Definition
The act of ending a subscription, either by the user or automatically due to billing failure. Understanding cancellation timing and reasons is key for designing retention strategies, deflection flows, and win-back campaigns.
Cancellation Rate = (Number of Cancellations in Period / Active Subscribers at Start of Period) x 100. Net Cancellations = Gross Cancellations - Reactivations.
When a user cancels on iOS, their subscription remains active until the end of the current billing period. For example, if a monthly subscriber cancels on day 15, they retain access until day 30. The subscription simply does not auto-renew. Your app is notified via server-to-server notifications.
The most common reasons are: too expensive (30-40%), not using it enough (25-30%), found an alternative (10-15%), and missing features (10-15%). Tracking these reasons via cancellation surveys helps you prioritize retention improvements and design targeted win-back offers.
You cannot (and should not) prevent cancellation, but you can make the process an opportunity. Show a cancellation deflection flow that highlights unused features, offers a discounted rate, or suggests a plan pause. Well-designed deflection flows save 10-25% of users who initiate cancellation.
A short feedback form presented during the cancellation process to understand why a user is choosing to leave. These insights inform product improvements, pricing strategy, and targeted win-back efforts.
The percentage of subscribers who cancel or do not renew their subscription over a given time period. Churn can be voluntary or involuntary and is a core metric for measuring retention health and forecasting revenue growth.
The ratio of users who click on a specific call-to-action (e.g., email link, push notification, paywall button) versus those who viewed it. CTR is a key engagement metric for evaluating creative performance and funnel effectiveness. Click-through-rate originated in the email and banner ad world, where everything was on a desktop. With mobile, some companies now call this same metric tap-through-rate since people are tapping on their phone vs clicking on desktop, but at the end of the day it's really the same type of measurement.
A method of analyzing user behavior by grouping users based on shared characteristics — most often the date they first installed or subscribed. This allows teams to compare retention, LTV, and monetization trends across cohorts over time.
The practice of limiting access to premium content — such as videos, lessons, or tools — behind a subscription paywall. Content can be fully locked (hard paywall) or partially accessible (soft paywall) depending on the monetization strategy.
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