Podcast
Sub Club by RevenueCat
Hosted by David Barnard, Jacob Eiting · EN
Interviews with the experts behind the biggest apps in the App Store. Hosts David Barnard and Jacob Eiting dive deep to unlock insights, strategies, and stories that you can use to carve out your slice of the 'trillion-dollar App Store opportunity'.
54episodes
Episodes
Newest firstAll episodes
How Removing the Free Trial Grew Monthly Subs 2000% – Nancy Anderson, Natal
3d ago01:04:46Summary readyOn the podcast: why authentic founder-led content outperforms, tapping into HSA payments to unlock a whole new audience, and the growth lever no dashboard can measure.Top Takeaways:🗣️ Authentic founder-led content consistently outperforms manufactured UGC Real expertise and genuine personality compound over time in a way no UGC agency can replicate — and it shows up in your conversion metrics.🏥 HSA payments can open your app to a whole new paying audience Accepting pre-tax HSA dollars at checkout effectively gives eligible users a 30–40% discount — and targets people who already see your app as a health investment, not a discretionary spend.📊 The growth lever no dashboard can measure is trust You can't A/B test trust, but you can see it in every downstream metric — trial conversion, retention, word-of-mouth. The apps that invest in it consistently outperform benchmarks across the board.🧪 Removing the free trial can dramatically increase paid monthly subscriptions If your audience already trusts you, a free trial is just a delay. Removing it from a monthly plan can force high-intent users to commit — and the results can be dramatic.🏗️ Consolidating multiple apps into one ecosystem reduces user confusion and increases LTV A portfolio of niche apps sounds smart but usually just creates decision fatigue. One cohesive ecosystem lets you go deeper, price lower, and keep users longer.About Nancy Anderson:🚀 Founder & Business Owner of Natal, Birth Recovery Center, Nancy Anderson Fit, & Move Your Bump, digital health and fitness platforms supporting a global community of hundreds of thousands of women each month through pregnancy, postpartum recovery, and long-term strength.👋 LinkedIn💪 Website📱 Instagram📱TikTokFollow us on X: David Barnard - @drbarnardJacob Eiting - @jeitingRevenueCat - @RevenueCatSubClub - @SubClubHQEpisode Highlights:[0:00] Fitness is expensive; HSA payments make programs more accessible.[1:36] Identified a gap: limited science-based programs for pre/postnatal women.[2:38] Shifted from in-person to online coaching, keeping high-touch engagement.[4:20] First online challenge: 100 participants, before-and-after results drove organic growth.[5:51] Lessons from multiple apps; pivot to a single custom ecosystem.[6:53] Founder-led growth: build trust before selling.[9:30] Audience quality over follower count; engagement drives retention.[11:39] Treating online clients like real-life clients strengthens the connection.[14:50] Authentic, relatable content strategy.[18:52] Real coaches respond to all DMs, comments, and emails within 24 hours.[22:06] Soft selling drives high trial conversion and app downloads.[27:01] Prioritize long-term trust over short-term revenue.[30:27] User feedback informs product roadmap; App Rehab program launched.[36:08] Consolidated four apps into one to reduce decision fatigue.[38:45] HSA integration opens access for new audiences.[46:47] Onboarding logic: phase-specific content improves activation.[48:57] In-app community boosts early engagement and retention.[50:15] Posture assessment acts as an organic “lead magnet.”[51:23] Avoid free workouts to maintain perceived program value.[53:43] HSA simplifies pre-tax payments and incentivizes subscriptions.[59:15] Closing: trust-first, founder-led growth is sustainable for niche apps
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Freemium at Scale: Why Life360 Protects its Free Users – Giordano Contestabile
