On the podcast: what the explosion in new apps means for the market, how the top 10% of apps grew 306% while the median barely beat inflation, and why hard paywalls convert 5X better than freemium.

This conversation is focused on RevenueCat’s State of Subscription Apps report.

Head to https://www.revenuecat.com/state-of-subscription-apps to download the report.

Top Takeaways:

📊 The app economy is a sorting machine
The top 10% of apps grew 306% while the median grew just 5.3%, and that gap is only widening as AI raises the ceiling for the best-positioned apps.

💰 Hard paywalls crush freemium on conversion, but context matters
Hard paywalls convert five times better than freemium (10.7% vs 2.1% download-to-paid by day 35) with nearly identical year-one retention, but freemium remains the right call when free users drive word of mouth, network effects, or long-term brand scale.

⚡ Day zero is your best shot at converting a user
The first session is when users decide both whether to pay and whether to stay. The majority of trial cancellations happen on day zero, meaning users who don't see value immediately rarely come back to find it.

🤖 AI apps sell, but they don't stick
AI-powered apps generate 41% more revenue per customer but people churn 30% faster. Apps that solve that retention problem early will own their category; those that don't are just riding a wave of consumer curiosity.

📈 The App Store is experiencing a supply shock
The number of new subscription apps launching each month has grown 7X since 2022, creating a hyper-competitive environment where distribution, not just features, is the primary barrier to success.

About RevenueCat:

🚀Jacob Eiting, CEO at RevenueCat.

👋LinkedIn

🚀David Barnard, Growth Advocate at RevenueCat.

👋LinkedIn

Follow us on X:

• David Barnard - @drbarnard
• Jacob Eiting - @jeiting
• RevenueCat - @RevenueCat
• SubClub - @SubClubHQ

Episode Highlights:
[0:27] Unpacking the key findings from the 2026 State of Subscription Apps Report
[2:52] How “vibe coding” and new AI development tools have dramatically lowered the barrier to building apps
[5:42] The emerging “supply shock” in the app economy as cheaper development leads to a flood of new apps competing for the same users
[20:13] Breaking down the SOSA report methodology and why low-traffic apps were excluded from the dataset
[21:57] Why the report separates AI apps from non-AI apps—and how AI apps tend to generate higher revenue per paying user
[23:15] The explosion of new subscription apps, with launches increasing roughly 7× since 2022
[25:33] Why iOS now accounts for about 77% of new subscription app launches, and what that says about platform economics
[30:19] The “power law” reality of the app economy: the top 10% of apps grew 306%, while the median app barely grew
[39:20] A key finding from the report: hard paywalls convert about five times better than freemium models
[45:42] Trial behavior insights: over half of free-trial cancellations happen on day zero
[47:40] The “billion-dollar leak” on Google Play: a large share of cancellations come from involuntary billing failures
[51:21] The AI app paradox: AI apps generate higher revenue per payer but also churn faster than traditional apps
[54:51] Why longer free trials appear to convert better—and why the data may reflect correlation rather than causation
[1:00:54] How AI agents could change how developers analyze subscription business data

On the podcast: breaking free from the paid acquisition treadmill, how to repurpose offline events into millions of online impressions, and why a celebrity partnership can go viral but still completely flop.

This conversation is shorter than usual and will be featured in RevenueCat’s State of Subscription Apps report. Each episode in this series will explore one crucial topic and share actionable insights from top subscription app operators.

Top Takeaways:

🎯 Measure brand campaigns by search uplift, not cost per install
Comparing offline and other brand campaign CPAs to paid acquisition CPAs kills creativity before it starts. Track branded search lift and run awareness surveys instead.

📹Design every offline moment for online distribution
Bring ad creatives to your events and plan for UGC from the start. An in-person activation that reached 15,000 people generated over 4 million impressions once repurposed across ads, social, and even LinkedIn.

⚠️Celebrity reach without audience fit is wasted spend
A famous partner whose audience doesn't overlap with your ICP will move zero needles. Calm's LeBron James partnership was their most expensive and worst-performing campaign because his fans care about basketball, not better sleep.

