Best iPhone Paywall Tools 2026: Fees and Web Checkout

Superapp builds native Swift iPhone apps with the paywall already wired in, and the way it does that explains this whole category: every paywall tool below still sells through Apple's In-App Purchase system. RevenueCat, Superwall, Adapty and the rest are management layers around Apple's StoreKit, not new ways to take money. So before comparing them, decide three things in order. Do you need a separate paywall tool at all? What will the full stack of fees cost you? And should you sell on the web, where Apple's cut does not currently apply in the US? This guide answers those three questions first, then compares Superapp, RevenueCat, Superwall, Adapty, Qonversion, Apphud, Purchasely, Helium, FreemiumKit, Nami ML and plain StoreKit 2 on September 2026 pricing.

Best Paywall Tools for iPhone Apps: The Short Answer

Superapp covers the case where you do not have an app yet: it builds the native app and sets up the paywall on StoreKit 2 or RevenueCat. If you already have an app, you do not need a separate paywall tool when you sell one subscription or a one-time unlock and will not test prices, because StoreKit 2 is free and every tool here runs on top of it anyway. You do need one once paywall and price experiments become regular work. The main options are RevenueCat (free up to $2,500 a month in tracked revenue, then 1%), Superwall (free up to $10,000 a month in paywall-attributed revenue, then 1% of that revenue only), Adapty (free under $5,000 a month, then 1%) and Qonversion (0.8% above $7,000). US web checkout keeps more of each sale, about $9.30 of a $9.99 monthly plan against $8.39 to $8.49 through Apple at the 15% rate. But on cheap weekly plans the fixed card fee eats most of that gap, vendor tests show web checkout converting slightly lower, and refunds, chargebacks and tax become your job.

Superapp builds the iPhone app with a StoreKit 2 or RevenueCat paywall inside. For apps you already have, remember that every paywall tool is a layer on Apple's In-App Purchase, not a replacement for it: Apple still takes 15% or 30%, and the tool adds about 1% of gross revenue above a free threshold ($2,500 a month for RevenueCat, $5,000 for Adapty, $10,000 of paywall-attributed revenue for Superwall). A 1% tool pays for itself once it lifts revenue by about 1.2%. US web checkout through Stripe keeps about 93% of a $9.99 sale. On a $4.99 weekly plan, though, the fixed 30-cent card fee eats most of that advantage, and vendor data shows web checkout converting a little lower than in-app.

The Three Decisions, in Order

Decision 1: Do You Need a Separate Paywall Tool at All?

Most apps need one later than their developers think. The reason is simple once you see what these tools actually are.

Every Paywall Tool Is a Layer on Apple's In-App Purchase

None of the major paywall tools takes the payment for an App Store purchase. RevenueCat's docs say "RevenueCat is not the payment processor when your customers make a purchase" (RevenueCat). Superwall's pricing page says it "does not process payments" and that Apple, Google and Stripe do (Superwall). Adapty's iOS docs say "By default, Adapty automatically validates and finishes StoreKit transactions" (Adapty). Superapp's docs describe the same relationship: "RevenueCat does not replace Apple's checkout; it manages subscription state and business tooling around it" (Superapp).

Apple's rules are why. Guideline 3.1.1 says "If you want to unlock features or functionality within your app... you must use in-app purchase" (App Review Guidelines). So the buy sheet, the Face ID confirmation, the price, the refund process and Apple's 15% or 30% are the same whichever tool you choose. This is Apple's In-App Purchase, not Apple Pay. Apple Pay only enters the picture on web checkouts, covered in Decision 3.

What a tool sells you is everything around the purchase:

1. Entitlements: answering "is this user premium right now" across devices and platforms, backed by server-side validation.
2. The paywall screen: a remotely configurable design you can change without an app update.
3. Experiments: splitting traffic between paywalls, prices or offers, and telling you which one earns more.
4. Analytics: MRR, churn, trial conversion, cohorts, LTV predictions, and events sent to your marketing tools.
5. Web checkout: selling through Stripe or Paddle on the web and unlocking the purchase in the app.

The honest reading: a paywall tool is an operations product, and you are paying for speed of iteration, not for the ability to charge.

When StoreKit 2 Alone Is Enough

StoreKit 2 is enough when you sell one subscription group or a one-time unlock, you do not plan to test prices, and you are comfortable writing the entitlement logic yourself. Apple's SwiftUI views make the screen itself easy: SubscriptionStoreView is "A view that merchandises a collection of auto-renewable subscription options that belong to the same subscription group," and it "automatically displays buttons for the terms of service and privacy policy that you submit in App Store Connect." The views need iOS 17 or later; the underlying StoreKit 2 transaction APIs date from iOS 15.