2w ago00:54:59Summary readyOn the podcast: about making growth everyone’s job, protecting the free experience even when it hurts conversion, and why an inconclusive experiment is the only kind he hates.Top Takeaways:🎯 An inconclusive experiment is the only true failure A losing test teaches you what doesn't work, but an inconclusive one wastes time and yields zero learnings.💰 Protecting the free tier can be your biggest competitive moat Stripping value from free users to force conversions often sacrifices long-term network effects for a short-term revenue bump.📊 Growth is a company-wide system, not an isolated team When every department—from finance to HR—has the tools and mandate to run experiments, velocity compounds.🤖 Machine learning can unlock new subscriber segments without cannibalizing existing ones Predictive targeting can identify users willing to pay for a premium tier who would have otherwise ignored the standard offer.💬 Social dynamics dictate virality, not in-app buttons You can't force referral loops if your core demographic doesn't naturally share products; understand who actually drives word-of-mouth before building features for it.About Giordano Contestabile:🚀VP of Product at Life360, the family connection and safety app. Life360’s mission is to keep people close to the ones they love.👋LinkedIn📍Life360💭Life360 CareersFollow us on X: David Barnard - @drbarnardJacob Eiting - @jeitingRevenueCat - @RevenueCatSubClub - @SubClubHQEpisode Highlights:[0:00] Why Life360 refuses to weaken its free tier for short-term subscription growth.[1:35] Inside Life360: 100M users, subscription scale, and the company’s growth strategy.[4:01] Why growth should be a system, not just a dedicated team.[5:54] How Life360 enables every team to run experiments and contribute to growth.[9:13] Velocity, win rate, and the experimentation framework driving compounded growth.[12:40] Why segmentation and machine learning personalization matter more than broad averages.[16:10] Using contextual onboarding and feature education to improve long-term retention.[18:13] Why the first 7 days determine whether users stick around for years.[21:44] How AI personalization is making sophisticated growth tactics accessible to smaller apps.[21:58] Why Life360 protects its free experience even when it costs short-term revenue.[25:15] The tension between freemium monetization and long-term product trust.[29:24] How Life360 measures LTV across subscriptions, devices, ads, and virality.[31:38] Why the “circle” changes everything about Life360’s product and monetization strategy.[35:16] How pets, Tile devices, and hardware products increase retention and LTV.[39:17] The vision for Life360 as a family super app.[43:20] Ads, partnerships, and monetization strategies designed to add user value.[47:48] The machine learning experiment that doubled platinum subscriptions.[49:43] The biggest failed experiments and why “parents are not viral.”[52:46] Why growth gets easier when every team thinks like a growth team.
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Why Opal Stopped Chasing Revenue – Kenneth Schlenker, Opal
Apr 2900:55:20Summary readyOn the podcast: why retention is the only real moat, how dropping paid conversion from 20% to 9% increased revenue, and why he sees the rise in competition as a net positive for Opal.Top Takeaways:🔄 Retention is the only real moat While revenue and acquisition grab headlines, the ability to keep users coming back is the ultimate proof of value and the only sustainable foundation for a consumer app.📉 Dropping paid conversion can multiply revenue Giving away more of the core product for free might cut conversion rates in half, but the resulting explosion in organic growth and daily active users can pay back tenfold in the long run.🤝 The "would a free user recommend it?" test determines freemium success If the free tier feels like a restricted trial rather than a complete experience, it won't generate the word-of-mouth growth needed to make a freemium model work.🎨 Teams create product soul, you can't vibe code a brand AI can instantly generate functional tools, but building a multi-billion dollar category winner requires a distinct brand, emotional resonance, and a team that cares about the details.🤖 AI should be built to make the user win Instead of using new technology to trick users or add flashy but useless features, AI implementation must be entirely focused on delivering more of the app's core value to the user.About Kenneth Schlenker:🚀 Founder & CEO, Opal, a free and fun app to improve your focus and make the most of every day, with 10M+ people improving their focus. Opal's core mission is to align computers with human well-being.