more | 4 | 0.1% |
The typical new app, the median one, makes under $5,000 a month. Between $5,000 and $50,000 sits a thin middle band of 448 apps, the few that can pay one or two salaries. Above that, the curve flattens into a long tail of hits.
The money is concentrated at the top. Together these apps make about $36 million a month, and the top 1%, 67 apps, take 63% of it. The ten best earners alone take 36%, led by VibeShort, a short-drama app estimated at $6 million a month. If you only look at the apps that make headlines, you are looking at the top 1%.
Does an app earn more after twelve months than after six?
Not on average. Apps launched in October 2025 reach $10,000 a month at about the same rate as those launched in March 2026: 5.9% against 5.8%. The months in between move between 6.6% and 7.5%, with no trend over time.
| Launch month | Apps | At $10,000+ a month |
|---|---|---|
| October 2025 | 1,081 | 5.9% |
| November 2025 | 1,114 | 7.5% |
| December 2025 | 1,037 | 7.0% |
| January 2026 | 1,185 | 7.3% |
| February 2026 | 997 | 6.6% |
| March 2026 | 1,372 | 5.8% |
If time alone turned apps into businesses, the older apps would do better. They do not. An app launched in March has had about seven months; one launched in October has had about a year; their odds are the same.
Month-to-month movement points the same way. For the 1,215 apps with an estimate in both August and September 2026, 885 made under $5,000 in August: only 15 of them reached $10,000 in September, and 31 reached $5,000. In the other direction, 238 of the 266 apps at $10,000 or more in August were still there in September, and only 10 fell back under $5,000.
Two lessons follow. First, revenue rarely appears late: the apps that earn tend to find their buyers in the first months. Second, once it is there, it tends to hold, partly because subscriptions renew from one month to the next. An app that is still flat after a few months is giving you information, and it is rarely "wait longer".
How many ratings does an app making $10,000 a month have?
Fewer than you might think. The median app making $10,000 or more a month has 400 ratings in the US, and a quarter of them have fewer than 110. But the odds rise sharply with ratings:
| US ratings | Apps | At $10,000+ a month |
|---|---|---|
| 20 to 49 | 3,137 | 1.8% |
| 50 to 99 | 1,314 | 3.9% |
| 100 to 499 | 1,544 | 8.4% |
| 500 to 1,999 | 544 | 21.1% |
| 2,000 or more | 247 | 39.7% |
Ratings follow downloads, so they are not a lever in themselves, only a yardstick. They are useful when you study a competitor: an app with 300 US ratings is not necessarily small, and an app with 5,000 is not necessarily rich. Our article on apps with few reviews but high revenue shows how to spot the first kind.
The average star rating says even less. Apps rated between 4.0 and 4.5 reach $10,000 a month 9.3% of the time; apps rated 4.8 or more only 2.5% of the time. Near-perfect averages are mostly found among apps with few ratings: the median app rated 4.8 or more has about 43 US ratings, against 63 to 77 for apps rated between 4.0 and 4.8. Apps that sell to a wide public collect more ratings, and more mixed ones.
| Average US rating | Apps | At $10,000+ a month |
|---|---|---|
| Under 4.0 | 692 | 7.1% |
| 4.0 to 4.49 | 1,563 | 9.3% |
| 4.5 to 4.79 | 2,467 | 8.4% |
| 4.8 or more | 2,064 | 2.5% |
Do downloads mean revenue?
No. Of the 114 apps in the sample with at least 100,000 downloads in September, 64 still made less than $5,000. Volume alone does not pay: more than half of these widely downloaded apps stay under $5,000.
Among the 299 apps at $10,000 or more for which a download estimate exists, median revenue per download is $1.50. A quarter earn less than $0.80 per download, and a quarter more than $2.86. Their median downloads for the month: 20,000.
This gives a simple order of magnitude. At $1.50 per download, $10,000 a month takes roughly 6,700 downloads a month, about 220 a day. At $0.80 it takes 12,500, and at $2.86 about 3,500. Before building, ask yourself where those downloads will come from every month: search, social video, ads, or word of mouth.
Which categories give a new app the best odds?
