State of Subscription Apps — RevenueCat SOSA × Adapty SOIS Combined Analysis
This report synthesizes findings from two of the subscription app industry's most authoritative benchmarking studies—RevenueCat's State of Subscription Apps 2026 (SOSA) and Adapty's State of In-App Subscriptions 2026—into a single, comprehensive analytical document.
The most important findings from synthesizing both reports.
Understanding how each report measures differently is critical for accurate interpretation.
RevenueCat reports primarily net figures (after Apple/Google commission), while Adapty reports gross revenue. This means Adapty's LTV and revenue numbers will appear ~30% higher for equivalent apps. Any direct comparison must adjust for this.
RevenueCat's 115K apps give better representation of the long tail (indie apps, hobby projects). Adapty's 16K apps with data-quality filtering may skew toward more established, higher-performing apps.
RevenueCat uses "RLTV" (Realized Lifetime Value)—actual revenue observed, not predicted. Adapty uses standard "LTV"—which may include some projection. RevenueCat's "D35 download-to-paid" measures conversion within 35 days; Adapty's "install-to-paid" timing varies by context.
The subscription app market is booming in aggregate — but the spoils are spectacularly unevenly distributed.
Monthly new subscription app launches, 2022–2026 • RevenueCat
Year-over-year MRR growth by percentile • RevenueCat
% of revenue captured by the top 10% of apps • Adapty
First-year revenue bracket distribution • Adapty
RevenueCat shows apps launched before 2020 still generate 69% of all subscription revenue. Adapty shows 31% more apps launched in 2025, yet median new-app revenue dropped 22%. The explosion in supply (largely AI-assisted "vibecoding") hasn't translated into revenue for newcomers.
Both reports paint a stark picture of revenue inequality:
Median YoY MRR growth:
5.3%
Top 10% (P90) grew
306%+
Top 25% grew
80%+ YoY
Bottom 25% shrank by
33%
Bottom 10% contracted by
60%+
Top 10% of apps earn
95% of all revenue
(up from 92.7% in 2023)
Lifestyle:
97.9% concentration
in top 10%
Education: 96.0%
Productivity: 95.6%
Health & Fitness:
92.6% (least
concentrated)
Who actually earns the money? • RevenueCat
How much is a subscriber worth? The answer depends enormously on where you are and what category you're in.
Median realized lifetime value after 1 year • RevenueCat
Median one-year LTV by country • Adapty
Revenue a new install generates over 12 months • Adapty
Monetization expands post-install • RevenueCat
Adapty shows Switzerland ($28.5), Israel ($27.0), and Qatar ($27.5) outperform the US ($19.9) on median LTV. RevenueCat shows North America leading at $32 — but by developer HQ, not user geography. These measure different things and both are useful perspectives.
Europe has overtaken North America on pricing. Weekly plans now dominate total revenue. Prices vary up to 4× across countries.
What apps charge in each region • RevenueCat
Weekly plans went from 43% to 56% of all revenue • Adapty
Gaming is 82% weekly; Health & Fitness is 68% annual • RevenueCat
High-price apps earn 3× the LTV of low-price apps • Adapty
European Utilities annual plans surged 70.5% in two years. No single country leads all plan types: Japan tops annual ($54.59), Germany tops monthly ($17.19), UK tops weekly ($8.72). Health & Fitness annual pricing shows a 4.4× gap between Germany and Turkey.
From install to renewal — where users convert (and where they drop off).
Stage-by-stage conversion rates • Adapty
Download-to-paid within 35 days • RevenueCat
55% of all 3-day trial cancellations happen on Day 0. The battle for a subscriber is won or lost in the first session.
90% of trial starts happen on Day 0. 44.5% of all purchases happen on Day 0.
Hard paywalls generate 8-9× higher revenue per install • RevenueCat
Trials boost LTV by up to 636%. But the industry is paradoxically moving toward shorter trials that convert worse.
Longer trials convert 70% better, but apps are going shorter • RevenueCat
First renewal rates: trial vs no-trial • Adapty
7 in 10 apps offer trials
— the share is stable over time.
Utilities increased trial usage from 78.0% to
84.7% (fastest
growth)
Photo & Video dropped from 70.7% to
62.3% (steepest
decline)
Under
10% of apps use
promotional offers (9.3% overall)
Health & Fitness leads at
14%
Gaming is lowest at
3.6%
Keeping subscribers is harder than acquiring them. Android's billing crisis is the single biggest fixable leak.
Each renewal loses more subscribers • Adapty
Google Play loses 2.2× more subscribers to billing failures • RevenueCat
Revenue lost to refunds — APAC spikes to 14% • Adapty
Higher weekly prices actually retain 12% better • Adapty
Apps that experiment earn up to 40× more revenue. Localization tests drive the largest uplift.
