Most premium mobile games cost the same on both stores, but not all of them, and the store’s headline label often is not the price. We checked the nine paid games in the GamesRanker catalogue on Google Play and the US App Store on September 5, 2026. Six matched to the cent. Two cost more on iPhone. Four of the nine advertise a free download and charge up to $14.99 once you are inside.
If you own both an Android phone and an iPhone, the check that follows takes about a minute per game and occasionally saves five dollars.
What we checked and how
We priced every paid game we have reviewed, using the United States storefront on both platforms on the same day. For each game we took the price the store itself publishes: the listed purchase price for a paid download, or the named unlock item under in-app purchases for a free download.
This is a sample of nine games we already cover, not a survey of the stores. It is enough to show that gaps exist and where to look for them; it is not enough to tell you how common they are across hundreds of thousands of apps.
The results
| Game | Google Play | App Store | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| A Space for the Unbound | $9.99 unlock | $14.99 unlock | $5.00 more on iPhone |
| Monument Valley 3 | $4.99 unlock | $5.99 unlock | $1.00 more on iPhone |
| Discounty | $12.99 paid app | $12.99 unlock | Same price, different model |
| Sea of Stars | $9.99 paid app | $9.99 paid app | Same |
| Servant of the Lake | $4.99 paid app | $4.99 paid app | Same |
| Reigns: Beyond | $4.99 paid app | $4.99 paid app | Same |
| Tomb Raider | $19.99 paid app | $19.99 paid app | Same |
| Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown | Range shown, see below | $9.99 unlock | Not comparable from the listing |
| Tiny Bookshop | Range shown, see below | $7.99 unlock | Not comparable from the listing |
A Space for the Unbound is the outlier worth caring about. The same game, from the same developer, released on both stores, costs 50% more to unlock on an iPhone. Monument Valley 3’s gap is a single dollar, which matters less in absolute terms but is still 20%.
The bigger trap is the word “Free”
Four of these nine games download for free and then ask for money: A Space for the Unbound, Monument Valley 3, Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown, and Tiny Bookshop. Discounty does it on iPhone only. That model is genuinely good for players, because you can play part of the game before deciding. It also means the price on the listing tells you nothing.
The two stores handle this very differently, and Apple currently does it better.
Apple names the item. Monument Valley 3’s App Store listing reads “Unlock Full Game — Unlocks all chapters — $5.99”. You know what you are buying and what it costs before you download anything.
Google Play often shows a range instead. Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown displays “$2.99 – $15.99 per item” and Tiny Bookshop displays “$3.99 – $7.99 per item”. Neither tells you which item unlocks the full game. That is why those two rows above say the listing is not comparable: we could confirm the App Store unlock price but not the Android one without buying it. We are not going to guess a price and print it.
This is also the trap behind the wider “free” label. A game that reads Install on Google Play can still cost $14.99, and the number is one screen further in.
Same price, different deal
Discounty is the most interesting row in the table, and its price is identical on both stores.
On Google Play it is a $12.99 paid app: you pay before you play anything. On the App Store it is a free download with a $12.99 “Discounty Full Game” unlock. Same developer, same money, completely different risk. An iPhone player can try the opening and walk away; an Android player commits first and relies on the refund window.
If trying before buying matters to you more than the platform does, that difference is worth more than the dollar gaps above.
Why the prices differ at all
A gap is not a store surcharge. Both stores let the developer set the price for each platform independently, so a game that costs more on iPhone does so because its publisher chose that number for that store. Publishers weigh each platform’s audience separately, and some update a price on one store without matching it on the other.
The practical consequence is that a gap can appear or vanish without an announcement. Treat any price you read here, including ours, as a snapshot rather than a standing fact.
How to find the real price before you pay
- Open the listing on the store you will actually buy from, in your own country. Prices in this article are US.
- If the button says Install or Get, do not assume free. Scroll to In-App Purchases on Apple, or the in-app purchases line on Google Play.
- On Apple, read the item names. The unlock is usually called something like Unlock Full Game or Full Version, and its price is the real price.
- On Google Play, a range means several items and no answer. Install the free portion and read the unlock price in the game before paying.
- If you own both platforms, check both listings. It is the only way to catch a gap like the $5 one above.
- On Android, check for a Google Play Pass badge first. Monument Valley 3 is included with a Play Pass subscription, which makes the store price moot if you already subscribe.
- Remember that a purchase does not cross platforms. Buy it where you will play it.
What this does not tell you
Nine games is a small sample, drawn from the premium titles we review rather than chosen at random, so it is skewed toward paid indie and ported games. Everything here is the United States storefront in US dollars; regional pricing is a separate question we did not test. Sales, regional adjustments, and publisher repricing all move these numbers, and two of the nine could not be compared at all from the listings alone.
What it does establish is narrower and still useful: identical games do sometimes carry different prices on the two stores, the difference can reach 50%, and neither store puts that number where you can see it at a glance.
Frequently asked questions
If I buy a game on Android, do I also own it on iPhone?
No. A purchase is tied to the store account you bought it from, so buying on Google Play does not unlock the game on an iPhone or vice versa. If you own both an Android phone and an iPhone, decide which device you will actually play on before paying.
Are mobile games always cheaper on Android?
Not reliably. In our nine-game sample the two differences we found both favoured Android, but six of the nine games cost exactly the same on both stores. Two examples are not a rule, so check the specific game rather than assuming a platform is cheaper.
Why does one store show a price and the other says Free?
Both stores let a developer choose how to charge. Some publish the game as a paid download, others publish a free download that unlocks with one in-app purchase. Discounty uses the paid model on Google Play and the free-to-start model on the App Store for the same 12.99 dollars.
Sources
- A Space for the Unbound on Google Play
- A Space for the Unbound on the US App Store
- Monument Valley 3 on Google Play
- Monument Valley 3 on the US App Store
- Discounty on Google Play
- Discounty on the US App Store
- Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown on Google Play
- Tiny Bookshop on Google Play
- Tomb Raider on the US App Store
