How much AI-built apps really make (October 2026, month-end update)

Summary

• 103published cases of AI-built apps that report revenue
• $13,500median monthly revenue across the 56 cases with a monthly figure in US dollars
• $4,553median for the 31 of them verified through the payment provider
• 43%of all cases are verified (44 of 103)

What changed since the first edition

Compared with How much AI-built apps really make (October 2026) (data as of Oct 22, 2026, 85 cases). Same rules and methodology; every number below comes from the two frozen datasets.

• 18 new cases: 85 to 103. All of them are verified through the payment provider, so verified cases went from 26 of 85 (31%) to 44 of 103 (43%).
• The median monthly figure went from $17,165 to $13,500 across 43 and then 56 cases with a monthly figure in US dollars. The 13 new monthly figures have a median of $5,212, so they pull it down.
• Verified median: $2,280 to $4,553 (n=18 to n=31). Screenshot median unchanged at $33,000 (n=9). Self-reported median unchanged at $16,000 (n=16).
• Tools, cases naming each: Claude Code 36 (42%) to 43 (42%); Cursor 30 (35%) to 34 (33%); OpenAI Codex 15 (18%) to 18 (17%); Claude 12 (14%) to 16 (16%). Claude Code is still the most-named tool; cases naming no tool went from 7 to 11.
• Channels, cases citing each: X 29 (34%) to 42 (41%); SEO 20 (24%) to 28 (27%); Building in public 19 (22%) to 23 (22%). X and building in public together: 35 (41%) to 50 (49%).
• Audience gap: founders with a large audience before launch, median $40,000 to $20,000 (n=9 to n=13); small audience, $2,000 to $4,553 (n=19 to n=27).

New in this edition (18)

• 1ClickWebsite.ai: $15,006 in the last 30 days
• Agensi: $3,676 all-time
• ekto: $5,641 in the last 30 days
• FootballGPT: $5,230 MRR
• Halo: $762 all-time
• Kodo: $1,573 MRR
• Kolbo.AI: $79,244 in the last 30 days
• Kupkaike: $1,468 from March to September 2026
• LocalRank: $19,328 in the last 30 days
• MailCheap: $860 MRR
• MakerMap: $363 MRR
• MimikFlow: $11,030 in the last 30 days
• ReelDrop: $883 in the last 30 days
• Respira: $264 all-time
• Ritmo: $4,553 in the last 30 days
• Scribbble: $2,094 all-time
• Solo Content Studio: $3,201 MRR
• Underpriced AI: $5,212 in the last 30 days

Key findings

1. Most revenue claims are unaudited. Only 44 of 103 cases (43%) have revenue read from the payment provider (Stripe, RevenueCat, Superwall and others) through a public profile such as TrustMRR. 17 show a dashboard screenshot and 42 (41%) rest on the founder’s word.
2. The typical figure is about $14,000 a month, with a wide spread. Across the 56 cases that give a monthly figure in US dollars, the median is $13,500; the middle half runs from $1,830 to $36,602, and the range is $39 to $120,000.
3. Verified apps report far less than unverified ones. The verified median is $4,553 a month (n=31), against $16,000 for self-reported figures (n=16) and $33,000 for screenshots (n=9). 20 of the 31 verified apps make under $10K a month. Part of the gap is how cases are found (see caveats), but it is a reason to read big unverified numbers with care.
4. Claude Code is the most-named tool. 43 of 103 cases (42%) name Claude Code, ahead of Cursor (34, 33%) and OpenAI Codex (18). 44 cases name two or more tools, and 11 don’t name any.
5. Almost nobody relies on a single channel. Of the 100 cases that name how they got customers, only 12 credit one channel; the median is 3 channels per case.
6. X is the most-cited channel. 42 cases (41%) credit X, then SEO (28) and Building in public (23). Counting X and building in public together, 50 cases (49%).
7. An existing audience goes with bigger numbers. Founders with a large following before launch report a median $20,000 a month (n=13), against $4,553 for those with a small one (n=27). Only 5 of 103 say they started with no audience at all.
8. Nearly half the numbers can’t be compared. Only 56 of 103 cases (54%) give a monthly figure in stated US dollars. The rest give an all-time total (20), an annual figure (8), or a monthly figure with no currency (17) or in another currency (2).