LTV vs conversion: pick your strategy • Combined
% of A/B tests showing uplift • Adapty
What paywalls actually include • RevenueCat
Ranked by 1-year LTV • Adapty
Two-plan paywalls dominate (41-60%
across categories)
Shopping is the outlier with
40% single-plan
paywalls
Highlighted pricing:
74.5% of paywalls
(table stakes)
Multi-plan options:
59.2%
Free trial messaging:
54.0%
Countdown timers:
≤1.4% (virtually
absent)
Progress bars:
≤0.2%
High text density dominates (45-63%)
Gaming leads at 63%;
Photo & Video uses most low-density (27%)
Scrolling paywalls:
59-76% (Travel
highest at 76%)
"Continue"
dominates as the primary CTA
"Subscribe" and
"Start Free Trial"
follow
"Cancel Anytime"
appears prominently alongside primary CTAs
Teams that run experiments earn dramatically more. The average testing app runs 14.7 experiments. Price tests rarely improve conversion (28% win rate) but lift LTV 46% of the time — a classic case where the metric you optimize matters.
AI apps earn more per user but churn faster. The revenue advantage comes from pricing power, not retention.
Indexed to 100 = average app • Combined
YoY revenue growth, 2025 vs 2024 • Adapty
AI apps convert into trial 2× worse than average (5.31% vs 10.92%), but get 14% more direct purchases (4.20% vs 3.71%). Annual plans with trials are where AI apps excel: $66.70 vs $49.92 one-year LTV.
AI apps face non-trivial serving costs per user (LLM API costs), making free tiers less sustainable. The trend is toward:
Reducing free-tier capabilities to control costs
Limiting trial exposure to reduce LLM spend
Smoothing variable API costs with predictable revenue
Maximizing RPI to cover per-user infrastructure costs
iOS dominates subscription revenue 5.6× over. Android's billing failures are a massive, fixable problem.
Adapty
Install-to-paid rate • Adapty
Billing failure rate • RevenueCat
41% of top apps have web revenue. But early data shows web paywalls still underperform in-app — even without the 30% fee.
Adapty (early data)
Web starts high, drops fast • Adapty
Even net of fees, web is $4 lower • Adapty
31× gap between top performers and hobby apps • RevenueCat
Each category operates with fundamentally different subscription economics.
Key metrics normalized across top categories • Combined
Pure subs vs hybrid models • RevenueCat
Monetization compounds post-install • RevenueCat
Monetization strength varies 2×+ between the highest and lowest regions.
RPI, conversion, and LTV across geographies • RevenueCat
Both reports tell the same big story — but diverge on key details. Understanding why helps you interpret the data correctly.
| Topic | RevenueCat | Adapty | Explanation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue basis | Net (post-commission) | Gross (pre-commission) | ~30% difference in absolute numbers |
| Weekly revenue share | Varies heavily by category | 55.6% of all revenue | Adapty's sample may over-index categories with weekly dominance |
| Europe vs. NA pricing | NA leads monthly/yearly | Europe overtook NA | Adapty may capture 2025 price changes more dynamically |
| LTV leaders by country | NA leads by developer HQ | Switzerland, Israel, Qatar lead | Developer HQ ≠ user geography; different perspectives |
Actionable strategies based on the combined evidence from both reports.
Hard paywalls maximize short-term RPI (8-9× higher than freemium), but retention equalizes by Year 1. If you need revenue fast, go hard paywall.
Adapty data shows weekly + trial is the highest-LTV configuration (636% LTV curve). RevenueCat confirms trials boost conversion dramatically.
Both reports show the first session is make-or-break. 55% of trial cancellations and 90% of trial starts happen on Day 0.
58% of new apps earn under $1K/year. Only 7.9% break $100K. Plan accordingly.
Adapty shows 40× revenue difference for experimenters. Prioritize localization tests (62.3% LTV win rate), trial modifications (59.6%), and plan duration changes (58.7%).
If you're on Google Play, 31% of your cancellations may be involuntary billing failures. This is the single highest-ROI fix available.
41% of top-performing apps have web revenue vs. 1.3% of small apps. Web-to-app acquisition is now mainstream.
Europe has overtaken NA on pricing. Subscription prices vary 4× across countries. Stop using one-size-fits-all pricing.
AI apps earn 41-70% more per user but churn 20-30% faster. The revenue advantage is meaningless if users don't stick.
AI app annual plans with trials show $66.70 LTV (vs $49.92 average). Annual billing also smooths the variable cost problem of LLM APIs.
AI apps face non-trivial per-user costs. Less generous freemium products and shorter trials protect margins while maintaining conversion.
Gaming (82% weekly, 0.7% D35 conversion) operates completely differently from Health & Fitness (68% annual, 2.7% D35 conversion). Category context is essential.
17+ day trials convert 70% better despite the industry trend toward ≤4-day trials. The data says you're leaving money on the table.
The top 10% earning 95% of revenue (and growing) means the middle is collapsing. You're either in the top tier or fighting for scraps.