What StoreKit 2 does not give you is the operations layer: no dashboard, no experiments, no remote paywall changes without an app update, and no webhooks to your backend unless you build them against Apple's App Store Server Notifications. Superapp's own documentation puts the rule simply: start with StoreKit for basic monetization, and start with RevenueCat when you are building "a subscription business" (Superapp docs).

Decision 2: What Do Paywall Tools Really Cost? The Full Fee Stack

The paywall tool is the smallest fee you will pay, and it is charged on top of Apple's cut, not instead of it. Here is every layer that can take a share of an iPhone subscription sale in 2026.

Sources: Apple subscriptions, Small Business Program, Stripe pricing, Stripe Managed Payments pricing, Paddle pricing, Adapty pricing. RevenueCat says web purchases through its own billing cost "your usual RevenueCat fee (ie. 1% for Pro users earning $2,500+ in MTR) and Stripe's standard 2.9% + $0.30 transaction fee" (RevenueCat), and web revenue counts toward the 1%.

What You Keep From One Sale, by Payment Route

Our arithmetic, per sale, at September 2026 list prices. It assumes a US domestic card on the web and a paywall tool already past its free threshold, and it excludes sales tax, currency conversion and refunds.

Three things stand out. First, the paywall tool costs one point; Apple's cut is fifteen to thirty times larger. Second, web checkout pays best on higher-priced plans, because the 30-cent fixed card fee is 6% of a $4.99 sale but half a percent of a $59.99 one. RevenueCat itself notes that on a $5 weekly plan "you'd effectively pay Stripe close to 9%" once Stripe Billing is included (RevenueCat). Third, on a $4.99 weekly plan sold through Paddle, you keep exactly what you would through the App Store at 15% with a paywall tool, so the web only wins there if it converts better.

What Does Each Paywall Tool Cost at Your Revenue?

The table below is our own arithmetic at September 2026 list prices, for an app whose revenue all flows through the tool, measured as gross monthly revenue before Apple's cut. For Adapty and Qonversion we assume the percentage applies to the full amount once past the threshold, as RevenueCat's docs state for its own plan; neither vendor publishes a worked example. Add-ons, enterprise discounts and Superapp's own builder plan are excluded.

For scale, Apple's commission on the same revenue is $300, $1,125, $3,750 and $15,000 a month at the 15% Small Business rate, and double that at 30%. The paywall tool is rarely the biggest cost in the stack. Apphud (flat plans plus overage), Helium (per conversion) and the sales-led tools are left out because their cost depends on inputs other than revenue.

Is a Paywall Tool Worth 1%? The Break-Even Math

A 1% tool is worth it if it lifts revenue by more than it costs, compared with going direct on StoreKit 2 for free. Because the fee is on gross revenue while you keep only 85% (or 70%), the bar is slightly higher than 1%.

Our arithmetic: break-even lift is the fee divided by what you keep after it, for example 0.01 / 0.84 = 1.19%. One paywall test that moves conversion by a few percent clears that bar many times over, which is why teams that actually run experiments get value from these tools and teams that install one and never test do not. Adapty's 2026 report goes further and says "Apps that run experiments earn 40x more" than those that do not (Adapty); that is a correlation in its customer base, not proof that testing alone causes it.

Why 1% of Gross Is More Than 1%

RevenueCat and Adapty both bill on revenue before Apple's commission. At the 15% rate, a 1% fee on gross equals about 1.18% of the money that actually reaches you; at 30%, about 1.43%. Apple's own subscription terms mean the rate changes over time: "During a subscriber's first year of service, you receive 70% of the subscription price at each billing cycle... After a subscriber accumulates one year of paid service, your net revenue increases to 85%" (Apple). Developers who earned up to $1 million in proceeds the prior year can join the Small Business Program for a 15% rate on everything. Superwall's model differs because it bills only revenue that converts through its own paywalls, so imported subscribers and sales made elsewhere cost nothing.

Decision 3: Should You Sell on the Web? The Web Payment Funnel Explained

A web payment funnel sells the subscription on a web page, charges the card through Stripe or Paddle, and then unlocks the purchase inside the iPhone app. Apple takes no commission on those US sales today, which is the entire appeal. It comes in two shapes.

App-to-web: a button on your in-app paywall opens a web checkout instead of Apple's sheet. This is US storefront only. RevenueCat calls it the Web Purchase Button, Adapty exposes it as a web paywall URL, and Superwall calls it App2Web.

Web-to-app: the customer never sees an in-app paywall. RevenueCat puts it plainly: "Web-to-app funnels (sometimes written as web2app) do exactly what they sound like: they start on the web and drive users into your app" (RevenueCat). Superwall's version: "Run ads to a web paywall URL, take payment via Stripe, and redeem the subscription" (Superwall).

