Free Fire India vs Free Fire MAX: Which to Install, Your Account, iPhone and Playtime Limits

Free Fire India is a new, separate app. It is not an update to Free Fire MAX. It went live on 28 October 2026 on Google Play and the App Store, published by Garena International III.

The short version:

• Free Fire MAX is not shut down. Garena says it stays as a separate app.
• Accounts are the confusing part. Garena's FAQ and what its head of operations in India told TechCrunch don't match. Don't uninstall MAX until you have checked your own account.
• iPhone users: logging in to Free Fire India with the Apple ID you use for MAX creates a new, separate account. Read the iPhone section first.
• Limits: 3 hours of matches a day under 18 and 6 hours for adults, with a ₹7,000 daily spending cap for under-18s.
• Download it only from Google Play or the App Store.

What launched

When we looked on 7 November, Google Play showed more than 1 crore downloads for Free Fire India, with a 4.38 rating from about 4.43 lakh ratings.

Free Fire India or Free Fire MAX: what's different

The device claims come from the same interview, in the Times of India, where he says "Free Fire MAX will remain as a separate app".

Will it run on your phone? Garena's India support page lists a minimum of Android 4.4, a dual-core 1.2 GHz processor, 1 GB RAM and 1.5 GB or more of storage. It recommends Android 7, an octa-core 1.8 GHz processor, 3 GB RAM and 3 GB or more of storage. Digit reports that version 1.134.1 needs Android 5.0 and is a 390 MB download on Google Play, which may grow with extra modules. Google Play's own listing data also shows Android 5.0. Those minimums don't match Garena's page, so check what the Play listing says on your own phone.

What happens to your account?

This is the question everyone is asking, and Garena's own statements point in different directions.

What Garena's FAQ says (updated 29 October). Free Fire India is a separate version that "only works with India-region accounts". If you try to log in to an India-region account on Free Fire or Free Fire MAX, you may see a pop-up saying your account "has been detected as being in the India region". The FAQ adds: "These versions cannot be used with India accounts." Its advice is to download Free Fire India. The FAQ also says that registering a new account from India on any version other than Free Fire India brings up a region pop-up that tells you to install Free Fire India. A non-India account can't log in to Free Fire India at all.

What Garena's head of operations in India told TechCrunch. TechCrunch reports Vaibhav Das Mundhra saying players can use the same account across both games, play together and join the same events.

These don't match, and we found nothing from Garena that reconciles them. We haven't tested it on our own account yet. Until it is clear:

• Don't uninstall Free Fire MAX just because a video told you to. If you play on a guest account, bind it to a login platform first: Garena says guest progress is stored on your device, and it can't recover the account if the game data is deleted.
• If your account has no recovery email, bind one in the game first. Garena's support page, last updated before the launch, says you need a linked login platform and level 5, and the email can't recover the account or change its login until a 15-day buffer period ends. So do it early.
• If you see a region pop-up, read which of the three messages it is. Garena's FAQ explains each one and gives the store links. If you keep seeing them, contact Customer Service through Garena's Help Center, which also opens in a normal browser. Garena says only linked accounts can submit a request, so a guest account can't.

Some sites say your level, skins and diamonds carry over. Garena's FAQ says an iPhone player can reach an "existing account" in Free Fire India through a recovery email, but it doesn't say what carries over, so treat that as unconfirmed.

VK players: VK login isn't supported in Free Fire India. Garena says you can keep using Free Fire MAX, or change your login platform through in-game account recovery using a recovery email already bound to the account. A newly bound email has the same 15-day buffer.

iPhone: read this before you log in with Apple ID

According to Garena's FAQ:

• If you use an Apple ID for Free Fire MAX, logging in to Free Fire India with that Apple ID creates a new Free Fire India account. Your old account is not linked or transferred.
• Your old account stays unaffected. Garena says you can keep using it if you can download MAX from an eligible App Store region, and the Indian store doesn't list MAX, so don't delete it from your iPhone. Garena's reason for the new account is that the two apps use different Apple developer accounts, which treat the same Apple ID as separate logins.
• To use your existing account in Free Fire India, Garena recommends binding a recovery email to it and switching your main login to that email before you log in, if that option is available to you. A newly bound email has that 15-day buffer first, so you may not be able to switch the same day.
• Already created a new account by mistake? Don't assume it's your old one. Contact Customer Service.

