According to Sensor Tower, India’s mobile app market is generating record revenues, with in-app purchases surpassing $300 million in the first quarter, up 33% year-on-year – but most of this spending is going to global platforms.
Non-gaming apps were the main growth driver in the first quarter, generating over $200 million in in-app purchase revenue, up 44% year-over-year and increasing their share of total spend, Sensor Tower he said in his report. Growth was driven by categories including utilities, video streaming and generative artificial intelligence.
The progress reflects a broader shift in the Indian app market, where annual revenue from in-app purchases has increased from $520 million in 2021. over $1 billion in 2025 and is projected to reach $1.25 billion per Sensor Tower this year. While downloads have plateaued at around 25 billion annually, time spent on apps continues to grow, indicating deeper engagement and greater willingness of users to pay for digital services.
A gigantic chunk of India’s spending in the first quarter was taken up by global platforms, with Google One, Facebook, ChatGPT and YouTube among the top earners. Domestic players were more noticeable in video streaming, with JioHotstar and SonyLIV ranking high. A similar pattern emerged for downloads, with ChatGPT, Instagram and Chinese short-form drama app FreeReels leading the market, followed by Indian apps including Story TV, JioHotstar and Meesho.
India’s app market has matured in terms of downloads, but monetization is increasing as usage deepens and digital payment habits become entrenched, Donny Kristianto, principal market intelligence manager at Sensor Tower, told TechCrunch.
Despite the gains, India remains a relatively low-spending market, generating about $0.03 in revenue per download, compared with more than $0.20 in Southeast Asia and Latin America, Sensor Tower data shared with TechCrunch showed.
While newer categories are driving growth in the Indian mobile app market, spending is still concentrated in a few mature segments, particularly productivity, social media and video streaming apps that dominate the top rankings. The data shows that video streaming alone accounts for about half of the top 10 revenue-generating apps, highlighting their enormous monetization power.
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Still, changes in user demand suggest room for further growth. AI app downloads are up 69% year over year, and ChatGPT ranks among the top apps in both installs and revenue. India has long been ChatGPT’s largest market for users, while other AI applications are also gaining popularity.
Brief-form drama platforms are growing even faster, with downloads increasing by over 400%, led by apps like FreeReels. The trend suggests that the Indian app market is still at the beginning of its monetization journey, even as up-to-date categories expand the scope of what users are willing to pay for.