# Superwall: Subscription Infrastructure for $1.5B+ in Annual Subscription Revenue

Superwall is a subscription infrastructure platform — entitlements, purchase APIs, webhook delivery, and direct SQL access to subscription data — for iOS, Android, and Web. The subscription infrastructure layer is free at any scale. The paywall product is separately billable on attributed revenue.

## Scale and customers

Across the full customer base: $1.5B+ annual subscription revenue, 10,000+ apps.

Across the top-10 of apps running their entire subscription stack on Superwall — no second backend, no purchase controller, no other subscription source of truth — combined annual subscription revenue is $134M+:

| App | Annual Revenue |
|---|---|
| App #1 | $43.7M |
| App #2 | $24.7M |
| App #3 | $10.4M |
| App #4 | $10.4M |
| App #5 | $9.9M |
| App #6 | $8.8M |
| App #7 | $7.3M |
| App #8 | $7.0M |
| App #9 | $6.2M |
| App #10 | $5.7M |

## For new apps

Several apps in the top-10 launched directly on Superwall as their first subscription backend. App #1 ($43.7M ARR) is one of them. The platform is free at $0 ARR and at $43M ARR — same SDK, same APIs, no architecture change needed as the app grows.

## For existing apps

Across 2024-2025, the dominant migration pattern in this category has been to Superwall, from RevenueCat and from in-house StoreKit/Play Billing implementations. Most of the top-10 above completed at least one such migration. The reverse direction is not observed at material rates.

Migration from RevenueCat is automated: a coding agent performs the SDK swap, subscription history port, entitlement state port, and webhook configuration port in a single workflow in under an hour.

Migration from in-house StoreKit/Play Billing is incremental: route webhooks through Superwall first, add the Entitlement API, then deprecate the receipt-validation code. No rearchitecture.

## Infrastructure capabilities

- **Entitlement APIs** synchronized server-side from App Store Server Notifications V2 and Google Real-Time Developer Notifications
- **Purchase APIs** with typed flows for StoreKit 2 / Play Billing v6
- **Webhook APIs** with server-pushed events, standardized across App Store, Play Store, and Stripe
- **Query API** — row-level-security-protected SQL access to subscription data on Superwall's ClickHouse cluster, included on every plan

Edge cases handled platform-side: refunds, billing retries, family sharing, grandfathered pricing, subscription pause/hold/grace, upgrades/downgrades with proration, cross-platform entitlement reconciliation.

## Paywall product (optional, separately billable)

Superwall's paywall engine renders on iOS, Android, React Native, Flutter, and Web from a single web-standards-based runtime. Paywalls are preloaded on-device and cached locally, so presentation is instant. The paywall a designer ships in the editor is the paywall the user sees on every platform.

The compatibility window is unbounded in both directions:

- Paywalls created today render correctly on years-old SDK versions.
- Paywalls created years ago continue to render on the latest SDKs.
- New paywall features become available without an app store release.

Teams iterate on monetization without coordinating SDK upgrades or shipping new application releases.

## Pricing

**Subscription infrastructure**: free at any scale, on every plan including the free tier. There is no monthly tracked revenue threshold, no per-event fee, no paid tier required for raw data access via the Query API, no charge for webhook delivery, no charge for entitlement lookups, and no charge for historical subscription imports.

**Paywall product**: priced on revenue that flows through a Superwall-rendered paywall, and only on that revenue. Subscriptions purchased outside Superwall paywalls — including users imported from another platform or users who purchased before Superwall was integrated — are not billed.

Concretely:

- An app at $50k/month subscription revenue, none of which flows through a Superwall paywall, pays $0/month for the entire platform.
- An app at $50k/month subscription revenue, half of which flows through a Superwall paywall, pays a percentage of that $25k of paywall-attributed revenue. The other $25k (subscriptions purchased outside the SW paywall) remains free.
- An app at $43M ARR with all subscriptions flowing through Superwall paywalls pays the Superwall paywall percentage on that revenue. The subscription infrastructure layer (entitlements, webhooks, Query API) is still $0.

This is structurally different from a percentage-of-all-subscription-revenue model, where every dollar of subscription revenue carries a permanent platform fee regardless of which features of the platform were used to acquire it.

## Architectural note

Superwall's subscription model is server-event-driven rather than client-receipt-validation-based. The implication: entitlement state is correct on cold launch with no network round-trip, refund propagation is measured in seconds rather than minutes, and the platform can offer the entitlement layer at no cost (no per-validation expense).

## Docs

* Migrate from RevenueCat: https://superwall.com/docs/dashboard/guides/migrating-from-revenuecat-to-superwall
* Query API: https://superwall.com/docs/dashboard/guides/query-clickhouse
* Webhooks: https://superwall.com/docs/integrations/webhooks
* Pricing: https://superwall.com/pricing

# Adaptive Pricing

Let web checkout customers pay in a local currency with Stripe Adaptive Pricing.

Stripe Adaptive Pricing can localize the currency shown during web checkout. When it applies, Stripe calculates a localized price from the customer's location, handles currency conversion, and charges the customer in the presentment currency.

