September is behind us, marking the end of the summer and almost always a drop in revenue "thanks" to back-to-school and back-to-work trends for many.
This September wasn't any different. Let's go through the list:
TikTok was, again, the highest-earning mobile app in the world, even though its after-fee revenue dropped 6% to $315M, according to our App Intelligence. The gap between TikTok's revenue and the next high earner is so wide that I don't expect to see it changing position any time soon, even after its US operations have moved away from ByteDance.
ChatGPT was the second-highest earning app in the world in September, raking in an estimated $174M of net revenue. That's a touch higher than August's haul, showing ChatGPT's resilience to stronger competition and a lukewarm reception to GPT 5.
YouTube, Tinder, and Disney+ round out the top five highest earners in the world. But unlike ChatGPT, all three have seen revenue drop. Considering they're all entertainment-focused, that makes sense, and they'll likely rebound in October.
All except for Disney+, which is having a bunch of problems...
CapCut, TikTok's video editor, inched up a spot in September on slightly higher revenue. That's great considering its target demographic has much less free time now. I've been following CapCut for a while now and its impact on the market continues to make waves. I don't expect that to end any time soon.
One more move that's worth noting is Peacock's. Not really a move as it stayed in 9th place, but unlike rivals Disney+ and HBO Max, Peacock's revenue actually grew in September thanks to good programming - content is still king.
The top 10 highest-earning apps collected $1.3B after fees, according to our App Intelligence, which is fairly similar to August's total. Considering September is usually a down month, this is good news for all developers.
ChatGPT's mobile app is no longer alone in AI, but Appfigures estimates show it is still the revenue leader by a wide margin.
HBO Max filled its biggest remaining European gaps in 2026. The UK brought the biggest mobile audience, while Germany and Switzerland showed stronger revenue depth.