The app market in India is booming, but global platforms are capturing most of the gains

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, according to Sensor Tower — but much of that spending is flowing to global platforms.

Sensor Tower said in its report that non-gaming apps were the main driver of growth in the first quarter, generating more than $200 million in in-app purchase revenue — up 44% year over year and increasing their share of overall spending. Gains were led by categories including utilities, video streaming, and generative artificial intelligence.

This progress reflects a broader shift in India’s app market, where annual in-app purchase revenue has risen from $520 million in 2021 to more than $1 billion in 2025, and is expected to reach $1.25 billion this year, per Sensor Tower. While downloads have stabilized at around 25 billion downloads annually, time spent on apps continues to grow, indicating deeper engagement and greater willingness among users to pay for digital services.

Much of India’s spending in the first quarter was captured by global platforms, with Google One, Facebook, ChatGPT and YouTube among the top gainers. Local players were more prominent in video streaming, with JioHotstar and SonyLIV ranking highly. A similar pattern emerged in downloads, with ChatGPT, Instagram and Chinese short drama app FreeReels topping 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 strengthening as usage deepens and digital payment habits become more ingrained, Donny Christianto, director of key market insights at Sensor Tower, told TechCrunch.

Despite the gains, India remains a relatively low-spending market, generating revenue of about $0.03 per download, compared to more than $0.20 in Southeast Asia and Latin America, Sensor Tower data shared with TechCrunch showed.

While newer categories are driving growth in India’s mobile app market, spending is still concentrated in a few mature segments, especially productivity, social media, and video streaming apps, which dominate the top rankings. The data showed that video streaming alone represents about half of the top 10 revenue-generating applications, confirming its enormous power in generating income.

However, shifts in user demand suggest there is room for further growth. Generative AI apps saw downloads rise 69% year over year, with ChatGPT ranking among the top apps in terms of installs and revenue. India has been the largest market for ChatGPT in terms of number of users, while other AI applications are also gaining ground.

Short drama platforms are growing the fastest, with downloads increasing by more than 400%, led by apps like FreeReels. This trend suggests that India’s app market is still at an early stage of its monetization journey, even as new categories expand what users are willing to pay for.