ChatGPT vs. Claude vs. Gemini vs. Grok vs. Perplexity: US iPhone downloads and monetization
Does leading on downloads mean leading on App Store spending?
- ChatGPT leads on both: an estimated 3.3M US downloads and $65M in App Store spend over 30 days, 44% of this group's downloads and 56% of its spend.
- App Store spend per download (30 days of spend, renewals included, over 30 days of new installs) ranges from about $2.80 (Gemini) to $28 (Perplexity). A high figure usually means a large base of paying subscribers, not a pricier first purchase.
- Claude moved from #24 to #5 on the US Top Free chart between Sep 27 and Oct 15, the biggest climb in this group.
- Country
- United States
- Platform
- iPhone (App Store)
- Estimates
- 30 days to October 16, 2026
- Data collected
- October 16, 2026
Downloads against App Store spend
Each dot is one app's estimated US downloads and App Store spend over the same 30 days. Further right means more installs, higher up means more spending; both scales are logarithmic, so equal steps are equal multiples.
Share of downloads vs. share of spend
Within these 5 apps only: each app's share of the group's estimated downloads and of its App Store spend. An app whose spend bar is longer than its downloads bar earns more per install than the group.
- Share of downloads
- Share of App Store spend
The apps side by side
30-day US estimates with their confidence, the US App Store rating, and each app's first and last position on the overall US charts between Sep 23 and Oct 15.
| App | Downloads, 30 days | App Store spend, 30 days | Spend per download | Rating | US Top Free | US Top Grossing |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 ChatGPTOpenAI OpCo, LLC | 3.3MMedium confidence | $65MMedium confidence | $20 | 4.811,313,295 ratings | #2 → #3↓1best #2 · 19 days | #1 → #1=best #1 · 18 days |
 ClaudeAnthropic PBC | 1.6MMedium confidence | $25MMedium confidence | $16 | 4.7279,701 ratings | #24 → #5↑19best #5 · 18 days | #9 → #8↑1best #7 · 18 days |
 GeminiGoogle LLC | 1.7MMedium confidence | $4.8MMedium confidence | $2.80 | 4.72,343,258 ratings | #5 → #7↓2best #5 · 19 days | Not in top 100 |
 GrokX Corp. | 670KMedium confidence | $16MMedium confidence | $23 | 4.91,510,343 ratings | #52 → #34↑18best #25 · 18 days | #23 → #18↑5best #14 · 18 days |
 PerplexityPerplexity AI Inc. | 200KMedium confidence | $5.7MMedium confidence | $28 | 4.8515,215 ratings | Not in top 100 | #81 → #75↑6best #68 · 18 days |
What they charge
The in-app purchases each app lists on its US App Store page, grouped by the plan length the product name states.
| App | Monthly plans | Yearly plans | All listed prices |
|---|---|---|---|
| ChatGPTOpenAI OpCo, LLC | — | — | $4–$5009 products |
| ClaudeAnthropic PBC | $20–$249.99 | $214.99 | $20–$249.997 products |
| GeminiGoogle LLC | — | — | $1.99–$199.994 products |
| GrokX Corp. | — | — | $5–$3009 products |
| PerplexityPerplexity AI Inc. | — | — | $5–$2007 products |
A plan length is shown only where the product name states it (“Weekly VIP”, “12 Months”); other products count in the last column. The full list per app:
ChatGPT: 9 listed prices
- 100 Credits$4
- ChatGPT Go$8
- ChatGPT Plus$19.99
- 500 Credits$20
- 1000 Credits$40
- ChatGPT Pro 100$100
- ChatGPT Pro 200$200
- ChatGPT Plus$200
- ChatGPT Pro 500$500
Claude: 7 listed prices
- Claude Pro - Monthly$20
- Usage Credits (20)$20
- Usage Credits (50)$45
- Claude Max 5x - Monthly$124.99
- Usage Credits (250)$200
- Claude Pro - Annual$214.99
- Claude Max 20x - Monthly$249.99
Gemini: 4 listed prices
- 100 GB$1.99
- Google AI Plus (400 GB)$4.99
- Google AI Pro (5 TB)$19.99
- Google AI Ultra (30 TB)$199.99
Grok: 9 listed prices
- Extra Usage Credits 5 USD$5
- SuperGrok Lite$10
- Extra Usage Credits 20 USD$20
- SuperGrok$30
- Extra Usage Credits 50 USD$50
- SuperGrok Plus$100
- Extra Usage Credits 100 USD$100
- SuperGrok Heavy$300
- SuperGrok$300
Perplexity: 7 listed prices
- 500 Credits$5
- 1,000 Credits$10
- Perplexity Pro$20
- 2,500 Credits$25
- 5,000 Credits$50
- Perplexity Max$200
- Perplexity Pro$200
Chart movement
Each app's best daily position on the US Top Free chart (or its Productivity chart when it was not in the overall top 100 on enough days). Hover a line for the rank on a given day.
