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Top 20 Backend and Cloud SDKs Used in iOS Apps on the Apple App Store
Last update: 11 Oct 2026 CET
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Top 20 Backend and Cloud SDKs Used in iOS Apps on the Apple App Store

We at 42matters have identified the 20 most popular Backend and Cloud SDKs leveraged by iOS apps available on the iOS app market.

Backend and Cloud SDKs provide developers with an easy way to add backend and cloud functionalities to mobile apps that require server-side processing or cloud-based services. These SDKs may include features such as serverless computing, storage, database integration, messaging, and similar capabilities.

This list is based on our analysis of the millions of mobile applications – and the 2,300+ SDKs they use – that constitute the vast inventory of the Apple App Store. The accompanying data provides readers with a glimpse into the rich mobile application insights generated by the 42matters technology. This data is also available via our APIs, file dumps, Explorer, and SDK Explorer.

The intended purpose of this article is to assist app builders in their search for the perfect Backend and Cloud SDK to leverage in their app, as well as to give SDK developers insight into their biggest competitors and potential customers. This data collected by our technology may also serve as a useful tool for folks researching the wider mobile app market.

Among all apps utilizing backend and cloud SDKs, 32.23% have integrated Amazon AWS. This accounts for 22.61% of app downloads within the backend and cloud SDK category.

The Amazon Web Services SDK offers reliable, scalable, and inexpensive cloud computing services.

Total Apps
25.90k
App Store
App Share
32.23%
App Store
Apps
25.37k
Games
532
Total Downloads
18.21b
App Store
Download Share
22.61%
App Store
App Downloads
15.29b
Game Downloads
2.91b

Use the 42matters SDK Explorer to find all apps that use Amazon AWS.

Among all apps utilizing backend and cloud SDKs, 19.42% have integrated Huawei Mobile Services HMS. This accounts for 13.62% of app downloads within the backend and cloud SDK category.

Total Apps
15.61k
App Store
App Share
19.42%
App Store
Apps
15.45k
Games
153
Total Downloads
10.97b
App Store
Download Share
13.62%
App Store
App Downloads
10.67b
Game Downloads
295.50m

Use the 42matters SDK Explorer to find all apps that use Huawei Mobile Services HMS.

Among all apps utilizing backend and cloud SDKs, 14.20% have integrated Amazon AWS Cognito Federated Identities. This accounts for 10.30% of app downloads within the backend and cloud SDK category.

Total Apps
11.41k
App Store
App Share
14.20%
App Store
Apps
11.04k
Games
371
Total Downloads
8.29b
App Store
Download Share
10.30%
App Store
App Downloads
6.46b
Game Downloads
1.83b

Use the 42matters SDK Explorer to find all apps that use Amazon AWS Cognito Federated Identities.

Among all apps utilizing backend and cloud SDKs, 12.96% have integrated GCDWebServer. This accounts for 9.05% of app downloads within the backend and cloud SDK category.

GCDWebServer is a modern and lightweight, GCD-based HTTP 1.1 server SDK designed to be embedded in iOS, macOS, and tvOS apps.

Total Apps
10.42k
App Store
App Share
12.96%
App Store
Apps
9.70k
Games
722
Total Downloads
7.29b
App Store
Download Share
9.05%
App Store
App Downloads
7.02b
Game Downloads
261.23m

Use the 42matters SDK Explorer to find all apps that use GCDWebServer.

Among all apps utilizing backend and cloud SDKs, 11.01% have integrated Alibaba Cloud Aliyun OSS. This accounts for 13.51% of app downloads within the backend and cloud SDK category.

Alibaba Cloud Object Storage Service (OSS) is an encrypted, secure, cost-effective, and easy-to-use object storage SDK that enables you to store, back up, and archive large amounts of data in the cloud, with a guaranteed durability of 99.9999999999%(12 9’s).

Total Apps
8.85k
App Store
App Share
11.01%
App Store
Apps
8.70k
Games
151
Total Downloads
10.88b
App Store
Download Share
13.51%
App Store
App Downloads
10.22b
Game Downloads
656.40m

Use the 42matters SDK Explorer to find all apps that use Alibaba Cloud Aliyun OSS.

Among all apps utilizing backend and cloud SDKs, 8.85% have integrated Yandex DivKit. This accounts for 20.00% of app downloads within the backend and cloud SDK category.

Total Apps
7.11k
App Store
App Share
8.85%
App Store
Apps
1.85k
Games
5.26k
Total Downloads
16.11b
App Store
Download Share
20.00%
App Store
App Downloads
3.04b
Game Downloads
13.06b

Use the 42matters SDK Explorer to find all apps that use Yandex DivKit.

Among all apps utilizing backend and cloud SDKs, 7.52% have integrated Parse. This accounts for 1.90% of app downloads within the backend and cloud SDK category.

Parse is the most used open-source framework for developing application backends.