How a Web Purchase Unlocks Inside the iPhone App

Each tool solves step 6 slightly differently. RevenueCat sends a redemption link on the success page and in the purchase email; "On tapping the redemption link, customers are brought into the mobile app," and "Redemption links expire after 60 minutes" (RevenueCat). Superwall prompts the buyer to download the app and tap a redemption link that deep-links into it (Superwall). Adapty's app-to-web flow builds a checkout URL that carries the user's Adapty profile ID, then "polls for profile updates to confirm the subscription activated" when the user returns (Adapty). If you build with Superapp, entitlement checks already sit in one place, which is what a redemption flow needs to unlock the right features.

This step is where web funnels leak. Adapty's own guide on the subject warns that after the ad, onboarding and checkout, "It feels like the hardest part is over. But here many funnels break" (Adapty).

Does Web Checkout Actually Make More Money?

Sometimes. The best public evidence comes from vendors who sell web checkout, and it is mixed.

Adapty's summary of what separates the winners: "Apple Pay is what makes the web checkout feel as frictionless as IAP. Manual card entry is what kills conversion." RevenueCat's Express Checkout, launched on web paywalls in January 2026, "lets customers complete purchases directly on the paywall using native wallets like Apple Pay and Google Pay" (RevenueCat). That is where Apple Pay belongs in this story: on the web checkout, not inside the app.

What You Take On When You Sell on the Web

Apple's 15% to 30% buys more than payment processing. On the App Store, Apple handles refunds, tax and billing problems. On the web, RevenueCat warns, "you'll need to handle this yourself" (RevenueCat), and "Chargebacks and disputes tend to become more material when you own more of the payment experience" (RevenueCat). A merchant of record takes most of that back for a fee: Stripe Managed Payments handles "global indirect tax (sales, VAT, GST), fraud prevention, dispute responses, and transaction-level support" for 3.5% on top of its payment fees (Stripe), and Paddle bundles it into 5% + 50 cents. In-app purchase must also stay available alongside any web offer, per RevenueCat's reading of the rules (RevenueCat FAQ).

Is Web Checkout Allowed for iPhone Apps? Epic v. Apple in 2026

In the United States, iPhone apps can now link to a web checkout from the paywall. Apple's guideline 3.1.1(a) now says such entitlements "are not required for developers to include buttons, external links, or other calls to action in their United States storefront apps" (App Review Guidelines). This followed the April 30, 2025 district court order in Epic v. Apple.

The commission question is still open. In December 2025 the Ninth Circuit upheld the contempt finding but allowed Apple to seek a commission tied to its actual costs on remand (Ninth Circuit opinion). The Supreme Court agreed on June 30, 2026 to hear Apple's appeal of the contempt ruling (SCOTUSblog). In August 2026 Apple proposed commissions of 15% for standard apps, with lower tiers for program members, as reported by TechCrunch. As of September 2026 that proposal has not been approved and no commission applies to US link-out purchases.

Outside the US, apps still may not include "buttons, external links, or other calls to action that direct customers to purchasing mechanisms other than in-app purchase." Card processing fees apply to web sales, and you take on refunds and customer support that Apple would otherwise handle.

The Paywall Tools, One by One

With those three decisions made, here is what each tool does, what it costs, and where it falls short.

Positioning at a Glance

How We Judged These Tools

Every tool was checked against its own pricing page, documentation, and public review listings in September 2026. We scored six factual questions per tool rather than giving opinion ratings: what it costs and on which revenue definition, whether the paywall renders natively or in a web view, whether you can run price and paywall experiments, whether it supports US web checkout, which platforms its SDK covers, and whether you can leave without rebuilding. Where a vendor's claim could not be verified, we say so. Where two of a vendor's own pages disagree, we show both.

Superapp: Build the App With the Paywall Already In

Superapp is an AI app builder that generates native Swift iPhone apps from a description, and monetization is part of the build rather than a separate integration project. As a disclosure, Superapp is our product, so weigh this accordingly.

Superapp supports three models, a one-time unlock, a subscription, and consumable credits (monetization docs), and two ways to sell them. The StoreKit route uses Apple's ProductView, StoreView, SubscriptionStoreView, or a custom SwiftUI paywall that uses StoreKit for data and transactions (StoreKit paywalls). The RevenueCat route uses a built-in integration: you connect your RevenueCat account, map App Store Connect products to entitlements and offerings, and Superapp builds the paywall, the access checks and the restore flow (RevenueCat paywalls).

The honest limit is that Superapp does not replace Apple or RevenueCat. Its own docs say "prices, subscription groups, introductory offers, review information, and Apple approval still begin with Apple," so you still create products in App Store Connect, and if you choose RevenueCat, RevenueCat's 1% applies above $2,500 a month. Superapp does not document integrations with Superwall or Adapty. Pricing is a free plan with starter credits, then Pro at $25 a month (50 credits), Business at $50 (110 credits) and Max at $100 (230 credits), per the pricing page.

Pitfall: credits are spent on build attempts, so iterating heavily on paywall design inside the builder costs credits, whereas iterating inside RevenueCat's or Superwall's editor after launch does not.

