--- title: "The 2025 Shippies: Your winners" description: "Meet the 2025 winners: six standout teams (and one very determined solo dev) whose apps are now lighting up Times Square" language: "en" publishedAt: "2025-10-16T18:10:11Z" updatedAt: "2025-10-16T18:10:11Z" authors: - name: "Rik Haandrikman" url: "https://www.revenuecat.com/blog/author/rik-haandrikman" category: "Company" categoryUrl: "https://www.revenuecat.com/blog/company" readingTime: 4 canonical: "https://www.revenuecat.com/blog/company/shippies-2025-winners" --- # The 2025 Shippies: Your winners Meet the 2025 winners: six standout teams (and one very determined solo dev) whose apps are now lighting up Times Square ## Table of contents - [Anchor’s Away: Focus Friend by Hank Green](#anchors-away-focus-friend-by-hank-green) - [Lone Skipper: ReSubs](#lone-skipper-resubs) - [Smooth Sailor: ReciMe](#smooth-sailor-recime) - [Port of Entry: Wink](#port-of-entry-wink) - [Life Preserver: WeWard](#life-preserver-weward) - [Treasure Chest: Ladder](#treasure-chest-ladder) - [The Golden Shippy moment](#the-golden-shippy-moment) - [Until next year…](#until-next-year) The Shippies celebrate the apps that didn’t just launch but *nailed* every part of the subscription journey, from onboarding and monetization to retention and creativity. Meet the 2025 winners: six standout teams (and one very determined solo dev) whose apps are pushing the boundaries of subscription growth. Plus, see their apps light up Times Square. Every year at **App Growth Annual**, we take a moment to celebrate the best subscription apps have to offer. The **Shippies** honor creativity and effective onboarding, monetization, and retention. This year’s winners took home the **Golden**** Chocolate Shippy**, eternal glory, and their very own **billboard on Times Square** (because what says “you nailed onboarding” better than a giant panda, bean, or fitness coach lighting up Manhattan?). ![](https://cdn.sanity.io/images/c3qnx9b0/production/c84467038294e57459a8a604599a6f304e3f4dc5-1920x1080.jpg) ## Anchor’s Away: **Focus Friend** by Hank Green The **Anchor’s Away** category celebrates new apps that launch with polish, purpose, and promise. **Focus Friend by Hank Green **(yes, *that* Hank Green) nailed it. The app turns focus sessions into a cozy, low-stakes ritual with a smiling bean who cheers you on. It’s the antidote to ‘I should really be working’ guilt: A little emotional design magic, paired with brilliant simplicity. **Why it won:** - Emotional design — the bean gives a gentle nudge instead of a guilt trip - Low friction, with no complex setup, you just tap *focus* - An aesthetic polish that is delightfully simple and calm - Early traction: 500k+ Play Store downloads and a 4.2★ rating within weeks Focus Friend unseated ChatGPT from the App Store charts for a bit, proving once again that cute beans beat AI (at least sometimes). ![](https://cdn.sanity.io/images/c3qnx9b0/production/9a46496e4ae5d893e0d0b64d883a3ebe28230d94-1080x1080.jpg) ## Lone Skipper: **ReSubs** The **Lone Skipper** award is for the indie devs out there. The ones steering the ship solo; building, shipping, and maintaining apps with exceptional craft. **ReSubs** helps users track all their subscriptions (and maybe finally cancel that one free trial from 2021). It’s a masterclass in clean design, regular updates, and cohesive UX all built and maintained by one person: Chris Krueger. **Why it won:** - Cohesive and elegant design - Constant flow of thoughtful updates - Built *and* maintained by a solo developer It’s proof that with focus, craftsmanship, and coffee, one person can absolutely run a subscription empire. ![](https://cdn.sanity.io/images/c3qnx9b0/production/55c392b8c4e7ceff343ad01c2aabae2b084629e3-1080x1080.jpg) ## Smooth Sailor: **ReciMe** The **Smooth Sailor** award goes to the app with the best onboarding: where users go from download to *aha!