What is an In-App Subscription and How to Implement It [5 Tools]

Hey there! Subscriptions are taking over mobile apps. As an app developer, you‘ve likely wondered – should I offer subscriptions too? And if so, how exactly do I add subscription billing to my iOS or Android app?

Well, you‘ve come to the right place!

By the end of this guide, you‘ll have a clear understanding of what in-app subscriptions are, their benefits, how to implement them step-by-step, and top tools to simplify the process.

So let‘s get started, shall we?

What Exactly is An In-App Subscription?

Simply put, an in-app subscription allows users to pay a recurring fee to access premium content or features in your app. It‘s like an ongoing "subscription membership".

As the app developer, you offer time-bound access to gated content in exchange for continuous revenue from your subscribers.

Some examples across popular apps:

Calm – $69.99 annual subscription for the full Calm meditation experience
Duolingo – $12.99 monthly subscription for ad-free lessons and unlimited hearts
FitOn – $9.99 weekly subscription for full access to all workout programs and features
Overcast – $0.99 monthly or $9.99 yearly subscription to unlock advanced features like uploading custom audio

The key mechanism here is recurring automatic billing – users are charged repeatedly at fixed intervals like daily, weekly, monthly or annually.

This revenue model differs from:

One-time purchases – Get full permanent access after a single payment
Episode/chapter sales – Pay per piece of content consumed

With subscriptions, access expires when billing stops. This creates an ongoing connection between the user and app – a win-win for both parties when executed well!

Why Are Subscriptions So Popular in Apps Now?

In-app subscriptions have experienced massive growth over the last few years. Here are some stats:

Global consumer spending on in-app subscriptions shot up 16.7% to $13.4 billion in Q1 2022 (SensorTower)
The top 100 subscription apps worldwide saw combined annual revenues of $9.7 billion in 2021, up 124% from 2018 (Apptopia)
By 2023, over 50% of mobile apps are projected to offer subscription options, up from just 11% in 2017 (DojoMadness)

What‘s causing this subscription surge?

Benefits for App Developers

Subscriptions allow developers to build sustainable app businesses. The recurring revenue model has clear advantages versus one-time purchases:

Predictable revenue – Reliable income from existing users month after month
Higher lifetime value – On average, subscribers spend 5x more over their lifespan versus one-time buyers
Lower churn – Subscriptions auto-renew which improves retention and reduces churn
Deeper insights – Analytics into renewals, cancellations, resurrections reveal user behavior patterns
Ongoing value – Financial incentive to continuously enhance the app experience after purchase

Value for Users

Subscriptions also offer compelling benefits for users when designed thoughtfully:

Lower upfront cost – Eg. $9.99 per month vs $199.99 outright purchase
Avoid overpaying – Flexibility to cancel anytime instead of buying features you won‘t use
Richer experience – Access to content libraries and features typically unavailable in free tiers
Seamless continuity – No fear of missing out on new content or features
Family sharing – Many apps allow subscription access to be shared with family at no extra cost

This has created a win-win scenario. Users get enhanced experiences while developers get recurring revenue to expand their apps continuously.

No wonder subscriptions are exploding!

Key Features and Requirements

Now that you know why subscriptions rule, let‘s go over how they actually work under the hood.

Here are the key technical and functional requirements for executing in-app subscriptions well:

User Management

Signup and onboarding – Allow frictionless self-serve signup with minimal steps
Account profile – Let users manage payment details, view status, cancel anytime
Identity and access – Link subscription access to the user‘s unique app account

Payment Handling

Secure checkout – Integrate payment platforms like Apple Pay and Google Play Billing for low-friction transactions
Flexible pricing – Support one-time purchases, recurring monthly/yearly plans, lifetime plans etc.
Revenue processing – Handle tax calculations, currency conversions, payouts to you as the app developer

Subscription Lifecycle Management

Renewal reminders – Send expiration and renewal confirmation notifications
Cancellation – Let users terminate recurring billing without hassle
Resurrection – Attempt to reactivate canceled subscriptions with winback offers
Dunning – Automatically retry failed recurring billings to recover revenue

Content Access Control

Gating – Restrict access to premium content only for active subscribers
Seamless experience – No login prompts or interruptions once subscribed
Cross-platform availability – Content access synchronized across user‘s devices

Data and Analytics

Usage tracking – Capture detailed usage data like feature adoption to guide product decisions
Subscription analytics – Key metrics like conversion rates, churn, ARPU, LTV to optimize monetization
Cohort analysis – Measure trends across user segments over time

As you can see, the full subscription lifecycle goes far beyond just billing users!

