How to Sell App Subscriptions Outside the App Store

To sell app subscriptions outside the app store, you move the purchase to the web. Users arrive from an ad, go through a landing page or quiz, see a paywall in the browser, and pay with a web payment provider such as Stripe, Paddle, or Primer. They then download the app and log in to unlock what they bought. This model is called a web2app funnel. Where platform rules allow it, you keep the payment, the customer data, and the pricing control.

The main reason teams do this is cost. Apple charges up to 30% commission on in-app purchases (15% under the Small Business Program). Web payments run through a processor with its own fees, and the platform commission does not apply to them. The rest of this article covers how the flow works, what you need to build, how to stay compliant, and where the model goes wrong.

What does selling subscriptions outside the app store look like?

A typical web2app funnel has six steps:

1. An ad on Meta, TikTok, or another channel.
2. A landing page or quiz that asks about the user's goals.
3. A personalized plan or result based on those answers.
4. A paywall with pricing and a trial or discounted first period.
5. Payment on the web.
6. App download and login, where the app recognizes the paid account.

The quiz does more than collect data. It gives the user a reason to pay for a specific plan instead of an anonymous app. That is why health, fitness, language, AI, and education apps use this format most often: the personalized result sets up the paywall.

The app itself still lives in the store. You are not removing it. You are changing where the first purchase happens.

Why move subscriptions to the web?

There are four practical reasons.

• Margin. Avoiding a commission of up to 30% changes unit economics, especially for apps that pay for traffic.
• Data. You own the email, the quiz answers, and the payment record. You can run email sequences, win-back campaigns, and segmentation without depending on store reporting.
• Testing speed. A web funnel can be changed and A/B tested the same day. An in-app paywall usually needs an app release and review.
• Attribution. The user clicks an ad, lands on a page you control, and pays there. UTM parameters and pixel events can follow that path from click to payment.

One public example: MyMental AI GURU (Latiwara OÜ) generated over $100K revenue with web2wave. About 55% of its subscribers remain active, refunds are under 5% of revenue, and paying users come from 40+ countries. That is one case, not a promise of results for another app.

In-app purchase vs. web checkout: how do they compare?

Platform commission

• In-app purchase: Up to 30% (15% for Small Business Program)
• Web2app funnel checkout: None from the store; you pay payment processor fees

Customer data

• In-app purchase: Limited by the store
• Web2app funnel checkout: You hold email, quiz answers, and payment history

Paywall changes

• In-app purchase: Often tied to app releases
• Web2app funnel checkout: Edit and A/B test in the browser

Ad attribution

• In-app purchase: Constrained by platform privacy rules
• Web2app funnel checkout: UTMs and pixels on pages you control

Refunds and billing support

• In-app purchase: Handled by the store
• Web2app funnel checkout: Handled by you and your payment provider

Purchase friction

• In-app purchase: Low: one tap with a stored payment method
• Web2app funnel checkout: Higher: the user enters payment details on the web

Setup effort

• In-app purchase: SDK integration in the app
• Web2app funnel checkout: Funnel, payments, login linking, and webhooks

The table shows the tradeoff. A web2app funnel gives you control and margin, and in return you take on billing support, refunds, and the work of connecting a web purchase to an app account.

What do you need to build a web2app funnel?

A funnel

You need a landing page or quiz, a result screen, and a paywall. You can build these with code or with a no-code tool. web2wave is one option: it is a no-code builder for quiz and onboarding funnels, web paywalls, and A/B experiments. See the guides on the quiz builder and the paywall builder for how those parts work.

A payment provider

Stripe, Paddle, and Primer are the common choices. Stripe and Primer are payment platforms where you stay the merchant. Paddle handles tax and acts as the seller of record, which shifts some compliance work off your team. Pick based on where your users are and who you want responsible for VAT and sales tax. web2wave connects to all three: Stripe on every plan, Paddle from Pro and Primer on Advanced. Pricing is a flat monthly fee up to Pro; Advanced is 2% of revenue.

Account linking

The user pays on the web, then opens the app. The app must know that this person has an active subscription. Most teams do this with a login (email or magic link) and a backend check against subscription status. If you use RevenueCat for entitlements, it can be the layer that unlocks the app after a web purchase.

Tracking

Send purchase events back to Meta, TikTok, and your attribution tool so ad platforms can optimize on real payments. Webhooks let you pass subscription events to your backend or CRM. The integrations overview lists what connects where.

