How Much Ad Revenue Can Apps Really Make in 2025? [The Definitive Guide]

In 2025, a mobile app with 100,000 monthly active users (MAU) can realistically generate between $5,000 and $100,000+ in monthly ad revenue. This wide range depends entirely on the app’s category, user geography, ad formats, and monetization strategy. Finance and mid-core gaming apps are on the higher end, while hyper-casual games and utility apps occupy the lower to mid-range.

Ad revenue for apps isn’t one-size-fits-all. It depends heavily on:

• App Platform (iOS or Android): iOS typically commands higher eCPMs (effective cost per thousand impressions) than Android.
• Ad Formats: Different formats have vastly different earning potential.
• App Type: Some app categories are more lucrative for advertisers than others.
• Audience: Advertisers pay more to reach users in certain countries.

Here are MonetizeMore’s eCPMs and RPM estimates (revenue per mille) to give you a clearer picture:

App Platform	Ad Format	eCPM (Estimated)	RPM (Estimated)	Notes
iOS	Banner	$0.50 – $2.50	$0.25 – $1.25	Poorest earning potential, good for high-traffic apps
iOS	Interstitial	$3.00 – $8.00	$1.50 – $4.00	Shown between screens, moderate app ad revenue
iOS	Rewarded Video	$10.00 – $30.00	$5.00 – $15.00	High user engagement, highest earning potential especially for gaming
Android	Banner	$0.25 – $1.50	$0.12 – $0.75	Lower eCPMs than iOS
Android	Interstitial	$1.50 – $5.00	$0.75 – $2.50	Similar to iOS but generally lower revenue
Android	Rewarded Video	$5.00 – $20.00	$2.50 – $10.00	Still strong app ad revenue, but lower than iOS counterparts

Example:

A gaming app on iOS with 100,000 daily active users showing rewarded video ads could potentially generate:

-100,000 users * 0.10 videos per user * $20.00 eCPM = $200,000 (potentially!).

Above chart shows how one of our gaming app clients improved their earnings by over 4000%

The $400 Billion Opportunity

The mobile app economy remains one of the most profitable digital landscapes in 2025. With global mobile ad spending projected to surpass $400 billion, app publishers have an unprecedented opportunity to scale their profits. However, immense competition, rising user acquisition costs, and evolving platform policies mean that success is no longer guaranteed by simply placing a few banner ads.

Maximizing revenue today requires a sophisticated understanding of ad formats, user experience, and the underlying technology that powers monetization. This guide provides a definitive breakdown of how much ad revenue your app can generate, supported by the latest industry benchmarks, real-world case studies, and actionable strategies for 2025 and beyond.

How Much Money Can You Expect from An App?

Apps have the potential to generate millions of dollars in income each year. However, the majority of apps that achieve this are rather few in number. The bulk of the apps are flops that don’t actually make money whatsoever.

So, it’s an immensely tough exercise to establish an estimate on how much money an app can make given the big number of applications and the huge variety in the amount of cash they achieve to bring in for their publishers.

Apps ranked in the top 200 on the app store earn an average of $82,500 every day. When we broaden that range and look at the income numbers for the top 800 apps, the daily income falls to roughly $3,500.

This disparity is also evident across genres; for example, gaming apps earn roughly $22k per day, whereas entertainment applications earn only $3090. Having said that, there is no universal answer to how much income an app can generate.

How Does Advertising Revenue Work?

App developers use key metrics like ARPDAU (Average Revenue Per Daily Active User), ARPU (Average Revenue Per User), and ARPPU (Average Revenue Per Paying User) to measure ad performance and overall monetization.

To optimize ad revenue, developers rely on analytics and reporting tools that break down earnings by ad format, such as interstitial ads, banner ads, mobile video ads, and rewarded video ads. This data helps them determine the most profitable ad types and adjust their monetization strategy accordingly. Rewarded video ads, in particular, often generate higher engagement and revenue since users voluntarily watch them in exchange for in-app rewards.

Global App Monetization Trends in 2025

To understand revenue potential, we must first look at the market forces shaping it:

• Mobile Advertising Dominance: Mobile ad spend now accounts for over 70% of all digital advertising budgets. This massive investment from advertisers directly fuels higher eCPMs for publishers who can deliver engaged audiences.
• Mobile Gaming Leads the Pack: The mobile gaming sector generated nearly $92 billion in ad revenue in 2024 and continues its upward trajectory. It serves as a benchmark for sophisticated ad monetization, pioneering the use of rewarded video and offerwalls.
• High-Growth Regions Emerge: While North America and the Asia-Pacific region still lead in total ad spend, Latin America (LATAM) and Africa are the fastest-growing markets. Cheaper mobile data and widespread smartphone adoption are unlocking new, scalable audiences for publishers.

