Answer · data from 744,874 iOS apps
What is a good app rating?
Higher than you think — because App Store ratings are massively inflated. Across the 744,874 iOS App Store apps we track (July 7, 2026), 381,568 (51.2%) have at least one rating — and among those, the single most common rating bucket is 4.8–5.0 stars, held by 40.6% of all rated apps. Near-perfect is the mode, not the exception. So "4.5 stars" sounds great and is actually just average: among apps with at least 100 ratings, the median is 4.63 and two-thirds already sit at 4.5 or higher. This page gives you the honest ladder — what merely average, genuinely good, and excellent actually look like.
Ratings on this page are exact public App Store data — unlike download and revenue figures, they are not estimates. Ratings differ by country storefront; ours reflect the storefronts in our tracked dataset. Data snapshot: July 7, 2026; dataset updated daily. Check any specific app's rating alongside its estimated revenue free — with the app revenue checker.
The distribution
Where 381,568 rated apps actually land
First, the part most benchmarks skip: 363,306 apps — 48.8% of the entire store — have no ratings at all. Among the 381,568 that do, the distribution is stacked hard against intuition — the "perfect" bucket is the biggest one:
| Rating bucket | Apps | % of rated apps |
|---|---|---|
| Below 3.0 | 43,440 | 11.4% |
| 3.0–3.9 | 48,826 | 12.8% |
| 4.0–4.4 | 61,692 | 16.2% |
| 4.5–4.7 | 72,604 | 19.0% |
| 4.8–5.0 | 155,006 | 40.6% |
Source: GetAppNiche analysis of 744,874 iOS App Store apps, July 7, 2026 snapshot (dataset updated daily). Percentages are of the 381,568 apps with at least one rating. The 4.8–5.0 pile-up is largely a small-sample effect: an app with five 5-star ratings sits at a perfect 5.0. Developers also time rating prompts to happy moments, which oversamples satisfied users — a dynamic we unpack in the app review analysis guide.
Share of rated apps in each rating bucket. The 'perfect' 4.8–5.0 bucket is the biggest by far — 40.6%, larger than the bottom three buckets combined — which is why 4.5 sounds great but sits mid-pack. Ratings are exact public App Store data (not estimates); percentages are of the 381,568 apps with at least one rating, July 7, 2026 snapshot.
The honest baseline
Rating percentiles: all apps vs apps that matter
Across all rated apps, the top half is pinned at ~5.0 — the median is 4.66 and both p75 and p90 are a flat 5.00. That's inflation, not excellence. Filter to apps with at least 100 ratings — enough volume for the average to mean something — and the picture sharpens:
| Population | p25 | Median | p75 | p90 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| All rated apps (381,568) | 4.00 | 4.66 | 5.00 | 5.00 |
| Apps with ≥100 ratings (77,231) | 4.41 | 4.63 | 4.77 | 4.85 |
| Apps earning ≥$1,000/mo est. revenue | 4.52 | 4.68 | 4.79 | 4.86 |
Source: GetAppNiche analysis, July 7, 2026 snapshot. Ratings are exact public data. The ≥$1,000/month segment is defined by estimated revenue modeled from public signals — the revenue threshold is an estimate even though the ratings within it are not. Odds of reaching that revenue tier at all are covered in how many apps actually make money.
The benchmark ladder
What your rating means, among established apps
Benchmarks below are against the 77,231 apps with at least 100 ratings — the population where a rating reflects real user sentiment rather than five enthusiastic friends. The headline: 52,311 of them (67.7%) already hold 4.5 or higher.
| Rating (apps with ≥100 ratings) | What it means |
|---|---|
| Below 4.41 | Bottom quarter — a real conversion problem |
| 4.63 | The median — merely average, not good |
| 4.5 or higher | What 67.7% of established apps already have — table stakes |
| 4.77 or higher | Top quarter — genuinely good |
| 4.85 or higher | Top 10% — excellent |
Source: GetAppNiche analysis of 744,874 iOS App Store apps, July 7, 2026 snapshot. Read the ladder the uncomfortable way: 4.5 stars — the number most founders celebrate — is what two-thirds of established apps already show. It's the floor of normal, not a badge.
