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Konstantin Khalyushev
ENRUESPT

Churn and refunds

Cancellations by reason

Of cancellation events, the share attributed to each reason. A split of cancellations, not of subscribers.

Denominator
cancellation events
Cohort
a population of cancellations
Time horizon
—
Sources
2
Observations
7
View the benchmark data

Can these be compared?

Roughly comparable

The same thing is being measured, but at least one condition differs. Read the direction, not the gap.

These observations cannot be combined into one figure, so they are shown separately. Different sub-segments: voluntary unsubscribe vs billing error.

RevenueCat — State of Subscription Apps 2026

Published 2026-03-19 · 6 observations

Sample
Over 115,000 apps using RevenueCat for in-app subscription management, covering more than $16 billion in revenue and more than a billion transactions. Apps must have active subscription revenue and meet a minimum install or revenue threshold.
How it is aggregated
App-level metrics aggregated across apps and reported as medians and quartiles (Q1/P25, median/P50, Q3/P75, P90). Each app is a data point regardless of size.
Measurement period
Target time frame 2025; older data used where a metric needs it (e.g. third annual renewal rates).
Denominator
cancellation events

82.9%

Share of total

  • iOS
  • Voluntary unsubscribe

Evidence Sample, statistic and metric definition all stated by the publisher.

As published
“App Store: 82.9% unsubscribe, 15.2% billing error.”

RevenueCat — State of Subscription Apps 2026Published 2026-03-19Billing health · Cancellation reasons by store

15.2%

Share of total

  • iOS
  • Billing error

Evidence Sample, statistic and metric definition all stated by the publisher.

As published
“App Store: 82.9% unsubscribe, 15.2% billing error.”

RevenueCat — State of Subscription Apps 2026Published 2026-03-19Billing health · Cancellation reasons by store

66.3%

Share of total

  • Android
  • Voluntary unsubscribe

Evidence Sample, statistic and metric definition all stated by the publisher.

As published
“Google Play: 66.3% unsubscribe, 32.2% billing error.”

RevenueCat — State of Subscription Apps 2026Published 2026-03-19Billing health · Cancellation reasons by store

32.2%

Share of total

  • Android
  • Billing error

Evidence Sample, statistic and metric definition all stated by the publisher.

Comparability
Involuntary churn on Google Play is more than double the App Store's. A blended cross-platform churn figure hides a payment-infrastructure problem that is fixable.
As published
“Google Play: 66.3% unsubscribe, 32.2% billing error.”

RevenueCat — State of Subscription Apps 2026Published 2026-03-19Billing health · Cancellation reasons by store

25%–45%

Share of total

  • Android
  • Cost related (user survey)

Evidence One of sample, statistic or definition is missing or ambiguous.

Methodology
Self-reported survey answers at cancellation, not observed behaviour. Stated reasons and actual causes routinely differ.
As published
“'Cost Related' churn reasons are between 25-45% for all categories.”

RevenueCat — State of Subscription Apps 2026Published 2026-03-19Billing health · Google Play churn survey answers by category

26%–40%

Share of total

  • Android
  • Not enough usage (user survey)

Evidence One of sample, statistic or definition is missing or ambiguous.

Methodology
Self-reported survey answers at cancellation, not observed behaviour.
As published
“'Not Enough Usage' churn reasons are between 26-40% for all categories.”

RevenueCat — State of Subscription Apps 2026Published 2026-03-19Billing health · Google Play churn survey answers by category

RevenueCat — State of Subscription Apps 2024

Published 2024-04-01 · 1 observation

Sample
Apps using RevenueCat for in-app subscription management, broken down by pricing, packaging, localisation, conversion and retention.
How it is aggregated
App-level metrics reported as quartiles and medians across the app population.
Measurement period
Primarily 2023, with 2022 comparisons.
Denominator
cancellation events

23%

Share of total

  • iOS
  • Billing error

Evidence Sample, statistic and metric definition all stated by the publisher.