Apple's lookup on 7 November found no Free Fire MAX or Free Fire listing on the Indian App Store, so Free Fire India is the only one of the three you can download there.

Playtime and spending limits

These come from the Playtime Limit FAQ on Garena's Free Fire India support site:

• Only time inside a match counts. Browsing the shop, chatting with friends or sitting in menus doesn't.
• Time adds up through the day. Leaving and coming back doesn't reset it.
• Once you hit the limit, you can't start or continue a match until 4:00 AM.
• Garena's India privacy policy says under-18s need a parent's consent, with the parent's phone number and an OTP, when registering.

Use your real age. The Playtime Limit FAQ says the 30-day rule exists to stop people switching back and forth to get around the limits. And don't use a parent's phone or OTP without asking them.

Free Fire MAX has limits too. An official Free Fire India post with the Free Fire MAX logo announced "Play It Right" from 4 August 2026: 3-hour and 6-hour limits, the 2-hour reminder, the ₹7,000 under-18 cap and OTP. The 4:00 AM reset, the 10 OTP figure and the 30-day rule appear only in that Playtime Limit FAQ, which doesn't name either app, so we can't say they apply to MAX.

Where to redeem codes now

Garena's global redemption site, reward.ff.garena.com, now labels itself "Global Version (excludes Vietnam and India)", and its code tells India accounts to redeem on the India site: reward-ffi.garenaind.com. We read this from the sites themselves on 7 November and haven't tried it with a login. Details and steps are on our Free Fire redeem codes page.

Was the 2022 ban lifted?

We can't say that. The original Free Fire was blocked in India in February 2022. Garena's head of operations in India says government feedback was taken into account for Free Fire India, and TechCrunch reports he didn't answer why an earlier 2023 launch was delayed. We found no government order or statement about it. Treat "ban lifted" or "government approved" headlines with care unless they link to one.

Download it safely

• Use Google Play or the App Store, and check that the developer is Garena International III.
• Garena's FAQ names one APK page, ffdownload.freefireindiamobile.com, and says it's for India IP addresses. We haven't tested it. Skip every other "Free Fire India APK" site.
• Garena's support pages say a first hacking offence means a permanent ban, and account sharing or selling can bring one too. They also call free or cheap diamond offers scams. See every real way to get diamonds.

What's running in Free Fire India (checked 7 November)

• Diwali 2026: the campaign runs until 15 November.
• FFWS Global Finals 2026: three Indian teams in Bangkok until 28 November, and the Storm Arena campaign, which has no announced end date.
• Free Advanced Room Card: an official post says you can claim one free every day until 15 December. From 16 December the card goes away and its features become free in regular custom rooms.

Everything with a date is on our events calendar.

Quick answers

Is Free Fire India the same as Free Fire MAX?

No. They're separate apps. Garena says Free Fire MAX stays available for higher-specification phones, and Free Fire India is tuned for a wider range of phones, including low-end ones.

Is Free Fire MAX banned or shut down in India?

It's still on Google Play in India, and Garena says it remains a separate app. Garena's FAQ does say India-region accounts can't be used in it, while its head of operations in India says the same account works in both. We haven't tested this yet.

Will my Free Fire MAX account work in Free Fire India?

Garena's FAQ says Free Fire India needs an India-region account. On iPhone, logging in with your Apple ID creates a new account. To reach your existing one, Garena recommends switching its main login to a recovery email first, if that option is available to you, and then logging in with that email. What carries over isn't confirmed in Garena's FAQ.

What is the Free Fire India time limit?

3 hours of match time a day under 18 and 6 hours for adults. It resets at 4:00 AM.

What is the spending limit?

₹7,000 a day for under-18 accounts. There's no cap for adults.

Can I play Free Fire India on iPhone?

Yes. It's on the App Store in India, listed under Garena International III.

Is there a Free Fire India redeem code?

We haven't found one in the official channels we could read on 7 November: Garena's Free Fire India YouTube channels. We couldn't read its Instagram, Facebook or X, or codes shown in livestreams. The daily code lists we opened don't name an official source. Our redeem codes page lists a code only after it redeems on our own account.