--- title: "2023 In-App Subscription Benchmarks: Top quartile apps performed 3-14x better than their peers" description: "Presenting RevenueCat's first in-depth in-app subscription benchmark report" language: "en" publishedAt: "2023-01-17T13:52:28Z" updatedAt: "2023-01-17T13:52:28Z" authors: - name: "Jacob Eiting" url: "https://www.revenuecat.com/blog/author/jacob-eiting" category: "Growth" categoryUrl: "https://www.revenuecat.com/blog/growth" readingTime: 3 canonical: "https://www.revenuecat.com/blog/growth/2023-in-app-subscription-benchmarks" --- # 2023 In-App Subscription Benchmarks: Top quartile apps performed 3-14x better than their peers Presenting RevenueCat's first in-depth in-app subscription benchmark report ## Table of contents - [An unusual, record-breaking year for in-app subscriptions](#an-unusual-record-breaking-year-for-in-app-subscriptions) - [Popping the lid on the world’s biggest in-app subscription data set](#popping-the-lid-on-the-worlds-biggest-in-app-subscription-data-set) - [In 2023, make better decisions, informed by our State of Subscription Apps report](#in-2023-make-better-decisions-informed-by-our-state-of-subscription-apps-report) *RevenueCat’s first in-depth *[*in-app subscription benchmark report*](http://www.revenuecat.com/state-of-subscription-apps-2023)* uncovers insights based on 20,000+ apps to help you make better decisions for your business in 2023* ## An unusual, record-breaking year for in-app subscriptions As we look back on 2022, the mobile industry saw [long expected](https://www.revenuecat.com/blog/growth/mobile-subscription-predictions-for-2022/) [regulatory changes take form](https://subclub.com/episode/how-will-apple-play-the-digital-markets-act-john-gruber-daring-fireball), felt the impact of inflation and the cost-of-living crisis, and came back from the accelerated growth driven by the pandemic and its stay-at-home directives. Though overall **in-app revenues saw their first decline in history**, **non-gaming apps and subscriptions saw record spend** in some of the most turbulent times the industry has experienced. So how did in-app subscriptions continue to perform under these challenges circumstances? ## Popping the lid on the world’s biggest in-app subscription data set For the first time ever, we’re popping the lid on our **treasure chest of subscription monetization data**, to help you understand **how** subscriptions thrived in 2022: - **A rare and precious thing:** Turning downloads into payers was challenging, with less than 2% of downloads converting to a paid subscriber - **Optimization pays off**: Going from middling to best-in-class paid off in 2022, with top performers converting 14x as many downloads to subscribers - **High performers blow low performers out of the water:** Across all subscription metrics, top quartile apps perform 3 to 14 times better than the bottom quartile of applications In addition to unique data, this new report features** insights and advice from some of the world’s most successful app developers and app growth practitioners**, including: - **Sylvain Gauchet**, Director of Revenue Strategy at **Babbel** and Founder of [Growth Gems](https://growthgems.co/) - **Caleb Appleton**, SVP & GM of Global Subscriptions at [**TuneIn**](https://tunein.com/) - **Ron Schneidermann**, CEO of [**AllTrails**](https://www.alltrails.com/) - **Eric Seufert**, Editor of [**Mobile Dev Memo**](https://mobiledevmemo.com/) and Investor at Heracles Capital - **Matthieu Rouif**, Co-Founder and CEO at [**PhotoRoom**](https://www.photoroom.com/) And many, many others. In 2023, **kick off a year of unprecedented growth** by targeting the upper quartile in performance where it matters. Through our **[State of Subscription Apps 2023 report](http://www.revenuecat.com/state-of-subscription-apps-2023)**, you’ll **know exactly what success looks** like. Know what your goals are? Join our [Sub Club community](https://chat.subclub.com/c/join/) to **learn**, **discuss**, and **ideate** with other subscription growth practitioners. ![](https://cdn.sanity.io/images/c3qnx9b0/production/30251291d689cd38259515affc6bfd225325faeb-1200x671.png) ## In 2023, make better decisions, informed by our State of Subscription Apps report Read [the world’s most comprehensive report on in-app subscription performance](http://www.revenuecat.com/state-of-subscription-apps-2023) to date, covering every metric that matters, spanning categories and geographies for everything from indies to the world’s biggest subscription businesses. This ungated (no email necessary!) report features: - **Activation rates** for those with a pure trial strategy as well as those with a mixed strategy - **Paid conversion rates** split down to trial length - **Renewal rates** for weekly, monthly, and yearly subscriptions and the first, second, and third renewal - **Retention over time** per subscription duration Want even more insights? **Download our extended 59 page PDF report** and receive additional **benchmarks per category**, specifically for: - Health & Fitness - Utilities - Productivity - Photo & Video - Lifestyle Still haven’t seen or heard enough? Join me and David Bernard for [a special Sub Club episode](https://subclub.com/episode/hows-your-app-really-doing-the-state-of-subscription-apps-2023) where we talk through the findings of the report: We hope you find as much value in reading this unique report as we did in producing it.