Web checkout only vs in-app purchase: 18.1% vs 27.0% conversion
Test run byRevenueCatTesting and CRO tool
Commentary byLiftArchiveOur analysis, not theirsSending every paywall button to a web checkout cut initial conversion (trial or subscription start) from 27.0% to 18.1% compared with Apple in-app purchase.
RevenueCat ran the test on Dipsea, the audio stories app it owns, and published it on the RevenueCat blog.
Even after the 30% store fee, proceeds per user were lower on web: about $1.96 vs $2.09.
- Initial conversion: 27.0% to 18.1%, about one-third fewer trial or subscription starts.
- Most of the loss came after the tap: about 71% of IAP taps became purchases vs 44% of web taps.
- Trial-to-paid: slightly higher on web, 26.3% vs 25.0%. Not enough to close the gap.
- Conversion to paying: 6.3% to 5.3% (198 vs 166 paid customers).
- Proceeds per user: about $2.09 vs $1.96 at a 30% store fee, and $2.53 vs $1.96 at 15%.
The change
Same paywall; the button opens a web checkout instead of in-app purchase.
Simplified mockup drawn by LiftArchive from the shared screenshots.
Control
A pixel-for-pixel clone of Dipsea's native paywall, with Apple in-app purchase only.
Variant
The same paywall, but every subscribe button opened a web checkout in the browser. There was no in-app purchase option, which Dipsea could do under Apple's reader app exemption.
Why it likely lost
Our reading of the result, not the practitioner's claim.
- Leaving the app for a browser and a payment form adds steps where users give up.
- One-tap in-app purchase is familiar and trusted; a sudden browser hand-off may surprise users.
- Extra friction may filter out less committed users, which fits the slightly better trial-to-paid on web.
- Avoiding the store fee only pays off if web keeps most of the conversions, and here it did not.
Caveats: About 3,100 new US iOS users per variant over about three weeks, in a single app. RevenueCat sells the web billing product tested, though here the result went against web.
Who ran it
RevenueCat ran this test for Dipsea. Source: RevenueCat blog. The numbers are theirs; the summary and commentary on this page are ours.
How to run this test on your app
- Hypothesis
- If we send paywall buttons to a web checkout instead of in-app purchase, then proceeds per user will rise, because we avoid the store fee, as long as conversion does not drop too far.
- Primary metric
- Net proceeds per new user after store and payment fees
- Guardrails
- Initial conversion rate
- Trial-to-paid conversion
- Renewal and refund rates
- Who should test it
- Large US apps paying Apple the full 30% fee and allowed to link out. Apps in the Small Business Program (15% fee) will likely lose money, as the 15% math here shows.
Questions
Does web checkout pay off at a 30% App Store fee?
Not in this test. Web-only kept about 94 cents per IAP dollar after fees, because fewer users converted.
Do web subscribers stick around better?
Trial-to-paid was a little higher on web (26.3% vs 25.0%). Longer-term renewal data was not in yet.
Can a smoother checkout close the gap?
RevenueCat thinks things like Apple Pay and clearer copy could win back a few points, but expects web to still convert worse than one-tap in-app purchase for most apps.
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