AI-powered apps can make money, but struggle with long-term retention, new data shows
By Sarah Perez
Published on March 10, 2026.
A study by RevenueCat, a company that provides subscription management tools used by over 75,000 app developers, has revealed that AI-powered apps struggle with long-term retention, with people canceling their annual subscriptions 30% faster than non-AI apps. The study, which looked at subscription app ecosystems across iOS, Android, and web, found that most of the apps using RevenueCat’s platform are not yet powered by AI, accounting for 27.1% of apps across all categories, compared to 72.9% for non-AIs. The only area where AI led on retention was on the weekly front, where AI apps had 2.5% retention rates compared to 1.7%. Despite these findings, the overall monetization of AI apps can be attributed to strong early monetization, but these apps are struggling to sustain their value over time.
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