---
title: "Claude becomes No. 1 on the App Store, overtaking ChatGPT"
description: "After Anthropic's dispute with the Pentagon, the Claude app reached No. 1 among free iPhone apps in the U.S."
url: https://kurddevelopers.com/en/news/claude-number-one-app-store-pentagon
language: en # English
type: news
published: 2026-03-01T14:48:00.000Z
updated: 2026-11-02T00:23:04.000Z
author: "Osamah Ismail"
author_url: https://kurddevelopers.com/en/author/1
section: "AI"
tags: ["Anthropic","Claude","App Store","ChatGPT","Pentagon"]
sources: ["Sensor Tower","CNBC","TechCrunch"]
image: https://kurddevelopers.com/uploads/2026/11/claude2-blog-v1-1-9fe1767e.webp
translations:
  ku: https://kurddevelopers.com/news/claude-number-one-app-store-pentagon
  ar: https://kurddevelopers.com/ar/news/claude-number-one-app-store-pentagon
publisher: Kurd Developers
publisher_url: https://kurddevelopers.com/
---

# Claude becomes No. 1 on the App Store, overtaking ChatGPT

> After Anthropic's dispute with the Pentagon, the Claude app reached No. 1 among free iPhone apps in the U.S.

![Image: Anthropic](https://kurddevelopers.com/uploads/2026/11/claude2-blog-v1-1-9fe1767e.webp)

## From outside the top 100 to No. 1

According to Sensor Tower, Claude was outside the top 100 on the U.S. App Store at the end of January. It spent most of February in the top 20, then:

- Wednesday: No. 6
- Thursday: No. 4
- Saturday: No. 1, overtaking ChatGPT

## Anthropic's numbers

According to an Anthropic spokesperson:

- Daily sign-ups set an all-time record every day that week.
- Free users are up more than 60% since January.
- Paid subscribers have more than doubled this year.

## Why now?

The surge followed Anthropic's refusal to allow Claude to be used for mass surveillance of Americans or fully autonomous weapons. The U.S. government directed federal agencies to stop using Anthropic products, and OpenAI announced its own Pentagon deal.

**Sources:** Sensor Tower, CNBC, TechCrunch

---

Published by [Kurd Developers](https://kurddevelopers.com/) on 2026-03-01. Cite as: “Claude becomes No. 1 on the App Store, overtaking ChatGPT”, Kurd Developers, https://kurddevelopers.com/en/news/claude-number-one-app-store-pentagon