Who it is not for: teams with an existing codebase who only need a paywall SDK.

RevenueCat: The Default Subscription Backend

RevenueCat is the subscription infrastructure most iOS teams start with, and its homepage claims 143,000+ apps and $17B+ in revenue processed (RevenueCat). It was founded in 2017 and went through Y Combinator in Summer 2018 (YC).

Pricing is "Pay nothing for up to $2,500 in monthly tracked revenue," then "1% of what you track once you hit $2,500 in MTR" (pricing). The 1% applies to all tracked revenue once you cross the line, not only the amount above it: RevenueCat's billing docs give the example that "if you earned $2,600 in MTR in the previous billing cycle, you would incur a charge of $26," and MTR is measured "before store commission and taxes" (billing docs). There is also a Growth Tools option to "Bring your own infrastructure and only pay on the conversions from the tools you use, like Paywalls and web-to-app Funnels."

RevenueCat Paywalls lets you "Remotely configure your entire paywall view without code changes" (docs). Paywalls v2 became generally available on June 9, 2025 and says "paywalls are built on-device with 100% native code" (announcement). Experiments let you "Run up to 4 simultaneous variants with prices, layouts, copy, and images" (why RevenueCat). In June 2026 it added a conversational Paywalls AI Editor, predicted-LTV winner predictions in experiments, Express Checkout that "adds Apple Pay and Google Pay buttons directly to your web paywalls and funnels," and Stripe Managed Payments as a merchant of record (June 2026 launch). Its Web Purchase Button is pitched as "Keep 30% more revenue with a single button" (web purchase button).

A G2 reviewer, Nikola B., wrote "It was super easy to integrate it to my iOS app." A critical Capterra reviewer, Robert L., a CTO, wrote in January 2025 that "The support is terrible, the documentation is terrible" (Capterra).

Pitfall: the paywalls do not run on watchOS, tvOS or visionOS, and the fee is on gross revenue, so at scale it is the largest line item after Apple.

Who it is not for: an app with one stable product that will never test prices, where StoreKit 2 does the job for free.

Superwall: Paywall Experiments First

Superwall began as a paywall and A/B testing layer and now describes itself as "a complete, standalone subscription platform for consumer mobile and web apps" (Superwall). It claims "$1.6B+ in annual subscription revenue across 10,000+ apps." It was founded in 2021 and is a Y Combinator Summer 2021 company.

Its pricing is the most unusual in the category. Subscription infrastructure (entitlements, receipt validation, webhooks, revenue analytics) is free at any scale, and the paywall product is "free up to $10k/month in paywall-attributed revenue, then 1% of paywall-attributed revenue" (pricing). Only revenue that converts through a Superwall-rendered paywall is billed, so the pricing page's own example of an app with "$50k/month in subscriptions and no Superwall paywalls in use pays $0." Note that an older Superwall FAQ still lists Startup ($49 a month) and Scale ($199 a month) plans (FAQ); the current pricing page does not, so confirm at signup.

The editor lets you publish changes with "no rebuild, no review queue, no waiting on engineering" (paywall editor), and A/B tests can include a holdout group that sees no paywall at all (A/B testing). Superwall's own research claims multi-page onboarding paywalls convert 37% better than single-page ones across 40M+ opens; that is a vendor claim, not an independent study. Web checkout through Stripe is supported for US storefront customers (web checkout).

Pitfall: paywalls render in a web view. Superwall's own troubleshooting page explains that "Whenever a WKWebView is created, WebKit reserves a chunk of memory (typically 512MB) for virtual machine allocation" (memory docs). It also has a thin public review record: a single G2 review at the time of writing.

Who it is not for: teams that want every screen rendered in native SwiftUI.

Adapty: The Full-Stack Alternative With a Bigger Free Tier

Adapty positions itself as "Revenue management for in-app purchases" and claims 30,000+ apps (about); it was founded in 2019. In February 2026 it moved to a model where it is "now free for apps earning under $5,000/month" and "Once you cross that threshold, the cost is 1% of revenue," replacing a previous "$99/month minimum" (pricing change). Revenue is counted "before the platforms take their cut" (pricing).

Adapty's paywall builder says "Adapty paywalls are built using native components, not webviews" (paywall builder), and its A/B engine offers custom traffic splits. Web paywalls use Stripe or Paddle; Adapty's docs note "The App Store allows external payment options only in the USA and Japan" (web paywall docs). Paid add-ons sit on top of the 1%: Refund Saver at 0.2% of revenue above $5,000, Ads Manager at 3.5% of ad spend, Adapty Mail at a 20% revenue share, and attribution at $0.03 per attributed install.

G2 reviewer Sachin S. wrote in December 2025, "The setup was much easier than I expected. The SDK integration was straightforward." Another G2 reviewer that same month wrote, "I dislike that almost all features are locked behind a paywall, and on the free version you're very limited" (G2); that complaint predates the February 2026 change that put the paywall builder and A/B testing in the free tier.

