Sensor Tower: iOS Users Spent $10.3 billion on Top 100 Subscription Apps in 2020, Up 32% Year-on-Year

Consumer spending on the top 100 non-game subscription-based apps across mobile platforms grew 34% year-on-year from $9.7 billion in 2019 to $13 billion in 2020, according to a new report by analytics firm Sensor Tower.

subscription app worldwide 2020 spending
According to the data, revenue from subscription apps purchased on the App Store and the Google Play Store represented around 11.7% of the $111 billion that consumers spent on in-app purchases last year, the same share as in 2019. In the fourth quarter of 2020, however, 86 of the top 100 earning non-game apps worldwide offered subscriptions, which is actually down slightly from 89 in the same quarter of 2019.

Reflecting a wider historical trend, spending on subscription-based apps in Apple's ‌App Store‌ was vastly more than in the Google Play Store:

Consumers have historically spent more on the App Store than on Google's marketplace, and the same holds true for subscription apps. Globally, the top 100 subscription apps on the App Store generated $10.3 billion in 2020, up 32 percent from $7.8 billion the previous year. The cohort of 100 top earners on Google Play saw $2.7 billion last year, up 42 percent Y/Y from $1.9 billion in 2019.

The only performance indicator in which the Google Play Store beat the ‌App Store‌ was in terms of year-on-year growth for U.S. user spending on subscription apps.

Looking at the U.S. App Store, consumers spent $4.5 billion in 2020 on the top 100 earning non-game apps offering subscriptions, up 25 percent from approximately $3.6 billion in 2019. While the top 100 earning subscription apps on Google Play did not generate as much revenue, they did see greater Y/Y growth. In 2020, the top Google Play subscription apps in the U.S. saw $1.4 billion spent, up 40 percent Y/Y from $1 billion.

top grossing subscription apps us 2020
Google was the big winner this year in terms of subscription app spending, both globally and in the U.S. YouTube was the subscription app leader across both stores, earning $991.7 million in gross revenue globally and $562 million in the U.S. It was also the top earning subscription app on the ‌App Store‌.

Despite the numbers, the subscription apps generally divide ‌App Store‌ users between those for and against the revenue model. Apple began incentivizing developers to sell their apps for a recurring fee instead of a one-time cost when it made changes to its ‌‌App Store‌‌ subscription policies in 2016. Usually, Apple takes 30 percent of app revenue, but developers who are able to maintain a subscription with a customer longer than a year see Apple's cut drop down to 15 percent.

In late 2017, Apple began letting developers offer discounted introductory pricing and time-limited free trials on auto-renewable app subscriptions, based on the idea that subscriptions provide a higher likelihood of an engaged audience.

Popular Stories

Apple CarPlay Ultra instrument cluster themes 01

Apple's 'CarPlay Ultra' Experience Now Available

Thursday May 15, 2025 5:07 am PDT by
Apple today announced that its next-generation CarPlay experience, now dubbed "CarPlay Ultra" begins rolling out today, starting with Aston Martin vehicles. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. CarPlay Ultra is now available with new Aston Martin vehicle orders in the U.S. and Canada. It will also be available for existing models that feature the brand's next-generation ...
Apple CarPlay Ultra instrument cluster themes 01

Apple's CarPlay Ultra Is Here – Does Your iPhone Support It?

Thursday May 15, 2025 5:17 am PDT by
Apple's recently announced CarPlay Ultra promises a deeply integrated in-car experience, but not all iPhone users will be able to take advantage of the new feature. According to Apple's press release, CarPlay Ultra requires an iPhone 12 or later running iOS 18.5 or later. This means if you're using an iPhone 11, iPhone XR, or any older model, you'll need to upgrade your device to access...
iOS 18

Apple Releases iOS 18.5 With New Wallpaper, Screen Time Changes, Carrier Satellite Support for iPhone 13 and More

Monday May 12, 2025 10:06 am PDT by
Apple today released iOS 18.5 and iPadOS 18.5, the fifth updates to the iOS 18 and iPadOS 18 operating systems that came out last September. iOS 18.5 and iPadOS 18.5 come a little over a month after Apple released iOS 18.4 and iPadOS 18.4. The new software can be downloaded on eligible iPhones and iPads over-the-air by going to Settings > General > Software Update. The iOS 18.5 update has a...
iPhone 12 Made in India

