# Weekly vs yearly subscription pricing for apps: what devs saw

Source: https://rushilo.com/blog/weekly-vs-yearly-subscription-pricing-apps
By om.assets, Rushilo. Updated 2026-11-03.

> Weekly plans convert far better and now earn most app subscription revenue (55.5% in Adapty's 2026 report), but almost nobody keeps paying: RevenueCat measured 2.7% of weekly subscribers still active after a year versus 33.9% of yearly ones. Weekly suits apps that deliver value in days; yearly suits apps whose results take months. Most indie apps do best offering both and testing which one to lead with, judged by revenue per install.

You built the app, you set up RevenueCat or StoreKit, and now you are staring at the paywall. Weekly at $4.99? Yearly at $39.99? Both? Every big app in your category seems to push a weekly plan, and every thread about it has someone calling weekly plans a scam.

The honest answer is that **weekly plans win the sale and yearly plans win the year**. Which one makes you more money depends on how fast your app proves its worth, and the only way to know for your app is to test it. This guide gives you the 2026 numbers, a worked example you can redo with your own figures, and what indie developers actually saw when they changed plans.

Two terms first. **Conversion** here means the share of people who see the paywall and buy. **Revenue per install** is total revenue divided by installs over a fixed window, the one number that captures both conversion and retention.

## What is the real difference between weekly and yearly plans?

A weekly plan charges a small amount every 7 days; a yearly plan charges a large amount once and renews 12 months later. Weekly lowers the barrier to buying, yearly removes 51 chances to cancel.

That trade shows up clearly in the data:

| Measure | Weekly | Yearly | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Share of all app subscription revenue, 2025 | 55.5% | 22.5% | Adapty State of In-App Subscriptions 2026 |
| Conversion on the same paywall | 1.7 to 7.4 times higher | Baseline | Adapty 2026 |
| Still subscribed after a year (2024) | 2.7% | 33.9% | RevenueCat State of Subscription Apps |
| Day 380 retention, trial cohorts | 5.5% | 19.9% | Airbridge, citing Adapty 2026 |
| Cash collected on day 0 | About $7 to $9 | About $38 to $54 | Adapty 2026 |

Monthly plans, for what it is worth, fell from 21.1% to 11.7% of revenue in two years in Adapty's data. For most new apps the real choice is weekly, yearly, or both.

## Which earns more: weekly or yearly?

Over 12 months, weekly often earns more per user in fast-value categories, and yearly earns more in slow-value ones. Adapty found weekly plus a free trial produced the highest 12 month lifetime value of any setup, $49.27 per user, while Health and Fitness apps still take 60.6% of their revenue from annual plans.

### A worked example per 1,000 paywall views

These numbers are illustrative. Plug in your own.

1. **Weekly at $4.99, 8% conversion.** 80 people buy. Suppose the average buyer pays for 5 weeks before cancelling. That is 80 × 5 × $4.99 = **$1,996**.
2. **Yearly at $39.99, 3% conversion.** 30 people buy, once. That is 30 × $39.99 = **$1,200** in year one, plus renewals in year two from roughly a third of them.
3. **Both on one paywall.** Say 6% take weekly and 1.5% take yearly. That is 60 × 5 × $4.99 + 15 × $39.99 = $1,497 + $600 = **$2,097**.

Change one assumption and the winner flips. If weekly buyers only stay 3 weeks, weekly drops to $1,198, below yearly. That is why "weekly earns more" is never a rule, only a hypothesis to test.

### The Apple commission wrinkle

Apple pays you 70% of a subscription in the subscriber's first year and 85% after a year of paid service, per Apple's developer page on auto-renewable subscriptions (the Small Business Program pays 85% from the start if you qualify). Weekly subscribers almost never reach a year, so outside that program you keep 70% of nearly every weekly dollar. Yearly renewers move you to 85%.

## What did developers see when they switched plans?

The Reddit stories mostly point the same way: a cheap weekly plan brings people in, a yearly plan is where the durable money sits, and the price change usually mattered more than the plan length.

- **The paid trial move.** A solo dev in r/AppBusiness killed a free trial that was getting cancelled on day one, doubled the yearly price from about $11 to about $22 with no drop in conversion, and added a $1.99 weekly plan. They wrote that it acts like a paid trial and that many users later switched to the annual plan. Commenters pointed out that the price change alone could explain much of the lift.
- **Weekly volume, weekly churn.** Another r/AppBusiness dev, with an AI stock analysis app, led with weekly pricing and a hidden annual option. Paywall conversion was about 10 to 11%, but they reported people "subscribe for a week, get their analysis, cancel", and almost zero annual sales because nobody scrolled to find it.
- **Weekly as the whole business.** A game developer in r/AppBusiness reported over $10K from $1.99 weekly subscriptions after ads alone earned very little. The top reply: "I think weekly subs are predatory." Both can be true.
- **Testing up the yearly price.** A solo dev in r/iOSProgramming started at $19.99 a year or $2.99 a month and, after A/B testing the paywall, landed on $59.99 a year or $6.99 a month on the way to $1K MRR.
- **Discounting yearly for cash.** One r/AppBusiness founder reported 70% of users choosing yearly after a 60% annual discount, and used that upfront cash to fund ads.

