Sensor Tower alternative for finding what to build (2026)
What each one does
They answer different questions. Sensor Tower estimates numbers Apple and Google do not publish. App Imp counts what the stores publish, and labels the two figures it takes from Google Ads as Google’s estimates.
| The question | Sensor Tower | App Imp |
|---|---|---|
| How many downloads? | Estimated, for any app | Google's exact count for matched Android apps. Nothing for iOS — Apple publishes none |
| How much revenue? | Estimated | Not shown. We do not estimate revenue |
| What do reviews bring up? | Not the focus | Counted, across every app in a market |
| What does a user cost? | Ad spend estimates | Google Ads click prices for the market's searches, dated |
| Does every rival have the same problem? | No | Yes. 11 of 12 apps, with the reviews behind it |
| Is the market growing? | Estimated download trends | New ratings across the whole market, pooled, over up to 90 days |
| Ads, keywords, SDKs | Yes, in depth | No |
| Price | Custom annual contract. Entry near $500/mo; typical deals in the tens of thousands per year | €0 to read · €20/mo for everything, 7-day free trial |
Prices are what buyers report at the time of writing. Sensor Tower has no public price list, so check with them.
When to choose Sensor Tower
- You already have an app and a team. You need download and revenue estimates for rivals, ad creatives, and keyword ranks. That is their product, and it is deep.
- You need numbers for a board deck. Estimates with a known method are what that room expects.
- You are sizing a market by money. Reviews are the wrong tool for that. Estimates are the only tool for it.
When to choose App Imp
- You are deciding what to build. A market where 11 of 12 apps share one problem is a gap. Sensor Tower cannot see it, because it does not read reviews.
- You want to check a hunch in five minutes. Open a market page. Its apps, its searches and what its reviews bring up are on one page.
- You are one person with a small budget. Every market page is free to read. The rest is €20 a month.
Estimates versus counts
This is the real difference, and it cuts both ways. Sensor Tower has to estimate, because Apple and Google hide the numbers it sells. Its estimates are useful and widely used. They are still estimates.
So App Imp cannot tell you how much money a market makes. It can tell you what is broken in it, how many apps share that problem, and whether the market is gaining users. Those are the questions that decide what to build.
What App Imp holds
- 2 million public App Store reviews across 13,250 apps, as of 2026-09-02.
- 70 markets with a counted shelf and a ranked gap list.
- Apple’s rating counts captured weekly since 2026-06-13 — 14 captures so far. That is where the growth figures come from.
- Google Play install counts for the Android twins we could match. Apple publishes none, and we do not fill the gap with a guess.
Try it
Start on the ranked ideas board, or open a market like budgeting apps. No account needed to read. The tools comparison covers nine tools, Sensor Tower included, if you want the wider field.
Frequently asked
Is App Imp a replacement for Sensor Tower?
No. Sensor Tower estimates downloads, revenue and ad spend for apps that already exist. App Imp shows whether a market you have not entered has room: how many apps compete and how big they are, what people search for, what a click costs, and what every rival's reviews bring up. If you run a live app with a budget, keep Sensor Tower. If you are deciding what to build, App Imp answers a question Sensor Tower does not ask.
Does App Imp show download numbers?
Only real ones. Google publishes an exact install count for Android apps, and App Imp shows it for apps it has matched across both stores. Apple publishes no install count, so App Imp shows none for iOS. It never estimates downloads.
How much does Sensor Tower cost compared to App Imp?
Sensor Tower has no public price list. Buyers report custom annual contracts starting near $500 a month for one module, with typical deals in the tens of thousands per year. Every App Imp market page is free to read, and €20 a month opens everything, with a 7-day free trial.
Where does App Imp get its data?
Public App Store reviews. 2 million of them, across 13,250 apps, as of 2026-09-02. Plus Apple's rating counts, captured weekly, and what Apple suggests when people type, in 41 countries. Plus Google Play's install counts for the Android apps we could match. Plus Google Ads' monthly searches and click prices, which are Google's estimates.
Other comparisons
What is this?
The short version, for anyone who landed here from a link.
The second: this sorts each review on its own and then counts the sortings. Pasting a pile of reviews into an LLM and asking it questions gives you fluent, confident answers that drift. Every review figure here is arithmetic, so it can be recounted and it can be wrong in a checkable way.