Total Apps
6.05k
App Store
App Share
7.52%
App Store
Apps
5.47k
Games
579
Total Downloads
1.53b
App Store
Download Share
1.90%
App Store
App Downloads
1.46b
Game Downloads
68.68m

Use the 42matters SDK Explorer to find all apps that use Parse.

Among all apps utilizing backend and cloud SDKs, 5.21% have integrated Tencent Cloud. This accounts for 11.29% of app downloads within the backend and cloud SDK category.

Total Apps
4.19k
App Store
App Share
5.21%
App Store
Apps
4.04k
Games
150
Total Downloads
9.09b
App Store
Download Share
11.29%
App Store
App Downloads
6.56b
Game Downloads
2.53b

Use the 42matters SDK Explorer to find all apps that use Tencent Cloud.

Among all apps utilizing backend and cloud SDKs, 4.95% have integrated Amazon AWS Kinesis. This accounts for 5.46% of app downloads within the backend and cloud SDK category.

Total Apps
3.98k
App Store
App Share
4.95%
App Store
Apps
3.64k
Games
335
Total Downloads
4.40b
App Store
Download Share
5.46%
App Store
App Downloads
2.33b
Game Downloads
2.07b

Use the 42matters SDK Explorer to find all apps that use Amazon AWS Kinesis.

Among all apps utilizing backend and cloud SDKs, 4.82% have integrated Amazon AWS Amplify Framework. This accounts for 3.86% of app downloads within the backend and cloud SDK category.

Total Apps
3.88k
App Store
App Share
4.82%
App Store
Apps
3.86k
Games
17
Total Downloads
3.11b
App Store
Download Share
3.86%
App Store
App Downloads
3.11b
Game Downloads
801.46k

Use the 42matters SDK Explorer to find all apps that use Amazon AWS Amplify Framework.

11th

Among all apps utilizing backend and cloud SDKs, 3.24% have integrated Amazon Simple Notification Service SNS. This accounts for 1.41% of app downloads within the backend and cloud SDK category.

Total Apps
2.61k
App Store
App Share
3.24%
App Store
Apps
2.59k
Games
18
Total Downloads
1.14b
App Store
Download Share
1.41%
App Store
App Downloads
1.08b
Game Downloads
57.23m

Use the 42matters SDK Explorer to find all apps that use Amazon Simple Notification Service SNS.

Among all apps utilizing backend and cloud SDKs, 1.51% have integrated WindVane by Alibaba. This accounts for 6.02% of app downloads within the backend and cloud SDK category.

Total Apps
1.21k
App Store
App Share
1.51%
App Store
Apps
1.21k
Games
1
Total Downloads
4.84b
App Store
Download Share
6.02%
App Store
App Downloads
4.84b
Game Downloads
8.18m

Use the 42matters SDK Explorer to find all apps that use WindVane by Alibaba.

Among all apps utilizing backend and cloud SDKs, 1.26% have integrated Ably. This accounts for 7.89% of app downloads within the backend and cloud SDK category.

Total Apps
1.01k
App Store
App Share
1.26%
App Store
Apps
1.00k
Games
11
Total Downloads
6.36b
App Store
Download Share
7.89%
App Store
App Downloads
6.34b
Game Downloads
15.90m

Use the 42matters SDK Explorer to find all apps that use Ably.

Among all apps utilizing backend and cloud SDKs, <1% have integrated Nakama by Heroic Labs. This accounts for 3.38% of app downloads within the backend and cloud SDK category.

Total Apps
566
App Store
App Share
<1%
App Store
Apps
20
Games
546
Total Downloads
2.72b
App Store
Download Share
3.38%
App Store
App Downloads
430.21k
Game Downloads
2.72b

Use the 42matters SDK Explorer to find all apps that use Nakama by Heroic Labs.

Among all apps utilizing backend and cloud SDKs, <1% have integrated Contentful. This accounts for <1% of app downloads within the backend and cloud SDK category.

Total Apps
426
App Store
App Share
<1%
App Store
Apps
424
Games
2
Total Downloads
232.46m
App Store
Download Share
<1%
App Store
App Downloads
229.97m
Game Downloads
2.49m

Use the 42matters SDK Explorer to find all apps that use Contentful.

Among all apps utilizing backend and cloud SDKs, <1% have integrated NIFTYCloud Backend. This accounts for <1% of app downloads within the backend and cloud SDK category.

The NIFTYCloud Backend SDK provides the functions required for cloud application development, eliminating the need for troublesome server development.

Total Apps
422
App Store
App Share
<1%
App Store
Apps
380
Games
42
Total Downloads
9.06m
App Store
Download Share
<1%
App Store
App Downloads
5.57m
Game Downloads
3.48m

Use the 42matters SDK Explorer to find all apps that use NIFTYCloud Backend.

Among all apps utilizing backend and cloud SDKs, <1% have integrated MKiCloudSync. This accounts for <1% of app downloads within the backend and cloud SDK category.

