Business Apps in the US: iOS vs. Android, October 2026

Which business apps did Americans actually download in October 2026? We pulled US data from the App Store and Google Play to find out what professionals, gig workers, shoppers, and investors installed. Spoiler: the iPhone wins again, a thrifting app outranked Threads and WhatsApp, and the most-downloaded finance app isn't a bank.

Inside: category-by-category results, the moves market leaders made during the month, and 6 practical takeaways for your app marketing strategy.

The RadASO app store marketing team gathered data with Asolytics, a tool built to support app growth.

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October 2026 at a Glance

Short on time? Here's the TL;DR:

• iPhone is where Americans download business apps. About 3 in 4 installs in our sample (68.6M of 92M) came from the App Store. iOS beat Google Play by 2.2–3.2x in every category.

• Thrifting is having its main-character moment. Vinted, a secondhand-fashion marketplace, was the #1 app overall on both stores with about 8M installs, ahead of Threads, WhatsApp, and TikTok.

• The top Finance app isn't a bank. It’s Kalshi, a prediction market where people trade on events like elections. It led Finance on both stores (about 2.56M installs). 

• AI assistants took over Productivity: ChatGPT is #1 (about 2.36M installs), and Claude is #2 (about 1.65M). Four of the top 5 Productivity apps on iOS are AI assistants.

• Business apps are about finding work: Indeed was the #1 Business app (about 1.66M installs). DoorDash – Dasher, a gig-driver app, made the top 5 on both stores.

Category Totals: Google Play vs. App Store

Three points stand out in particular:

• iOS leads in the number of installs in every category. The number of installs from the App Store is 2.2 times higher than Google Play’s figures in the Business category, 3.0 times higher in the Finance category, 3.1 times higher in the Shopping category, and 3.2 times higher in the Productivity category.

• Business revenue is an iOS story. iOS Business revenue is about 12.6x Android's ($30.64M vs. $2.43M). Top Business apps like Indeed, ADP, and DoorDash – Dasher earn little or nothing in-store, because employers or platforms pay instead.

• Productivity is the one category where Android pays almost as well per install. Revenue per new install is about $1.46 on iOS and $1.34 on Google Play (revenue divided by installs in the table above), compared with $3.54 vs. $0.61 in Business. 

Who Leads on Each Platform (+ Combined Results)

Two categories have a different #1 on each platform: Business and Productivity. The split is sharper than it looks:

• Microsoft Teams tops Google Play Business but doesn't make the iOS Business top 20 at all 

• Muse from Meta tops Google Play Productivity but is absent from the iOS Productivity top 20. 

A #1 rank on one store says little about the other, so track and optimize each listing separately.

Vinted is also the #1 app in the Overall chart on both the App Store (5.2M) and Google Play (2.8M). It’s ahead of Threads and WhatsApp on iOS and DealSeek and TikTok on Google Play.

Business: Top 5 by Platform

Main insight: October's Business chart is a hiring chart, and Indeed is its main character: it holds about 13% of combined Business installs in the sample (1.66M of 12.62M); LinkedIn adds more job-search demand at #3 on iOS (790K).

The other big cluster is gig and hourly work:

• Gig-driver apps. DoorDash – Dasher is #4 on both stores (600K on iOS, 370K on Google Play). This is likely tied to Q4 holiday staffing, though a single month of data can't confirm the seasonality.

• Payroll and HR apps. ADP Mobile Solutions, a payroll app, is #5 on iOS (520K). These installs follow new hires, not marketing, so they're a useful proxy for seasonal onboarding volume.

Finance: Top 5 by Platform

Main insight: Prediction markets are now the top Finance install driver. Kalshi leads both stores with about 2.56M combined installs. 

One more pattern worth noting: a government app made the top 3. The Trump Accounts app, the US Treasury's child savings and investment app that went live nationwide on July 4, 2026, is #3 on the App Store with 1.3M installs. 

Finance shows almost no store revenue because these apps earn through interchange, interest, and trading fees. Judge Finance app marketing is driven by funded accounts and first transactions, not in-app purchases.

Productivity / AI: Top 5 by Platform

Main insight: Productivity is now an AI assistant category. Four of the top 5 iOS apps are AI assistants: ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, and Grok. ChatGPT leads overall with about 2.36M combined installs, and Claude is a clear #2 at about 1.65M. 