Pitfall: the add-ons are where the bill grows, so price the add-ons you will actually use, not only the headline 1%.

Who it is not for: teams that only want a paywall layer on top of an existing backend.

Qonversion: Full Stack at 0.8%

Qonversion charges "0.8% of tracked revenue," free up to $7,000 in monthly tracked revenue, and states "No feature gates. No upgrade prompts. If it's in the product, it's in Pro" (pricing). The Pro plan includes analytics, A/B experiments, the No-Code Paywall Builder, Refund Keeper and integrations. Its builder lets you "create, customize, and update paywalls, onboarding flows, and promotional screens without releasing a new app version" (docs), and it supports Stripe web checkout funnels. It holds 4.9 on G2 from 43 reviews.

Pitfall: some of its G2 praise and criticism dates from 2022, including a reviewer who said it "lacks some features that are readily available elsewhere," so test the current builder rather than relying on old reviews.

Who it is not for: teams that need the largest ecosystem of tutorials and third-party integrations.

Apphud: Figma Paywalls and iOS Retention Screens

Apphud offers a Free plan with $10,000 of monthly tracked revenue included, then Pro at $49 a month and Expert at $59 a month, with overage at $9.99 and $11.99 per additional $1,000 of MTR (pricing). The Free plan excludes experiments, the visual screen builder, web-to-app and integrations. Its paywall screens are designed in Figma, and per its docs "the Apphud SDK loads and renders it natively" (docs). Its retention screens for promos, surveys and billing issues are iOS only. It claims 14,000+ apps and holds 4.9 on G2 (25 reviews) and 5.0 on Capterra (17).

Pitfall: the paid plans' included-revenue wording on its own pricing page is garbled at the time of writing, so ask for a written quote before you commit.

Who it is not for: Unity apps, since paywall screens do not support Unity.

Purchasely: Enterprise No-Code Screens

Purchasely publishes no pricing and routes buyers to sales (Purchasely). Its pitch is "Design and publish any in-app screen yourself. No developer ticket, no sprint planning and no app store review needed," plus flows, audience targeting and an AI agent, with customers including Headspace, The Times and Busuu. It holds 4.6 on G2 from 21 reviews.

Pitfall: no self-serve pricing means no quick trial for an indie app.

Who it is not for: solo developers and early apps.

Helium: Per-Conversion Pricing for AI Paywalls

Helium is a Y Combinator Summer 2024 company with seven employees at the time of writing (YC). Its Indie plan is free "Up to 250 conversions/mo," then $0.30 per conversion (pricing), which makes it the only tool here billed per conversion rather than by revenue. It offers AI paywall creation, Figma import, A/B and multivariate tests, and can run on StoreKit directly or alongside RevenueCat through a delegate (iOS quickstart).

Pitfall: per-conversion pricing hurts cheap weekly plans more than expensive annual ones, because you pay the same $0.30 on a $2.99 sale as on a $59.99 sale.

Who it is not for: teams that need a long vendor track record.

FreemiumKit: Indie, Apple-Only, Currently Free

FreemiumKit, built by independent developer Cihat Gündüz, says it "is completely free to use at the moment for everyone," with a published future price table that starts at $5 a month above $500 of monthly App Store income and tops out at $500 a month above $75,000 (docs). It frames its difference plainly: "RevenueCat focuses on growth for already successful customers, whereas FreemiumKit focuses on convenience for beginners and Indie developers." It ships localized paywall designs for Apple platforms, compares up to four designs, and creates products in App Store Connect for you.

Pitfall: its pricing page carries a 2024 date, so confirm whether billing has started before you plan around "free".

Who it is not for: any app that might later ship on Android.

Nami ML: Subscription Orchestration at Scale

Nami ML sells annual custom contracts with no free tier and says "Teams working with us typically have 100,000+ active subscribers, or a clear path to that scale inside the year" (pricing). It covers iOS, Android, web and connected-TV platforms from one dashboard.

Pitfall and who it is not for: by its own statement, any app below that scale.

StoreKit 2 and Xcode: Free, Native, Manual

Apple's StoreKit 2 costs nothing beyond Apple's commission. You get verified transactions ("StoreKit automatically verifies the Transaction, Product.SubscriptionInfo.RenewalInfo, and AppTransaction values," per Apple), current entitlements, and SwiftUI views for products and subscriptions. At WWDC25 Apple added offer codes for consumables and non-consumables and a new SubscriptionOfferView for merchandising subscription offers (WWDC25 session 241).

Pitfall: every change to the paywall is an app update and a review, and analytics are limited to App Store Connect.

Who it is not for: anyone who wants to test prices weekly.

What Happened to Glassfy?

