January came in hot. Downloads rebounded, AI apps continued their takeover, and together, the top 10 highest earning apps generated $1.3B in net revenue. I crunched the numbers and here's what the first month of 2026 looked like.
After December's dip, the top 10 most downloaded apps climbed to 338M combined downloads in January, a 6% month-over-month increase, according to Appfigures Intelligence.
At the top, again, is ChatGPT with 56M estimated downloads. That's its biggest month ever! OpenAI rolled out GPT-5.2 in January, and while the reviews are mixed, we already know new model releases tend to bring in a wave of new users and give existing ones a reason to come back. ChatGPT has held the #1 spot since March 2025, and nothing's catching it.
TikTok held steady at #2 with 43M estimated downloads. No sign of the ban scare slowing it down, but then again, the US isn't TikTok's biggest market. Can you guess which country is? (answer at the end)
Meta's Instagram and Facebook held #3 and #4 with 42M and 36M respectively, and Google Gemini dropped a spot to rounded out the top 5 with 32M estimated downloads.
Also, another short drama app joined the race. FreeReels landed on Google Play's top 10 for the first time with 21M estimated downloads. That's amazing for an app that only started getting traction in September.
On the App Store, Grok cracked the top 10 most downloaded apps for the first time, landing at #9 with 7M estimated downloads. Grok is definitely picking up steam.
Appfigures Intelligence shows that the top 10 apps across both stores earned $1.3B after platform fees in January, matching December's total.
The app economy isn't slowing down.
TikTok kept its grip on #1 with $284M in estimated net revenue, up a tiny bit from December. The $14B US ownership deal closed on January 22, removing months of uncertainty that had been hanging over the platform. It also generated some noise from unhappy users, but that seems to have settled for the most part.
ChatGPT earned $224M in estimated net revenue, a slight dip from December but still remarkable. OpenAI's new Go tier, a cheaper paid subscription below the existing Plus and Pro plans, is expanding the paying user base. Competition from Grok and Claude is getting tougher, but ChatGPT's revenue ceiling is nowhere in sight in my opinion.
YouTube, Tinder, and Google One filled #3 through #5. YouTube and Google One earning a bit more and Tinder a bit less, but not enough to worry about.
It's Duolingo's season so it makes sense that it inched up a spot in our overall chart, landing at #9 with $70M in estimated net revenue. Let's see if it'll hold this spot longer in 2026.
Appfigures Intelligence shows that together, the top 10 highest earners brought in $1.3B of net revenue - nearly 20% increase year-over-year.
If January's growth holds we're in for a very good year. AI and streaming are still the big leaders, but the growth can be seen across every category. Now's the time to build.
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