# 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

# AppStance

The AppStance integration sends Superwall subscription and payment events to the AppStance platform for Apple Ads ROAS optimization. Automatically forward iOS transaction data with Apple Search Ads attribution for campaign performance analysis.

> **Note:** This integration is currently in **Beta**. Features and behavior may change. If you encounter any issues, please reach out to support.

In the **Analytics** section within **Integrations**, you can connect your AppStance account to Superwall.

AppStance (formerly Search Ads Optimization / SAO) is an Apple Ads ROAS optimization platform. This integration automatically forwards iOS subscription lifecycle events along with Apple Search Ads attribution data to AppStance, enabling you to measure and optimize your Apple Ads campaign performance.

### Required fields

Fill out the following fields and **click** the **Enable AppStance** button at the bottom right to save your changes:

* **Integration ID:** Must be set to `appstance`.
* **Anonymous User Behavior:** Whether to send or skip events for anonymous users (optional).

### Features

* **Apple Ads ROAS Optimization**: Connects subscription revenue to Apple Search Ads campaigns
* **Automatic ASA Attribution**: Forwards Apple Search Ads attribution fields (org, campaign, ad group, keyword, and more)
* **iOS-Only Filtering**: Automatically filters out non-App Store events (Play Store and Stripe events are skipped)
* **Production-Only**: Sandbox events are skipped to keep optimization data clean
* **No Authentication Required**: The AppStance endpoint is public and does not require API keys
* **Device Identifier Forwarding**: Sends IDFV and IDFA when available

### Configuration

#### Optional settings

| Field                     | Description                                | Example                  |
| ------------------------- | ------------------------------------------ | ------------------------ |
| `anonymous_user_behavior` | Whether to send events for anonymous users | `"send"` or `"dontSend"` |

#### Example configuration

```json
{
  "anonymous_user_behavior": "send"
}
```

### Event mapping

AppStance uses its own event name mapping, which differs from the standard Superwall event mapping used by other integrations.

| Superwall Event         | Period Type | AppStance Event Name |
| ----------------------- | ----------- | -------------------- |
| `initial_purchase`      | `TRIAL`     | `free_trial`         |
| `initial_purchase`      | Any other   | `initial_purchase`   |
| `renewal`               | Any         | `renewal`            |
| `cancellation`          | Any         | `cancellation`       |
| `billing_issue`         | Any         | `billing_issue`      |
| `product_change`        | Any         | `product_change`     |
| `non_renewing_purchase` | Any         | `initial_purchase`   |
| `test`                  | Any         | `test`               |

### Event payload

Every event sent to AppStance includes the following fields:

#### Core fields

| Field                 | Type    | Description                                                           |
| --------------------- | ------- | --------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| `user_id`             | string  | User identifier (uses `originalAppUserId` or `originalTransactionId`) |
| `install_timestamp`   | number  | Timestamp from `purchasedAt`                                          |
| `country_code`        | string  | Country code of the user                                              |
| `store`               | string  | Always `APP_STORE` (non-iOS events are filtered out)                  |
| `event_unique_id`     | string  | Unique event identifier                                               |
| `event_name`          | string  | Mapped event name (see table above)                                   |
| `event_timestamp`     | number  | Timestamp of the event                                                |
| `period_type`         | string  | Subscription period type                                              |
| `price_usd`           | number  | Transaction price in USD                                              |
| `proceeds_usd`        | number  | Proceeds after store fees in USD                                      |
| `is_trial_conversion` | boolean | Whether this event is a trial-to-paid conversion                      |

#### Revenue fields

| Field                  | Type   | Description                               |
| ---------------------- | ------ | ----------------------------------------- |
| `revenue_raw_amount`   | number | Price in the original purchased currency  |
| `revenue_raw_currency` | string | Currency code of the original transaction |

#### Transaction fields

| Field                     | Type    | Description                                  |
| ------------------------- | ------- | -------------------------------------------- |
| `bundle_id`               | string  | App bundle identifier                        |
| `transaction_id`          | string  | Transaction identifier                       |
| `original_transaction_id` | string  | Original transaction identifier              |
| `product_id`              | string  | Product identifier                           |
| `new_product_id`          | string  | New product identifier (for product changes) |
| `is_small_business`       | boolean | Whether the Small Business Program applies   |
| `environment`             | string  | Transaction environment                      |
| `project_id`              | string  | Superwall project identifier                 |
| `application_id`          | string  | Application identifier (currently null)      |

### Apple Search Ads attribution

AppStance extracts Apple Search Ads (ASA) attribution data from user attributes and includes it in every event payload. This is the core data that powers Apple Ads ROAS optimization.