Glassfy shut down. Its own SDK repository says "Glassfy SDKs are deprecated. Glassfy will be ceasing operations by the end of 2024" (GitHub). Both RevenueCat and Adapty published migration guides. Do not follow old links to Glassfy's former domain.

Best Paywall Tools Compared Side by Side

What the Data Says About Paywalls That Work

The two largest public datasets both come from paywall vendors, so read them as industry benchmarks rather than neutral research.

RevenueCat's report covers "over 115,000 apps, representing more than $16 billion in revenue," and Adapty's covers 16,000 apps with $3B in subscription revenue. The practical reading: put the paywall early (RevenueCat reports that nearly all trial starts happen on Day 0), test trial length rather than defaulting to three days, and treat hard paywalls as a serious option rather than a hostile one.

Apple's Rules Every iPhone Paywall Must Follow

Every tool on this list still has to produce a paywall Apple will approve, and most rejections here are about what the screen shows, not code.

The price-prominence rule matters most for paywall design. A common pattern is showing "$0.96 a week" in large type for an annual plan; Apple's guidance says the annual amount billed must be the largest price, with the weekly equivalent "in a subordinate position and size."

Native vs Web View Paywalls: Does It Matter?

It matters for load time, memory and feel, and less for conversion than vendors on either side suggest. RevenueCat Paywalls v2 are built "with 100% native code" in SwiftUI, Adapty says its paywalls are "built using native components, not webviews," Apphud renders Figma designs natively, and Superapp's StoreKit paywalls are native SwiftUI. Superwall renders in a WKWebView, which is what lets one design run identically on iOS, Android and web and lets its editor offer near-unlimited layout freedom, at the cost of the memory behavior its own docs describe. If your paywall appears at app launch on older iPhones, test the load time on a real device before choosing.

RevenueCat vs Superwall

RevenueCat is subscription infrastructure with a paywall editor; Superwall is a paywall and experimentation engine that now includes free infrastructure. Choose RevenueCat for native rendering, the largest integration ecosystem and a 1% fee on all revenue above $2,500. Choose Superwall if paywall testing is your main growth lever and you want to pay only on revenue its paywalls produce, free up to $10,000 a month. Many teams run both: Superwall's pricing page says you can "Use RevenueCat as your entitlements source of truth with Superwall," and RevenueCat lists Superwall as an integration.

RevenueCat vs Adapty

They are the closest substitutes on this list: both are full-stack, both render native paywalls, both bill 1% of gross. Adapty is free for longer ($5,000 vs $2,500 a month) and offers custom experiment splits, but charges separately for add-ons such as Refund Saver. RevenueCat has the larger install base (143,000+ apps vs 30,000+) and more third-party guides. Adapty publishes a migration guide from RevenueCat.

Superwall vs Adapty

Superwall bills only paywall-attributed revenue and renders in a web view; Adapty bills all tracked revenue above $5,000 and renders natively. If most of your revenue will come through the paywall anyway, the costs converge at 1%, and the decision is web-view flexibility against native rendering.

RevenueCat vs StoreKit 2

StoreKit 2 is free and native but leaves dashboards, experiments and remote changes to you; RevenueCat adds all three for 1% above $2,500 a month. Superapp covers this decision in detail in its RevenueCat or StoreKit guide, and supports both, so you can start on StoreKit and move to RevenueCat once pricing becomes something you iterate on.

Can You Combine Paywall Tools?

Yes, and it is common. Superwall can use RevenueCat for purchases and entitlements while it handles the paywall and experiments. Helium can sit on top of StoreKit or RevenueCat. Superapp can build a RevenueCat paywall and leave RevenueCat as the source of truth. The rule is to have exactly one system decide who is premium, and let the others read from it.

Which Paywall Tool Fits Your Stage?

Which Paywall Tool Fits Your App Type?

Pick It or Skip It

Decide in Five Questions

1. Do you have an app yet? If not, start with Superapp and choose StoreKit 2 or RevenueCat at build time.
2. Will you test paywalls or prices at least monthly? If not, StoreKit 2 alone is enough, since every tool runs on Apple's In-App Purchase anyway.
3. Is your revenue under $2,500 a month? Every major tool is free there, so choose on features and native rendering (RevenueCat, Adapty, Apphud) versus web-view flexibility (Superwall).
4. Are most of your buyers in the US, on yearly or higher-priced plans, and arriving from ads you control? If yes, test a web payment funnel through RevenueCat, Superwall, Adapty or Qonversion. If not, stay in-app.
5. Can you handle refunds, disputes and sales tax yourself? If not, budget for a merchant of record (Stripe Managed Payments at 3.5% extra, or Paddle at 5% + 50 cents) before comparing web and App Store margins.

What Users Say About Each Tool

Scores were checked in September 2026. Review counts under about 20 say more about how few people left reviews than about the product. The recurring themes are consistent: RevenueCat reviewers praise integration speed and criticize support response times, Adapty reviewers praise setup and, before February 2026, criticized free-tier limits, and Qonversion and Apphud reviewers praise dashboards and setup.