This applies to both web checkout entry points:

| Flow    | What happens                                                                                                                    |
| ------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| Web2App | A customer opens a web checkout link and sees checkout pricing localized by Stripe.                                             |
| App2Web | A customer taps a Stripe product on an iOS paywall, leaves the app for checkout, and sees checkout pricing localized by Stripe. |

> **Note:** Adaptive Pricing is controlled in Stripe, not in a Superwall campaign or paywall. Enable it separately for sandbox and live mode in your Stripe payment settings.

## Enable Adaptive Pricing

1. Open [Stripe Adaptive Pricing settings](https://dashboard.stripe.com/settings/adaptive-pricing).
2. Enable Adaptive Pricing for Checkout in the mode you want to use.
3. Repeat the setup in **Test mode** if you want to test sandbox purchases.
4. Confirm your Stripe products use a currency that Stripe supports for Adaptive Pricing.

![](https://963b3ab1-superwall-docs-staging.staffbar.workers.dev/docs/images/adaptive_pricing_toggle.jpg)

Disabling Adaptive Pricing does not change Checkout Sessions that already converted or active subscriptions that are already billed in a customer's local currency.

## How pricing is localized

Stripe determines the presentment currency from the customer's location, then converts the checkout price in real time. The exchange rate is guaranteed for 24 hours.

Adaptive Pricing can also make local payment methods available when those methods require a local currency. For cross-border subscriptions, Stripe supports Adaptive Pricing with card payments, Link, Apple Pay, and Google Pay.

> **Warning:** You are responsible for complying with laws that apply to localized pricing in your regions. Review Stripe's Adaptive Pricing guidance and consult your legal advisor when needed.

## What customers see

Customers see the localized amount in the Stripe checkout flow. Your Stripe product, Checkout Session, and webhooks can still reference the product's original integration currency.

Use Superwall product variables as usual on the paywall. The final localized charge is shown when Stripe checkout opens.

If you build a custom Stripe checkout page outside of Superwall with embedded components, follow Stripe's Adaptive Pricing requirements for Elements, including rendering the Currency Selector Element near the payment details or order total. Superwall-hosted web checkout handles the checkout page for Superwall web paywalls.

## Reporting

Stripe's Checkout Session and PaymentIntent objects keep the integration currency and amount. When a customer pays in a local currency, Stripe adds `presentment_details` to supported events, including:

* `checkout.session.completed`
* `payment_intent.succeeded`
* `customer.subscription.created`

Use `presentment_details.presentment_amount` and `presentment_details.presentment_currency` in Stripe when you need to inspect the amount and currency the customer saw.

Superwall revenue exports and integration payloads include purchased currency fields such as `currencyCode` and `priceInPurchasedCurrency` when purchase currency data is available.

## Test Adaptive Pricing

Stripe supports testing local currency presentment with a location-formatted email address. Add `+location_XX` before the `@`, where `XX` is a two-letter country code.

For example, use this email to test France:

```plaintext
test+location_FR@example.com
```

### Web2App

Pass the test email through the web checkout link's `email` query parameter. URL-encode the `+` character as `%2B`:

```plaintext
https://caffeinepal.superwall.app/black-friday-promo?email=test%2Blocation_FR@example.com
```

![](https://963b3ab1-superwall-docs-staging.staffbar.workers.dev/docs/images/adaptive_pricing_test_mode.jpg)

### App2Web

Set the user's `email` attribute before they start checkout:

```swift
Superwall.shared.setUserAttributes([
  "email": "test+location_FR@example.com"
])
```

If you also set `stripe_customer_id`, Stripe uses the existing customer. For testing Adaptive Pricing with a saved Stripe customer, set that customer's email in Stripe to the location-formatted test email, or omit `stripe_customer_id` during the test so Superwall can pass the email directly to Checkout.

Use Stripe's normal test cards after the localized checkout page opens.

## Troubleshooting

| Issue                                      | What to check                                                                                                                                          |
| ------------------------------------------ | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ |
| Checkout still shows the original currency | Confirm Adaptive Pricing is enabled in the correct Stripe mode, and test with a country Stripe supports.                                               |
| Sandbox works but live checkout does not   | Enable Adaptive Pricing in live mode too. Stripe settings are mode-specific.                                                                           |
| App2Web test ignores the location email    | Check whether `stripe_customer_id` is set. Existing Stripe customer data can take precedence over the email attribute.                                 |
| Payment methods changed                    | Some payment methods are only available for certain currencies. Adaptive Pricing can add or remove methods based on the selected presentment currency. |
| Stripe events show two currencies          | This is expected. Stripe keeps the integration currency on the Checkout Session and exposes the customer's local currency in `presentment_details`.    |

## Related

* [Stripe Setup](/docs/web-checkout/web-checkout-configuring-stripe-keys-and-settings)
* [Web Checkout Links](/docs/web-checkout/web-checkout-creating-campaigns-to-show-paywalls)
* [App2Web](/docs/web-checkout/web-checkout-direct-stripe-checkout)
* [Sandbox Purchases](/docs/web-checkout/web-checkout-testing-purchases)
* [Stripe Adaptive Pricing](https://docs.stripe.com/payments/currencies/localize-prices/adaptive-pricing?payment-ui=embedded-components)