We used our app intelligence solutions to analyze the state of the United States’ BNPL app market in 2023. Leveraging insight into iOS and Android download trends, we identified the top “Buy Now, Pay Later” apps on the Apple App Store and Google Play, including Affirm, Klarna, Afterpay, Zip, and Sezzle.
Here’s what we found (click the links to jump to the corresponding section):
- The Top Performing BNPL Apps in the United States in 2023
- Monthly iOS Download Trends: Klarna and Affirm Falling, Afterpay Rising
- Monthly Android Download Trends: Afterpay Overtakes Klarna
- Android Monthly Active Users (MAUs): Affirm and Afterpay Usage Has Grown Like Crazy
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The Top Performing BNPL Apps in the United States in 2023
Let’s get started by taking a look at the top performing BNPL apps in the United States in 2023. More specifically, the chart below ranks each BNPL offering based on combined US iOS and Android downloads in 2023 year to date. Check it out:
Overall, Affirm has performed best in the United States, with a combined 3,708,990 downloads in 2023. This includes 2,164,066 iOS downloads and 1,544,924 Android downloads.
Here’s how the rest performed:
Klarna: 3,582,792 downloads
- iOS: 2,508,727
- Android: 1,074,065
Afterpay: 2,978,121 downloads
- iOS: 1,844,417
- Android: 1,133,704
Zip: 895,740 downloads
- iOS: 420,201
- Android: 475,539
Sezzle: 427,364 downloads
- iOS: 211,625
- Android: 215,739
Monthly iOS Download Trends: Klarna and Affirm Falling, Afterpay Rising
Okay, let’s zoom in on the iOS versions of these apps — more specifically, their monthly US downloads through 2023 YTD. One thing to note before we go much further is that, since we’re not yet through the month, the numbers may appear to be down in August. In reality the data is just incomplete.
In any event, Klarna, which has generated 2,505,727 iOS downloads in the United States this year, has performed best of all BNPL on the App Store. This is in large part due to solid showings in February and March, when the app generated 447,673 and 412,192 downloads respectively. While downloads have dipped since then, Klarna still regularly outperforms the competition with approximately 300,000 monthly downloads.
Affirm has had a similar trajectory on the App Store, starting out strong with 362,574 downloads in January and settling in closer to 250,000 downloads in subsequent months.
However, keep an eye out for Afterpay — it’s downloads have been climbing steadily all year. While it had 197,958 downloads in January, it briefly overtook both Klarna and Affirm in April with 250,581 downloads. Moreover, it continued to climb into the 270k range in the months that followed.
As for Zip and Sezzle, they’re clearly not in the same realm as the other three, but they’re no slouches. Indeed, while Zip is downloaded roughly 50,000 times per month, Sezzle typically clocks in close to 30k.
Monthly Android Download Trends: Afterpay Overtakes Klarna
Now for the Android versions of the top BNPL apps. As before, we looked at monthly US downloads through 2023 YTD, so downloads may appear to be down across the board in August due to the fact that the data was collected before the end of the month.
On Google Play, Affirm has performed best. So far, it has tallied 1,551,296 downloads in 2023, peaking at 221,046 downloads in March before settling into the 190k - 200k range in subsequent months.
However, as with the iOS versions of these apps, Afterpay appears to be the one to watch going forward. While Klarna entered the year as the solid number two option behind Affirm, Afterpay surpassed it in April and wasted no time in making up ground on Affirm.
Indeed, Afterpay began the year with 127,870 downloads in January. That was 22k+ downloads short of Klarna’s 149,787 and nearly 100,000 short of Affirm’s 220,763.
However, in July, things looked a little different. While Affirm still came out on top with 193,282 downloads, it wasn’t by much. Afterpay had 191,386, closing the gap to just 2,000. Klarna, meanwhile, appears to be disappearing into the rearview mirror with just 104,779 downloads.
Nevertheless, it’s once again a three-app race. Despite broadly strong numbers, Zip and Sezzle are largely out of title contention at the moment.
Android Monthly Active Users (MAUs): Affirm and Afterpay Usage Has Grown Like Crazy
It’s always important to take download trends with a grain of salt, and it’s not as though falling from 149,787 monthly downloads to 104,779 signals doom for Klarna. Indeed, their Android MAUs have been pretty solid in the United States, with nearly 800,000 users logging into the app in July:
That’s roughly where Affirm is currently at as well:
Same with Afterpay:
It’s just that, unlike Klarna, Affirm and Afterpay have done a lot of growing in 2023.
Final Thoughts
So, with this in mind, we’ll keep an eye on this space in the months to come! While a clear top three has emerged, there’s a lot of jockeying for market share in the United States and the race is far from over.
