Free vs Paid Apps — 2026
How apps are priced across 101 categories on Apple App Store & Google Play.
Data last updated: 2026-06-27 · Source: App Pricing Lab daily crawl of public Apple App Store & Google Play data · Methodology
135.7K
Total Apps
90%
Free
10%
Paid
Free vs Paid by Category
| Category | Total | Free | Paid | Paid % | Avg Paid Price | Max Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Games | 18.1K | 17.5K | 644 | 4% | $4.41 | $229.99 |
| Education | 10.5K | 9.6K | 948 | 9% | $10.43 | $399.99 |
| Utilities | 8.5K | 7.8K | 667 | 8% | $6.13 | $199.99 |
| Health & Fitness | 7.2K | 6.9K | 379 | 5% | $5.94 | $99.99 |
| Business | 7.0K | 6.7K | 240 | 3% | $12.95 | $99.99 |
| Lifestyle | 6.7K | 6.3K | 398 | 6% | $5.70 | $119.99 |
| Productivity | 6.5K | 5.9K | 558 | 9% | $7.26 | $124.99 |
| Finance | 6.1K | 5.9K | 247 | 4% | $5.17 | $119.99 |
| Entertainment | 5.6K | 5.2K | 388 | 7% | $5.13 | $119.00 |
| Shopping | 4.4K | 4.4K | 69 | 2% | $12.56 | $400.00 |
| Photo & Video | 4.1K | 3.7K | 405 | 10% | $6.47 | $99.99 |
| Music | 4.0K | 3.4K | 616 | 16% | $10.30 | $299.99 |
| Food & Drink | 3.8K | 3.6K | 223 | 6% | $4.71 | $99.99 |
| Sports | 3.5K | 3.2K | 334 | 10% | $6.02 | $89.99 |
| Travel | 3.5K | 3.2K | 252 | 7% | $4.20 | $29.99 |
| Social Networking | 2.9K | 2.8K | 146 | 5% | $2.91 | $29.99 |
| Medical | 2.8K | 2.5K | 296 | 11% | $13.89 | $189.99 |
| News | 2.5K | 2.4K | 47 | 2% | $6.04 | $99.99 |
| Reference | 2.3K | 1.9K | 389 | 17% | $6.85 | $54.99 |
| Book | 1.8K | 1.6K | 210 | 12% | $5.45 | $49.99 |
| Graphics & Design | 1.7K | 1.4K | 264 | 16% | $5.92 | $49.99 |
| Navigation | 1.5K | 1.2K | 233 | 16% | $11.78 | $399.99 |
| Weather | 1.4K | 1.2K | 205 | 15% | $7.12 | $69.99 |
| Developer Tools | 1.0K | 743 | 263 | 26% | $5.21 | $99.99 |
| Tools | 557 | 357 | 200 | 36% | $4.37 | $39.99 |
| Simulation | 520 | 334 | 186 | 36% | $4.71 | $19.99 |
| Role Playing | 500 | 321 | 179 | 36% | $7.07 | $29.99 |
| Puzzle | 498 | 335 | 163 | 33% | $3.16 | $9.99 |
| Adventure | 493 | 305 | 188 | 38% | $5.28 | $22.99 |
| Personalization | 488 | 288 | 200 | 41% | $1.77 | $4.49 |
| Action | 447 | 304 | 143 | 32% | $4.78 | $39.99 |
| Strategy | 433 | 291 | 142 | 33% | $4.77 | $39.99 |
| Arcade | 433 | 312 | 121 | 28% | $2.85 | $8.99 |
| Casual | 430 | 348 | 82 | 19% | $3.92 | $29.99 |
| Music & Audio | 389 | 297 | 92 | 24% | $7.05 | $29.99 |
| Travel & Local | 377 | 357 | 20 | 5% | $9.69 | $69.99 |
| Board | 367 | 295 | 72 | 20% | $6.48 | $17.99 |
| News & Magazines | 359 | 359 | 0 | 0% | — | — |
| Card | 358 | 307 | 51 | 14% | $4.70 | $19.99 |
| Books & Reference | 356 | 299 | 57 | 16% | $8.54 | $28.99 |
| Auto & Vehicles | 354 | 313 | 41 | 12% | $12.77 | $99.99 |
| Educational | 353 | 305 | 48 | 14% | $4.10 | $8.99 |
| Video Players & Editors | 348 | 310 | 38 | 11% | $7.41 | $39.99 |
| Communication | 340 | 318 | 22 | 6% | $6.65 | $19.99 |
| Photography | 338 | 290 | 48 | 14% | $6.51 | $26.99 |
| Maps & Navigation | 336 | 317 | 19 | 6% | $17.17 | $99.99 |
| House & Home | 322 | 306 | 16 | 5% | $4.99 | $23.99 |
| Art & Design | 319 | 289 | 30 | 9% | $4.16 | $29.99 |
| Racing | 305 | 279 | 26 | 9% | $3.96 | $13.49 |
| Trivia | 300 | 278 | 22 | 7% | $9.47 | $29.99 |
| Casino | 300 | 298 | 2 | 1% | $2.99 | $4.99 |
