The news: Most mobile apps fail to make $1,000 in monthly revenues within their first two years, placing pressure on developers to acquire and keep paid subscribers.

The window of time to capture a paying user is tight: 82% of subscription trials start the same day a user installs an app, per RevenueCat’s 2025 State of Subscription Apps report. And nearly 30% of annual app subscriptions are canceled in the first month.

Keeping customers on: Maintaining user loyalty is difficult, especially on short-term subscriptions—the most common type of plan. Over half (56.8%) of all subscriptions sold are for weekly or monthly plans, and 41.4% are annual plans.