- Books16%
- Graphics & Design12.2%
- Reference11.7%
- Photo & Video10.2%
- Entertainment9.2%
- Utilities8.1%
- Health & Fitness3.7%
- Finance2.7%
- Shopping1.1%
- Food & Drink1%
| Category | Apps | At $10,000+ | Share | At $100,000+ |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Books | 100 | 16 | 16.0% | 1 |
| Graphics & Design | 172 | 21 | 12.2% | 3 |
| Reference | 273 | 32 | 11.7% | 6 |
| Photo & Video | 305 | 31 | 10.2% | 6 |
| Entertainment | 530 | 49 | 9.2% | 13 |
| Utilities | 898 | 73 | 8.1% | 13 |
| Productivity | 449 | 33 | 7.3% | 4 |
| Education | 489 | 35 | 7.2% | 2 |
| Music | 182 | 13 | 7.1% | 2 |
| Social Networking | 215 | 15 | 7.0% | 4 |
| Lifestyle | 619 | 40 | 6.5% | 6 |
| Business | 155 | 10 | 6.5% | 1 |
| Travel | 143 | 9 | 6.3% | 2 |
| Sports | 239 | 11 | 4.6% | 2 |
| Health & Fitness | 963 | 36 | 3.7% | 8 |
| Finance | 299 | 8 | 2.7% | 0 |
| Shopping | 188 | 2 | 1.1% | 0 |
| Food & Drink | 310 | 3 | 1.0% | 1 |
Reference does well thanks to apps that identify or guide: AntiqSnap estimates antiques, others identify coins or sell wood and sewing plans. In Books, which has only 100 apps, the earners are web-novel readers and Scroll The Bible, so the 16% rests on a small base. Graphics & Design and Photo & Video are driven by AI image and video tools, which sell well but pay for every generation.
Entertainment and Utilities are the two categories with the most apps above $100,000 (13 each). They combine reasonable odds with high ceilings: a widget or a short-drama app can reach a very wide audience.
Health & Fitness is the most crowded category, with 963 apps, and one of the hardest: only 3.7% reach $10,000. Finance, Shopping and Food & Drink are full of companion apps for banks, retailers and restaurants, almost all under $5,000, which pulls their rate down; an independent app can still succeed there, as the Localize case below shows. For revenue in absolute terms rather than odds, see which app category makes the most money.
What do the apps that make money have in common?
Three traits stand out across the cohort. They are correlations, not a formula: an app that sells well can afford translations and frequent updates, so part of the link runs the other way (see the limits section). But each one is cheap to check and to copy.
They come from small developers
Half of the apps at $10,000 or more (228 of 452) come from a publisher with a single app on the store. Another 120 come from publishers with two or three apps. Only 34 come from publishers with more than ten apps. Among the 75 apps at $100,000 or more, 34 are the only app of their publisher.
The first-year market is not reserved for studios that ship dozens of clones. A single developer with one well-targeted app is the most common profile among the winners.
They speak more than one language
| Languages | Apps | At $10,000+ a month |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4,330 | 4.0% |
| 2 to 4 | 673 | 6.5% |
| 5 to 9 | 607 | 14.3% |
| 10 to 19 | 696 | 13.2% |
| 20 or more | 480 | 11.2% |
Nearly two thirds of the cohort ships in a single language, and those apps have the lowest odds. From five languages onward, the rate is about three times higher. Translating a listing and an onboarding opens markets such as Germany, Brazil, Mexico or Japan, where competition in a niche is often thinner than in the United States. Formo, below, makes more of its ratings in Poland than in the US.
They are updated
| Last update | Apps | At $10,000+ a month |
|---|---|---|
| In the past 30 days | 3,132 | 9.2% |
| 31 to 90 days ago | 1,438 | 5.9% |
| More than 90 days ago | 2,216 | 3.6% |
A third of the apps in the cohort (2,216) have not been updated for more than three months. The apps that earn keep shipping: Wayk published six updates between 19 September and 19 October 2026.
Which small apps made it in their first year?
The top of the ranking mixes short-drama apps, AI video generators and Scroll The Bible at $2 million a month. Here are five examples in niches within a small team's reach, all from publishers with three apps or fewer.
- 1myCar: Car Widgets & Dashboard≈ $500kUtilities, Nov. 2025
- 2Stella - Manifest Anything≈ $300kHealth & Fitness, Jan. 2026
- 3Formo - Calorie Counter≈ $200kHealth & Fitness, Jan. 2026
- 4Wayk: Alarm Clock to Wake Up≈ $100kHealth & Fitness, Feb. 2026
- 5Localize - Farmers Market≈ $100kFood & Drink, Dec. 2025
myCar: personalising the car screen
myCar lets drivers decorate their car's screen with couple photos, custom icons, animated GIFs and startup sounds. Released in November 2025 by KarmaTECH, a publisher with two apps, it is estimated at $500,000 in September 2026 for about 200,000 downloads, around $2.50 per download. It has 13,518 US ratings, also does well in Mexico, Canada and Brazil, and ships in nine languages. Its best position over the past month was 29th top-grossing in Utilities in the US.
