If you’re building a subscription app, one of the first questions you’ll ask is: what’s a good renewal rate?
While it’s helpful to look at overall renewal rates across all apps, the reality is that ‘good’ looks different depending on what category your app falls in. A business app powering daily workflows with a high pricepoint and annual subscriber base will naturally see very different renewal rates to say, a photo editing app downloaded for a one-off project.
To give you a more accurate benchmark, our State of Subscription Apps 2026 report analyzed 115,000+ subscription apps across iOS, Android, and the Web.
We compared the renewal rates across three dimensions:
- Plan length: annual, monthly, weekly
- Pricepoint: low-priced, mid-priced, high-priced
- 11 categories: Business, Media & Entertainment, Shopping, Health & Fitness, Utilities, Education, Productivity, Travel, Gaming, Photo & Video, and Social & Lifestyle
Read on for how renewal rates vary by app category, and what metrics and renewal rate benchmarks you should be aiming for.
Do renewal rates vary by app category?
The short answer is yes.
The slightly-longer answer is that our data shows renewal rates vary by up to 19 percentage points, depending on the app category. Renewal rate is also impacted by subscription duration and pricing, which we’ve broken down in other articles.
Renewal rate trends across app category: the TL;DR
Across all three plan durations, a few clear patterns emerge: business apps are universally ‘sticky’, consistently ranking at or near the top for retention (61% monthly, 40% annual), regardless of price or plan duration. Proof that once a tool becomes part of a professional workflow, the cost of leaving is simply too high.
Goal-oriented categories like Education (24%) and Productivity (23%) struggle to secure annual renewals (users can’t predict whether they’ll still need the app in 12 months) but show some of the strongest short-term retention (Education, weekly 58%) when offered plans that match the duration of their goal e.g. a college semester, or learning a new language.
One-off project apps, like Photo & Video, suffer a structural curse no plan duration can solve. Users treat them as pick-up/put-down utilities, rather than ongoing services, which keeps them near the bottom across all three tables (23% annual, 48% monthly, 45% weekly).
What are the average annual subscription renewal rates by app category?
For annual subscriptions, the median first renewal rate ranges from 23%–40% across the top app categories. Travel and Business apps see the highest median annual subscription renewal rate (40%), while Productivity and Photo & Video apps see the lowest (23%).
| App category | Lower quartile (25th percentile) | Median (50th percentile) | Upper quartile (75th percentile) |
| Travel | 28% | 40% | 60% |
| Business | 21% | 40% | 53% |
| Media & Entertainment | 20% | 37% | 56% |
| Utilities | 21% | 35% | 52% |
| Shopping | 17% | 30% | 50% |
| Gaming | 15% | 26% | 45% |
| Social & Lifestyle | 13% | 25% | 41% |
| Health & Fitness | 16% | 25% | 37% |
| Education | 17% | 24% | 32% |
| Photo & Video | 15% | 23% | 35% |
| Productivity | 14% | 23% | 38% |
Across all categories, annual subscriptions see the lowest first renewal rates of the three plan types — and the widest spread between top and bottom performers (a 17 percentage point gap between Travel/Business at 40% and Productivity/Photo & Video at 23%). This isn’t surprising: an annual subscription is the highest-commitment ask you can make of a user. Those who renew tend to be deeply embedded in the app’s value; those who don’t were likely testing whether the product was worth the long-term investment.
What are the average monthly subscription renewal rates by app category?
For monthly subscriptions, the median first renewal rate ranges from 42%–61% between categories. Business apps achieve the highest median monthly subscription renewal rate (61%), while Social & Lifestyle apps have the lowest (42%).
| App category | Lower quartile (25th percentile) | Median (50th percentile) | Upper quartile (75th percentile) |
| Business | 49% | 61% | 74% |
| Media & Entertainment | 41% | 58% | 72% |
| Shopping | 46% | 58% | 69% |
| Health & Fitness | 46% | 57% | 68% |
| Utilities | 43% | 57% | 70% |
| Education | 48% | 56% | 66% |
| Productivity | 40% | 54% | 66% |
| Travel | 41% | 53% | 66% |
| Gaming | 42% | 53% | 68% |
| Photo & Video | 35% | 48% | 59% |
| Social & Lifestyle | 27% | 42% | 61% |
Across all categories, first renewal rates for monthly subscriptions are significantly higher than for annual subscriptions. This isn’t surprising, as monthly subscriptions require less upfront commitment — it’s easier for a user to commit to $5/month indefinitely than $50/year immediately, even though the annual plan is cheaper in the long run.
What are the average weekly subscription renewal rates by app category?
For weekly subscriptions, the median first renewal rate ranges from 35%–58%. For the first time, Education apps rise to the top, with the highest median weekly subscription renewal rate (58%), while Social & Lifestyle apps have the lowest (35%).
| App category | Lower quartile (25th percentile) | Median (50th percentile) | Upper quartile (75th percentile) |
| Education | 51% | 58% | 65% |
| Health & Fitness | 39% | 54% | 64% |
| Productivity | 45% | 53% | 65% |
| Business | 40% | 52% | 59% |
| Shopping | 38% | 51% | 56% |
| Gaming | 45% | 51% | 57% |
| Utilities | 33% | 49% | 61% |
| Travel | 39% | 48% | 57% |
| Media & Entertainment | 32% | 45% | 64% |
| Photo & Video | 31% | 45% | 53% |
| Social & Lifestyle | 25% | 35% | 50% |
While first weekly renewal rates are generally lower than monthly rates, they improve dramatically over time. The critical inflection point happens between the first and second renewal, where median rates jump by roughly 25–30 percentage points. Generally-speaking, it’s safe to assume if a user survives the first week, they’re likely to stick around.