| Parenting | 288 | 286 | 2 | 1% | $4.99 | $5.99 |
| Social | 284 | 281 | 3 | 1% | $4.32 | $4.99 |
| Word | 280 | 267 | 13 | 5% | $4.10 | $9.90 |
| Dating | 258 | 258 | 0 | 0% | — | — |
| Finance | 245 | 120 | 125 | 51% | $4.73 | $29.99 |
| Beauty | 240 | 237 | 3 | 1% | $3.49 | $4.99 |
| Comics | 235 | 223 | 12 | 5% | $4.87 | $14.99 |
| Events | 229 | 222 | 7 | 3% | $1.06 | $1.99 |
| Food And Drink | 225 | 118 | 107 | 48% | $4.80 | $15.99 |
| Stickers | 216 | 49 | 167 | 77% | $1.16 | $4.99 |
| Libraries & Demo | 211 | 209 | 2 | 1% | $2.99 | $5.49 |
| Medical | 205 | 118 | 87 | 42% | $12.12 | $99.99 |
| Magazines & Newspapers | 203 | 202 | 1 | 0% | $5.95 | $5.95 |
| Games | 201 | 103 | 98 | 49% | $10.46 | $249.99 |
| News | 191 | 95 | 96 | 50% | $3.64 | $12.99 |
| Sports | 186 | 97 | 89 | 48% | $4.97 | $19.99 |
| Shopping | 184 | 87 | 97 | 53% | $3.95 | $99.99 |
| Entertainment | 184 | 71 | 113 | 61% | $6.53 | $99.99 |
| Weather | 183 | 99 | 84 | 46% | $3.68 | $14.99 |
| Travel | 167 | 79 | 88 | 53% | $5.59 | $30.00 |
| Reference | 165 | 79 | 86 | 52% | $5.73 | $39.99 |
| Navigation | 165 | 77 | 88 | 53% | $5.16 | $24.99 |
| Business | 161 | 70 | 91 | 57% | $10.00 | $99.99 |
| Games Trivia | 156 | 72 | 84 | 54% | $3.09 | $19.99 |
| Books | 152 | 57 | 95 | 63% | $7.46 | $49.99 |
| Games Word | 150 | 54 | 96 | 64% | $2.91 | $9.99 |
| Lifestyle | 144 | 54 | 90 | 63% | $5.03 | $39.99 |
| Health And Fitness | 144 | 63 | 81 | 56% | $5.45 | $59.99 |
| Games Music | 143 | 59 | 84 | 59% | $5.84 | $249.99 |
| Social Networking | 141 | 46 | 95 | 67% | $3.30 | $23.99 |
| Education | 139 | 56 | 83 | 60% | $9.71 | $79.99 |
| Games Sports | 132 | 40 | 92 | 70% | $3.59 | $14.99 |
| Games Casino | 129 | 42 | 87 | 67% | $3.78 | $19.99 |
| Productivity | 119 | 32 | 87 | 73% | $7.39 | $99.99 |
| Music | 118 | 43 | 75 | 64% | $7.74 | $29.99 |
| Utilities | 117 | 45 | 72 | 62% | $4.55 | $24.99 |
| Games Strategy | 111 | 30 | 81 | 73% | $5.02 | $19.99 |
| Games Puzzle | 108 | 25 | 83 | 77% | $4.01 | $9.99 |
| Magazines And Newspapers | 106 | 72 | 34 | 32% | $4.80 | $30.99 |
| Games Role Playing | 103 | 21 | 82 | 80% | $7.06 | $24.99 |
| Games Racing | 97 | 24 | 73 | 75% | $3.10 | $14.99 |
| Games Family | 94 | 30 | 64 | 68% | $3.44 | $19.99 |
| Photo And Video | 92 | 19 | 73 | 79% | $5.26 | $29.99 |
| Games Card | 69 | 14 | 55 | 80% | $4.68 | $15.99 |
| Games Simulation | 65 | 17 | 48 | 74% | $4.97 | $17.99 |
| Games Arcade | 61 | 4 | 57 | 93% | $4.03 | $15.99 |
| Games Board | 60 | 24 | 36 | 60% | $5.10 | $17.99 |
| Games Adventure | 57 | 29 | 28 | 49% | $6.45 | $39.99 |
| Graphics And Design | 16 | 2 | 14 | 88% | $8.41 | $24.99 |
| Games Action | 15 | 9 | 6 | 40% | $4.99 | $14.99 |
Key Findings
Across 135.7K apps tracked by App Pricing Lab, 90% are free to download. The remaining 10% charge an upfront price. Among paid apps, many also offer in-app purchases, making the actual monetization landscape more nuanced than a simple free/paid split.
The category with the highest paid ratio is Games Arcade (93% paid), while Dating has the lowest (0% paid).
The category with the highest average paid app price is Maps & Navigation at $17.17 on average. For a complete list of the most expensive individual apps, see our most expensive apps ranking.