> **Watch out:** most of these "tests" changed two things at once. When you test, change one variable, or you will not know what worked.

This is the core lesson in the [App Business pack](/app-store): treat pricing as the cheapest experiment you can run, and score it by revenue per install, not subscriber count.

## Which plan fits your app category?

Pick by how quickly a user feels the benefit. If they get the result today, weekly fits; if the result takes weeks, yearly fits.

| Category | What leads in the data | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Utilities, scanners, AI tools | Weekly (73.6% of Utilities revenue, Adapty) | Value is instant and task based |
| Photo and video, entertainment | Weekly | Use it now, come back for the next job |
| Dating | Weekly | Short reward cycle, as one r/AppBusiness reply put it |
| Health and fitness | Yearly (60.6%, Adapty) | "Not getting abs in a week," as another reply said |
| Education, habits, finance trackers | Yearly or both | Results build over months |
| Lifestyle | Mixed | Adapty found trials cut 12 month LTV by 21.2% here |

One r/AppBusiness reply also made a fair point: look at what the top three apps in your niche do. Users there have learned to expect a certain shape of paywall.

## How do you offer both on one paywall?

Put both plans in the same subscription group, make yearly look like the better deal, and show the weekly price honestly. In App Store Connect, both live in one group so a user can move between them without double paying.

1. **Create one subscription group** with a weekly and a yearly product. Apple handles upgrades and downgrades within a group.
2. **Default select the plan you want to win.** Leading with yearly lowers conversion but raises value per buyer; leading with weekly does the opposite. This is your first test.
3. **Show yearly as a weekly equivalent.** "$39.99 a year, $0.77 a week" next to "$4.99 a week" makes the saving obvious.
4. **Keep the free trial off weekly.** Several r/AppBusiness devs say trials on weekly plans attract freebie seekers. If you use a trial, put it on yearly only.
5. **Never hide the yearly plan.** The stock app dev above sold almost no annual plans because it sat below the fold.
6. **Nudge weekly subscribers to yearly** after a few renewals with an in-app offer, so your best weekly users stop paying 70% commission rates on short cycles.

> **Tip:** Adapty found weekly renewal rates barely change across price tiers. If you already sell weekly, a price test there is lower risk than one on monthly.

## How do you test weekly vs yearly properly?

Run one change at a time, for at least two weeks, and compare revenue per install over the same window. One r/AppBusiness reply suggested two weeks as the minimum before drawing conclusions.

1. Write down your baseline: installs, paywall views, purchases by plan, refunds, revenue per install.
2. Pick one variable: plan lineup, default plan, yearly price, or trial on yearly.
3. Split traffic with RevenueCat Experiments, Adapty, Superwall or a simple remote config flag.
4. Wait until each side has at least a few dozen purchases. Tiny apps may need longer than two weeks.
5. Judge by revenue per install at day 30 and again at day 60, because weekly revenue keeps arriving after day 0 and yearly does not.
6. Keep the winner and test the next variable.

The [free trial vs no free trial guide](/blog/free-trial-vs-no-trial-ios-apps) covers the trial half of this test in detail, and [how much apps make per download](/blog/how-much-apps-make-per-download) shows realistic revenue per install to benchmark against.

## Mistakes that cost indie devs money

The common failures are less about weekly or yearly and more about how the plans are shown.

- **Judging by subscriber count.** A weekly paywall can triple subscribers and still lose money if they leave in two weeks.
- **Burying the yearly plan.** If users never see it, you learn nothing about whether it would sell.
- **Changing price and plan at once.** Then a win cannot be repeated or explained.
- **Trial on weekly.** Day one cancellations, low trial to paid rates.
- **Hiding the real cost.** Weekly pricing shown in small print earns one star reviews and refunds, and a dev forum full of people calling it predatory.
- **Copying big apps blindly.** A weekly heavy app with a big ad budget can afford churn that a solo dev cannot.
- **Calling it after three days.** Weekly plans look great on day 0 and worse by day 60.

## Is weekly pricing right for you?

Weekly is right if your app gives a clear result in the first session and users come back in bursts. Yearly is right if the payoff takes weeks, or you need cash upfront to fund growth. If you are unsure, offer both, lead with yearly, and let the data move you.

Weekly is not for you if your reviews already complain about price, your app is meant for daily long term habits, or you are not comfortable explaining the weekly total plainly on the paywall. Results vary a lot by category, region and traffic source, and none of the numbers above are a promise of what your app will earn.