MKiCloudSync is a clean and simple SDK class to sync NSUserDefaults to iCloud.

Total Apps
288
App Store
App Share
<1%
App Store
Apps
243
Games
45
Total Downloads
164.49m
App Store
Download Share
<1%
App Store
App Downloads
120.59m
Game Downloads
43.90m

Use the 42matters SDK Explorer to find all apps that use MKiCloudSync.

Among all apps utilizing backend and cloud SDKs, <1% have integrated Netcetera 3DS. This accounts for 1.54% of app downloads within the backend and cloud SDK category.

Total Apps
242
App Store
App Share
<1%
App Store
Apps
242
Games
0
Total Downloads
1.24b
App Store
Download Share
1.54%
App Store
App Downloads
1.24b
Game Downloads
0

Use the 42matters SDK Explorer to find all apps that use Netcetera 3DS.

Among all apps utilizing backend and cloud SDKs, <1% have integrated Microsoft Azure. This accounts for <1% of app downloads within the backend and cloud SDK category.

Azure is a cloud computing service SDK created by Microsoft for building, testing, deploying, and managing applications and services through Microsoft-managed data centers.

Total Apps
152
App Store
App Share
<1%
App Store
Apps
149
Games
3
Total Downloads
110.79m
App Store
Download Share
<1%
App Store
App Downloads
110.75m
Game Downloads
41.21k

Use the 42matters SDK Explorer to find all apps that use Microsoft Azure.

Among all apps utilizing backend and cloud SDKs, <1% have integrated SAP Cloud. This accounts for <1% of app downloads within the backend and cloud SDK category.

Total Apps
107
App Store
App Share
<1%
App Store
Apps
107
Games
0
Total Downloads
28.82m
App Store
Download Share
<1%
App Store
App Downloads
28.82m
Game Downloads
0

Use the 42matters SDK Explorer to find all apps that use SAP Cloud.

Browse iOS and Android SDKs With the SDK Explorer

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  • SDK IntelligenceSDK Intelligence

    See how many apps integrate specific SDKs, how many times these SDKs have been downloaded, developer details, similar SDKs, and more.

  • New Installations and Removals HistoryNew Installations and Removals History

    Analyze installation and removal trends for SDKs. Discover which apps have removed or integrated specific SDKs in a given timeframe.

  • Market Share per Google Play and Apple App Store CategoryMarket Share per Google Play and Apple App Store Category

    See which app categories or genres are most likely to use specific SDKs. Detect SDK market share per category.

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Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

How does 42matters collect this data?'

We’ve developed a number of machine learning algorithms that scan millions of mobile and connected TV (CTV) applications on a regular basis. In addition, we collect ground truth app performance intelligence and use this data to build statistical models that estimate the performance of apps for which we do not have ground truth data.

What SDK data does 42matters collect?'

We track over 2,300 of the most popular SDKs integrated in iOS and Android apps. We collect a variety of SDK insights (title, platform, ID, category, and developer website); performance metrics (the number of apps that have installed each SDK, installation and removal trends, and app downloads); market share statistics (including market share per app category); and more!

How can I access 42matters’ SDK data?'

The most direct way is to use our SDK Explorer, which is a visual, web-based research platform that enables you to peruse all 2,300+ SDKs that we track. It’s great for market research, lead generation, competitor analysis, etc. However, more technically-inclined folks might prefer our APIs and File Dumps, which enable you to query info for specific apps or SDKs. You can also use our other research platform (the Explorer) to view integrated SDKs by app.

Can I use 42matters’ solutions to generate app publisher leads?'

Absolutely! We actually wrote about this on our blog. We focused on ad network SDKs, but the examples are applicable to most SDK types. To summarize, you can use the Explorer’s advanced filtering capabilities to home in on best-fit app publishers, leverage the SDK Explorer to see which apps use your competitors’ SDKs, and use our APIs and file dumps to build custom lead generation processes.

What data does 42matters provide on mobile apps?'

A ton! We track 17+ million apps across Google Play, the Apple App Store, Amazon Appstore, Tencent Appstore, and Huawei AppGallery. Our solutions provide access to app details (developer insights, metadata, ASO keywords, contact information, etc.); performance metrics (downloads, MAUs, ratings, reviews, top chart rankings, etc.); technical insights (integrated SDKs, permissions, required capabilities, etc.); content details (categories, genres, IAB categories, content ratings, etc.); compliance information (app-ads.txt, privacy policies, store status, etc.) and much, much more!

Can I use 42matters’ solutions to find SDKs for my app?'

Definitely. The SDK Explorer enables you to sort SDKs by category, identify similar SDKs, analyze SDK reliability, and more. In addition, you can use the Explorer to monitor your competitors, including which SDKs they add and remove, their current tech stacks, and SDK changelogs. This means you use our solutions not only to find the right SDK for a particular purpose, but also which SDKs you might need to keep up with your rivals.