ChatGPT
#2 → #3US Top Free, Sep 23–Oct 15
Claude
#24 → #5US Top Free, Sep 27–Oct 15
Gemini
#5 → #7US Top Free, Sep 23–Oct 15
Grok
#52 → #34US Top Free, Sep 27–Oct 15
Perplexity
#28 → #32US Top Free Productivity, Sep 28–Oct 15
What reviewers complain about
The share of recent US App Store reviews that mention each theme. Each app's most common complaint is in bold. "Paywall & subscription push" and "Bugs & broken features" are top-three themes for most of these apps.
| Complaint theme | ChatGPT | Claude | Gemini | Grok | Perplexity |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Paywall & subscription push | 8% | 7% | 4% | 7% | 17% |
| Bugs & broken features | 5% | 8% | 7% | 6% | 7% |
| Missing features & requests | — | 8% | 5% | 8% | — |
| Too expensive | — | — | 4% | 4% | 8% |
| Billing, refunds & cancelling | — | 5% | — | — | 9% |
| Slow & laggy | 3% | — | — | 6% | — |
| Bans & moderation | 3% | — | — | — | — |
| Reviews in the sample | 404Sep 6–Oct 14 | 364Sep 5–Oct 12 | 603Oct 7–Oct 12 | 295Oct 2–Oct 13 | 253Jul 31–Oct 14 |
Where they meet in search
App Store search positions in the US, from our latest keyword checks.
| Search | Popularity | ChatGPT | Claude | Gemini | Grok | Perplexity |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| chatgpt | 92 | #1 | #5 | #3 | #2 | — |
| gemini | 83 | #2 | #5 | #1 | #3 | #7 |
| canva | 81 | #6 | — | #9 | — | — |
| chat gpt | 81 | #1 | #6 | #4 | #2 | — |
| claude ai | 80 | #2 | #1 | #4 | #3 | #5 |
| grok | 80 | #3 | #5 | #6 | #1 | #8 |
| muse | 79 | — | #3 | #6 | — | — |
| ai | 78 | #2 | #5 | #6 | #1 | #8 |
| claude | 77 | #2 | #1 | #4 | #3 | #5 |
| siri | 75 | #2 | — | #6 | — | — |
| ai chat | 73 | #3 | — | — | #7 | — |
| meta ai | 73 | #2 | #7 | #5 | #4 | — |
| chatgpt 4.0 free | 72 | #1 | — | #4 | — | — |
| copilot | 72 | #3 | #5 | #4 | #9 | — |
| google gemini | 72 | #2 | #4 | #1 | #3 | #9 |
| Searches where the app ranks top 10 | 381 | 136 | 229 | 194 | 110 |
The most popular US searches where at least two of these apps rank in the top 10 of App Store results, by Apple's popularity score (5–100). “—” means the app is not in that search's top 10. Brand searches for other apps show up because the store also returns related apps for them.
Key findings
- ChatGPT leads on both: an estimated 3.3M US downloads and $65M in App Store spend over 30 days, 44% of this group's downloads and 56% of its spend.
- App Store spend per download (30 days of spend, renewals included, over 30 days of new installs) ranges from about $2.80 (Gemini) to $28 (Perplexity). A high figure usually means a large base of paying subscribers, not a pricier first purchase.
- Claude moved from #24 to #5 on the US Top Free chart between Sep 27 and Oct 15, the biggest climb in this group.
- "Paywall & subscription push" is a top-three complaint for 4 of the 5 apps with a review sample.
- Searching for one app's name shows its rivals too: for "chatgpt", ChatGPT is #1, with Grok #2 and Gemini #3 in the top 10 (3 rivals in all).
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How this snapshot was made
Selection. The iPhone apps of the five best-known general AI assistants, named in advance: ChatGPT, Claude, Google Gemini, Grok and Perplexity.
When and where. US App Store, iPhone apps. Data collected on October 16, 2026; download and spend estimates cover the 30 days to October 16, 2026; chart positions are daily best ranks from September 23, 2026 to October 15, 2026. This page is a frozen snapshot and will not change; newer editions get their own page.
Sources. Apple's US Top Free and Top Grossing charts (overall and Productivity), recorded several times a day; each app's US App Store listing (rating, listed in-app purchase prices); recent US App Store reviews; and US App Store search results for the keywords we track. Downloads and spend are AppTrendKit estimates from chart positions, ratings and pricing. How we estimate.
- Downloads and App Store spend are AppTrendKit estimates for the US App Store over 30 days, not figures from Apple or the developers. Spend is what users paid through Apple before Apple's commission, so it is higher than what a developer receives.
- Web subscriptions, advertising income, enterprise deals and Android are not included.
- Spend per download divides 30 days of App Store spend, which includes renewals from existing subscribers, by 30 days of new downloads. It shows how much an app earns relative to its install volume, not what a new user pays, and it is left out where either estimate has low confidence.
- Prices are the in-app purchases Apple lists on each app's US App Store page; Apple shows a limited number, and the price someone actually pays can differ with offers and trials.
- Complaint themes come from a sample of recent US App Store reviews, classified by topic. A theme's share is the share of reviews in the sample that mention it, not a share of all users.
- These companies sell most subscriptions on the web and to businesses, which App Store spend does not see. Gemini's App Store plans are Google One storage bundles, so its store spend is not comparable to a chatbot subscription.
- Our spend figures are before Apple's cut. Figures from other sources that report developer revenue after Apple's commission are not directly comparable.
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