Monthly apps with a 7-day trial vs. 14-day trial — conversion rate may drop slightly but LTV often increases.
Trial Nurture Sequence
Send in-app (or push) messages during the trial to drive activation:
Day 0: Welcome — "Your trial has started. Here's how to get the most from it."
Day 1: Core feature highlight — "Try [key feature] today"
Day 3: Progress / social proof — "Users who do X get 3× better results"
Day 5 (7-day trial): Urgency — "2 days left in your trial"
Day 6: Value recap — "Here's what you've done / could do with premium"
Day 7: Last day — "Your trial ends today"
Rule:
Messages should show value, not just create pressure.
Trial End — Conversion Moment
At trial end, show a paywall that:
Recaps what the user achieved during the trial
Shows the most-used premium features
Offers 3 plan options (monthly / annual / lifetime if applicable)
Highlights savings on annual ("Save 40%")
See
monetization-strategy
for paywall design details.
Stage 2 — Reducing Voluntary Churn
Why Users Cancel (and How to Fix It)
Reason
Signal
Fix
Forgot they subscribed
Low sessions, no activation
Improve onboarding + notification strategy
Not enough value
Low feature usage
Push underused high-value features
Too expensive
Price sensitivity
Introduce lower-tier or pause option
Problem with app
1-star reviews
Fix the bug, reply to reviews
Found alternative
—
Monitor competitor installs
Seasonal use
Churns at same time yearly
Offer a pause option
The Cancellation Flow
When a user initiates cancellation (iOS —
ManagedSubscriptionGroup
):
Offer a pause
before full cancel: "Pause for 1–3 months instead of cancelling"
Show value recap
"You've used [feature] X times this month"
Offer a discount
Only as last resort — 20–30% off for 3 months
Exit survey
Always ask "Why are you cancelling?" (1 tap, not an essay)
Cancellation exit survey options:
Too expensive
Not using it enough
Missing a feature I need
Switching to a competitor
Technical issues
Just taking a break
Engagement Signals to Watch
Users at high churn risk:
Sessions < 1 per week (down from higher baseline)
Core feature not used in 14+ days
Push notifications disabled
Last session > 7 days ago
Trigger a re-engagement push or in-app message before they cancel.
Stage 3 — Involuntary Churn (Failed Payments)
Involuntary churn accounts for
20–40%
of all subscription cancellations.
Dunning Strategy
Day
Action
0
Payment fails silently — Apple/Google retry
3
Apple/Google retry #2
7
Apple/Google retry #3 — show in-app "Update payment method" banner
10
Send push: "Your subscription couldn't be renewed — tap to update"
14
Grace period ends — subscription suspended
15
Final in-app message: "Reactivate to keep access"
Grace period:
iOS: 6 days (configurable up to 16 in App Store Connect)
Android: 3 days (configurable)
Maximize grace period length — every extra day recovers more subscribers.
RevenueCat Integration
RevenueCat handles dunning automatically. Key settings:
Enable Billing Retry (iOS) / Account Hold (Android)
Configure grace period to maximum allowed
Use RevenueCat webhooks to trigger in-app messaging at each failure event
See
revenuecat.md
integration guide.
Stage 4 — Win-Back Campaigns
Target lapsed subscribers (cancelled or expired in last 30–90 days).
Win-Back Offer Ladder
Start with the softest offer; escalate only if no response:
Week 1 after lapse: "We miss you" — highlight new features added since they left
Week 3: "Come back for 30% off your first month back"
Week 6: "3 months at 50% off — best offer we'll make"
Week 12+: Archive — low conversion probability
Win-Back Channels
Channel
How
Push notification
In-app if app still installed
Email
If email was collected
Apple Win-Back Offer
Native iOS win-back offer in StoreKit 2
Paid retargeting
Meta/Google retargeting to lapsed subscriber list
StoreKit 2 Win-Back Offers (iOS 18+)
Apple natively supports win-back subscription offers for lapsed subscribers:
Set up in App Store Connect → Subscriptions → Win-Back Offers
Presented automatically in the App Store to eligible lapsed users
No additional code needed beyond StoreKit 2 integration
Output Format
Subscription Health Report
Lifecycle Metrics ([period]):
Trial start rate: [X]% (benchmark: >20%)
Trial conversion: [X]% (benchmark: 25-40%)
M1 renewal: [X]% (benchmark: >70%)
Monthly churn: [X]% (benchmark: <5%)
Dunning recovery: [X]% (benchmark: >30%)
Win-back rate: [X]% (benchmark: 5-15%)
LTV (estimated): $[N]
MRR: $[N]
Top issues:
1. [Stage] — [metric] is [X]% vs benchmark [Y]% — [recommended fix]
2. [Stage] — [metric] is [X]% vs benchmark [Y]% — [recommended fix]
Priority action:
[Single highest-leverage change to implement this week]