Stella: manifestation in one language
Stella generates personalised audio stories and affirmations that put the user in their "dream life". Released in January 2026 by Perl Productions, a single-app publisher, it is estimated at $300,000 a month in August and September 2026 for about 50,000 downloads, so roughly $6 per download, four times the cohort median. It is available in English only and gets most of its ratings from the US, India and the United Kingdom. It is a niche we covered in how to build a manifestation app.
Formo: an AI calorie counter that wins in Europe
Formo identifies calories and macronutrients from a photo of a meal, behind a paid subscription. Released in January 2026 by Priority Apps, a single-app publisher, it is estimated at $200,000 in September 2026. Its listing is translated into 27 languages and it has more ratings in Poland (1,535) and Germany (834) than in the US (656). Calorie counting is a crowded niche in the US; Formo found most of its users in Europe, through its translations.
Wayk: an alarm you cannot snooze
Wayk only stops ringing once the user completes a mission: push-ups, a photo of the sky, making the bed, reading a verse. Released in February 2026 by Dialed Labs, a publisher with two apps, it went from about $80,000 in August to $100,000 in September 2026, and its downloads doubled to about 200,000. It gained 816 US ratings in the past 30 days and climbed to 23rd in the free Health & Fitness chart in the US.
Localize: a farm finder in a "dead" category
Localize lists local farms selling raw dairy, grass-fed meat, honey and tallow skincare, with deals and a map reserved for members. Released in December 2025 by OnePace, a publisher with three apps, it is estimated at $100,000 a month for about 300,000 downloads in September 2026, roughly $0.33 per download. Almost all of its 19,392 ratings come from the US, it is in English only, and it reached 3rd top-grossing in Food & Drink in the US, a category where only three apps of the cohort reach $10,000.
| App | What it sells | What it teaches |
|---|---|---|
| myCar | Car screen widgets and sounds | A cosmetic need can sell at $2.50 per download |
| Stella | Personalised manifestation audio | A strong emotional promise sells well in one language |
| Formo | Photo-based calorie counting | Translation opens markets the leaders neglect |
| Wayk | Mission-based alarm | A twist on a basic tool beats a generic copy |
| Localize | Local farm directory with deals | A cultural trend can carry a category written off as dead |
None of the five is a generic tracker or a copy of a market leader. Each one starts from a specific promise and a specific audience. Three of them are in Health & Fitness, one of the hardest categories, which shows that a crowded category is not closed to an app with a sharp angle.
What about apps aimed at France?
The US-based count leaves out apps that sell mainly in France, so we ran the same method on French ratings: non-game apps released between October 2025 and March 2026 with at least 20 ratings on the French App Store. After removing re-dated listings, that gives 1,066 apps. Of these, 79.3% made under $5,000 in September 2026, 17.0% reached $10,000 and 4.0% reached $100,000. The rate is higher than in the US count because most of these earners are international apps: 162 of the 181 apps at $10,000 or more have more ratings in the US than in France.
The picture changes for apps that are really French-first, those with more ratings in France than in the US. There are 494 of them, and only 19 (3.8%) reach $10,000 a month. None of them reaches $100,000; the best:
| App | Category | Estimated revenue, Sept. 2026 |
|---|---|---|
| Kotcha - Running & Trail | Health & Fitness | ≈ $90k |
| bpm – rencontre sport & dating | Lifestyle | ≈ $80k |
| Flashka - AI Flashcards Maker | Education | ≈ $70k |
| Basta Batchcooking | Food & Drink | ≈ $60k |
| Bible Instant | Reference | ≈ $50k |
| Micron: calorie counter | Health & Fitness | ≈ $50k |
| Solaia: hormonal balance | Health & Fitness | ≈ $40k |
A French app can make a good living, but the French market alone rarely produces a large business in the first year. The French-first winners are mostly in health, lifestyle, education and cooking, close to everyday habits. If you aim for France, plan from the start to translate into Spanish, German or Italian once the app works.
What does $10,000 a month really leave you?
Consider an app making $10,000 of gross revenue a month from subscriptions. Its developer is in the App Store Small Business Program.
