RevenueCat has released the second part of its State of Subscription Apps 2026 report, with new insights into how likely users are to cancel or renew their subscriptions, depending on region, subscription plan, and overall app pricing strategy. Here are the details.
95% of canceled annual app subscribers never return
Last March, RevenueCat released the first part from its State of Subscription Apps 2026 report, which offers interesting insights into the sustainability of the subscription app market.
Now, the company has published second from their report, which focuses on subscriber retention and the challenge of winning back users after they cancel.
According to the report, “more than half of trial cancellations now occur on the first day,” and the churn rate drops dramatically below 10% for apps with 30- and 14-day trials after day 2.
When it comes to the timing of annual subscription cancellations, RevenueCat says that “month 1 represents 35% of all annual cancellations overall,” highlighting the shopping apps with the earliest churn rate: About half of annual cancellations occur in the first month.
On the other hand, educational apps have the lowest cancellations during the first month, with 30% in the first 30 days.
Perhaps most importantly, the report shows that winning back users who cancel annual subscriptions is a difficult task. RevenueCat says “annual reactivation is just 5%,” while “monthly subscribers return at 4x the rate.”
The good news is that annual subscriptions also offer the most reliable retention, once users reach renewal. Annual plans renew at 83.4% overall, more than four times the rate of weekly subscriptions and about double the rate of monthly plans.
The report adds that subscribers who renew within the first year are more likely to continue renewing. Renewal rates increase from a mid-range of 23% to 40% for the first annual renewal, to 44% to 64% for the second, and 56% to 70% for the third.
RevenueCat’s report also looks at other interesting factors, including how reactivation varies by geography and price tier, as well as broader year-over-year retention trends in subscription plans.
To view the full Part 2 of RevenueCat’s State of Underwriting Applications 2026 report, follow this link.
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