# 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

# Paywall Localization

To localize your paywall, **click** on the **Localization** button from the **sidebar**:

![](https://json-ld-superwall-docs-staging.staffbar.workers.dev/docs/images/localizeSidebar.png)

There are two ways to localize your paywall:

![](https://json-ld-superwall-docs-staging.staffbar.workers.dev/docs/images/pe-editor-localize-modes.jpeg)

1. **Simple**: Here, you can use AI to localize your paywall into any language. You can manually refine each value at any point. Quick and accurate.
2. **Advanced**: User external .strings files to localize your paywall. This is ideal when you are using external localization services.

> **Note:** You can switch between the two methods at any time.

### Simple localization

Simple localization covers all translatable content on your paywall, including text elements and [multiple choice](/docs/dashboard/dashboard-creating-paywalls/paywall-editor-multiple-choice-component) labels. Choice labels are treated the same as text: they appear in the translation panel, are included in CSV exports, and are covered by AI auto-translate.

Once enabled, a new side panel will present to help you localize you paywall:

![](https://json-ld-superwall-docs-staging.staffbar.workers.dev/docs/images/pe-editor-simple-ui-localize.jpeg)

You can control localization with the options at the top:

![](https://json-ld-superwall-docs-staging.staffbar.workers.dev/docs/images/pe-editor-top-options.jpeg)

Here's what each options does, left-to-right:

| Name          | Description                                                                                                             |
| ------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| Localization  | Opens a menu with options to access AI localize settings, switch to advanced localizations, or clear all localizations. |
| Missing Only  | Filters the list to show only keys that have no localized value.                                                        |
| Import/Export | Allows importing or exporting localization data as a `.csv` file.                                                       |
| AI Localize   | Starts the AI-powered localization process for selected keys.                                                           |
| Add Language  | Lets you specify a new language to add for localization.                                                                |

To start the AI localization process, **click** on the **Add Language** button. Then, choose **AI Localize**. Superwall will being to localize each value, while respecting the AI Localize settings in place:

![](https://json-ld-superwall-docs-staging.staffbar.workers.dev/docs/images/pe-editor-localize-in-progress.jpeg)

Once finished, you'll see all localized values:

![](https://json-ld-superwall-docs-staging.staffbar.workers.dev/docs/images/pe-editor-localize-done.jpeg)

> **Tip:** You can click on any value to edit it manually.

#### AI localization settings

You can customize how AI localization behaves by changing the settings in the **AI Localize Settings** menu:

![](https://json-ld-superwall-docs-staging.staffbar.workers.dev/docs/images/pe-editor-localize-settings.jpeg)

The **Formality Style** lets you toggle between formal and informal language. Use the **Localization Style Guide** to provide specific instructions to your brand's voice accurately.

#### Managing languages

To remove or reset a language, **click** on the **three dotts** button next to the language:

![](https://json-ld-superwall-docs-staging.staffbar.workers.dev/docs/images/pe-editor-localize-remove-reset.png)

To switch back and forth between languages, simply **click** the language at the top:

![](https://json-ld-superwall-docs-staging.staffbar.workers.dev/docs/images/pe-editor-localize-change.jpeg)

### Advanced localization

After opening the localization panel referenced above, **click** on the **Add Language** button. Choose the language identifier of the locale you're localizing for, and **click** on **Add**:

![](https://json-ld-superwall-docs-staging.staffbar.workers.dev/docs/images/localizeAddLanguage.png)

If there are any existing text components on your paywall, all of them with currently *unlocalized* strings will populate in the sidebar (in this example, we're localizing our text for Spanish speakers):

![](https://json-ld-superwall-docs-staging.staffbar.workers.dev/docs/images/localizeMissingStrings.png)

Click on the **Localize** button on any of them to enter in localized values. When you're done, click **Save**:

![](https://json-ld-superwall-docs-staging.staffbar.workers.dev/docs/images/localizeModalExample.png)

From there, go through and localize all of the values. Keep an eye on the progress bar at the top to see how far along you are. Remember to **click** on the **Publish** button at the top right of the editor to commit any localization edits.

> **Tip:** When you are localizing strings, the editor will reflect the locale you're editing against so you
> can see a live preview of how the text will appear.

#### Associating localized strings to new or existing text components

When you add new text components, or need to associate a different localization to an existing one — **click** the **Localize** button when the text component is selected. You can either use an existing localized string, or add a new one by clicking the plus button:

![](https://json-ld-superwall-docs-staging.staffbar.workers.dev/docs/images/localizeViaTextStep1.png)

When a text component has a localized string attached to it, you'll see the localized string's key in place of the localize button:

![](https://json-ld-superwall-docs-staging.staffbar.workers.dev/docs/images/localizeViaTextStep3.png)

> **Tip:** You can use variables with localized strings, too. Simply use liquid syntax within your localized
> string values to access any variable. Currently, variables themselves are not able to be
> localized. Learn more about using variables [here](/docs/dashboard/dashboard-creating-paywalls/paywall-editor-variables).

#### Using .strings files

You can download and import .strings files to speed up your translations. This is ideal when you are using external localization services or have a large number of strings to localize.

#### Exporting .strings files

Select **Localization** from the left sidebar, **click** on the **Import** button. Choose "Download template" and the .strings file will be downloaded with all of your currently localized strings:

![](https://json-ld-superwall-docs-staging.staffbar.workers.dev/docs/images/overviewLocalizationImportExport.jpeg)

#### Importing .strings files

Select **Localization** from the left sidebar, **click** on the **Import** button.  Choose "Import Strings File" and select your local .strings file to upload. Then, all of the updated values will be reflected in the editor.

### Localizing period lengths

Superwall will automatically localize period lengths for products. Simply use any of the period-based variables in your text:

![](https://json-ld-superwall-docs-staging.staffbar.workers.dev/docs/images/auto-localize-period.jpeg)

For example:

```liquid
Analyze the math of caffeine this {{ products.primary.period | locale: "en" }}

// English, French, and any or any other localized regions you support...
Analyze the math of caffeine this year
Analysez les chiffres de la caféine ce année
```

You can override and remove auto-localization on specific items by setting a `locale` filter:

```liquid
Analyze the math of caffeine this {{ products.primary.period | locale: “en” }}

// Now, it'll show in English in every language 
Analysez les chiffres de la caféine ce year
```

### Testing localized strings

You can preview how localized strings will appear on device. To set this up:

1. Make sure you've got [in-app previews](/docs/sdk/quickstart/in-app-paywall-previews) configured.
2. Open the paywall editor and click "Preview":
   
![](https://json-ld-superwall-docs-staging.staffbar.workers.dev/docs/images/localizePreview.jpeg)

3. When it opens, tap the menu located at the top left and choose "Localization":
   
![](https://json-ld-superwall-docs-staging.staffbar.workers.dev/docs/images/localizeMenuButton.jpg)

4. Then, select the language to display and the preview will reload with it:
   
![](https://json-ld-superwall-docs-staging.staffbar.workers.dev/docs/images/localizeResult.jpg)