By a mobile app industry analyst with over 8 years of experience in app monetization strategy
I remember sitting in a tiny co-working space in Accra back in 2019, hunched over my laptop with three browser tabs open all of them showing different “top earning app” lists that completely contradicted each other. One said it was a gaming app. Another said YouTube. A third was making a case for some obscure utility app I had never even heard of. I was trying to help a client decide where to invest their mobile advertising budget, and I had no idea who to believe.
That confusion is exactly why I’m writing this article. After spending years tracking app store data, dissecting monetization models, and watching trends come and go, I can now give you a clear, data-backed answer to the question everyone in the app industry keeps asking: what is the No. 1 earning app in the world right now?
Read Also: What Apps Pay You Real Money? (An Honest Guide From Someone Who Has Tested Them)
The short answer is TikTok. But the longer answer and the more useful one is a lot more interesting.
TikTok: The World’s Highest-Grossing App
For the fourth consecutive year, TikTok has claimed the top spot as the world’s highest-grossing mobile app. According to Business of Apps, TikTok generated $3.35 billion in in-app revenue across iOS and Android platforms in 2025 alone. That number does not even include its full advertising revenue. When you factor in TikTok’s total global revenue from all streams advertising, e-commerce, and in-app purchases combined the figure climbs to over $33 billion for 2025, with projections pointing toward $53.95 billion by 2027.
Let that sink in for a second. An app that many people still think of as a place where teenagers do dance challenges is now one of the most powerful revenue-generating machines in the history of technology.
I used to be skeptical myself. In 2020, when one of my consulting clients a mid-sized e-commerce brand came to me asking whether they should put budget into TikTok, I hesitated. My instinct at the time was to stick with the proven channels: Google, YouTube, Facebook. TikTok felt like a trend, not a strategy. I was wrong. Within six months of them going all-in on TikTok Shop and in-feed ads, their monthly revenue had nearly doubled. That experience changed how I look at the platform entirely.
How TikTok Actually Makes Its Money
Understanding why TikTok earns the most requires understanding how it earns. The platform does not rely on a single revenue stream. It has built what amounts to a three-engine money machine.
Advertising is the biggest engine by far. According to Resourcera’s analysis of TikTok’s financials, roughly 77% of TikTok’s revenue comes from advertising. Brands pay to run in-feed ads, branded hashtag challenges, and TopView placements the full-screen ads that appear when you first open the app. Advertisers can choose from cost-per-click, cost-per-impression, or cost-per-action pricing models, making the platform accessible for both massive corporations and small local businesses.
TikTok Shop and e-commerce is the fastest-growing piece of the puzzle. By late 2024, TikTok Shop was already responsible for billions in gross merchandise value, and analysts estimate that by 2025, approximately 20% of TikTok’s revenue flows from Shop commissions. The genius of TikTok Shop is that it removes the gap between discovery and purchase. You see a product in a video, and you can buy it in the same app without ever leaving. That seamless experience has been transformational for sellers.
In-app purchases through virtual coins round out the model. Users buy coins and send virtual gifts to creators during live streams. In the last quarter of 2024 alone, TikTok pulled in over $1.1 billion from in-app purchases. For context, many standalone apps would consider $1 billion a career-defining achievement. TikTok does it in three months as a side business.
The Runners-Up: Apps That Almost Took the Crown
Calling TikTok the No. 1 earner does not mean the competition is sitting still. The apps chasing TikTok tell a fascinating story about where the app economy is heading.
YouTube held the top spot on iOS specifically, generating around $4.5 billion on Apple’s App Store alone in 2025, according to ASOMobile’s mobile market report. YouTube Premium subscriptions, Super Thanks, channel memberships, and in-app purchases all contribute to that number. YouTube has held the No. 1 revenue position on iOS every year since 2020, which speaks to the loyalty of its audience and the depth of its monetization architecture.
ChatGPT was arguably the story of 2025. The AI assistant climbed to second place on iOS with approximately $3.7 billion in revenue, making it one of the fastest-growing apps in App Store history. When I first started tracking AI apps as a monetization category in early 2023, I genuinely did not expect a text-based tool to compete with entertainment platforms for top billing within two years. The rise of ChatGPT proves that users will pay handsomely for productivity tools that actually save them time and effort.
Google One dominated the Android side. As the top-grossing app on Google Play for the fourth consecutive year, Google One generated $2.64 billion from Android users in 2025. This is the app that lets you expand your Google storage and access premium features. Its success shows that utility genuinely useful, unsexy cloud storage can be just as lucrative as entertainment when you have a billion people already invested in your ecosystem.
Honor of Kings and Last War: Survival led the gaming category, generating $1.68 billion and $1.57 billion respectively. Gaming has historically dominated app store revenue charts, but 2025 was the year subscriptions and AI tools started genuinely challenging that dominance. You can read more about the evolving competitive landscape in Grokipedia’s breakdown of the highest-grossing apps of 2025.
Why This Question Is More Nuanced Than It Looks
Here is something I have learned from years of working with app developers and mobile marketers: the answer to “what is the No. 1 earning app” depends heavily on how you define earning.
If you are talking about total global revenue across all streams, TikTok wins handily.
