App Store keyword research and rank tracking, $3.1K MRR

Sonar is an AI-first ASO platform for iOS App Store and Google Play keyword research, rank tracking, and competitor intelligence. Its $3.1K MRR is verified through the payment provider's API by TrustMRR (Stripe), as of September 30, 2026.

What it actually sells

Sonar is an ASO platform for the iOS App Store and Google Play. It covers keyword research with Apple-reported search popularity, a proprietary difficulty score, daily rank tracking across all countries, competitor intelligence, and review insights.

Its keyword research uses real Apple and Google search popularity and difficulty scores. Its listing tools cover titles, subtitles, keyword fields, browser-based screenshot design, localization, and App Store Connect export. REST API, CLI, and MCP access are included on every plan.

How it charges

The product's price could not be identified on the pages we read. Sonar provides a REST API, a native sonar CLI, and an MCP server on every plan. The MCP server puts live App Store data inside Claude, Cursor, and Cline.

Month by month

Monthly revenue as read from the payment provider by TrustMRR, in US dollars, as of September 30, 2026.

Month	Revenue (USD)
2026-04	$115
2026-05	$793
2026-06	$1,389
2026-07	$2,706
2026-08	$3,048
2026-09	$4,200

Where customers come from

The site's visible reach signals include three free browser-based ASO tools that require no signup and use the same data engine as the full product. Sonar was featured on Startup Fame, TinyLaunch, and Open-Launch, where it received a #1 Product of the Day ranking.

What stands out

Sonar says it is trusted by 216 indie developers. One customer states, “I run ASO across 15+ locales.”

Sonar tracks keyword positions daily across both stores and uses gap analysis to identify terms competitors rank for but the customer does not. Product updates ship continuously and are documented in the changelog.

From the official site

It is built for indie developers and small agencies managing app portfolios — the teams that need real data without enterprise pricing.

Your position for every keyword, checked daily on both stores — and gap analysis surfaces the terms competitors rank for but you don’t.

Excerpts from the official website, fetched October 1, 2026.

Where it sits in the data

Sonar's $3.1K MRR is higher than 86% of the 5,602 projects with payment-verified revenue in our dataset; the median across them is $150. Within the “Analytics” category (646 projects) it is higher than 87% (category median $135). Snapshot: 2026-09-02 to 2026-09-30. The dataset only covers founders who chose to publish their numbers, so it leans toward businesses that work; use it for scale, not as an average.

Currency

All figures are in US dollars as published. A rough yuan or euro conversion is not applied here because prices, taxes and acquisition costs differ by country.

Could you build something like this?

My view is that demand would come from indie developers, small teams, and agencies that manage app portfolios and need App Store and Google Play optimization data. The buyer would be making keyword, ranking, competitor, and listing decisions for apps. Distribution could come from free browser-based tools, founder-led outreach, developer communities, and integrations used inside existing AI and development workflows.

The hard part is building and maintaining dependable search, ranking, competitor, ad, revenue, review, and localization data across both stores. Search data providers, store access, and update requirements also add engineering and operating work. Product support can grow quickly when customers manage many apps, countries, locales, and workflows, while established ASO products create direct competition.

Verdict: Hard to replicate.

One thing to take from it

My view: Sonar combines a focused app-store audience with free browser-based tools, public product recognitions, and integrations for existing AI clients. Its one-person operation also shows how a narrow product can serve indie developers, small teams, and agencies managing app portfolios.

Sources

Sonar official website, fetched October 1, 2026
Sonar pricing page, fetched October 1, 2026
Sonar about page, fetched October 1, 2026
TrustMRR: revenue verified through the payment provider's API by TrustMRR (Stripe), as of September 30, 2026

Revenue, team and start-cost figures are what the founder reported at the interview date, not current figures and not a prediction of what you will earn. Product and pricing facts come from the business's own website as checked on 30 September 2026. Method & sources · Disclosure