ChatGPT, OpenAI’s ai-powered chatbot, far surpasses all other ai chatbot apps on mobile in terms of downloads and is also the market leader in terms of revenue. However, it is surprisingly not the top ai app by revenue: several ai photography apps and even other ai chatbots are actually making more money than ChatGPT, even though the latter has become a household name for a ai chat experience.
Since launching on mobile devices in May of this year, ChatGPT downloads and revenue have continued to grow. In its first month, when the app was available only on iOS, it surpassed 3.9 million downloads, which increased to 15.1 million in June, according to an analysis of the ai app market by Apptopia. Then, after a slight drop in July, ChatGPT grew again to exceed 23 million downloads in September 2023.
Additionally, ChatGPT usage on mobile devices has similarly grown from just over 1.34 million monthly active users in May to 38.88 million in September.
Perhaps most importantly, ChatGPT’s mobile app is outperforming much of the ai chatbot market in terms of consumer spending, which grew from $352,929 during the month of its launch to $1.98 million in September. and almost $2.39 million as of October 24, according to the current data set. ends.
But it is not the top-grossing app in the ai chatbot space. “Chat & Ask ai” and “ChatOn – ai Chat Bot Assistant” earned the most money in September with nearly $3.38 million and $2.11 million, respectively. Other apps are also hot on ChatGPT’s heels: “ai Chatbot — Nova” and “ai Chatbot: ai Chat Smith” raised nearly $1.44 million and $1.72 million in September, respectively.
As ChatGPT has a lot of competition for users’ time on mobile devices, there are now at least five ai chatbot apps that surpassed 2 million downloads in September, including several apps with generic names like “Chat & Ask ai,” “ ChatOn — ai Chat Bot Assistant”, “ai Chatbot — Nova” and “ai Chatbot: ai Chat Smith” with 2.44 million, 2.02 million, 3.1 million and 2.9 million downloads, respectively. These apps appear to be taking advantage of the App Store’s SEO, meaning they are ranking well for terms that users may search for, such as “ai Chat” and the like. While that’s still well below ChatGPT’s 23 million last month, it demonstrates a market for ai applications that extends beyond the creation of OpenAI.
Additionally, Character.ai, the a16z-backed chatbot startup that allows users to interact and create their own ai characters, is in the race with 2.39 million downloads in September.
Image credits: Character.ai
What’s more, many ai chatbot apps also have an active user base. For example, Poe, the chatbot app from question-and-answer site Quora, had more than 1.18 million monthly active users (MAU) in September, compared to ChatGPT’s nearly 39 million.
Generic apps have followers, which means they not only buy downloads, but also retain their users. “Chat & Ask ai” had 9.7 million MAUs in September, “ChatOn – ai Chat Bot Assistant” had 3.5 million MAUs, followed by “Genie – ai Chatbot ai Assistant” (2.3 million), “ ai Chat – Chatbot ai Assistant” (2.17 million), “ai Chatbot – Nova” (8.55 million) and “ai Chatbot: ai Chat Smith” (8.48 million). Character.ai also had 5.92 million monthly active users that month.
Then there are ai photography apps that use ai technologies to edit effects or get personalized images of yourself.
Image credits: Reminisce
Although they operate in a space adjacent to ChatGPT, some of these apps are giving the ai assistant a run for its money on metrics like downloads, usage, and revenue from in-app purchases.
With 23 million downloads in September, ChatGPT still leads the pack, but viral apps like “Remini” have closed in.ish to ChatGPT facilities. “Remini,” for example, surpassed 16.17 million downloads last month, months after its ai headshot feature blew up on TikTok. “Picsart ai Photo Editor” also had a strong September with nearly 16.05 million installs.
“Remini” also surpassed 6.2 million monthly users last month, while “FaceApp,” which includes some artificial intelligence filters, had more than 6.4 million. Other apps including “PicsArt” (4.27 million MAU), “Wonder – ai Art Generator” (4.77 million MAU) and “Facetune ai Photo/Video Editor” (5.22 million MAU) were also experiencing great use.
Many ai photo apps are also generating higher revenue through in-app purchases, compared to ChatGPT. However, there could be several factors at play here. For starters, ChatGPT also sells its ChatGPT Plus premium subscription over the web, where many people use the chatbot assistant. Meanwhile, ai Photo apps often earn most of their revenue through users’ smartphones as they interact with photos stored in users’ Camera Roll. Additionally, many apps “go viral,” giving them 15 minutes of fame, sometimes extending to long-term use or continued subscriptions as users explore their other features.
While ChatGPT generated $1.98 million in mobile consumer spending in September 2023, apps like “Remini,” “PicsArt,” “Wonder,” “BeautyPlus — ai Photo/Video Edit,” “FaceApp,” and “Facetune: ai Photo/Video.” Editor” earned the most: approximately $6.22 million, $4.27 million, $2.08 million, $4.78 million, $6.42 million, and $5.22 million, respectively.
However, the popularity of ai photography apps may be shorter than that of ChatGPT, in some cases. For example, Lensa, which went viral last year, had 23.44 million downloads in December 2002. That dropped to 413,814 monthly installs in September 2023 and 739,000 monthly actives, down from nearly 24.9 million in December . It also pulled in $739,000 in mobile consumer spending last month, down from a peak of more than $24 million, according to Apptopia research. While the current numbers are still respectable, they show that there is a tendency among users to switch between viral ai photo apps after a while, as they are marketed and new features developed elsewhere.