About Larissa Morimoto:

🚀 Senior Growth Manager (Special Projects) at PhotoRoom, the best AI photo and design platform for e-commerce.

👋 LinkedIn

Follow us on X:

• David Barnard - @drbarnard
• Jacob Eiting - @jeiting
• RevenueCat - @RevenueCat
• SubClub - @SubClubHQ

Episode Highlights:
[0:00] Introduction to Larissa Morimoto, Senior Growth Manager at PhotoRoom
[1:10] Why PhotoRoom is turning to offline marketing for growth
[2:35] How offline experiences create real human connections with users
[3:50] The importance of building brand love over chasing growth metrics
[5:10] Turning offline interactions into user-generated content (UGC)
[6:25] Why UGC is a key driver of PhotoRoom's digital strategy
[7:40] The success of PhotoRoom’s London campaign and key learnings
[9:05] How PhotoRoom uses creative campaigns to amplify brand awareness
[10:20] The role of brand awareness in scaling beyond paid acquisition
[12:15] Balancing offline and online efforts to maximize ROI
[13:05] How PhotoRoom’s focus on emotional connections leads to long-term growth
[13:45] The impact of celebrity partnerships and influencer marketing on brand perception
[15:01] PhotoRoom’s strategy for turning offline events into online assets
[16:20] Why PhotoRoom believes in repurposing content from offline campaigns for digital platforms
[17:05] The importance of testing and experimenting with new marketing strategies
[18:02] PhotoRoom’s creative offline campaigns
[19:29] Larissa shares upcoming initiatives and job openings at PhotoRoom

On the podcast: why web onboarding should sell the problem instead of the solution, how discounted paid trials are beating free trials, and why creative that flopped for app ads might crush it for web funnels.

This conversation is shorter than usual and will be featured in RevenueCat’s State of Subscription Apps report. Each episode in this series will explore one crucial topic and share actionable insights from top subscription app operators.

Top Takeaways:

🎯Web funnels should sell the problem, not the solution
App onboarding works by rushing users to an "aha moment" because they already want a solution. Web audiences are higher in the consideration phase, so effective web funnels go deeper on helping users recognize and personalize the problem before introducing the product.

💰Discounted paid trials outperform free trials on web
Rise found that offering a heavily discounted first month instead of a free trial improves both conversion quality and ad optimization. Free trials often attract users who cancel immediately, polluting the signal that ad platforms use to find high-value customers.

🎨Creative that flops on app campaigns can crush it on web, and vice versa
Web funnels attract a different audience than app install campaigns, often older and more e-commerce minded. Rise runs creative across both channels separately and regularly finds winners on one side that failed on the other, effectively doubling the chances of finding a hit from every creative concept.

About Leon Sasson:

🚀 Leon is Co-Founder and CTO at Rise Science. RISE is the first energy management app that makes it easy to improve your sleep and daily energy to reach your potential.

👋 LinkedIn

Follow us on X:

• David Barnard - @drbarnard
• Jacob Eiting - @jeiting
• RevenueCat - @RevenueCat
• SubClub - @SubClubHQ

Episode Highlights:

[0:00] Introduction to Leon Sasson, Co-Founder & CTO at Rise Science
[1:05] Leon discusses the evolution of web funnels and their unique challenges
[2:10] The difference between app onboarding and web onboarding strategies
[3:15] How Leon’s team pivoted to improve web funnels and found success
[4:25] The shift in consumer behavior: Web audiences vs. app users
[5:50] Insights on why discounted paid trials work better than free trials on the web
[7:00] Balancing the user experience with a smooth billing process
[8:20] How to test and optimize creatives for both web and app funnels
[9:35] Leon’s approach to personalizing funnels based on user personas
[10:40] Lessons learned from handling subscription billing outside Apple’s ecosystem [11:55] The future of hybrid monetization and web/app funnel strategies
[12:30] Closing thoughts on evolving marketing and product strategies through testing and iteration