2025 eCPM Benchmarks: A Deep Dive by Ad Format

Your choice of ad formats is the single biggest lever you can pull to influence revenue. Effective Cost Per Mille (eCPM) is the revenue you earn for every 1,000 ad impressions. Below are the 2025 benchmarks.

Ad Format	Global Avg. eCPM (2025)	U.S. & Canada Avg. eCPM	Best Use Case
Rewarded Video Ads	$13 – $20	$20 – $30	Offering in-game currency, unlocking premium features, providing extra lives.
Interstitial Ads	$8 – $12	$15 – $20	Placed at natural transition points, like after completing a level or before a new task.
App Open Ads	$6 – $9	$12 – $15	Displayed when a user first opens or switches back to the app, capturing immediate attention.
Banner Ads	$0.50 – $2	$2 – $4	Persistent placement at the top or bottom of the screen for constant, low-impact visibility.

Key Insight: Rewarded Video and Interstitial ads dominate revenue because they command high user attention and engagement. Advertisers are willing to pay a premium for these full-screen, high-impact formats. Banners provide consistent but low-yield revenue and are best used as a supplement to other formats.

The 5 Critical Factors That Determine App Ad Revenue

Your app’s revenue is not a single number; it is an outcome of several interconnected variables.

1. Ad Format & Strategy: A strategic mix of the formats above is crucial. An app relying solely on banners will earn a fraction of what an app using rewarded video and interstitials can. The key is to match the format to natural pauses in the user experience.
2. Geography of Your Audience: Users in the U.S., Canada, the UK, and Japan generate the highest eCPMs because advertisers spend more to reach these high-value consumers. An app with 10,000 U.S. users can often out-earn an app with 50,000 users from a Tier-3 region.
3. App Category (Niche): Gaming, Finance, and Utility apps consistently generate the highest ad revenue. This is driven by high user engagement (gaming) or high-value user intent (finance), which attracts premium advertisers.
4. User Engagement and Retention: The more time users spend in your app and the more frequently they return, the more ad impressions you can serve. High retention is a direct multiplier for your ad revenue potential.
5. Ad Density and Placement: Finding the perfect balance is essential. Too few ads leave money on the table, while too many ads (ad fatigue) frustrate users and cause them to churn, killing your long-term revenue.

Ad revenue from mobile games

As part of an app’s monetization strategy, mobile game ad revenue refers to money made by in-game advertisements including such rewarded ads, offerwalls, interstitials, and playable ads instead of in-app purchases.

The revenue from gaming ads is estimated by multiplying the number of impressions an ad receives on an ad platform by the eCPM. Ultimately, mobile game advertising revenue has shown to be quite profitable, with mobile games, and is on track to generate $39.8 billion in advertising money alone.

What Do Subscription Apps Earn?

Subscription apps are yet another excellent way to make money via in-app purchases. Tinder is the greatest example of a comparable money-making app. Even though the Tinder app is available for free download, users must pay for features such as unrestricted swipes. This functionality provides users with an infinite number of possibilities to find a match.

Furthermore, Tinder’s “Passport” add-on enables people to connect with users in different regions, whereas “Boost” allows users to appear at the top of that list in front of nearby Tinder users. These in-app services, which were only accessible to the public if they paid for them, earned approximately $407.4 million in revenue.

How much money do apps make per advertisement?

The proportion of money an app makes for each ad is determined by numerous factors like the app’s genre, the ad unit, the user’s demography, etc. It is estimated that the average income for rewarded video advertisements in the United States is $0.02 per impression. The overall payout per completion for interstitials is $0.16.

In terms of genre, casino and action games provide the greatest revenue per rewarded video ad, while hyper-casual and casual games generate the least although they compensate for the revenue with a higher volume of impressions.

Ad Unit Varieties

The sort of ad unit will have an impact on revenue. One or more ad units may be used in a mobile app. Too many units on a mobile device may limit income and drive customers away. Finding the correct balance of ad units is crucial for increasing income while maintaining the app’s functionality and purpose.

Most mobile apps serve to display and video ad units. The banners that appear on the screen are known as display advertisements. The placement varies, although it is normal for a bar to take up just under one-third of the upper or bottom screen. Full-screen pop-up ads that last a few seconds or play a video are also employed.

Structure of CPM Pricing

A CPM pricing model determines revenue. CPM is an abbreviation for cost per mille (thousand) initial impressions. The worth of impressions varies depending on the people and market.