👋 LinkedIn💭 @kschlenker on X💻 Opal website📌 Opal careersFollow us on X: David Barnard - @drbarnardJacob Eiting - @jeitingRevenueCat - @RevenueCatSubClub - @SubClubHQEpisode Highlights:(00:00) Introduction to Kenneth Schlenker and Opal(01:21) From $5 Million to $10 Million ARR: Scaling the Business(02:11) The Mindset Shift from Efficiency to Company Building(04:06) The Importance of Teams and Brand in Building a Product’s Soul(05:07) AI in Consumer Apps: Enhancing Value for Users(07:24) Freemium Model: The Pros and Cons of Giving Opal Away for Free(10:47) Organic Growth and Network Effects with the Freemium Model(12:45) The Value of Retention: The Only Real Moat(13:37) Why Competition in the Screen Time App Space is a Positive(15:07) Opal’s Expansion into Schools: Aligning with the Mission(19:56) The Importance of Building the Most Loved Brand in the Screen Time Space(23:56) Retention Metrics and Organic Growth Strategies(27:43) Balancing the Focus on Product with Business Sustainability(30:14) The Role of AI in Enhancing User Experience(32:10) Leveraging Customer Feedback to Drive Product Improvements(35:01) Importance of Having a Strong, Authentic Connection with the Product’s Community(38:12) Future Plans for Opal: Innovation and New Features(42:04) Closing Thoughts on Opal's Journey and Future Prospects
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12 AI Growth Lessons for Subscription Apps – Phil Carter, Elemental Growth
Apr 1501:07:21Summary readyOn the podcast: how AI can turn your onboarding from a chore into magic, hyper-personalized experiences that drive both retention and revenue, and why your value-to-noise ratio matters more than how many features you ship.Top Takeaways:⏱️ AI can make the first 60 seconds of onboarding feel like magicWhen a new user experiences a personalized, interactive setup rather than a generic questionnaire, they are significantly more likely to convert to a trial on day zero.🪞 Hyper-personalization is the new competitive moat Adapting the product experience to an individual's unique needs creates a sense of being heard, which distances an app from generic competitors and drives long-term retention.💪 Extrinsic triggers are essential for building new habits In an ecosystem flooded with distractions, subtle and useful reminders—like calendar integrations or desktop widgets—help users remember to engage with a product until it becomes an intrinsic habit.💭 The value-to-noise ratio matters more than the feature count Adding more AI features increases absolute value, but if it overwhelms the user's capacity to absorb the product, the overall experience degrades; pruning features is as important as shipping them.💰 Cheaper LLMs often provide a good enough user experience compared to frontier models For many consumer use cases, the speed and cost-efficiency of a smaller model outweigh the marginal performance gains of the most expensive options.📊 Multi-step paywalls can unlock massive growth for the right product Transitioning from a hard paywall to a freemium model with strategic upgrade prompts can dramatically increase the top of the funnel and overall LTV, though it requires a highly retentive core product.About Phil Carter:🚀Founder & CEO, Elemental Growth, growth advisor and angel investor who helps Seed - Series C consumer subscription companies define their growth strategy, build their growth model, hire their growth team, scale their growth processes, optimize their growth channels, and achieve their full potential.👋LinkedIn🎙️Submersive Podcast 📚Consumer Subscription Growth Course (Maven) 💭@philgcarter on XFollow us on X: David Barnard - @drbarnardJacob Eiting - @jeitingRevenueCat - @RevenueCatSubClub - @SubClubHQEpisode Highlights:[0:00] The AI Opportunity: Why this is a once-in-a-generation moment for app builders.[2:31] The Subscription Value Loop: Value creation, delivery, and capture explained.[6:34] Magical First Impressions: How AI is transforming onboarding and day 0 conversion.[13:03] Hyper-Personalization: Why “n-of-1” experiences are the new competitive edge.[19:58] Building Habits: Using triggers to drive retention and repeat usage.[25:02] Shipping Fast: Why speed of innovation is now critical to survival.[30:28] Product-Led Growth: How AI apps are driving viral loops and organic acquisition.[35:05] Community & Content: Leveraging UGC and creators to scale adoption.[39:09] AI + Paid Growth: Scaling creatives and lowering CAC with AI tools.[46:10] Monetization in the AI Era: Pricing, tiers, and usage-based models.[54:53] Trials, Freemium, and Costs: Rethinking free access in AI products.[1:01:29] Wins, Fails, and Lessons: What’s working (and not) in subscription growth today.
