Sensor Tower measured more than 850 million short drama app downloads in Q1 2026, up 140% year on year. In-app purchase revenue grew 20%, to about $750 million.[1]
So far, the category has gained users much faster than it has turned them into paying customers. This is the central tension in microdrama right now.
| Measure (Sensor Tower) | Value | Change |
|---|---|---|
| Global downloads, Q1 2026 | 850M+ | +140% YoY |
| In-app revenue, Q1 2026 | ~$750M | +20% YoY |
| DramaBox in-app revenue, Q1 2026 | ~$140M | — |
| ReelShort in-app revenue, Q1 2026 | ~$140M | — |
| Average daily time spent, April 2026 | 25 min | +85% vs Jan 2025 |
Most of the new downloads come from outside the US. Southeast Asia accounted for 32% of Q1 downloads, Latin America 23% and India 22%.[1]
From today, Shortee reads the official Instagram account of each major microdrama app every day, through Meta’s official API. These are the counts on 2 November 2026:
| App | Instagram followers |
|---|---|
| ReelShort (@reelshortapp) | 15,788,754 |
| DramaBox (@dramabox_official) | 9,402,788 |
| DramaWave (@dramawave_official) | 7,660,638 |
| ShortMax (@shortmax_app) | 2,929,693 |
| My Drama (@mydramaapp) | 59,454 |
The full daily history is in data/instagram_followers.csv. The live table, with 30-day change once a month of history exists, is on the Microdrama Index.
You will see very different totals for “the microdrama market”. Usually they measure different things. Sensor Tower counts what people spend inside apps through the app stores. Other firms count all revenue, including advertising and subscriptions sold outside the stores.
Both are useful, but they cannot be added together or compared as one number. We quote each with its source and never mix them. See our methodology.