Apple Subscription Offers Explained, With One Example App
💡 TL;DR
Apple has five subscription offers. Intro offers are for new subscribers, retention offers for people cancelling, win-back offers for people who left. Promotional offers and offer codes go to people you choose.
Apple gives you five different ways to discount a subscription. The main difference between them is the moment in someone's subscription when they show up.
When I set up my first subscription in App Store Connect, I saw introductory offers, promotional offers and offer codes, and I had no idea which one I needed. Apple has since added win-back offers in 2024, and it opened retention offers to everyone on 4 November 2026. So today a new developer meets five Apple subscription offers, each on its own help page.
This post puts them in one place, with one made-up app and one subscriber from start to finish.
I checked every rule in this post against Apple's help pages on 8 November 2026, and the retention offer limits with my own tests on 5 November.
The short answer
- Introductory offer: a discount for someone who has never subscribed, like a free week.
- Promotional offer: a discount your app shows to people who subscribe now or did before.
- Retention offer: a discount Apple shows while someone is cancelling.
- Win-back offer: a discount Apple shows after someone's subscription has ended.
- Offer code: a code or link you hand out, for whoever you give it to.
The rest of this post explains each one with an example, and the mistakes I'd avoid.
Six words you'll see on every offer page
Apple's help pages assume you know these.
- Subscription group. The plans someone can choose between, like the monthly and yearly plan of one app. A person can only have one active plan per group.
- Storefront. A country or region of the App Store. There are 175, and every offer has its own price in each one.
- Eligible. Allowed to see and use an offer. You set the rules, like "paid for at least 3 months".
- Lapsed (or churned) subscriber. Someone whose subscription has ended and won't renew.
- StoreKit. The Apple framework your app uses to show prices and sell subscriptions. If an offer needs StoreKit, you have to write some code.
- Offer modes. How the discount works. Free is a free trial. Pay as you go is a lower price for a few billing periods, like $4.99 a month for 3 months. Pay up front is one payment for a longer period, like $14.99 for 3 months.
Meet the example app, and Sam
Say you make a habit tracker. It costs $9.99 a month, and it's the only plan in its subscription group. All the prices in this post are made up.
Sam is one of your users. Over a few months, Sam goes through four moments:
- Sam finds your app and has never subscribed.
- Sam subscribes and pays $9.99 a month.
- Later, Sam opens Settings and taps Cancel.
- Sam's subscription ends.
Each of Apple's offers is made for one or more of those moments.
The colours show the second difference. Apple decides who sees three of the offers, using the rules you set. For the other two, you decide, either in your app or by handing out a code.
1. Introductory offers: before someone subscribes
What it is. A discount on someone's first subscription. A free week is the most common one.
Who gets it. People who have never subscribed. Apple allows one introductory offer per person per subscription group, so a second plan in the same group doesn't mean a second trial. Someone who already used it is told they're not eligible for the introductory price, but can still subscribe without it.
Where they see it. On your App Store product page, automatically. You can also show it in your own paywall.
Sam's story. Sam sees "1 week free, then $9.99 a month" on the App Store and starts the trial.
Good to know. Each storefront can have one current and one future introductory offer. Once you create one, you can't edit it, so a change means deleting it and making a new one. My guide to pricing introductory offers goes deeper.
2. Promotional offers: while someone subscribes, inside your app
What it is. A discount your app shows to people who are subscribed now, or were before.
Who gets it. Apple says "existing and previously subscribed customers". Your app picks exactly who.
Where they see it. Inside your app, on a screen you build with StoreKit. So this one needs code. With Apple's Real-time Retention Messaging API, which is by request and needs a server, a promotional offer can also appear on the cancel screen.
Sam's story. Sam has paid for 6 months, then stops opening the app. When Sam comes back, your app shows "Welcome back: 3 months at 50% off".
Good to know. You can have up to 10 active promotional offers per subscription. It's the only offer type where Apple lets you change the price after you create it.
3. Retention offers: while someone cancels
What it is. A discount on Apple's own cancel screen, inside a retention message. It's the newest of the five.
Who gets it. Subscribers who tap Cancel and are eligible. They need at least one paid month, so someone cancelling a free trial sees your message without the offer.
Where they see it. On Apple's Confirm Cancellation screen, right after tapping Cancel Subscription. You set it up in App Store Connect, with no code and no server.
Sam's story. Sam taps Cancel after 5 months. The screen says Sam's 120-day streak ends today, and offers 2 months at 50% off.
Good to know. You can have 10 active retention offers per billing plan type. That means monthly plans and yearly plans each get their own 10. The App Store picks the best offer for each person. Your message text can't mention the discount or a price, because people who aren't eligible read the same words. The full retention messages guide has the setup steps and the early numbers.
4. Win-back offers: after someone leaves
What it is. A discount for someone whose subscription has already ended.
Who gets it. Lapsed subscribers who match your rules, like "paid for at least 3 months and left 1 to 6 months ago". Apple shows each person the offer for the plan they left most recently in each group.
Where they see it. On their Manage Subscriptions page on iOS 14.3 or later, and on a sheet inside your app on iOS 18 or later. Apple shows it automatically. You also get a link you can send by email.