Switching Paywall Tools Later

Switching is easier than most developers fear, because the subscriptions themselves live with Apple. Changing tools does not cancel anyone's subscription; what you move is purchase history, customer IDs and your paywall designs. Adapty and Superwall both publish migration guides from RevenueCat, RevenueCat and Adapty both published guides for Glassfy users, and Superwall does not bill imported subscribers. The expensive part of switching is rebuilding paywall designs and experiment history, which is a reason to keep entitlement checks in one place in your code, as Superapp's generated apps do by checking an entitlement rather than a button tap.

Mistakes to Avoid

• Adding a paywall SDK before you have anything to test. Below $2,500 a month it is free, but it is still a dependency.
• Comparing headline percentages without checking the revenue definition. Gross vs net and all vs attributed revenue change the bill.
• Showing a weekly-equivalent price larger than the amount actually billed, which conflicts with Apple's price-prominence guidance.
• Forgetting the restore button. Apple requires a restore mechanism for restorable purchases.
• Letting two systems decide who is premium. Pick one source of truth.
• Assuming a web checkout is free. Card fees, refunds, disputes and tax become yours.
• Moving cheap weekly plans to the web. The 30-cent card fee erases most of the saving on a $4.99 sale.
• Removing In-App Purchase when you add web checkout. It has to stay available, and many buyers will still prefer it.
• Skipping Apple Pay on the web checkout. Vendor data points to manual card entry as the main conversion killer.
• Forgetting the redeem step. A web buyer who never gets unlocked in the app becomes a refund or a chargeback.
• Running an experiment without a holdout or long enough sample, then shipping the "winner".

Glossary

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the best paywall tool for an iPhone app?
Superapp is the quickest option if you are building a new app, because it wires a StoreKit 2 or RevenueCat paywall into the native app it generates. For an existing app, RevenueCat is the safest default, Superwall is strongest for paywall experiments, and Adapty has the largest free tier among full-stack platforms.

Are RevenueCat, Superwall and Adapty just wrappers around Apple's in-app purchase?
For App Store sales, yes. They do not process the payment; Apple's In-App Purchase does, and Apple still takes 15% or 30%. The tools add entitlements, remote paywalls, experiments, analytics and web checkout around it.

Do I need a paywall tool if I only sell one subscription?
Usually not. StoreKit 2 is free, verifies transactions, and includes SwiftUI paywall views. A tool earns its fee once you test paywalls or prices regularly.

What are the full fees on an iPhone subscription?
Apple takes 30%, or 15% under the Small Business Program or after a subscriber's first year. A paywall tool adds about 1% of gross revenue above its free threshold. Web sales instead pay card fees, 2.9% + 30 cents on Stripe in the US, plus the tool's 1%.

What is a web-to-app funnel?
A funnel where an ad sends people to a web page with onboarding and a paywall, they pay through Stripe or Paddle, then download the app and unlock the purchase with a redemption link. Apple takes no commission on those US sales today.

How does a web purchase unlock in the iPhone app?
Through a redemption link, QR code or email. RevenueCat's redemption links open the app and attach the purchase to the user, and they expire after 60 minutes. Superwall uses a deep link, and Adapty ties the checkout to the user's profile ID.

Does web checkout convert better than in-app purchase?
Not usually on its own. RevenueCat's own test saw 7.4% conversion with web added versus 7.8% in-app only. Adapty's customer data shows some apps earning more per viewer on the web and others earning less. Apple Pay on the web checkout is the biggest factor.

Is Apple Pay the same as in-app purchase?
No. In-app purchases use Apple's In-App Purchase system through StoreKit. Apple Pay is a wallet payment method that appears on web checkouts, such as RevenueCat's Express Checkout.

Is RevenueCat free?
Yes, up to $2,500 in monthly tracked revenue. Above that, RevenueCat charges 1% of all tracked revenue, measured before Apple's commission, so $2,600 of revenue costs $26.

How much does Superwall cost?
Superwall's infrastructure is free at any scale, and its paywall product is free up to $10,000 a month in paywall-attributed revenue, then 1% of paywall-attributed revenue. An older FAQ lists $49 and $199 plans, so confirm at signup.

How much does Adapty cost?
Adapty is free for apps earning under $5,000 a month and then charges 1% of revenue, measured before the store's cut. Add-ons such as Refund Saver and Adapty Mail are billed separately.

Which paywall tool is cheapest?
StoreKit 2 is free. Among managed platforms, Qonversion has the lowest percentage at 0.8% above $7,000 a month, and Superwall is free the longest if your revenue does not flow through its paywalls.

Do I need RevenueCat, or is StoreKit 2 enough?
StoreKit 2 is enough for one subscription group or a one-time unlock with no plans to test prices. RevenueCat is worth it once you want dashboards, experiments or paywall changes without app updates.

