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Konstantin Khalyushev
ENRUESPT

Monetization

Realised LTV per payer, 1 year

Revenue per paying user over their first year, including renewals and reactivations.

Per payer, so conversion rate does not enter it. Install LTV multiplies this by a conversion rate, which makes the two differ by two orders of magnitude.

Denominator
paid subscriptions
Cohort
a payer cohort
Time horizon
1 year
Sources
1
Observations
9

Compare your metric

Each source is compared against independently. Nothing here is averaged across sources, and there is no combined industry figure. This runs entirely in your browser. Your figures are never sent anywhere, never stored, and never included in analytics — only which metric you chose is counted.

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Can these be compared?

Not directly comparable

Only one source in this dataset publishes this metric for this segment. That is a single reading, not a consensus.

These observations cannot be combined into one figure, so they are shown separately. Different statistics: Median vs Top quartile (P75). A percentile and a central estimate answer different questions and cannot be differenced.

RevenueCat — State of Subscription Apps 2026

Published 2026-03-19 · 9 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
paid subscriptions

$23

Median

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

As published
“$23 annual RLTV per payer is the global median.”

RevenueCat — State of Subscription Apps 2026Published 2026-03-19State of the market · RLTV per payer after Year 1 by developer HQ

$44

Top quartile (P75)

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

As published
“$44+ puts you in the top quartile globally.”

RevenueCat — State of Subscription Apps 2026Published 2026-03-19State of the market · RLTV per payer after Year 1 by developer HQ

$35.64

Median

  • Health & Fitness

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

As published
“Health & Fitness median: $35.64, strong retention value.”

RevenueCat — State of Subscription Apps 2026Published 2026-03-19Store and revenue economics · RLTV per payer after 1 year by category

$35.48

Median

  • Business

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

As published
“Business median: $35.48, top quartile above $69.19.”

RevenueCat — State of Subscription Apps 2026Published 2026-03-19Store and revenue economics · RLTV per payer after 1 year by category

$24.95

Median

  • Productivity

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

As published
“Productivity ($24.95) and Education ($22.82) form solid mid-tier.”

RevenueCat — State of Subscription Apps 2026Published 2026-03-19Store and revenue economics · RLTV per payer after 1 year by category

$22.82

Median

  • Education

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

As published
“Productivity ($24.95) and Education ($22.82) form solid mid-tier.”

RevenueCat — State of Subscription Apps 2026Published 2026-03-19Store and revenue economics · RLTV per payer after 1 year by category

$11.22

Median

  • Gaming

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

As published
“Gaming median: $11.22, lower annual commitment.”

RevenueCat — State of Subscription Apps 2026Published 2026-03-19Store and revenue economics · RLTV per payer after 1 year by category

$30.16

Median

  • AI apps

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

As published
“AI median: $30.16; if you're above $49.26, you're in the top quartile.”

RevenueCat — State of Subscription Apps 2026Published 2026-03-19AI vs. non-AI · RLTV per payer after 1 year

$21.37

Median

  • Non-AI apps

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

Comparability
AI apps earn more per payer but retain worse (21.1% vs 30.7% annual Y1 retention). Reading the LTV premium without the retention penalty overstates the case for AI positioning.
As published
“Non-AI median: $21.37; top performers reach $74–79 for both segments.”

RevenueCat — State of Subscription Apps 2026Published 2026-03-19AI vs. non-AI · RLTV per payer after 1 year

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 $23RevenueCat 2026 $35.64

Roughly comparable

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

  • Different category scope: not broken out vs Health & Fitness. An all-categories figure is not a substitute for the category you are in.

RevenueCat 2026 $23RevenueCat 2026 $44

Not directly comparable

These measure different quantities. Differencing them produces a number that means nothing.

  • Different statistics: Median vs Top quartile (P75). A percentile and a central estimate answer different questions and cannot be differenced.

RevenueCat 2026 $23RevenueCat 2026 $35.48

Roughly comparable

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

  • Different category scope: not broken out vs Business. An all-categories figure is not a substitute for the category you are in.

RevenueCat 2026 $44RevenueCat 2026 $35.64

Not directly comparable

These measure different quantities. Differencing them produces a number that means nothing.

  • Different statistics: Top quartile (P75) vs Median. A percentile and a central estimate answer different questions and cannot be differenced.

RevenueCat 2026 $23RevenueCat 2026 $24.95

Roughly comparable

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

  • Different category scope: not broken out vs Productivity. An all-categories figure is not a substitute for the category you are in.

RevenueCat 2026 $23RevenueCat 2026 $22.82

Roughly comparable

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

  • Different category scope: not broken out vs Education. An all-categories figure is not a substitute for the category you are in.

RevenueCat 2026 $23RevenueCat 2026 $11.22

Roughly comparable

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

  • Different category scope: not broken out vs Gaming. An all-categories figure is not a substitute for the category you are in.

RevenueCat 2026 $23RevenueCat 2026 $30.16

Roughly comparable

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

  • Different sub-segments: not broken out vs AI apps.

Related metrics

  • Install LTV, 12 months

    Modelled revenue per install over a year: a conversion rate multiplied by a payer LTV. Derived, not measured.

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