| Field                   | Description                                  |
| ----------------------- | -------------------------------------------- |
| `asa_org_id`            | Apple Search Ads organization ID             |
| `asa_campaign_id`       | Campaign identifier                          |
| `asa_adgroup_id`        | Ad group identifier                          |
| `asa_keyword_id`        | Keyword identifier                           |
| `asa_ad_id`             | Ad identifier                                |
| `asa_country_or_region` | Country or region for the campaign           |
| `asa_conversion_type`   | Conversion type (e.g., Download, Redownload) |
| `asa_click_date`        | Date of the ad click                         |
| `asa_claim_type`        | Claim type                                   |
| `asa_impression_date`   | Date of the ad impression                    |

For ASA attribution data to be available, ensure your app has the [Apple Search Ads integration](/docs/integrations/apple-search-ads) configured and that the Superwall SDK is collecting attribution data on the client side.

### Device identifiers

AppStance includes device identifiers from user attributes when available:

| Field  | Description                                       |
| ------ | ------------------------------------------------- |
| `idfv` | Identifier for Vendor                             |
| `idfa` | Identifier for Advertisers (requires ATT consent) |

These identifiers are extracted from `userAttributes` on the event. If your app collects IDFA (after obtaining App Tracking Transparency consent), it will be forwarded automatically.

### Sandbox handling

AppStance is a **production-only** integration. Sandbox events are automatically skipped and are not sent to AppStance. This ensures that test transactions do not affect your ROAS optimization data.

Additionally, only App Store (iOS) events are forwarded. Events originating from Google Play Store or Stripe are filtered out, since AppStance is focused exclusively on Apple Ads optimization.

### User identification

The integration identifies users using the following hierarchy:

1. **Primary**: `originalAppUserId` (if available)
2. **Fallback**: `originalTransactionId` (always present)

If `anonymous_user_behavior` is set to `"dontSend"`, events for users without a resolved identity are skipped.

### Testing the integration

#### 1\. Trigger a test event

Use the `test` event type to verify connectivity. The integration maps `test` events to the `test` event name in AppStance.

#### 2\. Trigger production events

Since AppStance skips sandbox events, you will need to test with production transactions:

* iOS: Use TestFlight with a sandbox Apple ID. Note that StoreKit Configuration files do not generate App Store Server Notifications, so webhooks and downstream integrations will not fire.
* Verify that events appear in your AppStance dashboard.

#### 3\. Verify ASA attribution

Confirm that Apple Search Ads attribution fields are populated:

1. Ensure the Apple Search Ads integration is enabled in Superwall.
2. Install your app via an Apple Search Ad (or use a test campaign).
3. Make a purchase and check that `asa_campaign_id` and related fields are present in AppStance.

### Best practices

1. **Enable Apple Search Ads**: Ensure the [Apple Search Ads integration](/docs/integrations/apple-search-ads) is configured so that ASA attribution data flows through to AppStance.
2. **Collect IDFA**: Request App Tracking Transparency consent to maximize device identifier coverage for attribution matching.
3. **Set User IDs Early**: Send `originalAppUserId` to Superwall as early as possible so that AppStance can consistently identify users across events.
4. **Use Anonymous User Filtering**: Set `anonymous_user_behavior` to `"dontSend"` if you want to exclude events that lack a resolved user identity.
5. **Monitor Production Data**: Since sandbox events are filtered, verify your integration using production transactions or the `test` event type.

### Troubleshooting

#### Events not appearing in AppStance

1. **Check Platform**: Only iOS (App Store) events are sent. Play Store and Stripe events are automatically filtered out.
2. **Check Environment**: Sandbox events are skipped. Ensure you are testing with production transactions.
3. **Check Anonymous Users**: If `anonymous_user_behavior` is `"dontSend"`, events for anonymous users are skipped.

#### Missing ASA attribution data

1. **Check Apple Search Ads Integration**: Ensure the Apple Search Ads integration is enabled in Superwall settings.
2. **Check SDK Version**: The Superwall SDK must be collecting ASA attribution data on the client side.
3. **Check Timing**: There is a delay between app install via a search ad and when Apple sends attribution data. Events that fire before attribution data arrives will have empty ASA fields.

#### Events not mapping correctly

1. **Check Event Type**: Verify the Superwall event name matches one of the supported types in the event mapping table.
2. **Check Period Type**: For `initial_purchase` events, the period type determines whether the event maps to `free_trial` or `initial_purchase`.
3. **Non-renewing purchases**: These are mapped to `initial_purchase` in AppStance regardless of period type.