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How the World's #1 VPN App Reached 1 Billion Downloads – Tanuj Chatterjee, Super Unlimited
Apr 100:49:32Summary readyOn the podcast: the product-driven growth loop behind the #1 VPN app in the world, why they intentionally leave money on the table, and how the prettiest design often loses in their A/B tests.Top Takeaways:📐 Your top-of-funnel is a product decision, not a marketing oneThe apps that dominate app store search aren't winning because of ad spend; they're winning because frictionless, high-quality free experiences generate the ratings volume and engagement signals that compound into organic dominance.💸 A low conversion rate can be a sign of a great free productIf your free tier is genuinely excellent, your conversion rate will look bad on paper. That's not a problem to fix — it's a trade-off to own deliberately, especially if volume and LTV math still works.🛡️ Restraint in monetization is a growth strategy Aggressive paywalls, forced ads on first install, and dark patterns erode the trust that drives word-of-mouth and ratings. Leaving money on the table in the short term protects the flywheel that generates far more over time.🔧 Service quality is the moat that marketing can't replicate The first 85% of any app is a commodity. The last 15% — the edge cases, the network transitions, the offline states — is where category leaders are built and where competitors quietly give up.🗂️ Put customer support inside the product team When support reports to product rather than a separate org, the feedback loop from user pain to product fix closes in days, not months. The slower the loop, the more quality debt you accumulate.📸 Your A/B test data will humble your design instincts The prettier, more modern screenshot almost always loses. Users gravitate toward what they already recognize, and familiarity beats novelty in app store conversion tests far more often than designers expect.About Tanuj Chatterjee:🚀CEO, Super Unlimited, a global leader in building trusted VPN, eSIM, and security products that put users' privacy first.👋LinkedIn📲Super Unlimited Careers PageFollow us on X: David Barnard - @drbarnardJacob Eiting - @jeitingRevenueCat - @RevenueCatSubClub - @SubClubHQEpisode Highlights:[0:00] The Super Unlimited Journey: From product acquisition to global success.[3:15] Building a Billion-Download VPN: How Super Unlimited achieved such rapid growth.[6:50] The Freemium Philosophy: Why Super Unlimited offers a powerful free version of their app.[10:00] Monetization and User Trust: How they balance free and paid models without over-monetizing.[14:30] Service Quality Over Design Trends: The surprising reason Super Unlimited keeps it simple.[20:45] User Privacy: How Super Unlimited protects users while scaling.[25:10] The Power of Organic Growth: How word-of-mouth and product-driven growth led to massive success.[30:00] Handling Global Challenges: The complexities of serving users in different regions.[35:00] The Future of Super Unlimited: What’s next for Super Unlimited as they expand their product suite.[40:02] Lessons for Entrepreneurs: What Tanuj has learned along the way and the advice he’d give to new founders.
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Bootstrapped to $6.7M ARR and an Exit to Quizlet in 2 Years – Brett Bauman & Zack Hargett, Coconote
Mar 1801:05:44Summary readyOn the podcast: hitting $1M ARR in four months with no paid ads, why trial extensions beat discounts for saving cancellations, and why you should be hiring content creators, not influencers.Top Takeaways:📈 Momentum is oxygen — get to revenue fast Reaching your first dollars quickly, even with a minimal product, creates a flywheel of confidence and capital that compounds over time.🎯 Frame your product as a solution, not a toy Content that positions your app as the answer to a real problem converts; content that makes it look fun and novel does not.🤝 Hire content creators, not influencers Follower counts are irrelevant in the age of algorithmic distribution. Look for creators with 5K followers and a Gmail address, avoid influencers repped by an agency.⏳ Trial extensions beat discounts for saving cancellations When a user tries to cancel during a free trial, offering more time converts better than offering a lower price, and it avoids devaluing your product.🚪 Move login to after the paywall Forcing account creation before users have experienced any value is a silent conversion killer. Removing it from the front of onboarding can cut drop-off by 10% or more.About Brett Bauman & Zack Hargett:🚀Brett Bauman & Zack Hargett, Co-founders, Coconote, an AI-powered note-taking app revolutionizing how students engage with lectures.