State of Mobile App Growth: India Startups 2026
How India's app startups actually acquire and activate users. First-party data across 77 India-based apps and 25.1M installs measured by Linkrunner: the organic versus paid split, install to signup conversion, and the Android versus iOS reality, broken down by vertical and app scale.
77
India apps analysed
25.1M
Installs measured
62.4%
Median organic install share
20.4%
Median install to signup rate
87.5%
Installs on Android
₹20.19
Median cost per install
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India is an Android-first, organic-led market, with paid concentrated in a few categories
The dataset is overwhelmingly early-stage and growth-stage Indian startups, which is what the country's app market is mostly made of. Across 77 of them and 25.1M installs, the median app acquires 62.4% of its installs organically, and 63.6% of all installs in the dataset are organic. The market is overwhelmingly Android, at 87.5% of installs versus 12.5% on iOS. Monthly installs grew roughly 27 times over the trailing year.
Paid acquisition is not spread evenly. Gaming, astrology, health, and social apps buy a large share of their installs, while food, entertainment, productivity, and most fintech and e-commerce apps grow mostly organically. Install to signup conversion is just as category-bound, with a multiple-fold gap between the best and worst verticals. This India cut runs lower on organic share than our global growth benchmark, because it is India-only and measured cumulatively.
How the 77 startups split by organic install share:
| Segment | Apps | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Organic-led (80%+) | 25 | 32.5% |
| Organic-leaning (50-80%) | 23 | 29.9% |
| Balanced (20-50%) | 13 | 16.9% |
| Paid-led (under 20%) | 16 | 20.8% |
Monthly installs grew about 27x in a year
Measured installs across the India dataset, by month, over the trailing twelve months.
| Month | Installs |
|---|---|
| Jun '25 | 62,771 |
| Jul '25 | 1,23,227 |
| Aug '25 | 1,92,506 |
| Sep '25 | 4,28,748 |
| Oct '25 | 5,47,170 |
| Nov '25 | 4,29,844 |
| Dec '25 | 3,82,118 |
| Jan '26 | 6,38,155 |
| Feb '26 | 8,28,630 |
| Mar '26 | 10,14,140 |
| Apr '26 | 12,61,362 |
| May '26 | 16,76,286 |
Organic share and conversion by vertical
Vertical is the strongest predictor of how an Indian app grows. Read your own numbers against your category, not the dataset median.
| Food & beverage* | 83.8% | 2.9% | Organic-native |
| Entertainment & content* | 75.5% | 15.2% | Balanced |
| Productivity & tools | 67.5% | 23.5% | Balanced |
| E-commerce | 66.6% | 17% | Balanced |
| Fintech | 61% | 20.9% | Balanced |
| EdTech | 60.2% | 28.7% | Balanced |
| Health & fitness | 47.6% | 15.9% | Paid-dependent |
| Astrology & spiritual* | 46.7% | 67.8% | Paid-dependent |
| Social & community | 46.3% | 28.2% | Paid-dependent |
| Gaming* | 6.7% | 69.7% | Paid-dependent |
| Vertical | Median organic % | Median install to signup % | Profile |
|---|---|---|---|
| EdTech | 60.2% | 28.7% | Balanced |
| Astrology & spiritual | 46.7% | 67.8% | Paid-dependent |
| Gaming | 6.7% | 69.7% | Paid-dependent |
| Health & fitness | 47.6% | 15.9% | Paid-dependent |
| Social & community | 46.3% | 28.2% | Paid-dependent |
| E-commerce | 66.6% | 17% | Balanced |
| Fintech | 61% | 20.9% | Balanced |
| Entertainment & content | 75.5% | 15.2% | Balanced |
| Productivity & tools | 67.5% | 23.5% | Balanced |
| Food & beverage | 83.8% | 2.9% | Organic-native |
* Smaller sample, read as directional. Go deeper on attribution for fintech, gaming, edtech, and e-commerce apps.
A paid install costs about ₹20.19, a signup about ₹48.01
Across ₹22.2 crore of measured ad spend from 58 apps that ran paid, the median cost per install is ₹20.19 and the median cost per signup is ₹48.01. The spread by category is large, so benchmark against your vertical. For region and platform cuts, see the cost per install benchmark tool.
| Vertical | Median cost per install |
|---|---|
| Entertainment & content | ₹113.59 |
| Astrology & spiritual | ₹111.56 |
| EdTech | ₹67.79 |
| Health & fitness | ₹31.18 |
| Fintech | ₹21.42 |
| Social & community | ₹19.25 |
| Productivity & tools | ₹18.76 |
| E-commerce | ₹18.22 |
Figures in INR, for apps that ran paid acquisition in the window.
