Alipay
Ant Group's payment app, also for bills, public services and savings
First principle
People always want to pay and get errands done with fewer trips. Alipay first used escrow so strangers online dared to pay each other, then put QR payments, bills and public services in one app.
The needs it meets
- Getting things doneCore
- Getting a task done with less time and effort.
- Money
- Paying less, selling what you don't need, earning a little more.
- Peace of mind
- Knowing family is safe and accounts are secure.
Why it wins
- It began as escrow for Taobao: the buyer's money waited with Alipay until the goods arrived, so two strangers online could trade.
- A shop takes payment with a printed code and a customer pays with one scan; the more people pay and get paid this way, the more both sides depend on it.
- Bills, food orders and public services are built in by shops and agencies, with no other app to install; since July 2026 people can also ask its AI assistant, Abao, in a sentence.
- Yu'e Bao lets spare cash earn a little and Huabei offers a buy now, pay later line; with money and credit kept here, switching payment apps means leaving them behind.
What keeps it ahead
- Network effects
- The more people use it, the more useful it is; everyone is already there.
- Switching cost
- Your data, contacts or progress live here; leaving is costly.
How it makes money
CommerceServes a bigger businessIn app purchases
The real money is payment fees from merchants and service fees from banks, funds and insurers, none of it through Apple; the grossing rank comes from virtual goods in the app, such as in app coins, theme skins and digital collectibles.
What a small team can take from it
Payment licences and finance are out of reach for a small team. The first step is not: find the point in a deal where neither side trusts the other, who pays first or whether the item is real, and carry that risk for them. Trust is the product.
This week
- China: top grossing apps, number 6
- China: top free apps, number 49
updated 29 October 2026
- Developer
- Alipay (Hangzhou) Technology Co., Ltd.
- Category
- App · Lifestyle
- Stores
- App Store
- First in a list
- 29 October 2026
Sources
- 支付宝（维基百科）
- 支付宝AI生活助理“阿宝”正式开启公测，上线72项办事技能（站长之家） 2 July 2026
- 万亿蚂蚁的高光与隐忧（虎嗅） 26 August 2020
This is our analysis and judgement, drafted by an AI agent from the store pages and public sources and read by a person before it went up. Every figure has a source; where there is none, we give no figure. Found a mistake? Write to [email protected].