App Store guide
Apple win-back offers, explained for indie developers
An Apple win-back offer is a discounted or free period you create in App Store Connect for people whose subscription has lapsed. Apple introduced them at WWDC 2024; they need iOS 18 or later and StoreKit 2. You decide who qualifies using three rules: how long they paid, how long ago they lapsed, and how long they must wait between redemptions. Apple then shows the offer on the App Store, in your app, in Settings, and through a unique URL you can share.
Requirements at a glance
| Item | What applies | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Introduced | WWDC 2024 | RevenueCat guide |
| Customer OS | iOS 18 or later | RevenueCat guide |
| Your app | StoreKit 2 | RevenueCat guide |
| Who qualifies | Rules you set on paid duration, time since lapse, and wait between redemptions | RevenueCat guide |
| Where people see it | App Store, in your app, Settings subscriptions, and a unique URL | RevenueCat guide |
Checked 17 Oct 2026. Apple changes these screens often; check App Store Connect and Apple's documentation before you ship.
What are Apple win-back offers and how do I set one up?
A win-back offer is attached to a subscription product, the same way an introductory offer is. The difference is who sees it. Introductory offers are for people who have never subscribed. Win-back offers are for people who did subscribe, then left.
The useful part is that Apple does some of the distribution for you. A lapsed subscriber on iOS 18 can come across the offer on your App Store page or in their subscription settings without you sending anything. That is reach you do not have to pay for.
The three eligibility rules
- Paid duration. How long the person must have paid before. Use this to keep the offer for people who stayed long enough to know the app.
- Time since lapse. How long ago their subscription ended. Use this to target recent leavers, or to wait a while before discounting.
- Wait between redemptions. How long before the same person can use a win-back offer again. Use this to stop people cycling through cancel and discount.
Those three rules are the whole targeting model. You cannot target by what someone did in the app, by why they left, or by country beyond normal pricing. Everyone who meets the rules sees the same offer.
Setting one up, step by step
- Move purchase code to StoreKit 2. Win-back offers depend on it. If you use RevenueCat, check that your SDK version supports them.
- Pick the subscription. In App Store Connect, open the subscription the offer should apply to.
- Create the win-back offer. Set the price or free period and how long the offer lasts.
- Set the three eligibility rules. Start strict: a minimum paid duration, a window after lapse, and a long wait between redemptions. You can loosen later.
- Handle it in the app. Make sure your paywall can show the offer when StoreKit reports the user is eligible.
- Copy the offer URL. Keep it. This is the link you will put in your own messages.
For screenshots of the current App Store Connect screens, see RevenueCat's guide to Apple win-back offers.
Where win-back offers fall short
Apple's offer is good at one job: showing a price to someone who comes back on their own. It does not reach out. Here is who it misses:
| Who | Why Apple's offer misses them | What still works |
|---|---|---|
| People who never open the App Store or Settings again | The offer waits to be found | A message from you with the offer URL |
| People on iOS 17 or earlier | The feature needs iOS 18 or later | A message with a web checkout code |
| People outside your rules, for example a free trial that never converted | Eligibility counts paid duration, so check whether your rules can include them at all | A message with a different offer, or none |
| Android and web subscribers | Apple offers apply only to App Store subscriptions | Google Play offers or a Stripe coupon |
| People who left for a reason a discount will not fix | Everyone gets the same offer | A personal message that asks what went wrong |
The offer URL does not get around eligibility. If someone outside your rules taps it, they will not get the offer. So when Winback writes a message, it only includes your Apple offer URL for people your rules cover, and gives everyone else either a different offer you approved or no offer.
When should I send a win-back offer?
RevenueCat's 2026 data gives some timing clues. Month 1 accounts for 35% of annual plan cancellations, and month 12 brings a spike of 9% to 14% (RevenueCat SOSA 2026 part 2). Monthly subscribers come back far more often than annual ones: 20% against 5% within a year (same source).
| Plan | Reactivate within a year | Suggested approach |
|---|---|---|
| Monthly | 20% | Message soon after access ends; a light offer is often enough |
| Annual | 5% | Message near renewal; offer a monthly plan or a smaller first payment |
Reactivation numbers: RevenueCat SOSA 2026 part 2, checked 17 Oct 2026. The suggested approach is our judgement, not a benchmark.
How Winback uses your offer
Winback does not create offers in App Store Connect and does not connect to Apple. You create the offer and give us the URL and your rules. When a subscriber lapses, Winback checks your rules, and if the person qualifies, puts the URL into a short personal message. If not, it uses the fallback you set. You read the first batch before anything goes out. See the RevenueCat integration and Apple Retention Messaging, which works earlier, at the moment of cancel.
FAQ
Do Apple win-back offers need iOS 18?
Yes. Win-back offers need iOS 18 or later on the customer's device and StoreKit 2 in your app. People on older versions will not see them.
Can I give a win-back offer to someone whose free trial expired?
Eligibility is based on paid duration, time since lapse and wait between redemptions. Someone who never paid may not fit your paid-duration rule. Check your rules in App Store Connect, and plan a separate approach for expired trials.
Can I send the win-back offer link by email?
Yes. Each offer has a unique URL. You can put it in an email, a push message or a web page. The person still has to meet your eligibility rules to redeem it.
Does Winback create Apple offers for me?
No. You create offers in App Store Connect. Winback includes the offer URL in messages to people your rules cover, and gives everyone else the fallback you choose.
Who is behind Winback?
AGUNA Wellness Ltd (RC 9590421) in Abuja, Nigeria. We run Winback on our own App Store app, AGUNA, first. Winback is new and has no customer results yet.
See who you could win back this month
Upload a RevenueCat or Stripe export to the planner. It sorts lost subscribers into cancelled, billing failed and trial expired, writes one message per person with a unique return code, and gives you a CSV. Files stay in your browser. Want us to set it up with you instead? Early access is open, and you pay nothing until someone comes back.