The subscription and in-app purchase monetization model has become essential in mobile app development. However, implementing it can be complex due to platform differences (iOS and Android) and store regulations.

Simplifying and unifying payment management for developers is the promise of RevenueCat. At Premier Octet, we recently integrated this platform into one of our Expo projects, Photobooth AI, giving us the opportunity to explore its capabilities.

A Seamless Paywall Setup

RevenueCat allows you to design and integrate a paywall directly into your application with just a few lines of code using its SDK. Here are the necessary steps:

Step 1 - Account and Product Setup

Start by creating an account on RevenueCat and linking your apps (Android / iOS / Stripe) to the platform.

Once connected, you can import the products you want to use on the paywall from the Product Catalog / Products tab.

You have two options:

• Automatic import: RevenueCat retrieves all available products from your stores.
• Manual import: You manually add products by entering their identifiers.

Once imported, you can assign display names to your products for better readability. You can also group similar products (e.g., 20 iOS credits and 20 Android credits) and experiment with different offers by combining them using Offerings.

Step 2 - Creating the Paywall

RevenueCat offers a full-featured paywall editor, integrating a library of components (text, images, buttons, and layouts) to design a page that matches your app’s branding.

If your app is multilingual, the editor includes a translation manager supporting the 39 locales of the App Store, allowing you to localize your paywall effortlessly.

Step 3 - Integrating the RevenueCat SDK into Our Expo App

To retrieve products and integrate the paywall design into our Expo app, we use RevenueCat’s react-native-purchases and react-native-purchases-ui libraries.

  npx expo install react-native-purchases react-native-purchases-ui

Once the SDK is installed, configure it with your store API keys at the root of your application:

import Purchases from 'react-native-purchases'
import { Platform } from 'react-native'
useEffect(() => {
  Purchases.setLogLevel(Purchases.LOG_LEVEL.DEBUG)
  if (Platform.OS === 'ios') {
    Purchases.configure({
      apiKey: process.env.EXPO_PUBLIC_KEY_IOS,
    })
  } else {
    Purchases.configure({
      apiKey: process.env.EXPO_PUBLIC_KEY_ANDROID,
    })
  }
}, [])

You can then display your paywall anywhere in your app using the RevenueCatUI.Paywall component:

import { View } from 'react-native'
import RevenueCatUI from 'react-native-purchases-ui'

return (
  <View style={{ flex: 1 }}>
    <RevenueCatUI.Paywall
      options={{ offering: offering }}
      onDismiss={() => {
        // Called after a purchase or when closing the paywall
      }}
    />
  </View>
)

Our products are now available on Android and iOS! No need to update the app for every design change—RevenueCat automatically displays the new paywall.

Managing Subscriptions

RevenueCat simplifies subscription management by associating user entitlements with purchases via Entitlements. Each entitlement corresponds to an ID defining a user’s status (e.g., premium, gold) linked to the purchased products.

Once a subscription is active, the SDK makes it easy to retrieve the user’s status by identifying the entitlements associated with their active subscriptions:

const customerInfo = await Purchases.getCustomerInfo()
const activeEntitlements = customerInfo.entitlements.active

RevenueCat: A Turnkey Solution for Subscription Payments

RevenueCat offers many features to simplify subscription management, including:

• Displaying promotional offers directly on paywalls to attract new subscribers.
• Managing payment errors with grace periods, ensuring temporary access while awaiting payment.
• The ability to switch between different offers (upgrade/downgrade).
• A direct link to the corresponding store to cancel a subscription via the managementURL property in CustomerInfo.

Testing Sales Strategies

RevenueCat's modular products and ease of creating paywalls make it an ideal platform for testing different layouts and measuring their impact on sales. Several tools are available for this purpose:

Targeting: Customize Offer Display

The Targeting tab allows you to define rules to direct each user to the most relevant offer.

RevenueCat offers two targeting strategies:

• By app placement: Offers vary depending on where the user accesses the paywall (e.g., after onboarding for new users). Simply use getCurrentOffering(forPlacement: "placementIdentifier") in the SDK to retrieve the associated offer and display it via RevenueCatUI.Paywall.
• By user attributes: Offer display is based on specific criteria (e.g., responses to an onboarding survey). Update user attributes with setAttributes() to dynamically adapt the presented offer.

Experiments: Optimize Offers with A/B Testing

Experiments enable testing and comparing different offers by randomly assigning them to user groups following the A/B testing principle. Once configured and integrated into an Experiment, RevenueCat automatically displays either version A or version B to users. Performance metrics, including conversion rates and revenue generated, are analyzed on a dedicated page, helping you choose the most effective offer.

Pricing

RevenueCat's pricing model is based on your app's generated revenue. The free tier allows access to all platform features as long as your gross monthly revenue does not exceed $2,500. Beyond this threshold, a 1% fee on gross monthly revenue applies. This cost should be considered for high transaction volumes.

Conclusion

RevenueCat significantly simplifies subscription and payment management, offering a seamless experience and quick integration. The generous free tier allows businesses to start without constraints, and centralizing offers across platforms is a major advantage. While some features, like the paywall editor, are still evolving and may have minor flaws, RevenueCat largely delivers on its promises! ✅