Dec 2025 AI App Market Analysis: ChatGPT Surpasses TikTok; Surge in Demand for AI in Education

2025 marks a critical and breakthrough development phase for generative AI. According to the latest statistics, ChatGPT has firmly secured its place as the most popular app of 2025, with over 770 million downloads, surpassing TikTok to take the top spot. Additionally, AI applications such as Google Gemini and ByteDance's Cici are also among the top 50 by downloads.

Looking back at December, ChatGPT continues to dominate with absolute market leadership, maintaining its position at the forefront of AI applications. Some apps have seen a rebound in their monthly active users (MAUs), while several others have reached new highs. Another noteworthy trend is the significant shift in the distribution of top apps compared to mid-year. What are the driving forces behind these changes? Which AI applications are emerging as leaders in this fiercely competitive market? Let's dive into the latest data to analyze market trends in depth.

1. AI Chatbot Apps Solidify Market Dominance

Comparing December with June data, it is evident that the AI application market is undergoing rapid transformation.

The demand for versatile AI applications has driven an increase in the share of AI chatbot applications, which rose from 24% to 30%. These applications are now widely used across users' daily lives and work scenarios. Meanwhile, the share of AI-powered educational applications has surged from 8% to 18%, indicating that AI is becoming a key driver in online education, with the potential for personalized learning increasingly unlocked.

On the other hand, AI-powered video creation apps saw their share jump from 4% to 12%, reflecting the explosive demand for short video and social media content creation, with AI tools playing an increasingly important role in creative fields. The share of AI tools aimed at improving productivity and efficiency also rose to 6%, signaling accelerated market demand for automation and productivity enhancement.

However, the share of AI image editing and generation tools has declined, with image editing dropping from 28% to 4%, and image generation from 6% to 2%, suggesting market saturation.

Overall, AI chatbots remain the dominant force in the market. ChatGPT continues to lead globally in both downloads and revenue, followed by Google Gemini, Doubao, Grok, and Facebook View, which occupy the top five spots in terms of downloads. Notably, the AI video creation tool PixVerse saw a significant rise in downloads, jumping to sixth place in December.

In terms of revenue, besides AI chatbots, AI music creation app Suno, AI video creation apps Clam AI and Keling AI have also performed well, reflecting the accelerating commercialization of AI technology in the creative and entertainment sectors.

2. AI Creation and Social Apps Show Strong Performance

In December's global AI app MAU ranking, ChatGPT led with 880 million MAUs, a 14.10% increase from the previous month. Gemini and Grok followed closely, with 88.9 million and 72.7 million monthly active users, respectively, both showing strong growth. At the same time, AI creative apps performed exceptionally well, particularly Ai Mirror and PixVerse, which ranked in the top 10 with 36.9 million and 26.4 million MAUs, respectively.

In the MAU growth ranking, AI creation and AI social apps stood out. The AI social app xMate experienced the fastest growth with a 4408.66% increase in MAUs, reaching 2.9 million users. Following closely was the AI music generation app Music AI, which saw its MAUs rise to 4.7 million, with a growth rate of 1607.24%.

Additionally, apps such as Prookie, Talkpal, and AI Video also showed robust growth, with their MAUs reaching 1.1 million, 3.7 million, and 6.1 million, respectively, each with growth rates exceeding 300%. These figures suggest that while general-purpose AI applications remain dominant among the top players, there is still considerable room for growth in the mid-tier market, particularly in AI creation tools, personalized entertainment, and learning assistants.

For apps expanding internationally, DeepSeek continues to lead the market with 130 million MAUs, up by 89.54% month-on-month. Cici and PixVerse followed with 53.6 million and 26.4 million MAUs, respectively, with increases of 4.72% and 15.98%.

Meanwhile, AI social companion apps also show promise, with Talkie AI and PolyBuzz reaching 23.4 million and 12 million MAUs, respectively, continuing to attract large numbers of users. In contrast, apps like PictureThis and Gauth saw a decline in MAUs, facing increasing market pressure.

3. Analysis of Popular AI Apps

AI Photo/Video Editing Tool - Glam AI

Glam AI is an AI-powered photo and video editing app that has surpassed 10 million downloads globally, with in-app purchases (IAP) revenue exceeding $10 million. With its easy-to-use interface and creative templates, Glam AI quickly became popular, particularly in the field of social media content creation. The app allows users to create eye-catching visual effects with features like AI-enhanced images, short video generation, and virtual character lip-syncing. It has ranked high on the U.S. iOS photography and video download charts and has become a trendsetting tool on social media.

AI Language Learning Tool - Talkpal

Talkpal is a language learning app based on GPT technology, with over 5 million downloads globally and IAP revenue exceeding $2 million. With AI-powered conversational learning, users can improve their listening, speaking, reading, and writing skills in real-world contexts. Supporting over 80 languages, Talkpal stands out from traditional learning methods by offering oral practice and interactive conversations to help users quickly improve fluency and confidence. Its diverse learning modes, such as role-playing and speech practice, cater to different user needs, making it a popular choice for language learners worldwide.