Efforts by tech giants to boost AI adoption in India may be nearing a tipping point as companies end free offerings in hopes of turning the world’s fourth-largest economy into an unexpected influx of paid subscribers.
India became the world’s largest market for artificial intelligence app downloads in 2025, according to market intelligence firm Sensor Tower, widening its lead over the US as installations grew 207% year-on-year.
Companies like OpenAI, Google, and Perplexity have introduced extensive free premium offerings to accelerate user growth in the price-sensitive market. Leading AI companies have also supported India in its push to become a global AI hub. A major AI summit in New Delhi last week featured leaders including OpenAI’s Sam Altman, Anthropic’s Dario Amodei and Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai — a sign of the country’s growing weight in the global AI race.
Now, some of those early promotions are ending. Embarrassment it’s over its bundled Pro offering with India’s Airtel in January, while OpenAI’s free ChatGPT Go access in India is is no longer availablepotentially setting the stage for a clearer test of how many newly acquired users convert to paying subscribers.
Despite strong download growth, India still generates a disproportionately small share of AI app revenue, accounting for about 1% of in-app purchases, despite driving about 20% of global GenAI app downloads, according to Sensor Tower data shared with TechCrunch, highlighting the challenge of monetization in one of the industry’s fastest-growing markets.
GenAI app adoption in India accelerated sharply through 2025, with downloads peaking in September and October at year-on-year growth rates of around 320% and 260%, respectively, according to the data. However, the increase in usage did not fully translate into revenue gains. In November and December 2025, revenue from AI app purchases in India fell by 22% and 18% month-on-month, respectively. ChatGPT’s revenue fell even more sharply — down 33% and 32% in the same period after the November launch of its free sub-$5 ChatGPT Go — reflecting the short-term impact of aggressive promotions.
ChatGPT still holds more than 60% of GenAI’s in-app revenue in India, which means changes in its pricing strategy can significantly impact overall market performance.
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Along with promotions, Sensor Tower attributed the increase in GenAI app adoption in India last year to a combination of new product launches, including the debut of platforms such as DeepSeek, Grok and Meta AI, as well as upgrades to major chatbots such as ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude and Perplexity. Viral interest in AI-generated content has also helped drive adoption, with content creation and editing tools accounting for seven of the 20 most downloaded GenAI apps in India in 2025.
User growth is equally strong. India accounted for about 19% of the global user base of leading AI assistant apps in 2025, ahead of the US at 10%, Sensor Tower said. ChatGPT continues to dominate the Indian market by monthly active users, although competitors such as Google’s Gemini and Perplexity have also seen rapid growth following promotional offers. ChatGPT was the most downloaded GenAI app in India and globally in 2025, according to previous Sensor Tower data. Earlier this month, OpenAI’s CEO said the chatbot now has more than 100 million weekly active users in India.
The promotional push in India reflects a broader strategy by AI companies to reduce price friction in a highly sensitive market, betting that early adoption and user engagement will translate into stronger long-term retention once the free access periods end, said Sneha Pandey, insights analyst at Sensor Tower.
India’s appeal lies in its vast digital base. The country has more than a billion internet users and around 700 million smartphone owners, making it one of the largest potential markets for AI services globally and a critical battleground for user growth.
However, user engagement in India still trails more mature markets. In 2025, users of leading AI chat apps in the US spent about 21% more time per week in the apps than their counterparts in India and logged 17% more sessions on average, per Sensor Tower.
“AI in-app revenue will likely see substantial but incremental improvement as users integrate more deeply into these platforms, making sustained engagement paramount,” Pandey told TechCrunch.
He added that pricing pressure in India is likely to remain elevated given the country’s value-driven user base, making lower cost tiers, telecom bundles and micro-transaction models important for long-term retention.
ChatGPT remained the clear market leader in India entering 2026, with 180 million monthly active users in January, per Sensor Tower, followed by Google’s Gemini with 118 million, Perplexity with 19 million and Meta AI with 12 million. The figures highlight both the scale of India’s AI opportunities and the growing challenge for companies to turn rapid user adoption into sustainable revenue.
Google, OpenAI and Perplexity did not respond to requests for comment.