Sam's story. Sam didn't take the retention offer and left. Two months later, Sam sees "Come back to Habit tracker: 1 month free, then $9.99 a month" on the Manage Subscriptions page.
Good to know. You can create up to 350 win-back offers per subscription, and run up to 5 at a time in each storefront. Apple says you can't change the price after you create one. My win-back offer glossary entry lists the eligibility rules.
5. Offer codes: for anyone you give a code to
What it is. A code, or a link with the code inside, that unlocks a discount.
Who gets it. Whoever has the code. You choose whether new, current or expired subscribers can use it.
Where they see it. Wherever you share it, like an email, a podcast or a card at a conference. People redeem it with a link, in the App Store's redeem screen, or in your app if you added that.
The example. This one isn't about Sam. You sponsor a productivity podcast, and its listeners get the code HABITS for 1 month free.
If you don't have an audience to share codes with yet, that's why I built Premium App Drops. It's free for developers. Every Friday, starting 27 November 2026, people who want premium apps claim codes there, one per person. It takes free offers, like free months of a subscription or a lifetime unlock, for apps on the App Store and Google Play.
Good to know. One-time-use codes are unique and expire after at most six months. Custom codes are a word you pick, like HABITS, and don't need an expiry date. Apple allows up to 1 million redemptions per app per quarter, and 10 active offers per subscription. You can't edit an offer code offer after you create it. The short version is in my glossary entry on offer codes.
Three pairs people mix up
Retention offer or win-back offer? Timing. A retention offer appears while the person is still subscribed and tapping Cancel. A win-back offer appears after the subscription has ended. If Sam takes the retention offer, Sam never leaves, so a win-back offer is never needed.
Promotional offer or offer code? Who starts it. Your app shows a promotional offer to people it picks. An offer code starts outside your app, with someone typing or tapping a code you gave them, and it can reach people who have never opened your app.
Promotional offer or win-back offer? Both can reach people who left. Apple shows a win-back offer automatically, on Manage Subscriptions and in your app, with no code. A promotional offer only appears if your app shows it, but it can also reach people who are still paying.
Which offer do I need?
And the limits, in one place:
- Introductory: 1 current and 1 future per storefront.
- Promotional: 10 active per subscription.
- Retention: 10 active per billing plan type.
- Win-back: 350 per subscription, 5 at a time per storefront.
- Offer codes: 10 active per subscription, 1 million redemptions per app per quarter.
These come from Apple's help pages for introductory offers, promotional offers, win-back offers and offer codes, read on 8 November 2026. The retention limit comes from my own tests on 5 November.
Mistakes I'd avoid with your first offers
Expecting a second free trial. It's one intro offer per person per subscription group, and the App Store shows everyone else the regular price. To give a former trial user another chance, use a win-back offer or a promotional offer.
Putting the discount in the retention message. App Review rejects messages that mention offers or prices like "50% off". The offer is shown separately.
Counting on retention offers for trial users. They need one paid month first. If most people cancel during the trial, the message text matters more than the offer.
Saving the default prices without looking. For every offer, you type a price for your main country, and App Store Connect fills in the other countries from exchange rates. If your subscription has one global price, that's roughly fine. If you've localized your subscription prices, it can be wrong. For example, say you sell a $19.99 plan and set India at about ₹680. You type $9.99 for a 50% offer, and the exchange rate conversion makes that about ₹950. That "discount" costs more than the subscription. I've seen this on retention offers. Apple describes the same exchange rate starting point for win-back offers, but I haven't created one to check.
Planning to fix prices later. Four of the five offers lock their price once you click Confirm. Promotional offers are the exception. For the others you delete the offer and make a new one, so check your biggest countries first.
Those last two are why I built PricePush. It sets introductory, promotional and retention offer prices in every country from the subscription price you localized. It keeps each one below the subscription wherever Apple has a lower price point, and shows you the whole list before anything is pushed. It doesn't do win-back offers or offer codes yet.
Which offer should you set up first?
Here's the order I'd use for a first subscription app.
- An introductory offer. The App Store shows it to every new person on your product page, and it needs no code.
- A retention message, without an offer at first. It needs no code either, and a message about what people lose costs you nothing.
- A win-back offer, once people start leaving. Also no code, and 350 slots give you room to try things.
- Promotional offers and offer codes, when you have a reason to target specific people, like an upgrade path, a newsletter or a podcast.
That order is my opinion from running my own apps. Apple's rules work the same whichever one you start with.
Try it on one app
If you have a subscription on the App Store, you can try PricePush free on one app with the Starter plan: 7 days, 2 pushes, no credit card. That's enough to see your intro, promotional and retention offer prices in every country before anything changes. The plans are here if you need more apps.
Antonio
Frequently asked questions
What types of subscription offers does Apple have?
What's the difference between a win-back offer and a retention offer?
What's the difference between a promotional offer and an offer code?
Why does the App Store say I'm not eligible for the introductory price?
Can I change the price of an Apple subscription offer after I create it?
Do I need to write code for Apple subscription offers?
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