Zedge Ringtones & Wallpapers

Zedge Review: Ringtones and Wallpapers in One App, Paid For in Ads and Data

Zedge Credits, ad gates and what stays free

Zedge, Inc., a NYSE American-listed company that started in 2003 as a ringtone website, runs the catalogue as a marketplace. Each creator sets an item as free, ad-gated behind a video or paid in credits, the app's closed virtual currency. Credits come from rewarded videos, Tap Research surveys or in-app packs; the US App Store lists 500 for $0.99 and 2,750 for $4.99, and prices vary by region. Creators keep 70% of a paid sale after the 30% store fee. Ads carry the business: they brought in $20.3 million of the $27.2 million the marketplace segment, Emojipedia included, earned in fiscal 2025. The iPhone home screen shows a 100-credit balance beside an Upgrade button.

Setting ringtones: one tap on Android, a 30-second cap on iPhone

On Android the app writes the sound straight into the system: tap download, then Set, and pick Ringtone, Notification or Contact. Hence the 'modify system settings' and contacts permissions listed in Exodus Privacy's September 2026 report. iPhones work differently, because Apple routes custom ringtones through its own tools and caps them at 30 seconds. Before iOS 26 the on-device route was a GarageBand export; iOS 26 added a 'Use as Ringtone' share action for MP3 and M4A clips under 30 seconds. The iPhone app still supports iOS 16, so owners on iOS 16 to 18 keep the GarageBand route, and the ringtone player carries a 'How to set sounds' tip.

Zedge+ from $1.99 a week, and the ads it leaves in place

The US App Store lists four lengths: $1.99 a week, $4.99 a month, $19.99 a year, and lifetime at both $13.99 and $19.99. Regional prices differ, so check the current price in the app. The help-centre article on the ad-free plan sets out its limits: it removes ad cards, interstitials and banners while you browse, but not the video ads that unlock creator items, and paid items still cost credits. Lifetime dominates, at about 693,000 of 984,000 active subscriptions in July 2025, per the annual report. It is also where recent Google Play complaints cluster, with subscribers describing lifetime access that vanished or stopped being recognised after an update.

19 ad partners and 36 tracker signatures: the data trade

The privacy policy, updated December 29, 2025, names 19 advertising partners, among them Google AdMob, Meta Audience Network, AppLovin, Unity and Moloco, plus Replicate, which receives the prompts typed into the AI image tools. Exodus Privacy's static scan of the Android build found 36 tracker signatures; that shows the code is present, not that each tracker runs. The App Store label lists location, identifiers and usage data as used to track you across other companies' apps, and Google Play's Data safety form says in-app search history and device IDs are shared for advertising. The exit exists: a 'Request Zedge data' option and account deletion sit in the app's settings.