How strong is the proof?

Every case carries one of three labels. Verified: the revenue shows on a public third-party profile that reads it from the payment provider and matches the founder’s claim within about 20%. Screenshot: the founder showed a revenue dashboard. Self-reported: the founder’s own words. How we label numbers

• Verified44 (43%)
• Screenshot17 (17%)
• Self-reported42 (41%)

Monthly revenue: the 56 comparable cases

Only cases that state a monthly figure in US dollars are used here: MRR, revenue in the last 30 (or 28) days, or revenue in a stated month. Totals, annual figures and other or unstated currencies are left out and listed below, never converted.

• Under $1K10 (8 verified)
• $1K to $9.9K15 (12 verified)
• $10K to $29.9K11 (4 verified)
• $30K to $49.9K12 (5 verified)
• $50K to $99.9K6 (2 verified)
• $100K or more2 (0 verified)

Browse the apps in each range: $50K+ a month (8) · $10K+ a month (31) · $1K to $9.9K a month (15) · Under $1K a month (10).

Your own combination: the free AI-built app revenue calculator shows the median for any AI tool and app type, from every live case (updated with each new one).

Highest verified monthly revenue

1. Kolbo.AI: $79,244 in the last 30 days (Lovable, Cursor, Claude Code)
2. Brawler: $55,118 in the last 30 days (Rork)
3. Post Bridge: $48,821 MRR (Cursor)
4. Laper: $46,509 MRR (Claude Code, OpenAI Codex)
5. AbMaxx: $46,251 in the last 30 days (Lovable)

Full ranking: Top AI-built apps by verified revenue.

Which AI tools they were built with

Share of all 103 cases naming each tool (a case can name several). “Codex” and “OpenAI Codex” are counted as one tool. Medians only where at least 3 cases give a monthly US dollar figure.

Named once: Base44, Gemini 3.1 Pro, Google AI Studio, GPT-5.4, Grok, Manus.

Head to head: Claude Code vs Cursor · Claude Code vs Codex · Cursor vs Codex · Lovable vs Cursor · Lovable vs Claude Code · Lovable vs Replit · Cursor vs Replit (same data and rules, side by side; all comparisons in one table).

How they got customers

The growth channels each founder credits, as a share of all 103 cases. Top 12 shown; every channel.

• X42 (41%)
• SEO28 (27%)
• Building in public23 (22%)
• Reddit17 (17%)
• Instagram13 (13%)
• TikTok13 (13%)
• Meta ads11 (11%)
• UGC videos11 (11%)
• Word of mouth11 (11%)
• Blog content10 (10%)
• YouTube9 (9%)
• Influencers7 (7%)

How many channels per case

• None named3
• 1 channel12
• 2 channels28
• 3 channels31
• 4 channels18
• 5 channels7
• 6 channels1
• 7 channels3

12 of the 100 cases that name a channel credit only one: 1ClickWebsite.ai (X), Kolbo.AI (X), Lumoo (Warm network), ChartDetector AI (Paid ads), Profit AI (Word of mouth), AppAlchemy (Reddit), LicitaCerta (Paid ads), Kiiwi (Reddit), 3AK (Own audience (track videos)), One-feature tool (Warm network), Maxed AI (UGC videos) and Stealth SaaS (SEO).

What kind of apps

Did they start with an audience?

What the source says about the founder’s following before launch.

Left out of the monthly numbers

These 47 cases count everywhere else in the report but not in the monthly revenue stats, because turning their figure into a monthly US dollar amount would mean guessing.

