India has long stood out as a massive mobile app market, but not always as an easy place for app makers to earn revenue. New data shows that pattern is changing, with Indian consumers spending more on digital subscriptions, premium services, entertainment, productivity tools and AI apps.
According to Sensor Tower, consumer spending in India’s mobile app market reached a record $345 million during the second quarter of this year, a 35% increase from a year earlier. The change matters because downloads have stayed broadly stable while revenue per download has risen sharply.
Downloads Are No Longer the Whole Story
India remains a huge app market by usage, but the more important signal is monetization. Sensor Tower said India’s revenue per download has more than doubled over the past three-and-a-half years, even as quarterly app downloads have stayed around 6.3 billion since 2023.
That means the market is not growing only because more apps are being installed. It is also growing because more users are choosing to pay once they are inside apps. For developers, platforms and subscription businesses, that is a different kind of opportunity.
The shift is tied to a broader willingness to pay for digital services. Sensor Tower insights analyst Eve Chen pointed to wider use of digital payments, including India’s Unified Payments Interface, a system that lets people pay directly from their bank accounts, and digital wallets. Those tools have made in-app purchases easier and reduced friction at the moment of payment.
AI, Streaming and Productivity Lead the Shift
The strongest areas of growth are not limited to games. Sensor Tower said generative AI, streaming and productivity apps are increasingly driving consumer spending in India’s app market.
Generative AI is one of the fastest-growing categories. OpenAI’s ChatGPT and Anthropic’s Claude together accounted for nearly 83% of India’s AI app revenue in Q2, according to Sensor Tower data shared with TechCrunch.
Non-gaming apps now play a larger role in the market’s revenue mix. Sensor Tower said non-gaming categories accounted for 68% of India’s mobile app revenue in the first half of 2026, up from 58% three years earlier.
Several subscription and entertainment apps also benefited from the rise in spending. Google One became India’s highest-grossing mobile app during the quarter. Streaming platforms such as Amazon Prime Video, Crunchyroll, Sony LIV and JioHotstar also recorded growing consumer spending.
India Is Outpacing Other Major Markets
Sensor Tower’s data suggests India’s app revenue growth is now moving faster than other major app markets. India recorded the fastest growth in Q2 among major app markets generating more than $200 million in quarterly consumer spending.
The comparison is notable. Mexico grew 30% and Turkey grew 25% over the same period, while U.S. app revenue declined 3%. That makes India’s 35% increase stand out not only as a domestic milestone, but also as a global market signal.
Still, India remains far behind mature app markets in revenue per download. Sensor Tower’s data puts revenue per download at about $4.60 in the U.S., $3.90 in South Korea and $6.10 in Japan. India is still at a small fraction of those levels.
That gap helps explain why the current trajectory is important. India does not need to match mature markets immediately for the trend to matter. A low starting point, combined with improving monetization, leaves room for long-term growth if users continue paying for premium digital services.
Subscriptions Are Growing, But AI Momentum Is Cooling
Appfigures also sees India’s subscription app market continuing to expand. Its view adds some nuance: subscription revenue is still increasing, but the pace has slowed after an AI-fueled surge over the past two years.
Ariel Michaeli, founder and CEO of Appfigures, said much of the early excitement around AI has abated. Even so, Appfigures estimates remain substantial. The firm says ChatGPT generates about $60,000 a day in India and attracted around 1.8 million downloads over the past month, down from roughly $80,000 a day last October.
Gaming also showed resilience in India. Sensor Tower said gaming revenue rose 3.7% from the previous quarter, even though global gaming revenue declined. That suggests India’s app spending growth is broad enough to include both newer subscription categories and established entertainment behavior.
What This Means for App Businesses
The central story is a change in user behavior. India is still a download giant, but the market is increasingly becoming a place where consumers pay for apps, subscriptions and digital services.
For global app companies, the opportunity is no longer just reach. It is conversion, retention and pricing for a user base that is becoming more comfortable with in-app payments. For Indian consumers, the rise of digital wallets, Unified Payments Interface and subscriptions has made paying for software feel more routine.
The market is still early compared with the U.S., South Korea and Japan. But the latest quarter shows that India’s app economy is moving from scale alone toward scale plus spending. That is the shift app makers have been waiting for.