U.S. subscription app revenue 2016-2021, by platform

The top 100 subscription apps in the Apple App Store generated significantly more user spending than the top 100 subscription apps in the Google Play store. In 2021, user spending on the leading subscription apps via the Apple App Store amounted to six billion U.S. dollars, compared to 2.5 billion dollars of user spending in the Google Play Store.

App subscriptions benefits for publishers

Despite being a lesser-used monetization model for mobile apps, subscriptions hold several benefits for publishers. Recurring payments from users represent a reliable revenue stream, as well as increasing user brand loyalty and engagement. Between 2019 and 2021, revenues generated via subscriptions across the Apple App store and the Google Play Store worldwide experienced a constant increase, with recurring payments on iOS apps reaching 13.5 billion U.S. dollars in 2021.

Subscriptions in top freemium apps

Freemium apps can offer the possibility for users to subscribe and unlock premium features and new functionalities while leveraging their free-to-download status to acquire new users. Mobile dating market leader Tinder, which generated over 38 million U.S. dollars in global app revenues from iPhone users alone, offers three subscription tiers, unlocking features to increase profile visibility and points of contact with other users. For freemium apps, subscriptions often grow to represent a consistent share of revenues. In 2021, language learning app Duolingo reported over 72 percent of its revenues were generated via subscriptions. Despite subscriptions being a versatile monetization method for several app categories, non-gaming apps generated a larger share of their revenues via subscriptions compared to gaming apps, which saw less than 40 percent of their revenues coming from recurring payments at the beginning of 2022.