## Where to go from here

1. Check what the top three apps in your category show on their paywalls.
2. Set up one subscription group with weekly and yearly plans, no trial on weekly.
3. Run one test: lead with yearly versus lead with weekly, for at least two weeks.
4. Compare revenue per install at day 30 and day 60, then test the yearly price.
5. Add an in-app offer that moves loyal weekly users to yearly.

If you want the full system, the [App Business pack](/app-store) has 24 lessons across 6 modules covering the listing, the paywall, pricing tests and getting your first paying users, with the checklists to run each test. It is $19 on its own, or $39 for all 16 Money Printer packs. You can also compare options in our [best app business course](/blog/best-app-business-course) roundup.

## Frequently asked questions

### Is a weekly or yearly subscription better for my app?

It depends on how fast your app delivers value. Weekly plans convert 1.7 to 7.4 times better than annual in Adapty's 2026 data, so apps with an instant payoff, like utilities, photo tools and dating, earn more from weekly. Apps whose results take months, like fitness or learning, keep more money on yearly. Most indie apps should offer both and test which one leads.

### Why do so many apps use weekly subscriptions now?

Because weekly plans convert much better on the same paywall. A small weekly price feels like a low risk, so more people buy. Adapty's 2026 report found weekly plans earn 55.5% of all in-app subscription revenue, up from 43.3% two years earlier. The catch is churn: very few weekly subscribers are still paying a year later.

### Are weekly subscriptions predatory?

They can be, and developers in r/AppBusiness say so openly. A weekly plan becomes a trap when the price is hidden, the yearly option is buried and the app gives little lasting value. Shown honestly, with the weekly total clear and an easy path to a cheaper yearly plan, it works as a paid trial. Expect angry reviews if users feel tricked.

### How much should a weekly plan cost compared to yearly?

There is no fixed ratio. Indie apps in Reddit threads often price weekly at $1.99 to $6.99, and yearly at $20 to $60. Price the yearly plan so it looks clearly cheaper per week, often less than a quarter of 52 weekly payments, then test the actual numbers. Adapty found weekly renewal rates barely change with price, so weekly price rises are lower risk.

### Should I offer a free trial on a weekly plan?

Usually not. Developers in r/AppBusiness report that trials on weekly plans attract freebie seekers who cancel on day one. A common setup is a cheap weekly plan with no trial, which acts as a paid trial, plus a yearly plan with or without a short trial. Adapty did find weekly plus trial had the highest 12 month LTV, so test it if volume allows.

### What is the best way to learn app subscription pricing?

The Rushilo App Business pack is the most direct way: its 24 lessons across 6 modules include a pricing and paywall section on testing weekly plans, annual prices and trials, judged by revenue per install. It costs $19 alone or $39 with all 16 packs. Free sources like RevenueCat and Adapty reports give you the benchmarks to compare against.

## Sources

- [Best paywall & subscription strategy for iOS apps? Weekly vs Monthly vs Yearly vs Lifetime (r/AppBusiness)](https://www.reddit.com/r/AppBusiness/comments/1qhwufl/best_paywall_subscription_strategy_for_ios_apps/)
- [My app was dead. I killed the free trial, doubled the price (r/AppBusiness)](https://www.reddit.com/r/AppBusiness/comments/1vw950q/my_app_was_dead_i_killed_the_free_trial_doubled/)
- [$2K MRR. 132 subs. Only TikTok. Full funnel breakdown (r/AppBusiness)](https://www.reddit.com/r/AppBusiness/comments/1r04b3j/2k_mrr_132_subs_only_tiktok_full_funnel_breakdown/)
- [A game I created made over $10K by selling $1.99 weekly subscriptions (r/AppBusiness)](https://www.reddit.com/r/AppBusiness/comments/1sne0iq/a_game_i_created_made_over_10k_by_selling_199/)
- [The road to $1K/MRR is not immediate, nor glamorous (r/iOSProgramming)](https://www.reddit.com/r/iOSProgramming/comments/1p2xt96/the_road_to_1kmrr_is_not_immediate_nor_glamorous/)
- [Weekly vs. monthly vs. annual: which plan type should you offer? (Adapty)](https://adapty.io/blog/weekly-monthly-annual-subscription-plan/)
- [Weekly vs Annual Subscription Apps Revenue 2026 (Airbridge)](https://www.airbridge.io/en/blog/weekly-vs-annual-subscription-app)
- [Annual subscriptions for apps: the pros and cons (RevenueCat)](https://www.revenuecat.com/blog/growth/annual-subscriptions-apps-pros-cons)
- [Auto-renewable subscriptions (Apple Developer)](https://developer.apple.com/app-store/subscriptions/)