Who owns the app, what it charges in the US, and what Kunlun Tech's filings say about the money
The US App Store and Google Play both list SKYWORK AI PTE. LTD. as the seller, at 2 Science Park Drive, Singapore, per the Google Play listing. The terms of service say the same: DramaWave “is provided by SKYWORK AI PTE. LTD.” and operated from Singapore.
| Level | Entity | Source |
|---|---|---|
| App | DramaWave, launched worldwide on iOS on 23 September 2024 | Sensor Tower |
| Publisher | Skywork AI Pte. Ltd., Singapore, which also runs music and gaming apps | App Store, Google Play, Kunlun 2025 annual report |
| Parent | Kunlun Tech (昆仑万维), listed in Shenzhen, 68.82% of Skywork AI at end 2025 and 70.58% at 30 June 2026 | 2025 annual report, 2026 half-year report |
| Sister app | FreeReels, the free short drama platform of the same group | Kunlun 2025 annual report, p. 29 |
The 2025 annual report describes the pair in one sentence: a “paid overseas short drama platform DramaWave and free short drama platform FreeReels” (依托海外付费短剧平台 DramaWave 与免费短剧平台 FreeReels). For the rest of the market, see the DramaBox and ReelShort pages. Series-level coverage of the app lives on verticaldrama.tv.
In-app purchases listed on the US App Store, checked on 10 November 2026:
| Offer | Price | Type | April 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Weekly VIP Membership | $19.99 | subscription, weekly | $19.90 |
| Monthly VIP | $36.99 | subscription, monthly | $19.90 |
| Purchase offers | $2.99 · $6.99 · $9.99 · $19.99 | one-time purchase | $9.99 |
Sources: US App Store listing (10 November 2026); April 2025 prices from Sensor Tower's State of Short Drama Apps 2025 report. The store lists price tiers, not the offer each user is shown. Google Play displays no in-app prices, and the official site publishes none.
The terms of service provide for weekly, monthly, quarterly or annual subscription periods. The US store list carries no annual plan and no offer named after coins. At $19.99, the weekly plan matches DramaBox's weekly pass.
Kunlun Tech publishes one line for its short drama business, and that line covers DramaWave and FreeReels together. No figure on this page is DramaWave's alone.
| Period | Revenue (DramaWave + FreeReels) | Change | Gross margin | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | CNY 167.6M (≈ $23M) | — | — | audited |
| H1 2025 | CNY 582.8M | — | 83.09% | not audited |
| 2025 | CNY 1,617.5M (≈ $225M) | +864.92% | 79.19% | audited |
| H1 2026 | CNY 1,534.5M | +163.28% | 67.49% | not audited |
Sources: Kunlun Tech 2025 annual report (pp. 48 and 195) and 2026 half-year report (pp. 28 and 154), filed on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange. Gross margin = revenue minus the unit's cost of revenue. Yuan converted at the annual average rate (Federal Reserve G.5A: 7.1957 CNY/USD in 2024, 7.1875 in 2025).
In 2025 the unit brought in 19.73% of Kunlun's CNY 8.2B of revenue. Its gross margin then fell from 83.09% in the first half of 2025 to 67.49% a year later, a drop of 15.60 points.
Kunlun also gives monthly figures in US dollars, outside its accounts. At the end of 2025 the unit’s gross monthly billings stood near $36M, and its annual recurring revenue (ARR, a run rate projected from recent billings) above $400M. By the end of June 2026, monthly billings exceeded $65M. These are management figures, not audited revenue.
| Measure | Value | Date | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cumulative downloads | 53M | end of April 2025 | Sensor Tower |
| Cumulative in-app revenue, worldwide | $47M | end of April 2025 | Sensor Tower |
| US share of in-app revenue | 42% | to April 2025 | Sensor Tower, full report |
| Google Play installs | 100M+ | November 2026 | Google Play |
| US App Store rating | 4.9 (205K ratings) | November 2026 | App Store |
| Daily time per user | 30+ minutes | H1 2026 | Kunlun 2026 half-year report, p. 16 |
Sensor Tower's 2025 case study shows where the money and the audience part ways. Latin America supplied 36% of DramaWave's downloads but 8% of its in-app revenue, while the United States paid 42% of it. These cumulative figures stop in April 2025.
The half-year report adds a production figure. In July 2026, more than 90% of the series DramaWave added that month were generated by AI.
Skywork AI Pte. Ltd., a Singapore company, publishes the app. Kunlun Tech, listed on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange, held 70.58% of Skywork AI on 30 June 2026, per its half-year report.
On the US App Store, $19.99 a week or $36.99 a month for the VIP membership, plus one-time purchase offers from $2.99 to $19.99 (prices checked on 10 November 2026).
Kunlun Tech does not report DramaWave alone. Its short drama unit, DramaWave plus FreeReels, booked CNY 1.62B (≈ $225M) of audited revenue in 2025 and CNY 1.53B in the first half of 2026.
No. Both belong to Kunlun Tech. DramaWave is the paid platform and FreeReels the free one, and Kunlun reports their revenue as one business line.
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