Comparability
The 2026 edition reports 15.2% for the same cut, a genuine improvement in Apple's involuntary churn over two editions.
As published
“Billing errors account for over 23% of churn on the App Store”

RevenueCat — State of Subscription Apps 2024Published 2024-04-01Billing health · Churn reasons

Pairwise comparability

The verdict below is produced by a fixed set of rules, not a model. It looks at the metric definition, the denominator, the cohort, the statistic, the segment, the dataset and the publication dates, and reports every reason it found.

RevenueCat 2026 82.9%RevenueCat 2024 23%

Roughly comparable

The same thing is being measured, but at least one condition differs. Read the direction, not the gap.

  • Different sub-segments: voluntary unsubscribe vs billing error.
  • Published 2 years apart (2026 vs 2024). The market moved in between, and so may the method.
  • Different aggregation methods. RevenueCat 2026: medians and quartiles across apps. RevenueCat 2024: quartiles and medians across apps.

RevenueCat 2026 15.2%RevenueCat 2024 23%

Roughly comparable

The same thing is being measured, but at least one condition differs. Read the direction, not the gap.

  • Published 2 years apart (2026 vs 2024). The market moved in between, and so may the method.
  • Different aggregation methods. RevenueCat 2026: medians and quartiles across apps. RevenueCat 2024: quartiles and medians across apps.

RevenueCat 2026 66.3%RevenueCat 2024 23%

Roughly comparable

The same thing is being measured, but at least one condition differs. Read the direction, not the gap.

  • Different platforms: Android vs iOS.
  • Different sub-segments: voluntary unsubscribe vs billing error.
  • Published 2 years apart (2026 vs 2024). The market moved in between, and so may the method.
  • Different aggregation methods. RevenueCat 2026: medians and quartiles across apps. RevenueCat 2024: quartiles and medians across apps.

RevenueCat 2026 32.2%RevenueCat 2024 23%

Roughly comparable

The same thing is being measured, but at least one condition differs. Read the direction, not the gap.

  • Different platforms: Android vs iOS.
  • Published 2 years apart (2026 vs 2024). The market moved in between, and so may the method.
  • Different aggregation methods. RevenueCat 2026: medians and quartiles across apps. RevenueCat 2024: quartiles and medians across apps.

RevenueCat 2026 25%–45%RevenueCat 2024 23%

Roughly comparable

The same thing is being measured, but at least one condition differs. Read the direction, not the gap.

  • Different platforms: Android vs iOS.
  • Different sub-segments: cost related (user survey) vs billing error.
  • Published 2 years apart (2026 vs 2024). The market moved in between, and so may the method.
  • Different aggregation methods. RevenueCat 2026: medians and quartiles across apps. RevenueCat 2024: quartiles and medians across apps.

RevenueCat 2026 26%–40%RevenueCat 2024 23%

Roughly comparable

The same thing is being measured, but at least one condition differs. Read the direction, not the gap.

  • Different platforms: Android vs iOS.
  • Different sub-segments: not enough usage (user survey) vs billing error.
  • Published 2 years apart (2026 vs 2024). The market moved in between, and so may the method.
  • Different aggregation methods. RevenueCat 2026: medians and quartiles across apps. RevenueCat 2024: quartiles and medians across apps.

RevenueCat 2026 82.9%RevenueCat 2026 15.2%

Roughly comparable

The same thing is being measured, but at least one condition differs. Read the direction, not the gap.

  • Different sub-segments: voluntary unsubscribe vs billing error.

RevenueCat 2026 82.9%RevenueCat 2026 66.3%

Roughly comparable

The same thing is being measured, but at least one condition differs. Read the direction, not the gap.

  • Different platforms: iOS vs Android.
Editions over time

Each edition of a report is stored separately, and older observations are never overwritten. A series is only shown as a trend when the underlying method held still.

RevenueCat — State of Subscription Apps

  1. Edition 2024

    2024-04-01

    • 23%Share of totalBilling error

  2. Edition 2026

    2026-03-19

    • 82.9%Share of totalVoluntary unsubscribe
    • 15.2%Share of totalBilling error
    • 66.3%Share of totalVoluntary unsubscribe
    • 32.2%Share of totalBilling error
    • 25%–45%Share of totalCost related (user survey)
    • 26%–40%Share of totalNot enough usage (user survey)

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