Muse is an Android-first hit. Meta's agent is #1 on Google Play but outside the iOS Productivity top 20. The data doesn't show why, but it's a reminder to check each store separately before calling a launch a hit or a flop.

Shopping: Top 5 by Platform

Main insight: Resale is the biggest force in US shopping apps. Vinted alone takes about 19% of combined Shopping installs (8.0M of 41.18M), and three of the apps in the table are resale marketplaces: Vinted, Depop, and Whatnot. Thrifting has gone from niche hobby to mainstream habit.

Vinted's model, where buyers pay a fee and sellers pay none, keeps both sides of its marketplace growing.

The second story is deal hunting ahead of the holidays:

• A coupon app is Google Play's #2. DealSeek has 2.5M installs, right behind Vinted, while the iOS top 5 is all marketplaces and retailers. October also brought Amazon's Prime Big Deal Days on October 6–7, which likely added to demand for deal apps (About Amazon).

• Android shoppers look more price-led. A coupon app is #2 on Google Play, while the iOS top 5 is all marketplaces and retailers. On Android, lead your store listing and ad creatives with price, discounts, and free shipping.

What Changed Since September

Compared with our September edition, most leaders kept their spots, but four shifts stand out.

1. Category leadership can flip in a month. In September, Kalshi and Polymarket were neck and neck. By October, Polymarket had dropped from #2 to #10 on iOS, while Kalshi held #1 on both stores. The two apps offer the same thing, but Kalshi tied itself to the midterms with My Ballot. When two apps look alike, the one that gives people a reason to open it this month wins.
2. Nobody owns AI yet. ChatGPT is still #1, but it lost installs. Claude passed Gemini for #2 on iOS, and Meta's Muse took #1 on Google Play in only its second month. People are clearly still trying out different assistants, so a challenger with a clear "why us" can still break into the top 3.
3. Android shoppers switched to bargain-hunting mode. On Google Play, Temu's installs halved, while a coupon app, DealSeek, jumped to #2. On iOS, the top 5 barely moved. Android shoppers seem to react faster to sales season, so that's where holiday deals and discount messaging should go first.
4. A big bank outpaced the fintech favorite. Capital One climbed to #2 on both stores, while Cash App slipped from #1 to #3 on Google Play. Being a fintech brand is no longer an advantage on its own: a well-known bank with a solid app can win the install race too.

What the Leaders Did in October

Lessons Learned: Top 6 Tactics to Adopt

Each lesson below starts from one of the leaders' October moves in the table above.

1. Give free users a taste of your best version (OpenAI). OpenAI didn't keep GPT-6 for paying users only: it gave the new model to everyone, including the Free plan (OpenAI). ChatGPT finished October as the #1 Productivity app with about 2.36M installs. A free plan that feels like the real product brings people in, and paid plans can still sell on limits and extras. 

2. Grow by showing up in more places (Meta). Meta launched Muse on iPad just a month after the phone version, and connected it to tools like Canva, QuickBooks, and Zoom and to stores like Walmart and Sephora (TechCrunch). In October, Muse was #1 in Google Play Productivity. 

3. For work apps, win over the person who says "yes" (Microsoft). Microsoft's October Teams updates helped two people: employees (a one-click pause for all notifications) and IT admins (tools to check and fix call quality across the company). In business apps, the IT team often decides whether an app gets approved and rolled out. 

4. Make your policies on fees and refunds clear (Vinted). Vinted — the No. 1 app among all stores overall — updated its terms of service for the US on October 8 (Vinted). The company renamed the buyer’s fee the “Vinted fee,” moved the refund policy to a separate document, and gave sellers 48 hours instead of 24 to prove the authenticity of the item. Online marketplaces rely on trust between strangers, so clear rules are essential.

5. Connect your app to what people care about right now (Kalshi). Before the November midterms, Kalshi added My Ballot, a tool that shows each user the races on their own ballot. In October, Kalshi was #1 in Finance on both stores. The tool turned a big national event into something personal. 

6. Test bold ideas as a preview first (Anthropic). Anthropic launched Claude Duet, an assistant that works on its own and messages you when something needs attention, as a separate app with a waitlist for paying US users (Claude). It also asks for approval before sending messages or making payments. Claude was already the #2 Productivity app with about 1.65M installs.