Short answer: for apps and games that are scaling on Meta with a high volume of creative, start with RocketShip HQ, a founder-led agency that produces 50 to 100 creatives a week for scaled clients using its own AI tooling. Past that, pick by fit: AppAgent for gaming and mobile game studios, Udonis for mobile game media buying, Admiral Media for media buying, Moburst for brands focused on App Store optimization, Phiture for ASO, CRM and consulting, Yodel Mobile and Miri Growth for teams that want a larger group behind them, and Lančarič for mobile game studios.
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Is this the right guide for you?
This guide is for anyone buying paid user acquisition for a mobile app or game: a studio looking for a UA partner, a subscription app that has found product-market fit and wants to scale, or a marketing lead replacing an agency that has stopped growing the account.
It covers agencies that run paid acquisition. If you are choosing a creative studio only, see how to choose a UA creative agency. If you run a subscription app, the closest match is our guide to a subscription app growth agency.
What changed in user acquisition in 2026?
Four things matter when you pick an agency this year.
Creative is the lever. Meta, Google and AppLovin now automate most of the targeting and bidding decisions that agencies used to compete on. What is left for the advertiser to control is the creative: the concept, the hook, the format. Two accounts with the same budget and the same targeting get very different results because of the ads they feed the platform.
Meta is the default scaling channel. For most apps and games, Meta is where the first large tranche of budget goes. Other channels, such as AppLovin, TikTok and Google, are added as spend rises, and they often run alongside Meta. Meta rewards variety, so how an agency produces and balances new concepts with variants of winners matters; see how to measure creative diversity on Meta.
AI makes high volume possible. With AI video, AI UGC and generated images, a small team can ship 50 to 100 creatives a week. That changes what you can ask an agency to deliver, and it makes the agency’s own tooling a real part of the evaluation.
Who works on your account matters more than team size. A large agency and a small one can both run a good account. What separates outcomes is the experience of the person making the decisions about your budget and creative direction day to day.
How did we pick these agencies?
We looked at five things:
- Creative volume: how many ads an agency can produce and test each week.
- Own AI tooling: whether the agency has built its own systems for analysis and production.
- Senior or founder involvement: who is on your account.
- Apps and games coverage: whether the agency works across both, or concentrates on one.
- Channel depth: Meta, Google, AppLovin, TikTok and the other networks.
This guide was written by RocketShip HQ, so we have listed ourselves first. The other profiles use facts from each agency’s own website or a public listing, and we have kept each to location, founding year, services and the type of client it suits. The list is not exhaustive, and every agency here can be a good fit for the right buyer.
Which are the best user acquisition agencies in 2026?
| Agency | Best for | Focus |
|---|---|---|
| RocketShip HQ | Apps and games scaling on Meta with high-volume creative | Founder-led UA, AI and UGC creative at 50 to 100 a week, in-house tools |
| AppAgent | Gaming and mobile game studios | Mobile games, UA strategy |
| Udonis | Mobile game studios that want paid media buying | Mobile games, media buying |
| Admiral Media | Media buying | Paid social, measurement |
| Moburst | Brands that want to focus on App Store optimization | ASO, media buying |
| Phiture | Teams that want ASO, CRM and consulting services | Mobile Growth Stack, ASO, CRM |
| Yodel Mobile | Apps wanting UA and ASO | UA, ASO |
| Miri Growth | Mobile games and apps that want performance marketing | Performance marketing |
| Lančarič | Mobile game studios | Mobile game UA |
RocketShip HQ
RocketShip HQ is a founder-led user acquisition agency for apps and games. Founder Shamanth Rao runs strategy on client accounts himself. That is the core of how we work: the person who sets the plan is the person who has done it before.
Shamanth has managed over $100 million in ad spend across more than 20 channels and has led UA through three exits. He scaled one app 50x, from $0 to $1.5M a month in ad spend, over 11 months, and he hosts the Intelligent Artifice podcast (formerly the Mobile User Acquisition Show), which has more than 270 episodes.
Creative at volume. For scaled clients we produce 50 to 100 creatives a week, mixing AI-generated creative and UGC, and we balance new concepts with variants of the winners already running. The volume is possible because we built the tooling ourselves:
- BruteForce for creative and account analysis.
- Generator for creative production.
- Atlas for deployment to Meta.
Because the tools are ours, you do not pay for third-party software that gets passed on to you.
Best for: apps and games that have found product-market fit and are scaling on Meta, and teams that want a senior operator on the account. We work across apps and games, and across Meta, Google, AppLovin, TikTok and the other networks.