* moment in seconds. **ReciMe** is the world’s most popular recipe organizer, and it shows. From the moment you open the app, it understands what you’re trying to do — save a recipe, not learn another new tool. After a few qualifying questions, you’re prompted to search for and import a recipe, right there during onboarding. It’s a gutsy way to prove your product does exactly what it claims to do, within the first 60 seconds of downloading. ![](https://cdn.sanity.io/images/c3qnx9b0/production/d4ff5fefc7c00b76272c3a7564425cea5c194f9a-2816x1494.png) **Why it won:** - Lightning-fast path to value — the USP is obvious from minute one - Smart onboarding that adapts to the user - Proven impact as the go-to recipe app for millions ![](https://cdn.sanity.io/images/c3qnx9b0/production/164f06639a2d7535d3e1e7579e53253f247ff177-1080x1080.jpg) ## Port of Entry: **Wink** Monetization isn’t just about what you charge, it’s about *when* and *how* you charge. The **Port of Entry** award celebrates apps with standout paywalls, pricing, and checkout strategies. **Wink** made bold moves in experimentation this year, testing everything from pricing bundles to animated paywalls. Their weekend promos alone boosted revenue by over 20%, while churn-triggered offers and seamless web checkout flows gave users multiple smooth entry points to upgrade. **Why it won:** - Strategic experimentation across pricing and design - Smart promotions that actually moved the needle - Lifecycle monetization and web + in-app synergy ![](https://cdn.sanity.io/images/c3qnx9b0/production/180e9b7eb00902459e60b76987037c3f739e22a5-1080x1080.jpg) ## Life Preserver: **WeWard** Retention is hard. Keeping users motivated even harder. The **Life Preserver** award honors the app that mastered both. **WeWard** kept users coming back (and walking more) through habit loops, social motivation, and emotional reinforcement. Weekly leaderboards and celebratory streaks didn’t just keep users active, they dropped churn by 22% over nine months. **Why it won:** - Habit-forming design that drives daily engagement - Social motivation through community rankings - 22% reduction in churn thanks to reinforcement and sharing This is what sustainable engagement looks like: fun, rewarding, and some healthy competition. ![](https://cdn.sanity.io/images/c3qnx9b0/production/b3bc2c15f113a6b953df49bc4183ddbfd569b85a-1080x1080.jpg) ## Treasure Chest: **Ladder** The **Treasure Chest** award celebrates apps that know how to turn user intent into business impact, monetizing not just subscriptions, but brand affinity. ![](https://cdn.sanity.io/images/c3qnx9b0/production/61122b810109102cebedc53ae9e6874397a46b95-2922x1448.png) **Ladder** does this brilliantly. Their Pro plan provides full access to everything the app has to offer, including a range of social features like direct messaging. As you’re onboarding, you receive one of those direct messages from a coach whose workout program you follow. Want to respond and have 1:1 interactions with your coach? Upgrade to Elite. Combine that with a merch shop that’s being fed by referral-driven loyalty, and Ladder’s monetization strategy is as smart as it is seamless. **Why it won:** - Monetizing high-intent users who spend up to 4x more - Upsells that feel human and contextual - Extra revenue through merch for superfans It’s a perfect example of aligning monetization with motivation, and making it look good doing it ![](https://cdn.sanity.io/images/c3qnx9b0/production/190f157d6e6e2fdc8886e3fce4d8a8f3681e8791-1080x1080.jpg) ## The Golden Shippy moment Each winner walked away with the iconic **Chocolate Shippy trophy** (and will have the proper, metal statue sent to their homes to save on luggage fees!) and has seen their apps and logos lighting up **Times Square**. A surreal reward for a year of bold ideas and hard work. ![](https://cdn.sanity.io/images/c3qnx9b0/production/8fc27f3c6f9b6c32db5e3d0d41599fa3bdbdbcdd-1920x1080.jpg) ## Until next year… The 2025 Shippies reminded us that great apps are more than clever code and catchy onboarding flows. They’re built by people who *care* about design, delight, and making something that genuinely helps their users. So to every app out there that shipped this year: keep going. Keep experimenting. Keep polishing. We’ll see you at **App Growth Annual 2026** — and maybe next time, it’ll be your app up on that billboard!