A finance sector app is more likely to have a greater CPM value than one with a low price point and tight margin offering.

The revenue calculation is just the number of views multiplied by the CPM and divided by 1,000. If you receive 10,000 impressions and your CPM price for an ad unit is $8, your earning will be $8*(10,000/1000) = $80.

Settle the Potential

The revenue potential for mobile app advertising is practically limitless, as long as marketers are ready to spend and consumers interact with your app. When your customer base expands, so does your revenue. The number of downloads has no direct relationship with advertising revenue. Users must continue to engage with the app and stay on the page to genuinely make cash.

Developing apps that add value and maintain users will result in increased advertiser value and income over time. Evaluate your potential revenue by investigating average CPM values in your sector and comparing them to your expected download and impression figures. It is tough to predict impressions for a new app, however, one that has been tested and has statistics exhibiting visitor trends over time can accurately estimate revenue possibilities based on the current traffic conditions.

Pricing Models Explained

CPM stands for cost per mille (1,000) impressions. Other measures are often used to assess outcomes and costs. The ad or organization operating on their behalf uses a cost per click (CPC) and cost per acquisition (CPA) to define campaign Key Performance Indicators or KPIs.

Monitoring CPC or CPA is done routinely on the ad server-side because clicks and purchases or conversions are recorded when a customer clicks through from the ad to an external website. Your compensation is normally calculated by measuring the ad clicks from your site as the publisher.

How Does Revenue Work?

The quantity of real visitors who make impressions on the adverts delivered to your site determines revenue. The CPM is decided upfront in a straight buy ecosystem.

The CPM will change in an auction system, and your earnings will be less static. When the desire for relevant topic matters pushes up ad pricing, this might work to your benefit.

Finance and other high-value themes command greater CPMs and income prospects, but getting clicks is also quite competitive. As a publication, you will be paid by your ad manager, but the CPM will not always be displayed. This figure is calculated by comparing your traffic against the payment.

Calculating Your App’s Potential Earnings

While benchmarks provide a guide, ad revenue calculation can be done using this formula:

Monthly Ad Revenue ≈ (Daily Active Users × Average Sessions per User × Ads per Session) × (eCPM / 1000) × 30 Days

Based on this, here are realistic monthly revenue ranges for an app with 100,000 Monthly Active Users (MAU) in 2025:

App Type	Estimated Monthly Ad Revenue (From successfull apps)
Hyper-casual Game	$5,000 – $20,000
Mid-core Game	$30,000 – $80,000
Finance or Utility App	$50,000 – $100,000+
Entertainment/Social App	$20,000 – $70,000

Case Studies: From Potential to Profit

Data is useful, but real-world results show what’s possible with expert optimization.

1. OnPoint Global: The Power of Format Diversification
   • Challenge: Relying on standard ad formats was limiting revenue growth.
   • Solution: MonetizeMore implemented high-eCPM offerwall ads, giving users a new way to engage and earn rewards.
   • Result: Ad revenue increased by a staggering 106% on only a 57% traffic increase, proving that the right ad format can more than double earnings.
2. FinanceEasyTips: Thriving in a Cookieless World
   • Challenge: Declining traffic and the phase-out of third-party cookies threatened revenue stability.
   • Solution: MonetizeMore rolled out its Publisher Provided Signals (PPS) and Publisher Provided ID (PPID) solutions to enhance ad targeting with privacy-safe data.
   • Result: Despite falling traffic, the app’s RPM (Revenue Per 1,000 Impressions) increased by 50%, demonstrating the critical importance of modern identity solutions.

The 2025 Publisher’s Playbook: Best Practices to Maximize Revenue

1. Leverage Hybrid Monetization: Do not rely on ads alone. The most profitable apps combine in-app advertising with subscriptions, one-time in-app purchases (IAPs), or premium features. This creates multiple, stable revenue streams.
2. Use Header Bidding & Mediation: A modern mediation platform like PubGuru puts multiple ad networks in competition for your ad inventory in real-time. This auction dynamic forces them to bid higher, maximizing your eCPM on every single impression.
3. Adopt Privacy-First Technology: With the end of third-party cookies, solutions like PPS-PPID and contextual targeting are no longer optional. Adopting them ensures your ad inventory remains valuable to advertisers in a privacy-centric ecosystem.
4. A/B Test Everything: Do not assume your ad placements are optimal. Continuously test different ad formats, placements, frequencies, and timing. A simple UI tweak, like changing the trigger for an interstitial ad, can boost CTR and eCPM by 10-20%.

