Guides
Start here: how the charts work
- How App Store Top Charts Rankings WorkWhat decides an app's position on Apple's Top Free, Top Paid and Top Grossing charts, how often they update, and why ranks differ by country.
- How Google Play Top Charts Rankings WorkWhat drives an app's place on Google Play's Top Free, Top Paid and Top Grossing charts, how categories and countries differ, and how often the charts refresh.
- Top Grossing vs Top Free vs Top Paid: What They MeanThe three app store chart types explained: what each one counts, which apps lead them, and which chart matters for your goals.
- How to Check Your App's Ranking in Every CountryA free way to see where your iOS or Android app ranks on the top charts in every country and category, and how that changed since yesterday.
- Why Did My App's Rank Drop? Common CausesThe usual reasons an app falls on the App Store or Google Play charts overnight, how to tell them apart, and what you can do about each.
- App Store vs Google Play Charts: 7 DifferencesHow Apple's and Google's top charts differ: depth, apps vs games, categories, update cadence, ranking signals, countries and prices, and what that means when you compare them.
App Subscription Benchmarks: Trials, Churn and Pricing
Trial-to-paid rates, year-one retention, median prices and regional gaps from RevenueCat's 2024–2026 reports, and how to read them without being misled.
Subscription Refunds, Trial Abuse and Churn: Your Levers
How App Store and Google Play refunds work and hit payouts, trial-abuse patterns, grace periods, win-back offers and the churn numbers developers quote.
Calm vs Headspace Onboarding Teardown: Quiz, Trial, Paywall
Screen-by-screen teardown of Calm and Headspace onboarding: the goals quiz, where the free-trial paywall sits, and how annual pricing is anchored.
Calm vs Headspace: How Two Meditation Apps Diverged
Case study of Calm and Headspace: revenue, pricing history, the B2B pivot, layoffs, the 2026 Sword Health deal and what their chart positions say.
How ChatGPT Became a Top-Chart Fixture on the App Store
ChatGPT's app went from a US-only iOS launch in May 2023 to $3B in consumer spending and a permanent top-chart slot. Dates, ranks, revenue and rivals.
Free Trial Length and Conversion: 3, 7 or 14 Days?
Trial-to-paid benchmarks by trial length and plan type (RevenueCat, Adapty 2025–2026), intro and win-back offers on iOS and Android, and how to measure.
Freemium vs Hard Paywall vs Free Trial: Which Converts?
Freemium, hard paywall, free trials, reverse trials, paid upfront, ads and hybrid compared with 2025–2026 benchmarks, plus a decision tree for your app.
How Duolingo Grew to 100M+ Monthly Users
Streaks, leagues, bandit-tuned reminders, a meme-able owl and a retention-first growth model: how Duolingo hit 128M MAU and what indies can copy.
How Indie Apps Reach $1M ARR: Real Numbers
Documented indie subscription apps that reached $1M ARR (Slopes, Cal AI, Visible, Hevy): models, time to $1M and what the revenue ramp looks like.
In-App Purchases Explained: Types, Fees and the Charts
Consumables, subscriptions and the rest: what each IAP type is for, what Apple and Google keep in 2026, and how IAP revenue feeds the Top Grossing charts.
Mobile Game Monetisation: IAP, Ads, Subs and Hybrid Models
How IAP, ads, subscriptions, battle passes and hybrid models earn money, with ARPDAU and eCPM benchmarks and where each lands on Top Free vs Top Grossing.
Notion, Todoist and Things Onboarding Teardown
How three productivity apps handle the blank page: templates, empty-state design, and whether to ask for an account first or later.
Paywall Design Best Practices for Subscription Apps
Paywall anatomy: placement, timing, plan layout, anchoring, annual defaults, trial copy, Apple and Google pricing rules, and views on dark patterns.
RevenueCat vs StoreKit 2 vs Play Billing: What Devs Choose
What StoreKit 2, Play Billing and RevenueCat each handle, RevenueCat's 2026 pricing, server validation, cross-platform entitlements, when native is enough.