App Store Launch Club for Indie Hackers: Build Recurring App Revenue
The short version
A subscription is one of the highest-leverage things you can add to an app - an app that takes money can pay you while you sleep - and most indie apps never wire the paywall right, which is good news for anyone who takes monetization seriously. Users who download a well-built app and hit a clean onboarding, a fair free trial, and a paywall that clearly states the value will convert; users who hit a confusing or greedy paywall bounce. This playbook is the system for building the paywall that converts and the revenue setup that keeps 85% in your pocket, every time.
Why indie apps live or die on the paywall
When a user opens your app, the paywall is making the snap judgment on whether they pay. A great app with a confusing or greedy paywall reads as a cash grab; the same app with a clean onboarding, a clear free trial, and a paywall that states exactly what they get reads as worth paying for. The paywall is doing the selling before a single subscription is charged. For an indie hacker this matters more than almost anything else, because the revenue is largely psychological - users are deciding whether the value is worth the price, and a bad paywall makes that impossible.
This means the effort is front-loaded into the onboarding and paywall flow. You cannot bolt a paywall onto a finished app as an afterthought and expect conversions. Wire it with RevenueCat, place it where the user has already felt the value, state the offer plainly, and test the whole flow before you submit. The indie hackers who earn make peace with this early: the time spent getting the onboarding-to-paywall flow right is the difference between an app that earns recurring revenue and one that gets downloads and no dollars.
Wire the RevenueCat paywall so it converts
Before chasing downloads, wire the paywall. RevenueCat handles subscriptions across both Apple and Google from one integration, so you set up your products once and it manages purchases, restores, and receipts. Place the paywall after the user has felt the core value - not on the very first screen - and let the onboarding lead into it naturally. The course's Paywall Flow gives you the wired onboarding, free trial, and subscription setup tested before you submit, so the money side works on day one instead of being a scramble after launch.
Look at how the strong apps in your category structure their paywall before you build yours. The ones that convert lead with the benefit, offer a fair free trial, show the price clearly, and make the value obvious at the moment of the ask. Match that pattern - benefit first, trial, clear price, one obvious tap to subscribe. RevenueCat lets you test different offers without a resubmit, so you can see what converts. Being honest about what is free and what is paid builds trust and cuts down on refunds and one-star reviews.
Set the free trial and subscription price
The price and trial are how users decide whether to commit, and most indie apps waste the decision. A vague or overpriced offer tells the user nothing worth paying for. A strong offer front-loads the value: a fair free trial so they feel the app, a price that matches the value delivered, and a clear monthly or annual choice. Look at what comparable apps charge and where they set their trial, and price with the value in mind - not too cheap to signal quality, not so high it kills the download. The trial length and the price together are what serious users weigh.
Design the onboarding that turns downloads into subscribers
The onboarding's job is to make the user feel the value before the paywall asks for money. For an indie app that means a short, focused flow - show the core benefit, let the user do the one thing your app is for, and only then present the offer. Every screen that delays the aha moment is a screen where the user might bounce, and a user who has already felt the value is a user who subscribes rather than one who taps away. Lead with the payoff, then the ask.
Build the flow, then add the light selling. Get the user to the core value fast, then present the paywall with the benefit up top, the trial, and the clear price. Keep it tight and honest. A flow that delivers value first and asks second beats a wall of upsell screens, because indie-app users are making a quick decision about whether your app is worth a subscription and they want to feel the value before they pay for it. Test the whole onboarding-to-paywall flow in Expo Go before you submit so nothing breaks on a real user.
Price and test with room to learn
Set your price and trial as a starting point, not a permanent decision, and let RevenueCat show you what converts. Indie-app pricing is rarely right on the first try, so a setup with no room to test forces you to either guess and hope or leave money on the table. Start with a fair trial and a price anchored to comparable apps, watch the conversion, and adjust the offer without a resubmit. A calm, data-led approach - test, read the numbers, refine - earns more recurring revenue than either underpricing out of fear or overpricing out of hope.
Common questions
How do I add subscriptions to my app without building payments from scratch?
Wire in RevenueCat. It handles subscriptions across both Apple and Google from one integration - you set up your products once and it manages purchases, restores, and receipts. The course's Paywall Flow gives you the wired onboarding, free trial, and subscription setup tested before you submit, so you skip the week most solo builders lose in payment docs and get a working paywall on day one.
How much of my subscription revenue do I actually keep?
You can keep 85% by enrolling in Apple's and Google's Small Business programs, which drop their cut from 30% to 15%. It is not automatic - you have to enroll and set it up right. The App Store Launch Club walks you through both enrollments so your split is 85/15 from your first dollar, instead of leaving real money on the table by defaulting to the standard 70/30.
Where in the app should the paywall go?
Place it after the user has felt the core value, not on the very first screen. Let the onboarding lead the user to your app's aha moment first, then present the offer with the benefit up top, a fair free trial, and a clear price. A user who has already experienced the value converts far better than one hit with a paywall before they understand what the app does.
How do I set the price and free trial for my app?
Look at what comparable apps in your category charge and where they set their trial, then price with the value in mind - not so cheap it signals low quality, not so high it kills the download. Offer a fair free trial so users feel the app first. RevenueCat lets you test different prices and trial lengths without a resubmit, so treat your first price as a starting point and refine from the conversion data.
How do I get downloads to actually turn into paying subscribers?
Design the onboarding to deliver the core value before the paywall asks for money. Show the benefit, let the user do the one thing your app is for, then present a clean offer with a fair trial and a clear price. Every screen that delays the aha moment risks a bounce. A user who has already felt the value subscribes; one who hits the paywall cold taps away.
How do I avoid one-star reviews over my paywall?
Be honest about what is free and what is paid, place the paywall where the value is already clear, and make the offer plain - benefit, trial, price, one obvious tap. Confusing, greedy, or hidden paywalls drive refunds and one-star reviews. RevenueCat lets you test and refine the offer without a resubmit, so you can find the balance between converting well and keeping users happy.
Keep going
Build it. Ship it. Get paid.
Step-by-step lessons for builds like this inside the club. Join App Store Launch Club for $9/month.