Ever try to guess how much money the top apps on the Apple App Store are making every month?
Whatever you are thinking, it is probably too low.
…or maybe not.
Let’s find out.
HOW I GOT THESE TOP GROSSING APPS REVENUE ESTIMATES
Here the monthly revenue estimates of what some of the top grossing apps on the Apple App Store and the Google Play App Store are making. These app intelligence estimates are from our friends at Apptopia.
We did our best to look at both iOS apps and Android apps and examine apps from different categories, not just games. Doing research like this on apps in your category can help you figure out what top grossing apps are doing to be successful and how you can implement their strategies.
13. SUMMONERS WAR (IOS)
summoners-war
Summoners War makes almost all of its money through in-app purchases and about 0.6% on ads. At an estimated $2.42 million a month, this app kills it and should make more money as the holiday season rolls around.
Com2uSCorp, the publishers of this game, is actually currently making more on Google Play. Most apps will make more on the iOS Store, but not this app. To learn how much this publisher is making, check out Apptopia.
12. TINDER (GOOGLE PLAY)
tinder app revenue
Everyone’s favorite ADD dating app makes a healthy $799K per month, and that number seems to be on the uptick. But unlike the previous app, Tinder makes a KILLING on iOS, more than double.
They make a fair amount of this total from running ads, but that only accounts for an estimated 5.8% of this revenue total. If you are looking to get into the dating apps game, you should do your research and find out which platform makes more money.
But by doing a quick examination of Tinder, we can see that iOS is probably the best place to start.
11. 8 BALL POOL™ (IOS)
app income
This is a game that your probably haven’t heard of, unless you follow the top charts closely or you are really into pool games. But at an estimated $959K a month, this game is one of the big boys.
It is interesting to note that by Apptopia’s estimates, this game makes 25.7% of its revenue from ads. So if you want to monetize your game with IAPs and ads, then this is a great game to study.
Mobile ad revenue
10. MARVEL CONTEST OF CHAMPIONS (IOS)
marvel app
The Marvel franchise is a juggernaut and Kabam has figured out how to cash in on it. This one app has made an estimated $2.09 million in September and is going strong.
It is interesting to note that the downloads don’t necessarily correlate with the revenue, so you should definitely dig deeper to understand why that is. By looking at the revenue distribution of this app, they naturally make most of their money in the US, but they also make a significant percentage of their income from the Russian Federation and Japan.
This could give you a big clue as to which countries to localize for next.
9. SLOTOMANIA CASINO – LAS VEGAS FREE SLOT MACHINE GAMES (IOS)
slots app revenueGambling games are hot, and probably will continue to be, long into the future. Players love the excitement and we can see it in the estimated download and revenue numbers of Slotomainia.
A little under $2 million a month is awesome and if you want to launch a slots game, you need to figure out what Playtika is doing.
To learn more about a little-known gambling game category that has done really well for us, be sure to read this post.
8. BOOM BEACH (IOS)
boom-beach
I’ll get to Boom Beach’s better-known cousin in a bit, but Boom Beach is a huge hit in its own right. With estimated downloads and revenue steadily rising, Supercell won’t have to worry about keeping the lights on…at least for awhile.
So now that you know that Boom Beach makes an estimated $2.07 million a month, how much do you think Clash of Clans makes?
You will find out in a bit…
But before I move on, Boom Beach actually makes more revenue on Android than on iOS. Surprising…maybe.
7. CANDY CRUSH SODA SAGA (IOS)
how much soda saga makes
Talk about top tier reskinning! Candy Crush Saga was the first huge hit for King, so what is the smart thing to do?
Reskin it, of course! This app is a beast at $2.87 million, in monthly revenue.
Not a whole lot more to say here. Find a successful model and keep doing it.
6. MADDEN NFL MOBILE (IOS)
madden nfl revenue
A lot of people don’t know this, but Madden NFL started on the Commodore 64, in 1988. It was originally called John Madden Football and has since grown to be the premier American Football game on consoles.
Judging by these numbers, they have been able to recreate the same success on mobile. An estimated $1.2M per month isn’t bad and it looks like the numbers are rising fast.
Electronic Arts makes a little less with their Android app on Google Play.
5. CANDY CRUSH SAGA (GOOGLE PLAY)
Now we get to one of the OG mega games, Candy Crush. King has made a killing with this relatively simple game.
So how much do you think they make a month?
Even I was not expecting this number…wow!
how much candy crush saga makes
I knew that they made a lot of money, but this is a lot more than the last time I checked. They have really done their homework and are the masters of monetization.
Study what they do.
4. MOBILE STRIKE (IOS)
mobile-strike
Mobile Strike was released worldwide on 11/11/2015 and it has been a huge success. As you can see from the charts, Epic War did a soft launch in countries like Australia and Canada, in July.
Their iOS app makes about double the Android counterpart. Since this is a fairly new game, it can be useful to go back through their update history and app reviews and find out what they tested and improved before going worldwide.
3. GAME OF WAR – FIRE AGE (IOS)
game-of-war
Now we get into next level stuff, apps that make $10+ million. Game of War is a BEAST and brings in $11 million a month.
That is a lot of tacos and Coronas.
Again, study their monetization strategies. Yes, they also have a huge budget for development and marketing, but you can always learn a thing or two, that you can apply to your app.
2. SPOTIFY MUSIC (IOS)
spotify app revenue
Do you use Spotify? Not me, but I know plenty of people who absolutely love the service.
In addition, their business model is genius. It’s kinda like the Kylie Jenner app, except it’s not hated on by mothers of teenage girls.
At an estimated $7.71 million a month, it is a good sign that streaming music is alive and well. If you are curious, Pandora’s app only makes about $1.02 million a month, on iOS.
Since Spotify has about 30M songs available (comparable to Apple Music), it’s no wonder they are making more money. Last I checked, Pandora only has a little over 1 million.
1. CLASH OF CLANS (IOS)
Now we get to the grandaddy of baller apps. Do you think it makes more than Game of War?
Drum roll please….
Clash of Clans monthly revenue top grossing apps
Yes! It does make more than Game of War, by a small margin.
If you make games, you must study apps like Clash of Clans and Boom Beach. How do they retain players? What countries are they popular in?
You can learn a ton by playing this game.
CONCLUSION
So…were your estimates pretty close, or were you way off?
To learn how these apps make so much money, do your market research with an App Intelligence platform like Apptopia. Also download the apps you are interested in and figure out why they are so successful.
You might be surprised at what you find.
