How much ad revenue does one app download earn?
Updated · Every figure on this page is an estimate from our benchmark tables, not a quote from any network.
The short answer
A single download earns very little on its own. What it is worth depends on how long the user keeps opening the app, where they live and which ad formats they see. A download from a Tier 1 user who stays for weeks can be worth many times one from a Tier 3 user who leaves on day one. The table above shows our estimates.
The numbers
| Category | Ad revenue per install, first 30 days | Ad revenue per install, first 90 days |
|---|---|---|
| Hypercasual Game | $0.11 | $0.14 |
| Casual Game | $0.15 | $0.24 |
| Mid-core / Strategy | $0.19 | $0.33 |
| Puzzle Game | $0.18 | $0.31 |
| Utility App | $0.04 | $0.06 |
| Social / Lifestyle | $0.08 | $0.14 |
| Finance App | $0.08 | $0.15 |
| Entertainment App | $0.09 | $0.14 |
| Education App | $0.04 | $0.06 |
Mid-core / Strategy earns the most ad revenue per install over 90 days at $0.33, while Education App earns $0.06, mostly because of retention.
What moves the number
Revenue per download is really lifetime ad revenue per user. It equals what a user earns you on an average active day, the ARPDAU, multiplied by the number of days they stay active. Most apps lose a large share of new users within the first few days, so retention often matters more than the eCPM of any single ad.
Region and format set the daily value. Tier 1 users attract much higher bids than Tier 3 users, and iOS users carry an uplift over Android in our model. A user who watches rewarded videos and sees an interstitial at level breaks earns far more each day than one who only sees banners. Category plays a role too: finance apps and mid-core games carry higher multipliers, hypercasual games a lower one, so two apps with identical retention can still differ widely.
This figure is most useful when you compare it with what a user costs to acquire. If you buy installs, lifetime ad revenue per download needs to exceed your cost per install, with some margin to spare, before paid growth makes sense. Measure your own day 1, day 7 and day 30 retention, then replace our assumptions with real numbers as soon as you have them. Revisit the sum whenever you change ad placements, since retention and daily value move together.
This is also the number to compare with what a new user costs. If paid campaigns bring installs in at more than the ad revenue an install returns over the period you care about, the growth loses money unless purchases or subscriptions make up the gap. Measure it by country, since both install costs and ad prices differ widely from one market to the next.
Next steps
- Estimate daily value per user with the revenue calculator, then multiply by your expected active days.
- Read the ARPDAU and LTV guide to model retention properly.
- Check how your category compares in the mobile ad eCPM benchmarks.
All figures come from our benchmark tables: Android eCPMs by tier, category or niche multipliers, modelled fill and the iOS multiplier. They are estimates for planning, not quotes.