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These were the top 10 apps that users spent the most money on in 2021

Here are the top 10 apps where users spent the most money last year.

By Abhinav Kaustubh -

Published On: February 26, 2022

Highlights

Customers spent $131.6 billion on in-app subscriptions in 2021.
App Store accounted generated more revenue from in-app purchases compared to Google Play Store.
YouTube made a revenue of $1.2 billion worldwide from in-app purchases.

Apps have become a fundamental part of our life, and as per a new report, users are spending more money on apps than ever. The report under consideration, from Sensor Tower, shares the top 100 non-game apps where users spent the most money on in-app subscriptions last year. The report suggests that consumers expenditure on these subscription-based apps saw a 41 percent rise in 2021 to $18.3 billion, from $13 billion in 2020. Dating and OTT apps heavily dominate the list, and a few other messaging apps are also on the list.

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The revenue from these top 100 apps represents about 14 percent of $131.6 billion that users spent on subscriptions for both game and non-game apps. In 2021, US customers spent $40.7 billion on in-app subscriptions, and $8.5 billion were spent on non-game apps, including about 21 per cent of top subscription apps. Moreover, in Q4 2021, 90 out of the top 100 top-grossing apps in the US included in-app subscriptions. However, this number was down from 91 and 93 apps in Q4 2020 and Q4 2019, respectively.

The report shows that iOS and Mac users spent more money on in-app payments than Android users in 2021. Last year, users spent as much as 3x money on App Store than Play Store generating $13.5 billion, up from $10.3 billion in 2020. Meanwhile, the top 100 apps on the Google Play store accounted for $4.8 billion in revenue worldwide, up by 78 percent from 2020.

The top 100 subscription apps on the App Store generated $6 billion in revenue in the US, witnessing a 33 per cent year on year increment compared to $4.5 billion revenue in 2020. Meanwhile, Google Play Store registered a 79 percent growth in revenue in 2021 to $2.5, up from $1.4 billion in 2020.

As far as app-specific expenditure is concerned, YouTube saw the most influx of in-app payments last year, and soon as users got done with entertainment, they got on Tinder to spend their money to find a date for themselves. The users seem to be spending most on the entertainment platform. The top 10 apps in terms of revenue worldwide include many OTT apps such as Disney+, HBO Max, Twitch, Piccoma, iQIYI and Tencent video. The other two apps on the list are Line and Google One.

The picture is pretty much the same in the US as well. Customers in the US also spent the most on the streaming apps, including Disney+, YouTube, HBO Max, Pandora, Twitch, ESPN and Hulu. The Google One stands on the top of the list. Like, the rest of the world, even the users in the US, wants a soulmate, and they are ready to spend for that whether it's Tinder or Bumble, comes under the top 10 apps in terms of revenue.

Breaking down the numbers, Alphabet emerges as the top publisher in terms of in-app payment revenue in the US and worldwide. YouTube, which is on the top of the list globally, made a revenue of $1.2 billion worldwide and $566.5 million in the US from in-app purchases. Meanwhile, Google One - company's subscription service generated $1.1 billion in revenue worldwide and $698 million in the US last year.

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