The rule: price for the value you deliver, not for the cheapest possible entry. Underpricing is the silent killer of subscription apps.

What the data says

Higher prices correlate with higher, not lower, conversion, and far higher lifetime value:

High-priced apps convert about twice as well as low-priced apps and realize roughly 3.3 times the value per payer. That gap widens over the first year, to 62.19 dollars versus 10.69 dollars. A higher base price also funds paid acquisition and unlocks room for steeper percentage discounts, which themselves drive conversion.

Anchors and the rising floor

Pricing barely moved year over year and clusters on three psychological anchors: 5 dollars weekly, 10 dollars monthly, 30 dollars yearly. The median yearly price rose from 31.60 to 34.80 dollars, and the bottom quartile rose across every duration. The floor is moving up, so pricing at last year's floor now puts you below market.

Localize by geography

Do not ship one global price. Median prices by developer geography:

North America commands the top tier. India and Southeast Asia price at roughly 46 to 54 percent of the top markets across every duration. Charge the premium where the market bears it, and localize down to about half for price-sensitive regions.

Watch the refund cost of pricing up

Raising price predictably raises refunds, by roughly one percentage point per tier: low 2.7 percent, mid 3.9 percent, high 4.5 percent. Emerging markets refund more (India and Southeast Asia 7.7 percent versus North America 3.4 percent). Premium apps hitting double-digit refund rates may be overpriced for the value delivered, so watch your payback.

Do this in RevenueCat

1. Set a base price aligned to value, then localize per region using store price tiers.
2. A/B test price with Experiments before committing.
3. Retest a price you ruled out a year ago. As competitors raise prices and expectations shift, a price that could not beat control before can win now.
4. Track realized LTV per payer and refund rate so a price increase is judged on net revenue, not just conversion.

Benchmark yourself

Compare your yearly price to your category median below, and confirm your price tier matches your value: