Key Findings
- With only 24% of users staying beyond day one, an intuitive onboarding experience — featuring interactive walkthroughs and milestone-based tutorials — can dramatically cut early churn.
- Failed payments drive 20-40% of churn, but automated retries and proactive billing reminders can recover lost revenue and keep more subscribers on board.
- Since 71% of consumers expect personalization, AI-driven recommendations and behavior-based messaging can boost engagement and reduce cancellations.
In this article we’ll cover proven methods to reduce churn rate in subscription-based apps, increase user lifetime value, and protect long-term revenue, based on industry best practices and successful real-world examples.
Table of Contents
What’s Causing Your Users To Leave?
Knowing why users cancel their subscriptions is essential to fixing churn and improving retention. Let’s break down why this happens.
- Poor onboarding experiences
- Missing the mark on value
- Technical hiccups and slow performance
- Poor customer support
- Not enough engagement
- Frustrating pricing or payment issues
- Temptation from the competition
Poor Onboarding Experiences
The first moments a new user spends with your app are critical. If their onboarding is clunky or overwhelming, they might decide your app isn’t for them — right from the start. For instance, studies show that only about 24% of users stick around past the first day, and that number drops sharply over the next few weeks.
When users don’t get to their “aha moment” quickly, they’re more likely to drift away.
Missing the Mark on Value
If users can’t see the unique benefit your app offers, they won’t stick around. Many customers cancel because they simply don’t feel they’re getting enough bang for their buck. A study by Paddle identified a weak value proposition as a significant cause of customer churn, highlighting the need for apps to clearly communicate and deliver their unique benefits.
Technical Hiccups and Slow Performance
Nothing drives users away faster than bugs and slow load times. Technical issues can turn a promising app into a frustrating experience. Keeping your app stable and fast isn’t just nice-to-have—it’s a must if you want to reduce churn.
Poor Customer Support
When users run into problems, they expect help — fast. Inadequate or unresponsive support can quickly sour the user experience. voidable customer churn costs UK businesses alone approximately $32 billion annually, highlighting how much revenue is lost when customer experience is neglected.
Remember, proactive customer service not only solves problems but also builds trust and loyalty.
Not Enough Engagement
If users aren’t regularly interacting with your app, they might forget why they signed up in the first place. Consistent engagement is key. Whether it’s through new content, updates, or timely notifications, you need to keep your app at the top of their mind.
Frustrating Pricing or Payment Issues
Believe it or not, even the best apps can lose subscribers over pricing issues. According to Stripe, involuntary churn caused by failed payments (such as expired credit cards and bank declines) can account for up to 20-40% of total churn for subscription-based businesses. This makes payment issues one of the most preventable drivers of lost revenue.
Temptation from the Competition
When there are plenty of alternatives out there, users will always be looking for a better deal or a more engaging experience. Staying competitive means constantly evolving your features, pricing, and overall user experience.
How to Measure and Track Churn Rate
Tracking churn rate helps identify when and where users are leaving, so you can act before it impacts revenue. But not all churn is the same — and measuring the right type is essential for uncovering the real reasons behind user loss.
How Do You Calculate Churn?
Churn rate is the percentage of customers who cancel their subscriptions over a set period. To calculate it, divide the number of customers lost during that period by the total number of customers at the start.
For example, if you start the month with 1,000 subscribers and lose 50, your churn rate is:
(50 ÷ 1,000) × 100 = 5% monthly churn rate
What Should You Keep an Eye On?
Measuring churn isn’t just about calculating percentages — it’s about understanding when and why users leave. To track churn effectively, businesses should monitor:
- Voluntary vs. involuntary churn: Separate users who cancel on their own (voluntary) from those lost due to payment failures or other issues (involuntary). This helps target the right retention strategies.
- Churn by customer segments: Analyze churn across user types — such as free trial users, long-term subscribers, or high-value customers — to identify which groups are at higher risk.
- Churn by plan or pricing tier: Track which pricing plans see higher churn. This can reveal whether some plans are overpriced or under-delivering.
- Engagement metrics: Monitor user behavior leading up to churn — like reduced logins or lower feature usage — to spot early warning signs.
Several tools help automate churn tracking and provide deeper insights:
- ProfitWell (a Paddle company): Tracks churn, analyzes voluntary vs. involuntary churn, and benchmarks against industry peers.
- Stripe Billing: Provides churn tracking integrated with payment data, including failed payment recovery workflows.
Combining quantitative data (metrics) and qualitative insights (feedback surveys) helps app businesses move beyond surface-level churn rates and understand the root causes for proactive retention efforts.
8 Strategies To Reduce Churn Rate
Now that we’ve looked at why users might leave, let’s focus on the steps you can take to keep them coming back.
- Make that first impression count
- Create an intuitive experience
- Personalize every interaction
- Offer pricing that fits
- Keep the conversation going
- Build a community around your app
- Listen and adapt
- Invest in proactive customer support
1. Make That First Impression Count
First impressions matter — and for subscription-based apps, onboarding is where users decide whether to stay or leave. Make that first impression count by guiding your users quickly to your app’s value — because when they ‘get it’ fast, they’re more likely to stick around. According to industry benchmarks, the average day-seven retention rate across all verticals is 13%, meaning, most users churn within the first week if they don’t see value quickly.
You need to make sure that from the first click, you’re guiding the users straight to that ‘aha moment’ where they really see the value. This could be completing a first task, accessing a feature, or seeing their first result.
“Retention starts with delivering ongoing value,” says Nick Fernandez, Founder of Upsway Marketing. He emphasizes that personalized onboarding — with interactive walkthroughs and milestone-based tutorials — plays a key role in reinforcing that early value. When users clearly understand an app’s benefits from the start, they’re far more likely to stay.
Key tactics to improve onboarding:
- Keep it simple and goal-oriented: Avoid long tutorials; instead, guide users toward the first meaningful outcome.
- Use tooltips and progress indicators: Help users navigate key features without overwhelming them.
- Offer personalized onboarding: Tailor the experience based on user type, goals, or industry to make it relevant.
- Leverage onboarding tools: Platforms like Appcues and Userpilot can help create interactive, personalized onboarding flows without heavy development work.
A smooth onboarding experience not only helps users succeed early but also builds trust — making them far less likely to churn.
2. Create an Intuitive Experience
A confusing or frustrating user experience is a fast track to churn. If users struggle to navigate your app or find key features, they are more likely to abandon it — often within days. Studies show up to 90% of people stop using an app because of poor performance.
To reduce churn, UX and UI need to be intuitive, responsive, and aligned with user expectations. Small friction points, like slow loading times or unclear navigation, add up quickly and drive users away.
“Every click, every interaction, and every touchpoint should feel smooth and purposeful,” says April Ray, Director at Intentional Marketing. She adds that clunky apps with confusing layouts or hidden features are churn magnets. Regular usability testing, continuous optimization, and data-driven UI improvements are key to keeping users engaged and moving effortlessly through the app.
Key tactics to improve UX/UI and reduce churn:
- Simplify navigation: Make key actions easy to find — focus on clarity, not complexity.
- Prioritize speed and responsiveness: Optimize load times and reduce lag. Slow apps frustrate users and increase abandonment rates.
- Consistent design and micro-interactions: Ensure the design feels polished and consistent. Small touches like animations or confirmations (e.g., "Success" messages) guide users and improve experience.
- Make essential features accessible upfront: Highlight the core value features early — don’t hide them behind complicated menus.
- Test and iterate with real users: Use tools like Hotjar or UXCam to observe how users interact with the app and identify pain points.
3. Personalize Every Interaction
Users are more likely to stay subscribed when they feel an app is built for them. Generic, one-size-fits-all experiences lead to disengagement and churn. According to McKinsey, 71% of consumers expect companies to deliver personalized interactions, and 76% get frustrated when this doesn’t happen.
Gabriel Shaoolian, founder and CEO of Digital Silk, stresses on its importance: “[Personalization] empowers businesses to build stronger connections, drive loyalty, and capture market share in the rapidly growing $36.1 billion industry.”
Personalization helps guide users to the right features, content, and offers — making the app more relevant and valuable to their specific needs.
Key tactics to personalize user experience and reduce churn:
- Segment users by behavior and preferences: Use data to identify different user groups — such as power users vs. casual users — and tailor in-app experiences for each.
- Leverage AI-driven recommendations: Suggest features, content, or add-ons based on individual usage patterns.
- Trigger personalized nudges and reminders: Use tools like Braze or OneSignal to send in-app messages or emails that align with users' goals and activity.
- Adapt onboarding and tutorials dynamically: Based on user progress and behavior, show the right tips and prompts to keep them engaged.
4. Offer Pricing That Fits
Rigid pricing models can drive users away — especially if they feel they're overpaying or locked into features they don't need. To reduce churn, businesses need pricing models that match different user needs, usage levels, and budgets. Flexible options make users more likely to stay because they can adjust their plan instead of canceling.
Key tactics to optimize pricing and reduce churn:
- Introduce tiered plans: Offer different levels of service — from basic to premium — so users can pick what fits their budget and needs.
- Use usage-based or add-on pricing: Let users pay for what they use instead of locking them into all-inclusive plans.
- Offer pause or downgrade options: Give users the ability to pause their subscription or move to a cheaper plan, rather than cancel.
- Provide free trials and discounts for long-term commitments: Let users experience value before committing, and reward longer subscriptions with discounts.
- Monitor plan performance: Tools like Baremetrics help analyze which pricing tiers have higher churn, so you can adjust.
5. Keep the Conversation Going
Lack of engagement is one of the leading causes of churn. If users don’t interact with your app regularly — or if they miss key features — they’re more likely to cancel. In-app communication and timely notifications are powerful tools to re-engage users before they churn. The goal is to deliver the right message at the right time, whether it’s highlighting new features, reminding users of unfinished actions, or offering personalized incentives.
“In-app messaging is a powerful tool for real-time user engagement,” says Syed Ameer Abbas Raza, Senior Brand Strategist at MyTeams. It helps guide new users with contextual tutorials and walkthroughs, encourages feature discovery, and promotes relevant offers at the right moments. Meanwhile, push notifications are ideal for re-engaging dormant users, especially when they’re tailored to user behavior and delivered with urgency or time-sensitive incentives.
Used together, these tools form a cohesive strategy that boosts retention, feature adoption, and conversions — all while keeping the user experience seamless and relevant.
Key tactics to improve engagement and reduce churn through communication:
- Send contextual push notifications: Remind users of unfinished tasks, new features, or personalized offers.
- Use in-app messages to guide and educate: Show users tips or updates as they navigate the app — especially when they seem stuck or inactive.
- Automate onboarding and re-engagement flows: Tools like CleverTap can automate timely messages based on user behavior.
- Avoid spam — focus on value: Ensure every message is helpful, timely, and relevant — irrelevant messages push users away faster.
Done right, in-app messaging and notifications help users stay engaged and realize ongoing value from your app, significantly lowering churn rates.
6. Build a Community Around Your App
Users are more likely to stay loyal when they feel part of a community. Cultivating a user community can improve customer retention and drive long-term engagement, especially for subscription-based products. Community fosters connection, trust, and shared value — all of which reduce churn.
When users can interact with each other, share experiences, and get help, they form emotional ties to your product that go beyond features or pricing.
Key tactics to build and leverage a user community to reduce churn:
- Create exclusive user groups: Private forums, Slack groups, or Discord channels where users can share tips and success stories.
- Host live webinars and Q&A sessions: Engage users directly and address their challenges in real-time.
- Highlight user-generated content: Showcase success stories, testimonials, or creative uses of your app.
- Encourage peer-to-peer support: Let experienced users help onboard or assist newer users — reducing the burden on customer support while boosting retention.
- Use community feedback for product improvements: Showing that user input shapes the app builds loyalty and trust.
7. Listen and Adapt
Users often churn because their needs aren’t being met — and many will leave without ever reaching out. Collecting customer feedback helps surface pain points before they escalate to cancellations. According to McKinsey, companies that focus on improving the experience of existing customers can achieve revenue growth nearly double that of their peers — showing that listening to customers isn’t just good practice, it’s a key growth driver.
More importantly, acting on feedback shows users that their opinions matter, building trust and loyalty over time.
Key tactics to leverage feedback and reduce churn:
- Use in-app surveys and Net Promoter Score (NPS): Tools like Delighted or Qualtrics can gather real-time insights on user satisfaction.
- Track feedback around key moments: After onboarding, following feature use, or after customer support interactions.
- Analyze reasons for cancellation: Add exit surveys when users unsubscribe to understand what triggered the decision.
- Act on feedback and close the loop: Communicate to users how their feedback has influenced product updates or new features.
- Monitor public reviews and respond: Address negative app store reviews and user complaints to show you’re listening and improving.
8. Invest in Proactive Customer Support
Support shouldn't only react to problems — it should prevent them. Proactive customer support identifies issues before they cause frustration and churn. Customers are likely to make repeat purchases with companies that offer excellent customer service, showing that strong support isn’t just about solving problems — it’s about building long-term relationships.
Proactive support includes reaching out when issues are detected, offering help when users show signs of struggle, and following up after key interactions to ensure satisfaction.
Key tactics to deliver proactive customer support and reduce churn:
- Use AI and analytics to detect friction points: Spot users who are inactive, stuck, or experiencing issues.
- Offer in-app live chat or chatbots for instant help: Tools like Zendesk, Intercom, or Crisp can provide real-time assistance.
- Follow up on negative feedback or failed actions: If a user gives low feedback or an action fails (e.g., failed payment), reach out immediately to resolve it.
- Educate users with guides and FAQs: Proactively share resources and best practices to help users get more value from the app.
- Check in with high-value customers: Periodically reach out to long-term or high-value users to ensure their needs are being met.
Reducing Churn Rate in Subscription-Based Apps: Final Thoughts
For subscription-based apps, investing in churn reduction is investing in growth — and often, the difference between scaling profitably or constantly fighting to replace lost users.
If you’re ready to take churn reduction seriously but need expert support, partnering with a specialized agency can give you the strategy, tools, and execution to retain more users and grow faster.
Reducing Churn Rate in Subscription-Based Apps: FAQs
1. How fast can you reduce churn rate?
Churn reduction isn’t instant — but targeted actions like improving onboarding and fixing payment issues can show results within a few months. Long-term reductions require continuous effort: refining UX, engaging users regularly, and adjusting pricing models. The faster you identify why users leave, the faster you can implement changes that improve retention.
2. How do I know if my app’s churn rate is a problem?
If churn is cutting significantly into your recurring revenue, growth is stalling, or you're constantly spending more on acquiring new users than retaining existing ones, you have a churn problem. Look for signs like users dropping off after onboarding, declining engagement, or spikes in cancellations. Even if churn looks "normal" compared to benchmarks, if it’s preventing profitability or scaling, it needs to be addressed.
3. What’s the fastest way to start reducing churn?
Focus on fixing the first user experience — streamline onboarding, help users reach value quickly, and resolve payment issues that cause involuntary churn. These are often the highest-impact, fastest-to-implement fixes. From there, you can move into deeper work like adjusting pricing, improving support, and personalizing engagement.
