What percent of mobile apps have a leaderboard or ranking screen?

6.8% of tracked apps (55 of 809) have a captured leaderboard or ranking surface ^[1]. So leaderboards are a rare, niche gamification pattern — under 1 in 14 tracked apps — even rarer than streaks (11.6%), the pattern they most resemble. Competitive ranking only fits a narrow set of social and habit-forming apps.

55 of ~800 tracked apps (6.8%) have a leaderboard or ranking screen — Lazyweb Research, July 2026.

By Ali Abouelatta · Lazyweb Research · n=809 · Published 2026-07-07 · Updated July 2026

retentionux-patternsmobiledesignexperiments

Rise Account Setup screen — real in-market example tracked by Lazyweb Research — Real in-market screens from **Rise**, **Gmail**, **Chick Fil A**, **Shine** — tracked by Lazyweb Research

Gmail Account Login screen — real in-market example tracked by Lazyweb Research — Real in-market screens from **Rise**, **Gmail**, **Chick Fil A**, **Shine** — tracked by Lazyweb Research

% — The finding

% — The finding
Item	%
Streaks	11.6%
Celebration / success	11.9%
Leaderboard	6.8%

The finding

55 of 809 apps (6.8%) show a leaderboard ^[1]. It is roughly half as common as streaks and sits near the bottom of the gamification prevalence ladder ^[2].

Gamification pattern	Apps	%
Streaks	94	11.6%
Celebration / success	96	11.9%
Leaderboard	55	6.8%

How to apply it

Leaderboards need a social comparison that motivates rather than demoralizes, which is why they are rare — they backfire in apps where users are on individual journeys ^[1]. They fit competitive fitness, learning, and social apps. If you are considering one, streaks (nearly 2x as common) are usually the safer first gamification bet; add a leaderboard only when peer comparison is genuinely motivating for your users.

Caveats

Lower bound — reflects only leaderboard screens Lazyweb captured ^[1]. With only 55 apps, this is a small-numerator pattern; treat the 6.8% as an order-of-magnitude, not a precise rate. Match on '%leaderboard%', deduped by company.

The numbers

Stat	Computed from
6.8% (55 of 809)	prevalence_leaderboard: 55/809
Streaks 11.6% (94), Celebration 11.9% (96), Leaderboard 6.8% (55)	prevalence_streaks, prevalence_progress_celebration, prevalence_leaderboard

Methodology. Universe: 809 apps with >=1 captured screen. Method: COUNT(DISTINCT company_name) where any tag matches '%leaderboard%'. July 2026. Caveat: captured screens only; small numerator.

Sources & citations

[1] Lazyweb Research analysis of 809 mobile apps (809 mobile apps with >=1 captured screen; 751 with tag data; median 41 screens/app), July 2026. Prevalence = COUNT(DISTINCT company_name) over LLM synonym tags; denominator is 809 tracked apps (reported conservatively over all apps-with-screens, not the 62,376-row companies table). Lower bound: only reflects screens Lazyweb captured (median 41/app). ↩

Source: Lazyweb Research — proprietary analysis of real, in-market app screens. Cite as Lazyweb Research, 2026-07-07.