Trump Tells Tim Cook to Stop Building iPhones in India

Thursday May 15, 2025 2:21 am PDT by
President Donald Trump has asked Apple CEO Tim Cook to halt the company's manufacturing expansion in India, in a potential disruption of Apple's plan to shift iPhone production away from China. "I had a little problem with Tim Cook yesterday," Trump said during his state visit to Qatar, according to Bloomberg. "He is building all over India." "They [India] have offered us a deal where...
CarPlay Ultra Climate Controls

Apple Says These Vehicle Brands Plan to Offer All-New CarPlay Ultra

Thursday May 15, 2025 8:13 am PDT by
Apple today announced the launch of CarPlay Ultra, the long-awaited next-generation version of its CarPlay software system for vehicles. CarPlay Ultra features deep integration with a vehicle's instrument cluster and systems, built-in Radio and Climate apps, customizable widgets, and more. The interface is tailored to each vehicle model and automaker's identity, and drivers can also adjust...
apple music

Apple Music Gets New Transfer Tool to Make Switching From Spotify Easier

Wednesday May 14, 2025 5:17 pm PDT by
Apple this week introduced a new feature designed to allow prospective Apple Music users to import their saved music and playlists from third-party music services to Apple Music. The feature is either in an expanded testing phase or it has started rolling out, and it is available in Australia and New Zealand according to an Apple Support document. Signs of the transfer option first surfaced...
maxresdefault

Here's the First Real-World Look at Apple's CarPlay Ultra

Thursday May 15, 2025 5:52 am PDT by
The first videos of Apple's CarPlay Ultra experience are now available, providing a never-before-seen look at the long-anticipated iPhone-linked infotainment software. British automaker Aston Martin today shared the first video of Apple's CarPlay Ultra experience in-action, followed by a detailed walk-through of the CarPlay Ultra system on Top Gear's YouTube channel, which provides the...

Top Rated Comments

jlc1978 Avatar
56 months ago

The data doesn’t lie, iPhone users are a bunch of horny buggers. ?

Or simply more attractive than Androiud users...
Score: 9 Votes (Like | Disagree)
sinoka56 Avatar
56 months ago

Or simply more attractive than Androiud users...
Attractive people wouldn't need to pay for Tinder to get boosted ;)
Score: 9 Votes (Like | Disagree)
LFC2020 Avatar
56 months ago
The data doesn’t lie, iPhone users are a bunch of horny buggers. ?


Attachment Image
Score: 9 Votes (Like | Disagree)
jlc1978 Avatar
56 months ago

Pretty crazy when you think of it. Android has a huge market share, but iOS payments appear to be nearly 4x that of the Play store. No wonder most Android apps are utter garbage - the money's in the other platform.
Exactly.

These results show how much value Apple brings to the table in return for the cut it takes. Apple's customer base brings in nearly 5x the revenue as Google's, which means for what is probably the same amount of development effort the upside for iOS is significantly higher.

That's why I think the whole "Apple's fee is too high" argument isn't valid since Apple offers access to a much more lucrative customer base than Google, even if Android has a larger market share. Companies may whine about Apple's cut because they want that for themselves (especially since Apple's cut is about the total for Google Play) but will not walk away because that's where they make the most money.


To put the fairness argument in another light, companies should cut the subscription fees significantly for iOS because they make a lot more from them for the same costs of development, and thus their margins are "unfair." I doubt any would agree with that yet that is essentially a main part of the argument they make against Apple's fees. It's not about fairness but about money.


The non existence of piracy on iOS is a consequence of only having one way to download apps.
Which, of course is a good thing for developrs as well as customers.
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
EmotionalSnow Avatar
56 months ago

Pretty crazy when you think of it. Android has a huge market share, but iOS payments appear to be nearly 4x that of the Play store. No wonder most Android apps are utter garbage - the money's in the other platform.

Mind you, piracy is rampant on Android...
The non existence of piracy on iOS is a consequence of only having one way to download apps.
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
ilikewhey Avatar
56 months ago
thats astonishing consider android dominates the market by a wide margin.
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)