Data study · Niche schema types AI answers can read
75.6% of Homepages With Software App Markup List a Price of Zero, and Only 9.5% Show a Paid Price
Homepages carrying SoftwareApplication, WebApplication or MobileApplication markup in the top 1M nearly quadrupled to 12,197 between 2023 and 2026. 82.7% include a price, but on 75.6% that price is 0.
Analysis of 12,197 top-1M homepages with software application markup · HTTP Archive, October 2026, compared with October 2023
Key findings
- 1
Top-1M homepages with software application markup grew from 3,232 in 2023 to 12,197 in 2026 (+277.4%).
- 2
82.7% of these homepages (10,085) include a price in the app's offers.
- 3
On 75.6% (9,225) at least one listed price is 0, while 9.5% (1,159) list a price above zero.
- 4
Business, productivity and finance apps are the most likely to show a paid price, at 21.3% of 2,521 homepages; games show one on 2.7%.
- 5
Top-10,000 sites list a paid price least often: 3.1% of 162 homepages, against 9.9% among sites ranked 100,001 to 1M.
- 6
19.5% of app homepages include a featureList.
Summary
Picture a small software company that sells scheduling tools to dental practices for $99 a month. Its homepage markup says it is a web application, in the business category, and that it costs $0. That last part probably comes from a template that assumed a free trial. When an AI assistant compares scheduling software by price, that is the number it can read.
SoftwareApplication markup describes an app: name, category, operating system, features and price. AI engines that answer "best tool for X under $50" can use the offers price directly.
We found 12,197 top-1M homepages with software app markup. 82.7% include a price, and on 75.6% that price is zero.
What we measured
We compared the October 2023 and October 2026 HTTP Archive crawls (mobile), top-1M homepages. We parsed rendered JSON-LD, flattened nested objects and @graph arrays, and kept homepages with a SoftwareApplication, WebApplication or MobileApplication node.
For each app node we checked its offers child for a price or lowPrice (including a nested priceSpecification), whether that price is zero or above zero, the currency, the applicationCategory and other properties. A homepage can list several offers, so a page can count as both zero-priced and paid.
Most app markup includes a price, and most of those prices are zero
Free apps and free tiers are real, but a zero price on a paid product misleads any machine that reads it.
% of homepages (N=12,197)
| Pattern | Homepages | Share % |
|---|---|---|
| Has offers | 10,396 | 85.2 |
| Offers include a price | 10,085 | 82.7 |
| Offers include a currency | 9,996 | 82 |
| A listed price is 0 | 9,225 | 75.6 |
| A listed price is above 0 | 1,159 | 9.5 |
Source: aisearchoptimization.net analysis of 12,197 top-1M homepages with software application markup · HTTP Archive, October 2026, compared with October 2023
In 2023 the zero-price share was 73.8% (2,386 of 3,232) and the paid share 5.6% (181).
Business apps show a paid price most often
Category comes from applicationCategory, grouped into broad buckets.
| Category | Homepages | With a price % | Paid price % | Zero price % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Games | 2,956 | 95 | 2.7 | 92.2 |
| Business, productivity or finance | 2,521 | 67 | 21.3 | 50.7 |
| Multimedia, design or entertainment | 1,840 | 88.4 | 10.2 | 81.8 |
| Utilities, developer or security | 1,616 | 89 | 7.1 | 85.5 |
| Lifestyle, shopping or health | 1,121 | 80 | 6.8 | 75.2 |
| Other | 1,027 | 79.8 | 7.7 | 72.3 |
| Education or reference | 613 | 72.3 | 9.8 | 65.6 |
| Social or communication | 401 | 87 | 5.7 | 83.5 |
| No category | 102 | 13.7 | 2 | 11.8 |
Source: aisearchoptimization.net analysis of 12,197 top-1M homepages with software application markup · HTTP Archive, October 2026, compared with October 2023
Business apps grew from 397 homepages in 2023 to 2,521 in 2026, the largest jump among categories after games.
The biggest sites rarely mark up a paid price
By site rank, 2026.
| Rank bucket | Homepages | With a price % | Paid price % | Zero price % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Top 10,000 | 162 | 78.4 | 3.1 | 75.9 |
| 10,001 to 100,000 | 1,176 | 80.3 | 6.6 | 75.5 |
| 100,001 to 1M | 10,859 | 83 | 9.9 | 75.6 |
Source: aisearchoptimization.net analysis of 12,197 top-1M homepages with software application markup · HTTP Archive, October 2026, compared with October 2023
Zero-price offers appear on 75.9% of top-10,000 app homepages (123 of 162).
What this means
If you sell software, open your homepage markup and look at the offers. If your product costs money, show the real starting price with priceCurrency, or use an AggregateOffer with lowPrice and highPrice for tiered plans. Keep a zero-priced offer only for a genuine free plan, and name it. Add applicationCategory, operatingSystem and a featureList that matches your feature page.
AI assistants compare software on price and features, and they can only use what you state. A free AI visibility audit will show how assistants describe your product's pricing today, and wrong prices are one of the first things our answer engine optimization services correct.
Limits
Homepages only; pricing pages may carry different markup.
A zero price can be accurate for free apps and free tiers; we do not judge which zero prices are wrong.
Category buckets rely on the applicationCategory text each site chose.
The 2023 and 2026 crawls cover different sets of top-1M sites.
Embed this research
Add the charts from this study to your page. The embed links back here.
<iframe src="https://aisearchoptimization.net/embed/data-studies/software-app-markup-pricing-homepages" title="76% of App Homepages Tell Machines the Price Is Zero" width="100%" height="720" style="border:0" loading="lazy"></iframe>
Cite this study
APA
Grenyo, K. (2026). 76% of App Homepages Tell Machines the Price Is Zero. AI Search Optimization. https://aisearchoptimization.net/resources/data-studies/software-app-markup-pricing-homepages
Plain link
76% of App Homepages Tell Machines the Price Is Zero - AI Search Optimization - https://aisearchoptimization.net/resources/data-studies/software-app-markup-pricing-homepages
Frequently asked questions
Should SoftwareApplication schema include a price?
Yes, through offers with price and priceCurrency. 82.7% of top-1M homepages with app markup include one.
Why do so many apps list a price of 0?
Free apps and free tiers account for many, and templates that default to 0 may account for others. 75.6% of app homepages list a zero price and 9.5% a paid one.
How fast is software app markup growing?
Top-1M homepages with SoftwareApplication, WebApplication or MobileApplication markup rose from 3,232 in 2023 to 12,197 in 2026.
How should a SaaS with several plans mark up pricing?
Use an AggregateOffer with lowPrice, highPrice, priceCurrency and offerCount, or list each plan as its own Offer. Do not leave a placeholder price of 0 if you have no free plan.
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