Apple's commission. At 15%, Apple keeps $1,500. You receive $8,500, before tax. Outside the program, at 30%, you would receive $7,000.
Running costs. An app that calls an AI model for every action (photo analysis, generated audio or video) pays for every use. A widget or a directory app costs almost nothing to run. This is the line that separates a comfortable $8,500 from a thin margin.
Acquisition. At the cohort's median of $1.50 per download, $10,000 takes about 6,700 downloads a month. If they come from organic search or free social video, most of the $8,500 stays with you. If you buy them, each download must cost well under $1.50 to leave a margin.
The same calculation explains why the winners are so concentrated: the apps that find a free and repeatable source of downloads keep most of their revenue and can reinvest it, while the others stall.
How do you give your app a better chance before building it?
Start from apps that already earn. Pick an idea from recent apps already making money, on the ideas page, rather than starting from a blank page. A niche where a recent app already makes $10,000 a month proves that people pay; your job is then to do it differently, not to prove demand.
Check that the market pays, not just that it downloads the app. 64 of the 114 apps with 100,000+ downloads earn under $5,000. Look at the revenue of the top five competitors, not their downloads or their star rating, and check their revenue per download against the $1.50 median.
Find your angle before your features. None of the five case studies is a generic tracker. Write in one sentence what your app does that the leader does not: a mission, a market, a promise, an audience. Then check on the keywords page whether people search for that angle.
Plan your paywall from day one. Pricing is a decision of its own; our subscription pricing study gives the usual prices. Adding a paywall after launch means asking users who started for free to start paying, which is harder than charging from the start.
Translate as soon as the app works. Apps in five to nine languages reach $10,000 3.6 times as often as single-language apps. Translate the listing first (title, subtitle, screenshots), then the onboarding and the paywall.
Judge early, then keep shipping. Only 15 of 885 apps under $5,000 in August reached $10,000 the following month. If revenue stays flat after launch, change the angle, the paywall or the acquisition channel rather than waiting. If it takes off, keep updating: apps updated in the past month succeed 2.5 times more often than those left alone.
What are the limits of these figures?
These are estimates, not accounts
Victoire's revenue figures are rounded estimates of gross revenue for one month. They are reliable as orders of magnitude and for comparing groups of apps, far less reliable for pinning down what any single app earns to the dollar. Use them to compare niches, not to forecast your own revenue.
The sample favours apps visible in the US
Requiring 20 US ratings leaves out apps that never took off and apps that sell mainly elsewhere. The first effect makes the real failure rate higher than 91%; the second is why we ran a separate count for France.
Correlation is not cause
Translated and frequently updated apps succeed more often, but part of that is because successful apps have the means to translate and update. The traits are worth copying because they are cheap, not because they guarantee results.
Frequently asked questions
How much does an app make in its first year?
Very little, in most cases. 91% of apps launched between October 2025 and March 2026 with at least 20 US ratings made under $5,000 in September 2026. 6.7% reached $10,000 a month and 1.1% reached $100,000.
What percentage of apps are profitable?
About 7%. Among apps launched between October 2025 and March 2026 with at least 20 US ratings, 6.7% made $10,000 or more in estimated gross revenue in September 2026. Profitability then depends on your costs: AI, content, acquisition and Apple's commission (15% to 30%).
How many ratings does a profitable app need?
The median app at $10,000 or more a month has 400 US ratings, and a quarter have fewer than 110. Among apps with 2,000 ratings or more, 40% reach that threshold.
How many downloads do you need to make $10,000 a month?
At the median revenue per download of apps at $10,000 or more, $1.50, it takes about 6,700 downloads a month. Depending on the app, the range goes from about 3,500 (at $2.86 per download) to 12,500 (at $0.80).
Which app category is most profitable for a new app?
By share of apps reaching $10,000 a month: Books (16%), Graphics & Design (12.2%), Reference (11.7%) and Photo & Video (10.2%). Health & Fitness is the most crowded category and one of the hardest, at 3.7%.
Can a solo developer still make money with an app?
Yes. Half of the apps at $10,000 or more a month (228 of 452) come from a publisher with a single app on the store, and so do 34 of the 75 apps at $100,000 or more.
How long does it take for an app to make money?
The apps that earn usually do so within their first months. Apps launched in October 2025 and in March 2026 reach $10,000 a month at the same rate, and only 15 of 885 apps under $5,000 in August reached $10,000 in September.