Lifecycle messaging

Because you hold the email address, you can send onboarding, trial reminders, and win-back emails. This is a real advantage over store-only billing, but it requires someone to write and maintain the sequences.

Is it allowed? Compliance and platform rules

Short answer: it depends on the region and on how you do it. Platform rules on linking to or promoting external purchases have changed several times and differ by country. Selling on your own website and unlocking an account the user already owns is the base case. Steering users from inside the app to an external payment page is where rules are strictest and most likely to change.

Practical guidance:

• Read the current App Store and Google Play developer guidelines for each market you sell in. Do not rely on an article from a year ago, including this one.
• Keep the web purchase separate from in-app messaging unless the current rules for that region explicitly permit linking out.
• Show pricing, trial terms, renewal terms, and cancellation instructions clearly on the paywall. Consumer protection rules in the US, UK, and EU all care about auto-renewal disclosure.
• Offer an easy way to cancel and a clear refund policy. Regulators and card networks both look at this.
• Check tax handling for each region, including VAT in the EU and UK.

We cover this in more detail in the web2app funnel compliance guide. For your own app, get a lawyer to review the setup before you scale spend.

How do you roll it out without risking existing revenue?

Do not switch everything at once. A staged approach limits the downside:

1. Start with paid traffic. Send one ad channel to a web funnel and leave organic store installs on in-app purchase. This tests the model without touching existing subscribers.
2. Build one funnel. Quiz, result, paywall, payment, login. Keep it short, and test it on mobile first because that is where the traffic lands.
3. Measure the full path. Track cost per click, quiz completion, paywall conversion, payment success, and the share of payers who actually install and log in. The last step is where many funnels leak.
4. Test one variable at a time. Price, trial length, plan layout, and quiz length are all worth testing. Run A/B tests instead of replacing the page and comparing against last week.
5. Localize. If you sell in several countries, translate the whole funnel, not just the paywall. Leya AI scaled its funnel roughly tenfold with web2app funnel localization; the case study is on the web2wave blog. web2wave has AI localization into 40+ languages, and the same step can be done with other tools or translators.
6. Add retention. Once payment works, set up email sequences and track refunds and churn by campaign, not only by overall average.

If you would rather not build the funnel yourself, web2wave also has a Growth Service, where the team builds funnels for you. Comparing builders before you commit is sensible; the guide to web2app funnel builders lists the options.

What can go wrong?

• Drop-off between payment and app install. Users who pay on the web must still download the app and log in. Send a confirmation email with a clear download link and a login method that works on the first try.
• Lower conversion at the paywall. Entering card details is more work than a stored Apple ID. Wallet payments and a short checkout reduce the gap, but you should measure it for your own audience.
• Billing support load. You now answer "how do I cancel?" and "I was charged twice" yourself. Plan for a support inbox and a self-serve cancellation page.
• Refund and chargeback risk. Aggressive trial or pricing language raises both. Clear terms keep refunds lower, as in the MyMental AI GURU case, where refunds are under 5% of revenue.
• Policy changes. The rules can shift. Keep an in-app purchase option available where you need it, and review policy changes quarterly.

FAQ

Can I sell app subscriptions without using Apple's in-app purchase?

Yes, in many cases you can sell on your own website and let users log in to the app to access what they bought. Rules about linking from the app to that website vary by region and change over time, so check the current guidelines for each market.

How much does Apple charge for in-app subscriptions?

Apple charges up to 30% commission on in-app purchases, and 15% for developers in the Small Business Program. Web payments avoid that commission but carry processor fees from Stripe, Paddle, or Primer.

What is a web2app funnel?

A web2app funnel is a web flow that takes a user from an ad to a landing page or quiz, a personalized plan, a paywall, payment, and finally an app download and login. The purchase happens on the web instead of inside the app.

Do I need developers to build a web2app funnel?

Not necessarily. You can build the funnel in code, or use a no-code builder such as web2wave for the quiz, paywall, payments, and tracking. You still need some engineering time to link web purchases to app accounts, unless a tool handles that for you.

Which payment provider should I use for web subscriptions?

Stripe, Paddle, and Primer are all used for this. The main difference is tax and merchant responsibility: Paddle acts as seller of record, while with Stripe or Primer you handle more of the tax and compliance setup yourself. Choose based on your markets and team capacity.

Want to see how a web2app funnel would look for your app? Book a demo or start free.