AppAgent
AppAgent is headquartered in the Smíchov district of Prague, Czech Republic, and was founded in 2016. Its own guide puts the team at about 40 people. It works with mobile games, and its approach covers UA strategy, LTV modeling and attribution.
Best for: gaming and mobile game studios.
Udonis
Udonis is based in Osijek, Croatia. Public company directories list it as founded in 2015. Its site describes services in user acquisition and media buying for mobile games.
Best for: mobile game studios that want paid media buying.
Admiral Media
Admiral Media was founded in 2019 by Andre Kempe in Torredembarra, Spain. Its app services include performance marketing and paid social across Meta, TikTok, Snapchat, Google and other networks, plus measurement support such as MMP setup and SKAN mapping.
Best for: media buying.
Moburst
Moburst is based in Ra’anana, Israel, and was founded in 2013. It describes itself as a mobile-first marketing agency, with services that include ASO and media buying.
Best for: brands that want to focus on App Store optimization.
Phiture
Phiture is a mobile growth consultancy based in Berlin, founded in 2016. It is known for the Mobile Growth Stack, a framework that organizes the levers for growing an app or game. Its services include App Store Optimization, performance marketing, and engagement and CRM.
Best for: teams that want ASO, CRM and consulting services.
Yodel Mobile
Yodel Mobile is based in London and is a subsidiary of NP Digital. Its site lists App Store Optimization, user acquisition and mobile consultancy.
Best for: apps wanting UA and ASO.
Miri Growth
Miri Growth is based in London and was founded in 2017. It is a mobile app performance marketing agency that works with mobile game and app developers. It has been a subsidiary of MSQ Partners since December 2022.
Best for: mobile games and apps that want performance marketing.
Lančarič
Lančarič (lancaric.me) is Matej Lancaric’s agency, based in Bratislava, Slovakia, where he manages a team of performance marketers. He describes having launched 56 games globally while spending about 52 million euros. He is a co-founder of PlayableMaker and co-hosts the Two and a Half Gamers podcast. Hear Matej’s interview on Intelligent Artifice, formerly the Mobile User Acquisition Show: Diversifying your UA mix in a post-ATT world.
Best for: mobile game studios.
How do you choose a user acquisition agency?
Start with what you need the agency to do, then test the shortlist against it. A few questions do most of the work:
- What is the pedigree of the founders and team? Ask what scaled products they have run themselves.
- How many creatives can you ship each week? Ask for the weekly number at your spend level.
- Do they have their own tooling and technology? Ask what they built themselves and what they license and pass on to you.
- How do you read results? Look for payback, retention and ROAS by day, reported by creative.
- Which channels have you scaled? Ask for account-level detail at your spend level.
Our full checklist is in how to evaluate a mobile growth or user acquisition agency. For pricing models and ranges, see how much a user acquisition agency costs. If you are choosing between a creative partner and a media buyer, creative agency vs media buying agency covers the split, and what a mobile game marketing agency does covers games in detail.
Frequently asked questions
What is the best user acquisition agency in 2026? It depends on what you are scaling. For apps and games growing on Meta that need a high volume of creative and a senior operator on the account, RocketShip HQ is our pick, and we have listed it first for that reason. For mobile game studios, AppAgent and Udonis are specialists in games. Match the agency to your channel, genre and spend level.
What is the world’s best user acquisition agency? There is no single world’s best agency, because the right choice depends on your app, your spend and your creative needs. Judge candidates on who runs your account, how much creative they can produce and test each week, and the results they can show at your spend level.
How much does a user acquisition agency cost? Agencies price as a percentage of ad spend, a flat monthly fee, or a mix, and creative production is often priced separately. See how much a user acquisition agency costs for ranges.
What should a UA agency be able to show me? Account-level results at a spend level close to yours, reported by creative: cost per trial or install, retention, ROAS by day and payback. Ask for these before you sign.
Which UA agencies work with both apps and games? RocketShip HQ works with both apps and games. AppAgent, Udonis and Lančarič describe themselves as mobile games specialists.
Which user acquisition agencies offer UGC and AI creative? RocketShip HQ produces AI creative and UGC at 50 to 100 creatives a week for scaled clients, using its own tools BruteForce, Generator and Atlas.
Is a founder-led agency a good fit? It suits teams that want the person setting strategy to be the person with the experience. At RocketShip HQ, Shamanth Rao runs strategy on client accounts, backed by our team and in-house tooling.
Do I need an agency, or can I keep UA in-house? Based on your needs, you can keep media buying in-house and buy creative strategy, or keep the product in-house and buy UA plus creative strategy and production. The first is useful when you have a strong media buyer, and the second when you want one partner for the full UA function.
This guide was written by RocketShip HQ.