Thankfully, specialized subscription tools and platforms make it easy to handle these complexities behind the scenes…

But before we get to those tools, let‘s first walk through implementing in-app subscriptions manually from scratch. This will demystify what‘s happening under the hood.

Ready? Let‘s get hands-on!

How to Implement In-App Subscriptions (Step-by-Step)

Here‘s how to add in-app subscription functionality to an iOS or Android app from the ground up:

Step 1: Set Up In-App Products

First, you‘ll configure your actual subscription plans or products. These represent the offerings users can subscribe to:

Unique ID – Internal identifier like monthly_pro_plan
Title & description – Display name and details shown to users
Pricing – Recurring amount like $9.99 billed monthly
Features – Specific benefits granted to subscribers

Keep plans simple. Tiers like basic, pro, and premium are common.

Step 2: Integrate Billing SDK

Next up is integrating the platform-specific SDK that enables in-app subscriptions:

iOS – Use Apple‘s StoreKit SDK for in-app purchases
Android – Implement Google Play Billing Library for subscriptions

These SDKs handle all the complex billing logic, subscription status tracking, revenue splitting and more with minimal code required from you.

For example, StoreKit lets you set up products, initiate purchases, record transactions etc. in just a few lines of code.

Step 3: Set Up Server Backend

While the SDKs manage in-app subscription behavior, you still need a secure server backend for critical functions like:

Storing subscriber details and purchase history
Fetching and validating subscription status
Syncing user access across devices
Subscription analytics and reporting

You can build your own custom backend server or use a readymade subscription management platform.

The backend typically exposes REST APIs that the app can call to perform functions like initiating purchases, checking subscription status etc.

Step 4: Implement UI Screens and Views

With the backend available to sync subscription state across the app, you can now implement UI screens and components like:

Subscription plans page
Checkout and payment flows
Profile screen to view billing details
Content access checks before displaying gated features
Account management screen to cancel subscription

Focus on usability and seamless workflows here for maximum conversions.

Step 5: Test and Submit App

Thoroughly test end-to-end subscription flows on both platforms – initating purchase, cancellations, content access etc. Fix bugs.

Once tested, submit your app with integrated in-app subscriptions to the Apple App Store and Google Play Store for review and approval.

And that‘s it! With these steps, you can roll your own in-app subscription infrastructure.

But as you can imagine, building and managing all of this requires significant development resources.

Next, let‘s look at how subscription tools and services can simplify the process for you.

Top 5 In-App Subscription Tools

While it‘s possible to build in-app subscriptions natively on iOS and Android, handling all the backend complexities requires non-trivial effort.

That‘s where specialized subscription tools come in – they abstract away all the complicated recurring billing and subscription management plumbing behind easy-to-use SDKs and dashboards.

Here are the top 5 platforms for easily implementing in-app subscriptions:

1. RevenueCat

RevenueCat is the leading subscription infrastructure platform. It powers in-app commerce for companies like Canva, ClassDojo, Crunchyroll, and Figma.

With RevenueCat, you get:

Simple SDKs – Drop-in iOS and Android SDKs with as little as 2 lines of code
Robust backend – Scalable subscription syncing and payment processing infrastructure
Subscription management – Cancellations, refunds, failed payments handled automatically
Subscription analytics – Churn metrics, LTV projections, cohort analysis and more
Cross-platform support – Works across iOS, Android, web, React Native, Flutter apps
Developer-friendly – Great docs, project samples, and dedicated support

RevenueCat is free for startups until you reach $10k MRR enabling frictionless testing. Pricing is usage-based beyond that.

2. Paddle

Paddle provides a full-stack monetization platform focused on SaaS, apps, and digital products.

Notable Paddle features:

Optimized checkout – Beautiful pre-built native checkout for frictionless conversions
Flexible billing – Recurring subscriptions, one-time payments, metered and hybrid models
Business management – Tax calculations, compliance, fraud protection, dunning, cancellations handled
Analytics – Charts for metrics like MRR, ARR, churn, LTV, acquisition channels
Developer resources – Documentation, REST APIs, client libraries for iOS, Android, web, etc

Top products from Hopin, Native Instruments, and Foundation rely on Paddle for their in-app commerce.

Paddle offers a free plan for startups until $10k in transactions.

3. Swrve

Swrve provides a feature-packed monetization solution spanning in-app purchases, subscriptions, A/B testing and real-time engagement.

Here‘s what makes Swrve great:

Multi-platform SDKs – Supports iOS, Android, Unity, React Native, Xamarin, and more
Targeted campaigns – Send tailored offers and promotions to re-engage users
Subscription predictive analytics – Forecast expected revenue from subscription cohorts based on historical data
A/B testing framework – Test pricing, promotions, flows to optimize monetization
Unified dashboard – Single lens into revenue, engagement, cohorts, testing results, and more

Swrve powers in-app commerce for leading apps like Adobe Photoshop Express, Dropbox, eBay, and Reddit.