👋 Brett Bauman LinkedIn👋 Zack Hargett LinkedIn💬Brett on X - @brttbmn💬Zack on X- @zackhargett🖥️ Quizlet website 📩 Quizlet careers Follow us on X: David Barnard - @drbarnardJacob Eiting - @jeitingRevenueCat - @RevenueCatSubClub - @SubClubHQEpisode Highlights:[0:00] Introducing Coconote: The AI note-taking app that scaled to millions in ARR[2:15] The founding insight: Why students desperately needed better notes[5:05] Launch momentum: Hitting $100K ARR in the first 45 days[7:40] From idea to $1M ARR in just four months[10:12] Why most founders misunderstand marketing early on[12:31] The key distribution insight: Where your customers actually spend time online[15:22] Creator marketing vs influencer marketing: Why the difference matters[18:05] How short-form content became Coconote’s primary growth engine[21:40] Turning viral attention into real revenue with better messaging[24:25] Premium pricing for students: Why Coconote charged $99+ per year[27:11] Building trust when your product affects exams and grades[30:03] Improving conversions: The onboarding experiments that increased trial starts[33:20] Removing friction: Why login moved after the paywall[36:05] Retention lessons: Why trial extensions beat discounts[39:00] The psychology behind cancellations and keeping users subscribed[42:10] Managing explosive growth while keeping the team small[45:35] Acquisition conversations with Quizlet begin[48:10] Keeping acquisition talks confidential while running the company[51:05] The emotional moment when the acquisition finally closed[54:01] Reflecting on the journey from scrappy startup to exit[56:22] Final lessons for founders building AI products today
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How ElevenLabs Turns Feature Launches Into a Growth Engine – Luke Harries
Mar 900:16:57Summary readyOn the podcast: how ElevenLabs turns every new feature launch into a growth engine, how they're deploying over a hundred million dollars in paid ads, and why directing AI agents is quickly becoming a core skill for marketers and solo founders.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:🚀Turn every feature launch into a full-funnel growth engineDon't just ship and announce. Coordinate each release across organic posts, landing pages, and refreshed ad creative simultaneously so earned attention compounds into paid efficiency.💰 Train a custom GPT on your own winning ad copyFeed your top and bottom performing Meta and Google copy into a custom GPT, then use it to rapidly translate brand messaging into proven high-performing ad formats. It turns institutional knowledge into a scalable creative tool.🤖Directing AI agents is the new core marketing skillThe future of marketing isn't just using AI tools but directing agents to handle messaging, storyboarding, ad creation, and localization, all grounded in your creative taste and brand direction.About Luke Harries:🚀Growth / Engineering at ElevenLabs, is an AI research and product company transforming how we interact with technology. Their vision is to make communication and creation with technology seamless.👋 LinkedInFollow us on X: David Barnard - @drbarnardJacob Eiting - @jeitingRevenueCat - @RevenueCatSubClub - @SubClubHQEpisode Highlights:[0:00] Introduction to Luke Harries, Growth Lead at ElevenLabs[1:05] ElevenLabs' approach to growth through "growth engines"[2:20] The power of AI to unlock viral moments during product launches[3:34] How ElevenLabs maximizes attention through paid ads alongside earned media[4:41] The role of AI in optimizing ad copy and creative for paid campaigns[5:42] Balancing AI-generated content with UGC and in-house production[7:32] Why ElevenLabs stays away from AI influencers for product endorsements[8:51] Leveraging user-generated content (UGC) for effective campaigns[10:30] How ElevenLabs plans to spend over $100M in paid ads and approach campaign scaling[11:38] The importance of localization and segmentation in paid advertising[12:56] How ElevenLabs measures success and uses data to adjust their budget allocation[13:18] Blending brand-building with performance marketing[14:53] The future of marketing with AI-driven creative direction[16:39] How AI could enable solo founders to create billion-dollar startups[17:45] ElevenLabs' upcoming product, Flows, and recruitment efforts
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Why App Economy Disruption Won’t Happen As Fast As Everyone Thinks – Eric Seufert