By the third weekly renewal, retention across all categories converges tightly between 74%–91%. Even Social & Lifestyle apps, which start with a low 35% first renewal rate, catch up to 78% by their third renewal.
Why do some categories retain better than others?
The differences in subscription renewal rates between app types largely come down to utility, habit, and goal completion. Some categories are inherently ‘stickier’. For example, Business and Utility apps often integrate directly into a user’s daily routine or workflow. Once that habit is formed, the cost of switching or canceling becomes high.
Meanwhile, data shows a common pattern in other categories with lower renewal rates (like Social & Lifestyle) where app usage may be far more fickle; for example, downloading a dating app for the three months you’re single, then deleting it for a period. In some categories, users often subscribe to achieve a specific goal — like passing a test, reaching a language milestone, or completing a course — and then cancel their subscription once they’ve succeeded.
It’s also worth considering how subscription plan duration impacts renewal rate. For example, weekly has a distinctive retention curve worth calling out: high initial churn as users test the app, but those who survive the first week show a dramatic loyalty jump (35–58% → 67–75% at the second renewal) — proving the battle for renewal really takes place in the first week.
Learn more
Explore how plan duration impacts subscription app renewal rates in this article.
Does pricepoint impact subscription app retention averages?
You might assume when a user invests heavily in a tool, they’re more motivated to continue using it to justify the cost, however our data also shows that apps with lower pricepoints retain better on annual plans (36% retention, versus 23% for high-priced apps and 26% for mid-priced).
This gap is broadly maintained across monthly plans, but narrows dramatically when it comes to weekly plans — suggesting users across all categories treat weekly plans much the same, regardless of pricepoint.
Similarly, the data shows that while low-priced apps show better 1st renewals, pricepoint doesn’t make much difference come 3rd renewal. Gaps are more pronounced when looking at yearly plans, while monthly plans show the smallest price sensitivity.
Renewal trends for each category
Okay, we’ve looked at a lot of numbers. Here’s a quickfire summary of where each app category is at:
- Business: consistently the strongest performer across all three plan types, ranking first or second in every table. Business sits as the most universally ‘sticky’ category in the dataset — once an app becomes a critical piece of professional infrastructure, we see price sensitivity and churn drop.
- Travel: leads annual renewals (40%) but drops significantly for monthly (53%, mid-table) and weekly (48%, lower-mid). Users commit long-term but don’t engage habitually on shorter cycles, which makes sense given the time needed to plan and commit to travel.
- Media & Entertainment: strong and consistent across monthly (58%) and annual (37%), but falls to the bottom half for weekly (45%), showing that content consumption habits favor longer billing cycles.
- Health & Fitness: quietly consistent across all three plan types, sitting in the top three for weekly (54%), mid-table for monthly (57%), and mid-table for annual (25%). Befitting for a category focused on consistent lifestyle changes, this is one of the more balanced categories in the dataset.
- Utilities: performs solidly in the middle across all three plan types, with no dramatic highs or lows. Reliable, habitual use keeps churn steady regardless of billing cycle.
- Shopping: punches above its weight on monthly (58%, joint second) but drops to mid-table for both annual (30%) and weekly (51%). Monthly plans align best with the cadence of ongoing perks, discounts, and seasonal shopping.
- Gaming: consistently mid-to-lower table across all three plan types, with no standout performance. Gaming subscriptions appear to face persistent churn regardless of plan duration.
- Education: the most polarized category in the dataset. A firm last for annual (24%) but jumps to the top for weekly plan renewal (58%), proving plan duration is everything — short-term, goal-oriented use cases are where Education thrives.
- Productivity: mirrors Education’s pattern: lowest for annual (23%), but climbs to third for weekly (53%). This category shows users engage in focused bursts rather than long-term commitments.
- Photo & Video: the most consistently low performer across all three plan types, ranking in the bottom two for annual (23%), monthly (48%), and weekly (45%). The one-off project use case suppresses renewal across every billing cycle.
- Social & Lifestyle: last place for weekly (35%), monthly (42%), and near the bottom for annual (25%). The weakest category overall — likely because the core value proposition competes directly with free social platforms.
How to use average renewal rate benchmarks
A difference of a couple of percentage points may seem negligible, but it can have a massive impact on your revenue when compounded over multiple years.
Wherever your app sits in comparison to these benchmarks, the goal is always to dig deeper. Even apps that are already in the top quartile can meaningfully improve the long-term trajectory of their business by focusing on retention.
However, these benchmarks don’t mean you should pivot your product just to chase a higher average. Slicing renewal rates by category gives you a realistic baseline for your specific market, but your app’s cost-value ratio is ultimately the most important factor in determining whether users will renew.
Next steps:
- Dig into the data by checking your RevenueCat dashboard and seeing how your renewal rates compare to your category’s median. Here’s a walkthrough to understanding your Renewal & Retention Rate charts.
- Explore the full State of Subscription Apps 2026 report — and specifically dive into the category breakout sections from page 171, to unpack deeper benchmarks across conversion, pricing, and reactivation in your category.
- A/B test your paywall with different plan durations: the same category can look like a failure against monthly, but a success on annual plans. Depending if your users are goal-oriented or habit-driven, your plan type can hugely impact renewal. Experiment with offering other plan durations to see if you’ve been misreading your own product-market fit.