Is RevenueCat worth 1%?
Usually, if you run experiments. Because the fee is on gross revenue, you need about a 1.2% revenue lift at Apple's 15% rate, or 1.45% at 30%, to break even against free StoreKit 2.

RevenueCat vs Superwall: which is better?
RevenueCat is better as native subscription infrastructure; Superwall is better as a paywall testing engine billed only on the revenue its paywalls produce. Many apps use both, with RevenueCat as the entitlement source of truth.

RevenueCat vs Adapty: what is the difference?
Both are full-stack and bill 1% of gross revenue. Adapty is free up to $5,000 a month versus RevenueCat's $2,500 and offers custom experiment splits; RevenueCat has the larger install base and ecosystem.

Can I use Superwall with RevenueCat?
Yes. Superwall can use RevenueCat as the entitlements source of truth, and RevenueCat lists Superwall as an integration. Superwall also works without RevenueCat.

Are Superwall paywalls native?
No. Superwall renders paywalls in a WKWebView. RevenueCat Paywalls v2, Adapty and Apphud render natively.

Can my iPhone app link to a web checkout to avoid Apple's fee?
In the US storefront, yes, under Apple's updated guideline 3.1.1(a). As of September 2026 no commission applies to those link-out purchases, but Apple has proposed one and the case is before the Supreme Court. Outside the US, external purchase links are still not allowed.

Which paywall tools support web checkout?
RevenueCat, Superwall, Adapty and Qonversion support US web checkout, mainly through Stripe. Superapp supports it through its RevenueCat integration.

What happened to Glassfy?
Glassfy ceased operations at the end of 2024. RevenueCat and Adapty both published migration guides for its users.

Does Superapp work with RevenueCat?
Yes. Superapp has a built-in RevenueCat integration and can also build paywalls directly on StoreKit 2 using ProductView, StoreView, SubscriptionStoreView or a custom SwiftUI screen.

Should I use a hard paywall or freemium?
RevenueCat's 2026 data shows a median day-35 download-to-paid rate of 10.7% for hard paywalls versus 2.1% for freemium. Freemium can still make sense when a free tier drives word of mouth.

How long should a free trial be?
RevenueCat's 2026 data shows trials of 17 days or more convert at 42.5% versus 25.5% for short trials, yet nearly half of apps use four days or less. Test it rather than defaulting to three days.

What must an iPhone paywall show to pass App Review?
What the user gets for the price, the full renewal price as the most prominent price, the subscription name and duration, and a way to restore purchases or sign in.

Is switching paywall tools hard?
Less than it looks. Subscriptions live with Apple, so switching does not cancel them. You migrate purchase history and rebuild paywall designs, and several vendors publish migration guides.

Which paywall tool is best for an indie developer?
StoreKit 2 or FreemiumKit for Apple-only apps with simple pricing, and RevenueCat, Adapty or Superwall once you want experiments, since all three are free at indie revenue levels.

Related Guides

• RevenueCat or StoreKit? (Superapp docs)
• How to set up RevenueCat paywalls in Superapp
• How to build StoreKit paywalls in Superapp
• How to Make Money From an App in 2026
• How to Publish an App to the App Store
• Best Native App Makers 2026

References

• Superapp docs: Monetization, RevenueCat or StoreKit, RevenueCat paywalls, StoreKit paywalls, Pricing
• RevenueCat: Pricing, Billing docs, Paywalls docs, Paywalls v2, June 2026 launch, Web Purchase Button, State of Subscription Apps 2026
• Superwall: Homepage, Pricing, Pricing FAQ, Paywall editor, A/B testing, Web checkout, Memory docs, Using RevenueCat
• Adapty: Pricing, 2026 pricing change, Paywall builder, Web paywall, About, State of In-App Subscriptions
• Others: Qonversion pricing, Apphud pricing, Apphud paywall screens, Purchasely, Helium pricing, FreemiumKit docs, Nami ML pricing, Glassfy SDK
• Apple: App Review Guidelines, Auto-renewable subscriptions, Small Business Program, SubscriptionStoreView, WWDC25 session 241
• Fees and web checkout: Stripe pricing, Stripe Managed Payments, Managed Payments pricing, Paddle pricing, RevenueCat Billing, RevenueCat: not the payment processor, RevenueCat redemption links, RevenueCat web FAQ, RevenueCat web-to-app funnels, RevenueCat app-to-web test, RevenueCat Express Checkout, Superwall web2app, Adapty StoreKit transactions, Adapty app-to-web one-year data, Adapty on broken web funnels
• Epic v. Apple: Ninth Circuit opinion, SCOTUSblog, TechCrunch, Aug 2026
• Reviews: RevenueCat on G2, RevenueCat on Capterra, Adapty on G2, Qonversion on G2, Apphud on G2, Purchasely on G2, Superwall on G2