Mar 800:19:43Summary readyOn the podcast: why app economy disruption won't happen as fast as everyone seems to think, how AI is just as useful for defending against copycats as creating them, and why the real barrier to app success is still distribution, not code. 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: 📲Distribution is the moat, not codeAs AI lowers the barrier to building apps, it raises the barrier to getting discovered. More software competing for attention means user acquisition becomes harder and more expensive, not easier.🛡️Use AI to defend against copycats, not just to build fasterUse AI to scan the app store daily for copycat apps, monitor rising competitors, and track their ads. Build automated defense processes that keep you ahead of clones.📊App economy disruption won't happen as fast as everyone thinksNo-code tools, game engines like Unity, and now vibe coding have all promised to democratize app building. None eliminated the real barriers: distribution, product intuition, and the compounding advantage of iterating on user feedback over years.About Eric Seufert:🚀 Founder of Mobile Dev Memo, a mobile advertising and freemium monetization trade blog.👋 LinkedInFollow us on X: David Barnard - @drbarnardJacob Eiting - @jeitingRevenueCat - @RevenueCatSubClub - @SubClubHQEpisode Highlights:[0:00] Introduction to Eric Seufert, Founder of Mobile Dev Memo[1:00] Why disruption in the app economy is taking longer than expected[2:00] The real barrier to app success: Distribution over code[3:15] How AI is reshaping app development and marketing[4:30] Eric’s thoughts on why AI won’t eliminate the need for great apps[5:45] Standing out in a saturated app market: How to break through[7:00] The role of customer feedback in driving growth[8:15] Why vibe coding isn’t sustainable for scalable app development[9:30] Using AI defensively against copycats in the app economy[10:45] The importance of scalable user acquisition strategies[12:00] The long-term impact of AI on app monetization[13:15] Balancing revenue and user experience in app monetization[14:30] Why building a successful app requires technical expertise and distribution[15:45] The evolving app economy and AI’s future role in scaling[17:00] Closing thoughts on staying competitive in an ever-changing market
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The Art of Driving Retention Through Product – Ben Gammon, Ladder
Mar 700:21:39Summary readyOn the podcast: product-driven retention as the foundation for lifecycle marketing, working backwards from results to nail activation, and why talking to individual users can lead you astray.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:🎯 Product-driven retention is the foundation for lifecycle marketingLifecycle marketing hacks and perfect push notifications won't save you if the core product doesn't deliver results. Work backwards from what users say in five-star reviews to identify the results that matter, then build the product loop around consistently delivering those results.📊 Teach features in the moment, not in onboardingUsers adopt features at far higher rates when coached during the action itself. In-context prompts while users are actively engaged are far more effective than FAQs or standalone tutorials.⚡ Surveys beat user interviews for consumer product decisionsIndividual interviews with five to ten users can lead you astray in diverse consumer markets. Large-scale recurring surveys provide stronger signal and reduce the risk of over-indexing on outlier feedback.About Ben Gammon: 🚀 VP of Product at Ladder, a fitness app dedicated to providing the world's best strength training plan from the world's best coaches, every single day.👋 LinkedInFollow us on X: David Barnard - @drbarnardJacob Eiting - @jeitingRevenueCat - @RevenueCatSubClub - @SubClubHQEpisode Highlights:[0:00] Introduction to Ben Gammon, VP of Product at Ladder[1:08] Ben explains product-driven retention at Ladder[1:55] Retention is the key metric for Ladder's success[2:50] Activation: Work backward from user results to simplify the experience[3:53] Introducing the journal feature to track progress and boost retention[6:10] The journal as a reinforcement loop for ongoing user engagement[6:37] The widget: A powerful external tool for retention and reminders[7:30] Using subconscious interactions with the widget to maintain user engagement[8:09] Balancing user feedback with business goals and company vision[9:23] Collecting feedback through chat, surveys, and AI tools[10:19] Using feedback to create a positive feedback loop for improvements[11:47] Nutrition tracking: The next major retention challenge[14:15] Hybrid users (workout + nutrition) show higher retention rates[15:03] Secondary product-market fit: How nutrition complements fitness goals[17:03] User expectations vs. behavior: Asking for features but not always using them[18:08] AI and data help guide product iteration and decision-making[19:02] Ladder's vision for product expansion and retention growth[19:33] Ben discusses building a product-first team and a strong culture[20:01] Closing thoughts on user-focused product development
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The 2026 State of Subscription Apps Report
Mar 601:05:49Summary readyOn 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.👋LinkedInFollow us on X: David Barnard - @drbarnardJacob Eiting - @jeitingRevenueCat - @RevenueCatSubClub - @SubClubHQEpisode 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
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