They offer a free trial to test drive their subscription engine.

4. StartApp

StartApp is a full-stack mobile monetization platform covering ads, subscriptions, app stores, and more.

For subscriptions, StartApp provides:

Flexible subscription plans – One-time payments, unlimited plans, metered plans etc
Subscription tracking and analytics – Monitor revenue, conversion funnel, churn cohort trends
Targeted promotions – Campaigns to reactivate canceled subscriptions
Paywall capabilities – Dynamic access control for metered plans
Testing capabilities – A/B test pricing, flows, creatives, and messaging

StartApp enables in-app commerce for premium publishers like El Pais, Cinemark Theatres, and Global Travel Online.

They offer a free trial to experience their subscriptions capabilities firsthand.

5. Paywall by MobFox

Paywall by MobFox provides a quick way to test in-app subscriptions and paywalls with minimal integration.

With MobFox Paywall you get:

ReadymadeUI – Prebuilt subscription signup and paywall screens
Flexible business model – One-time purchases, unlimited subscriptions, metered plans, etc
Usage tracking – Analytics on revenue, conversions, consumption, churn etc
Third-party SDK support – Integrations with analytics and attribution partners
Promotions – Discounts, coupons, and promo capabilities
No coding required – Visual editor to configure plans and offers

Companies like El Pais, La Republica, and iGames rely on MobFox Paywall for their premium mobile content and features.

MobFox Paywall is free to try out and test.

Key Capabilities to Evaluate

As you can see, these platforms automate the entire lifecycle – from signup to billing to analytics.

Here are some key capabilities to evaluate when choosing a subscription platform:

Integrations – Prebuilt support for popular mobile SDKs, attribution, analytics, CRM etc tools used in your tech stack
Developer experience – Easy integration guided by thorough documentation, samples, libraries, APIs
Subscription management – Automation for complex tasks like failed payments, cancellations, expired cards etc
Platform support – Availability for iOS, Android, and cross-platform frameworks like React Native
Global infrastructure – Payment processing, CDNs, data centers to deliver low-latency experiences worldwide
Business model flexibility – Support for one-time, recurring, hybrid and metered plans
Analytics – Insights into revenue, conversions, engagement, cohorts, LTV to optimize strategy
Pricing – Free trials and competitive pricing, ideally usage-based

Evaluating tools against these criteria ensures you pick the right fit for your needs and stack.

Scaling Up In-App Subscriptions

Launching subscriptions is an important milestone. But the real goal is to systematically scale up recurring revenue.

Here are 5 proven tactics successful apps use to maximize subscription lifetime value:

1. Run Special Promotions

Time-bound discounts and incentives encourage users to start a subscription.

Examples are 25% off for first 3 months or waived signup fees. Extending a free trial period also lowers risk for users to try your premium offering.

Promotions should strike a balance between generating buzz and not devaluing your product.

2. Reward Referrals

Referral programs incentivize subscribers to share your app via social media posts, emails, community forums etc.

This drives viral acquisition. Offer existing subscribers a special gift or bonus subscription period for successful referrals.

3. Surprise Users With Exclusive Perks

Delight subscribers by unlocking exclusive new features or content for being a paying member.

Sneak peeks into upcoming releases work great too. This reinforces the tangible benefits of a subscription.

4. Analyze Churn Data

Leverage usage metrics to create user segments and predict subscribers likely to churn.

Proactively target them with personalized campaigns and retention offers to prevent cancellation.

5. Continuously Test and Optimize

Run A/B tests to optimize pricing, creatives, flows, and messaging.

Experimentation coupled with data analysis will reveal the most effective tactics for your audience.

Executing on these areas compounds the ROI from your in-app subscription engine over the long term.

Wrap Up

And there you have it – a comprehensive guide covering everything from the benefits of in-app subscriptions to step-by-step implementation and top tools to simplify the process.

Here are the key takeaways:

Subscriptions provide ongoing value for users while creating predictable revenue for developers – that‘s why they are exploding in popularity
Enable seamless signup, billing, access control, and analytics for a complete subscription experience
Specialized solutions like RevenueCat and Paddle eliminate heavy lifting by automating end-to-end subscription infrastructure
Tactics like promotions, referrals, and optimization increase subscription lifetime value over time

I hope this guide gives you clarity and confidence to add subscriptions in your mobile apps! Feel free to reach out if you have any other questions.

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