If you are talking about in-app revenue on iOS only, YouTube holds the crown.
If you are talking about in-app revenue on Android only, Google One has been untouchable for years.
If you are talking about the single most profitable category by volume, mobile gaming still rules the overall charts when you aggregate all titles AppMakers USA notes that global mobile gaming generated approximately $6.8 billion in a single month in 2025.
I had a conversation a few years ago with a developer who had built a moderately successful fitness app. He came to me frustrated, saying his app would “never compete” with the TikToks of the world. I told him he was measuring himself against the wrong benchmark. His app was never going to out-earn TikTok. But a fitness app with 50,000 subscribers paying $15 a month is a $9 million annual business which is life-changing money that has nothing to do with ByteDance’s quarterly reports. Understanding what category of earning you are chasing changes everything about how you build and market your product.
What Makes an App a Top Earner? Lessons From the Data
After analyzing hundreds of app businesses over my career, I have noticed that the highest-earning apps share a few core characteristics that have nothing to do with luck.
They monetize behavior that already exists. TikTok did not teach people to watch short videos. People were already watching videos and sharing moments TikTok just optimized that behavior with a better algorithm and layered revenue streams on top of it. Google One did not create cloud storage demand; it captured demand that already existed within Google’s own ecosystem.
They build habits, not features. The apps that generate the most revenue are the ones people open reflexively multiple times a day, without thinking about it. TikTok’s average session time consistently outperforms every major social platform. YouTube has become the default for how millions of people listen to music, follow news, and learn new skills. When an app becomes a habit, monetization almost takes care of itself.
They give before they take. Every single app in the top ten is free to download. TikTok, YouTube, ChatGPT, Google One all of them let you in the door without spending a cent. The revenue comes from users who have already seen the value and want more of it. This is a principle I have preached to every client I have worked with: earn trust first, then earn money.
They diversify revenue streams. Notice that none of the top earners depends on a single income source. TikTok has ads, coins, and commerce. YouTube has subscriptions, memberships, channel gifting, and advertising. ChatGPT has its Plus subscription, Teams plan, and enterprise tier. When one stream slows down, the others compensate.
A Practical Takeaway for Developers and Entrepreneurs
If you are building an app and trying to understand what success at the top looks like, here is the most honest thing I can tell you: the gap between you and TikTok is not primarily about resources. It is about model design. According to Business of Apps, the shift from paid apps to subscriptions and in-app purchases over the past decade has “massively increased the market size, with app developers able to lock in customers for years.” That opportunity exists at every scale, not just for billion-dollar companies.
I work with a client right now who runs a language learning app for Ghanaian diaspora communities. The app has fewer than 10,000 monthly active users. But because they structured their monetization around a subscription model with a strong free tier, they generate consistent recurring revenue that lets them keep improving the product. They are not competing with Duolingo. They are building something irreplaceable for a specific community. The top-earning apps in the world can teach you the principles; your job is to apply those principles at your own scale and within your own niche.
The Future: Will TikTok Hold Its Crown?
Based on current trajectory, TikTok’s dominance is not going anywhere soon. Revenue projections suggest the platform could grow from $33 billion in 2025 to nearly $54 billion by 2027. TikTok Shop is still in its early stages in many markets. The Creator Rewards Program is pulling more high-quality content onto the platform. And TikTok’s AI-driven recommendation engine continues to get better at keeping users engaged.
That said, ChatGPT’s rapid ascent is a genuine signal that the era of AI-powered apps is just beginning. If generative AI tools continue to demonstrate clear, tangible value and if OpenAI and its competitors can maintain the trust of users the top-earning app rankings could look very different by 2027. I would not be surprised to see an AI application challenge TikTok’s overall revenue lead within three years.
For now, though, the answer remains clear. TikTok is the No. 1 earning app in the world by the most comprehensive measure of mobile revenue. It earned that position not by accident, but by building a platform that serves creators, advertisers, and casual users simultaneously and by finding a way to make money from all of them at once.
That is the blueprint. Whether you are building the next billion-dollar app or a niche tool for a specific community, the lesson from TikTok’s success is the same: understand your user deeply, build habits not features, and never rely on a single way to earn.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the No. 1 earning app in 2025? TikTok is the world’s highest-grossing mobile app in 2025, with $3.35 billion in in-app revenue and over $33 billion in total global revenue across all streams including advertising, TikTok Shop, and in-app purchases.
What is the No. 1 earning app on iOS? YouTube holds the top spot on the Apple App Store specifically, having generated approximately $4.5 billion in iOS in-app revenue in 2025 a position it has held every year since 2020.
What is the No. 1 earning app on Android? Google One leads the Google Play Store, generating $2.64 billion in Android in-app revenue in 2025. It has held this position for four consecutive years.
How does TikTok make so much money? TikTok earns through three primary channels: digital advertising (roughly 77% of revenue), TikTok Shop e-commerce commissions, and in-app purchases of virtual coins used for live stream gifting.
Is ChatGPT one of the top-earning apps? Yes. ChatGPT was one of the biggest stories of 2025, climbing to approximately $3.7 billion in iOS revenue and establishing itself as one of the fastest-growing apps in App Store history.