India runs on Android
iOS is a small, high-intent minority of installs. Plan measurement, deep linking, and store optimisation for Android first.
| Platform | Installs | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Android | 2,19,91,232 | 87.5% |
| iOS | 31,40,649 | 12.5% |
Startups tip organic once they cross 200K installs
Median organic share and conversion by app size. Early-stage apps run a balanced mix and convert installs to signups best; past 200K installs, organic share jumps to 80.2% as brand and word of mouth compound, while conversion eases as apps cast a wider net.
| Scale tier | Median organic % | Median install to signup % |
|---|---|---|
| Under 50K installs | 56% | 22.4% |
| 50K to 200K installs | 58% | 24% |
| 200K to 500K installs | 80.2% | 13.8% |
| 500K+ installs | 75.2% | 15.2% |
Five ways to act on these benchmarks
- 01
Build for Android first
Indian installs are overwhelmingly Android: 87.5% versus 12.5% on iOS across the dataset. Deep links, store listings, and attribution QA should be tuned for Android before iOS, and your iOS sample will always be the smaller, higher-intent slice.
- 02
Read organic share against your category, not the average
The median app is 62.4% organic, but that hides a wide spread. Gaming and astrology buy most of their installs, while food, entertainment, and productivity apps grow mostly organically. A fintech app at 60% organic is normal; an e-commerce app at the same level is under-investing in paid.
- 03
Conversion is a category trait
Install to signup conversion swings several-fold across verticals. Gaming and astrology turn installs into activated users far more often than e-commerce or health and fitness. Benchmark your activation against your category before you blame the funnel.
- 04
Expect to grow more organic as you scale
Organic share rises with size in this data, from 56% for apps under 50K installs to around 75 to 80% once they cross 200K. Paid seeds early growth; brand and word of mouth compound later. Budget for that shift instead of reacting to it.
- 05
Move at startup speed with a new-generation MMP
Most of these apps are startups, where a small team has to measure paid, organic, and deep links without a dedicated analytics function. That is why new Indian apps increasingly choose Linkrunner, the new-generation, AI-powered MMP: it integrates in an afternoon, matches every install to its real source, flags suspicious installs, and surfaces what is actually driving installs, instead of heavyweight legacy MMPs that add cost and bloat as paid grows. As paid becomes a real share of installs, that accuracy is what protects the budget.
If paid is growing for your app, attribution accuracy is what protects the budget. See why teams choose Linkrunner as their mobile measurement partner for India, benchmark spend against India cost per install data, or compare this with our global growth benchmark report.
How the data was collected
The report is built from first-party attribution data measured by the Linkrunner platform, using the same engine that powers the product dashboard. We included 77 India-based apps that each recorded at least 100 attributed installs. The set skews heavily toward early-stage and growth-stage startups, which is what the India app market is mostly made of. India means the app is operated by an India-based company; each app was assigned to a vertical through company and product research. Every published figure is backed by at least three apps, and any vertical with fewer apps is folded into the dataset totals rather than shown on its own. All app-level data is anonymised and aggregated, and no individual app is identifiable.
An organic install is one that could not be matched to a paid ad network touchpoint, including store search, word of mouth, and untracked referrals. A paid install is one attributed to a specific ad campaign. Install to signup conversion is signups divided by installs, for apps that track an activation event. Organic, paid, and conversion figures are cumulative through mid-2026; the install-volume series covers the trailing twelve months. Per-app statistics use medians so a few very large apps do not dominate, and platform splits are volume-weighted.
Use these benchmarks, with attribution
These numbers are free to quote in articles, decks, and posts. Please attribute them to Linkrunner and link to this page as the source.
- 62.4% of installs for the median Indian app startup are organic, and 63.6% of all installs across 77 apps are organic.
- India is an Android-first market: 87.5% of app installs are on Android versus 12.5% on iOS.
- The median Indian app startup converts 20.4% of installs into signups, with conversion swinging several-fold across categories.
- The median Indian app startup pays about ₹20.19 per paid install and ₹48.01 per signup, with category CPI ranging from ₹18.22 to ₹113.59.
- Across 32.5% of India app startups, organic drives 80% or more of installs; 20.8% are paid-led.
- Indian app startups tip from a balanced acquisition mix to about 80.2% organic once they pass 200K installs.
- Monthly installs across the measured India startups grew about 27 times over the trailing twelve months.
Suggested citation
Linkrunner. State of Mobile App Growth: India Startups 2026. https://linkrunner.io/state-of-mobile-app-growth-india-2026
Frequently asked questions
Organic vs paid installs, conversion, platform mix, and methodology for Indian apps.
Measure your own India growth
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