ChatGPT, the AI-driven chatbot created by OpenAI, stands as a dominant force in the realm of AI chatbot applications for mobile devices, boasting a remarkable number of downloads. It also leads in revenue, yet surprisingly, it does not hold the top position in terms of income. Several AI-powered photo applications and even other AI chatbots manage to surpass ChatGPT in revenue, despite ChatGPT being widely recognized as a household name for AI chat experiences.
Since its debut on mobile devices in May of this year, ChatGPT has demonstrated consistent growth in both downloads and revenue. In its inaugural month, when it was exclusively available on iOS, it garnered an impressive 3.9 million downloads. By June, this number surged to 15.1 million, according to an analysis of the AI app market conducted by Apptopia. Subsequently, after a minor decline in July, ChatGPT’s downloads once again climbed to exceed 23 million by September 2023.
Moreover, ChatGPT’s user base on mobile devices has experienced significant expansion, surging from just over 1.34 million monthly active users in May to a remarkable 38.88 million as of September.
Significantly, ChatGPT’s mobile app surpasses much of the AI chatbot market in terms of consumer spending, increasing from $352,929 during its launch month to reach $1.98 million by September. As of October 24 (the most recent data available), it approached $2.39 million. However, it is not the top-grossing app in the AI chatbot landscape. In September, “Chat & Ask AI” and “ChatOn — AI Chat Bot Assistant” outperformed ChatGPT in revenue, earning nearly $3.38 million and $2.11 million, respectively. Other apps, such as “AI Chatbot — Nova” and “AI Chatbot: AI Chat Smith,” brought in approximately $1.44 million and $1.72 million in September.
With numerous AI chatbot apps vying for users’ attention on mobile, at least five have achieved over 2 million downloads in September. These include some generically named apps like “Chat & Ask AI,” “ChatOn — AI Chat Bot Assistant,” “AI Chatbot — Nova,” and “AI Chatbot: AI Chat Smith,” with download figures of 2.44 million, 2.02 million, 3.1 million, and 2.9 million, respectively. These apps appear to excel in App Store SEO, ranking well for user-searched terms like “AI Chat” and similar keywords. Although they are not quite at ChatGPT’s 23 million downloads, they reveal a substantial market for AI apps beyond OpenAI’s creation.
Furthermore, Character.ai, a chatbot startup backed by a16z, which allows users to interact with and create their own AI personas, is gaining ground with 2.39 million downloads as of September.
Additionally, many AI chatbot apps maintain active user bases. For instance, Poe, the chatbot app from the Q&A platform Quora, had over 1.18 million monthly active users (MAUs) as of September, in contrast to ChatGPT’s nearly 39 million.
These generic apps have built a dedicated following, as evidenced by their user retention. In September, “Chat & Ask AI” had 9.7 million MAUs, “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 boasted 5.92 million monthly active users during that month.
However, AI photo apps that leverage AI technology for image editing and personalization are making a significant impact in the mobile app landscape.
Some of these apps, operating in a related space to ChatGPT, are giving the AI assistant tough competition in terms of downloads, usage, and in-app purchase revenue. While ChatGPT still leads with 23 million downloads in September, viral apps like “Remini” have come close to matching ChatGPT’s installations, with “Remini” reaching over 16.17 million downloads, thanks to its AI headshots feature gaining popularity on TikTok. “PicsArt AI Photo Editor” also enjoyed a successful September with nearly 16.05 million installs.
“Remini” also achieved over 6.2 million monthly users last month, while “FaceApp,” which incorporates AI filters, garnered more than 6.4 million users. Other apps, including “PicsArt” (4.27 million MAUs), “Wonder — AI Art Generator” (4.77 million MAUs), and “Facetune AI Photo/Video Editor” (5.22 million MAUs), also saw significant usage.
Several AI photo apps are generating higher revenue through in-app purchases compared to ChatGPT. Multiple factors may contribute to this difference. For instance, ChatGPT sells its ChatGPT Plus premium subscription through the web, where many users engage with the chatbot assistant. In contrast, AI photo apps primarily generate revenue through users’ smartphones as they interact with photos stored in their Camera Roll. Furthermore, many apps gain virality, which translates into short-lived fame but can lead to ongoing usage and subscriptions as users explore additional features.
In September 2023, ChatGPT generated $1.98 million in mobile consumer spending, whereas apps like “Remini,” “PicsArt,” “Wonder,” “BeautyPlus — AI Photo/Video Edit,” “FaceApp,” and “Facetune: AI Photo/Video Editor” generated higher revenue, approximately $6.22 million, $4.27 million, $2.08 million, $4.78 million, $6.42 million, and $5.22 million, respectively.
It’s worth noting that the popularity of AI photo apps may have a shorter lifespan compared to ChatGPT in some cases. Lensa, which went viral the previous year, experienced a notable decline, with 23.44 million downloads in December 2022 dwindling to 413,814 monthly installs as of September 2023, and 739,000 monthly active users. In addition, its mobile consumer spending dropped to $739,000 last month, down from a peak of over $24 million. These figures indicate a tendency for users to shift between viral AI photo apps as new features are introduced elsewhere.