Most Profitable Ad Formats for Different App Genres

The most profitable ad formats vary by app genre, as different types of apps engage users in distinct ways. Here’s a breakdown of the most effective ad formats for various app categories:

1. Gaming Apps

The mobile gaming ad revenue is projected to reach $177 billion in 2024, with in-app purchases contributing significantly to this figure. The global gaming market value is expected to be around $240 billion in the same year, indicating a robust monetization landscape for gaming apps.

• Interstitial Ads: These full-screen ads are displayed at natural transition points, such as between game levels, making them highly effective in capturing user attention without disrupting gameplay.
• Rewarded Video Ads: Users can choose to watch a video ad in exchange for in-game rewards, which enhances user engagement and satisfaction while generating revenue.

2. Social Media and Content Apps

The social media advertising market is expected to grow significantly, with projections indicating that mobile ad spending will reach approximately $216.4 billion in 2024. This includes substantial contributions from social media platforms that rely heavily on native and banner ads.

• Native Ads: These ads blend seamlessly with the app’s content, making them less intrusive and more engaging for users. They are particularly effective in social media feeds and content discovery platforms.
• Banner Ads: While less engaging than videos, banner ads can be effective in social media and content apps where users are accustomed to seeing them alongside content.

3. Streaming and Media Apps

The video streaming market is part of the broader digital ad market, which is forecasted to increase to $216.4 billion in 2024. Streaming apps can expect significant revenue from video ads, particularly as user engagement with video content continues to rise.

• Video Ads: In-stream ads (pre-roll, mid-roll, and post-roll) are highly effective in video streaming apps, as they leverage the visual nature of the content. Out-stream ads are also gaining traction, especially on mobile devices.
• Audio Ads: For music streaming and podcast apps, audio ads provide a non-intrusive way to deliver marketing messages while users are engaged with audio content.

4. E-commerce and Retail Apps

The e-commerce mobile app market is also part of the growing mobile ad ecosystem, with overall mobile commerce expected to reach around $4.5 trillion globally by 2025. Push notifications and native ads are critical for driving sales and user engagement in this sector.

• Push Notifications: These can deliver personalized promotions and offers directly to users’ devices, driving engagement and conversion rates. They are particularly effective in the retail sector.
• Native Ads: These can highlight products in a way that feels organic to the user experience, making them suitable for e-commerce applications.

5. Health and Fitness Apps

The health and fitness app market is projected to generate substantial revenue through in-app purchases and ads. While specific ad revenue figures are less frequently reported, the overall wellness app market is expected to reach $14 billion by 2026, with ads playing a vital role in monetization.

• Rewarded Video Ads: Similar to gaming apps, offering rewards for watching video ads can be effective in health and fitness apps, encouraging users to engage with ads while maintaining a positive experience.
• Interstitial Ads: These can be strategically placed during natural breaks in the user journey, such as after completing a workout or a wellness quiz.

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What Apps Have the Capacity to Yield the Most Money in 2025?

The global mobile gaming market has reached impressive heights, generating approximately $90 billion in revenue in 2023. This figure accounts for about 49% of the total gaming market, valued at $184 billion.

Projections indicate that the mobile gaming market will continue to grow, potentially reaching $118 billion by 2027. Regarding revenue breakdown by platform, the iOS App Store is expected to surpass $40 billion in mobile app revenue. In comparison, Google Play’s mobile game revenue is projected to be around $50 billion in 2025.

User engagement remains robust, with reports showing that 56% of mobile gamers play games more than ten times each week, highlighting the addictive qualities of mobile gaming. The growth of the mobile gaming sector can be attributed to several factors, including advancements in gaming technology, such as enhanced visuals and gameplay mechanics, as well as the rising popularity of e-sports.

Tired of not making much from your app? Get started with MonetizeMore’s next level in-app monetization to 5X your app’s ad revenue in no time.

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Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

What is a good eCPM for a mobile app in 2025?

A good eCPM ranges from $8 to $20 for high-impact formats like rewarded video and interstitials in Tier-1 countries. For banner ads, an eCPM of $2 to $4 is considered strong. Anything below $1 for banners or $5 for interstitials indicates room for optimization.

How many users do you need to make money from an app?

You can start earning with as few as 1,000 daily active users (DAU), but significant revenue ($1,000+/month) typically begins with 10,000+ DAUs. Scaling to 50,000+ DAUs is where six-figure annual revenue becomes a realistic target with proper monetization.

Which app category makes the most money from ads?

Gaming and Finance apps are the most profitable categories for ad monetization. Gaming apps benefit from high engagement and session length, allowing for more ad placements, while finance apps attract high-paying advertisers due to the high lifetime value of their users.

source https://www.monetizemore.com/blog/how-much-ad-revenue-can-apps-generate/