All-time or to-date totals (20)

• Kupkaike: $1,468 from March to September 2026
• Halo: $762 all-time
• Agensi: $3,676 all-time
• Scribbble: $2,094 all-time
• Respira: $264 all-time
• ClaudeKit: $279 all time
• UIDrop: $115 all time
• Appthetics: $2,292 all-time
• InspoAI: $6,281 all-time
• Interni IA: $396 all-time
• Karvi: $8,577 all-time
• AI Renamer: $7,625 all-time
• CNVS: $49,986 in all-time sales
• Flowfy: $22K in total revenue and $300+ a day, about five months after launch
• Creator Hunter: $30K in total revenue, about seven months after launch
• TrustMRR: Just over $300,000 in revenue plus around $30,000 in acquisition fees in its first nine months
• Coherence: around 85,000 in eight months
• LicitaCerta: R$ 10 mil in 30 days
• Kiiwi: $310 all time
• 3AK: around 70,000 so far

Annual or ARR figures (8)

Not divided by 12: founders use “ARR” and “annualized” loosely, so we don’t turn them into a monthly figure.

• Klar: 1.3 million Swedish kronor in ARR one month after launch
• BridgeMind: ARR: $250,772
• Clairvo: a million dollars in ARR
• Gift My Book: 'Pretty close to annualized revenue of one million dollars' about three months after launch
• Lumoo: €700K ARR within 9 months of a February 2025 launch
• Plinq: ARR: R$2.2M (USD ~$456K), 10k+ users in 3 months
• Creator Buddy: 300K ARR within two weeks of launch
• Kid's content site: >$1K AdSense this year

Monthly, but in another currency (2)

• Algrow: £10,250.61 gross volume in the last four weeks, about six months after launch
• One-feature tool: £25 MRR

Monthly, but no currency stated (17)

The founder never said the currency. A dollar sign in a video title isn’t enough for us. Why

• Fastlane: around 69K a month in recurring revenue for the software, about two months after launch
• Revid: a little bit more than 600,000 per month
• CreatorLookup: nearly 100K MRR
• Payout: 20K per month, currency not stated
• Voicy: 11K MRR
• Cat on Chair: over 18K in the last 30 days
• Stella: 300K MRR within two months
• Profit AI: 30K MRR for the app
• ToneAdapt: over 25,000 in four weeks
• CutCoach: 20,000 a month
• Prayer Lock: over 20K a month
• LaunchFast: about 21.8K MRR
• Wrestle AI: 17,000 per month, within six months of launch
• STOPPR: 12,000 per month, five months after building it
• CodeGuide: 42K MRR, about three months after launch
• Cal Buddy: over 81K
• Instagram-bot app: 81 MRR

Methodology

• Data. Every published case on Shipped & Paid as of Oct 31, 2026: 103 AI-built apps whose founders publicly reported revenue, posted between Mar 11, 2025 and Oct 21, 2026. Each case links to its original source. 1 case whose source was deleted (Tradr) and cases still under review are not counted.
• Figures. Each figure is the headline number on the case page, as the source states it. “Over $X” and “$XK+” count as X, “almost $X” and “about $X” as X. MRR, last-30-days revenue and revenue in a stated month are treated as monthly figures; they are close but not identical (last 30 days can include yearly plans and one-off sales).
• No conversion. We never convert currencies, annualize or de-annualize. Anything that isn’t a monthly US dollar figure is kept out of the revenue stats and listed above.
• Statistics. Medians, not averages, because a few large numbers would pull an average up. “Middle half” is the 25th to 75th percentile (inclusive method). Breakdowns show a median only where at least 3 cases give a monthly US dollar figure; small groups are noisy, so read them as hints.
• Tools and channels are what the founder or source names. A case can have several. Channel groups use the label lists shown in the table.
• Reproducible. The numbers come from a script run on our public case data. Download the per-case CSV or the computed stats (JSON); all cases with full details are in data.json.

Caveats

• Survivorship bias. These are apps that made money and said so in public. Apps that made nothing rarely post about it, so this is not a picture of what a typical AI-built app earns, and it can’t show that any tool or channel causes revenue.
• Self-reported figures. 59 of 103 figures are the founder’s own claims (with or without a screenshot) and have not been audited.
• How cases are found. Verified cases come from public revenue profiles, which list many small apps; unverified cases mostly come from posts, interviews and videos, which favor big wins. That explains part of the gap between verified and self-reported medians.
• A snapshot. Each figure is from the date of its source or check, between early 2025 and October 2026. Revenue changes; the case pages are kept up to date, this report is not.

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