Mobile Development · head to head
RevenueCat vs Superwall
RevenueCat
Mobile Development
In-app subscription infrastructure billed at 1 percent of tracked revenue measured before the app store takes its cut
- From
- Free
- Rated
- -
Superwall
Mobile Development
Remotely configured mobile paywalls that can be tested and changed without shipping an app update
- From
- Free
- Rated
- -
The short version
- Each has a real cost: RevenueCat the fee is 1 percent of revenue measured before the app store takes 15 or 30 percent, so the effective rate against money you actually receive is closer to 1.2 to 1.4 percent, a distinction that is easy to miss when modelling the cost.; Superwall it does not manage entitlements or validate receipts, so most teams still pay a subscription infrastructure vendor as well and carry the cost and complexity of two systems.
- They diverge on capability: RevenueCat covers Cross-platform entitlements, Superwall covers Server driven paywalls.
- Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.
Where they differ
Only the attributes on which RevenueCat and Superwall actually diverge.
| Attribute | RevenueCat | Superwall |
|---|---|---|
| Platforms | iOS, Android, Web, React Native, Flutter | iOS, Android |
Identical on both: starting price (Free), pricing model (Per month by tracked revenue), free tier (Yes), user rating (Not yet rated), category (Mobile Development).
What each one covers
Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.
Only in RevenueCat
- Cross-platform entitlements
- Server-side receipt validation
- Remote paywalls
- Experiments
- Revenue charts and cohorts
- Integrations and webhooks
Only in Superwall
- Server driven paywalls
- Paywall experiments
- Audience rules
- No release cycle dependency
- Revenue analytics
- Paywall editor
What people use each for
The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.
RevenueCat
- A small app team shipping subscriptions on both stores without writing two receipt validation backendsnot Superwall
- Changing paywall pricing and layout without waiting for app reviewnot Superwall
- Running a price experiment and attributing realised revenue rather than checkout events to each variantnot Superwall
- Giving finance a single view of subscription revenue across App Store, Google Play and web purchasesnot Superwall
Superwall
- A subscription app whose paywall conversion rate is the main lever on revenuenot RevenueCat
- Teams blocked by App Store review times from testing pricing and copy at a useful cadencenot RevenueCat
- Showing different paywalls by acquisition channel, region or user behaviournot RevenueCat
- Letting design and growth staff change paywalls without consuming engineering sprintsnot RevenueCat
Where each one falls short
Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.
RevenueCat
- The fee is 1 percent of revenue measured before the app store takes 15 or 30 percent, so the effective rate against money you actually receive is closer to 1.2 to 1.4 percent, a distinction that is easy to miss when modelling the cost.
- The bill scales with success rather than with usage or headcount, so the largest invoice arrives in the month of your best growth, which is exactly when cash is committed elsewhere.
- At high revenue the arithmetic turns against you: 1 million USD of monthly tracked revenue is 10,000 USD a month, at which point building and staffing receipt validation in-house becomes a serious comparison rather than a hypothetical one.
- Subscriber and entitlement state lives in the vendor system, so migrating away requires re-validating historical receipts and running dual sources of truth during the transition, and that switching cost grows the longer you stay.
- Growth features such as paywalls and web funnels are charged at the same 1 percent of what they track, so revenue attributed to those tools is billed even where you already had the infrastructure to handle it.
Superwall
- It does not manage entitlements or validate receipts, so most teams still pay a subscription infrastructure vendor as well and carry the cost and complexity of two systems.
- Pricing scales with tracked subscription revenue, which means the tool becomes more expensive precisely as it succeeds, and that cost sits on top of the store's own commission.
- A server driven paywall adds a network dependency to the moment of purchase; the fallback paywall bundled in the app must be maintained or a connectivity failure costs a sale.
- Statistically valid paywall experiments need substantial traffic, so small apps will run tests that never reach significance and will be tempted to act on noise.
- The visual editor covers common paywall patterns, and anything unusual in layout or animation still requires native work, which reduces the promised independence from engineering.
Pricing, plan by plan
RevenueCat
Free- Pro under thresholdFree
- Free up to 2,500 USD in monthly tracked revenue
- All product features included
- No seat charges
- Pro$undefined/month
- 1 percent of monthly tracked revenue above 2,500 USD
- Tracked revenue is measured before the app store commission
- No minimum commitment stated
- Enterprise$undefined/year
- Quoted
- Volume discounts
- Flexible tracking configuration
Superwall
Free- Free tier$undefined/month
- Full paywall and experiment functionality below a monthly tracked revenue threshold
- Intended to carry an app until subscription revenue is material
- Paid tiers$undefined/month
- Priced against monthly tracked subscription revenue, so cost rises as the app earns more
- Charged in addition to any subscription infrastructure vendor you also run
Which should you pick?
Choose RevenueCat if
- You need cross-platform entitlements.
- You want to start without paying.
- You work on iOS, Android, Web, React Native, Flutter.
- You also want server-side receipt validation.
Choose Superwall if
- You need server driven paywalls.
- You want to start without paying.
- You work on iOS, Android.
- You also want paywall experiments.
Questions people ask
- Is RevenueCat or Superwall better?
- Neither clearly leads. RevenueCat starts at Free and Superwall at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
- Which is cheaper, RevenueCat or Superwall?
- RevenueCat starts at Free and Superwall at Free.
- Does RevenueCat or Superwall run on more platforms?
- RevenueCat runs on iOS, Android, Web, React Native, Flutter. Superwall runs on iOS, Android.
- Can I use RevenueCat for free?
- Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
- What is RevenueCat best used for?
- RevenueCat is most often used for a small app team shipping subscriptions on both stores without writing two receipt validation backends, changing paywall pricing and layout without waiting for app review, running a price experiment and attributing realised revenue rather than checkout events to each variant, giving finance a single view of subscription revenue across app store, google play and web purchases. Of those, a small app team shipping subscriptions on both stores without writing two receipt validation backends and changing paywall pricing and layout without waiting for app review are not what Superwall is typically brought in for.
- What can RevenueCat do that Superwall cannot?
- RevenueCat covers Cross-platform entitlements, Server-side receipt validation, Remote paywalls, Experiments. Superwall covers Server driven paywalls, Paywall experiments, Audience rules, No release cycle dependency.
Answered from the vendors’ own pages
RevenueCat: Is it really free to start?
Yes, up to 2,500 USD in monthly tracked revenue, with all features included and no seat charges.
Superwall: Do we still need RevenueCat or StoreKit?
Yes in nearly all cases. Superwall presents and tests the paywall; something else must own entitlements and receipts.
RevenueCat: Is the 1 percent taken from gross or net revenue?
Gross. The vendor bases pricing on pre-platform-cut revenue, so the app store commission is not deducted before the fee is calculated.
Superwall: Does Apple allow remotely configured paywalls?
Yes. Configuring presentation remotely is normal; the purchase itself still goes through the store billing APIs.
RevenueCat: What happens if RevenueCat is unavailable?
The SDK caches entitlement state locally so existing subscribers usually keep access, but new purchases and restores depend on the service.
Superwall: How much traffic is needed for useful tests?
Enough paywall impressions per variant to detect a few percentage points of conversion difference. Below a few thousand a week, results will mislead.
RevenueCat: At what point should I build this in-house?
Somewhere above a few hundred thousand dollars of monthly tracked revenue the annual fee funds engineers, though it also buys cross-platform correctness you then own forever.
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