The catch
Ratings are a hygiene factor, not a growth engine
Apps earning at least $1,000/month in estimated revenue do rate slightly higher — median 4.68 versus 4.63 for all established apps. But the gap is small, and it's correlation, not causation: successful apps can afford the polish and support that earn good ratings, so the arrow may point backwards. The practical reading: a rating below ~4.4 actively leaks installs on the search results page, but pushing 4.7 to 4.9 won't build a business by itself. Fix a bad rating urgently; don't expect a great one to do your marketing. What users say inside the reviews is usually more actionable than the score — that's the subject of the app review analysis guide — and you can see any app's rating next to its estimated revenue with the app revenue checker.
FAQ
Good app ratings — quick answers
What is a good app rating?
Higher than you think, because App Store ratings are inflated. Among apps with at least 100 ratings — the population where averages actually mean something — the median rating in our July 7, 2026 snapshot of 744,874 iOS apps is 4.63. So 4.5 stars is roughly average, not good. The honest ladder: 4.63 is merely the median, 4.5+ is what two-thirds of established apps already have, 4.77+ puts you in the top quarter, 4.85+ in the top 10%, and anything below about 4.41 is the bottom quarter — a real conversion problem. Ratings are exact public App Store data, not estimates.
Is 4.5 stars good for an app?
It's average — literally the median zone. Among the 77,231 iOS apps with at least 100 ratings in our July 7, 2026 snapshot, 52,311 — 67.7% — hold a rating of 4.5 or higher, and the median is 4.63. So 4.5 stars doesn't distinguish an app; it's table stakes that two-thirds of established apps already meet. 'Good' starts around 4.77 (top quarter of established apps), and 4.85+ is the top 10%. A 4.5 isn't a problem, but it isn't an achievement either.
Why do so many apps have 4.8 or 4.9 stars?
Because near-perfect is the mode, not the exception. In our July 7, 2026 snapshot of 744,874 iOS apps, the single biggest rating bucket among the 381,568 rated apps is 4.8–5.0 — 155,006 apps, 40.6% of everything rated. Two mechanics drive the inflation: developers time the rating prompt to moments of satisfaction (after a completed workout, a solved level, a successful export), so happy users are massively oversampled; and small samples pin scores at the top — an app with five 5-star ratings sits at a perfect 5.0. That's why the top half of all rated apps is pinned at ~5.0, and why filtering to apps with 100+ ratings gives the only honest benchmark.
What rating is bad for an app?
Below about 4.4 is where trouble starts. Among iOS apps with at least 100 ratings in our July 7, 2026 snapshot, 4.41 marks the bottom quarter — in a store where two-thirds of established apps show 4.5+, a low-4s rating visibly stands out on the search results page and costs installs. Below 4.0 is unambiguously bad (roughly the bottom ~24% of all rated apps), and below 3.0 puts an app among the worst-rated 11.4% of the 381,568 rated apps in the store. Ratings that low usually signal a product problem, not a marketing one.
Do higher ratings mean more revenue?
A little, not a lot. In our July 7, 2026 snapshot, iOS apps earning at least $1,000/month in estimated revenue have a median rating of 4.68, versus 4.63 for all apps with 100+ ratings — a real but small gap, and the whole percentile profile (p25 4.52, p90 4.86) sits only slightly above the established-app baseline. Successful apps are good apps, but a great rating clearly doesn't create revenue by itself: rating is a hygiene factor that stops a listing from leaking installs, not a growth engine. And this is correlation, not causation — earners may be rated higher because they can afford polish, not the other way around. Revenue figures here are estimates; ratings are exact public data.