Comparison
Winback vs Churnkey: which fits a small subscription business?
Churnkey is a mature retention suite with cancel flows, payment recovery and return campaigns for web billing systems like Stripe, Chargebee and Paddle, priced from $250 a month on a yearly plan. Winback is a new, narrower tool: it messages subscribers after they leave, works with RevenueCat apps on the App Store and Google Play as well as Stripe, and has no monthly fee, only 15% of revenue from people who come back. Pick Churnkey for web cancel flows at volume; consider Winback for a small app business that wants to pay only on results.
The short version
Churnkey has been doing this for years. Winback has not. Churnkey has cancel flows, an MCP server and a long list of billing integrations. Winback has none of those. What Winback has is a different shape: it starts after the cancel, it reads RevenueCat events so it covers store-billed apps, and you pay nothing unless someone returns.
Side by side
| Churnkey | Winback | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing basis | Flat monthly fee by tier | No monthly fee. 15% of revenue from returners, for 6 months |
| Entry price | Starter $250/mo billed yearly, or $300 monthly | $0 until someone comes back |
| Higher tiers | Core from $500/$600; Intelligence from $625/$750; Enterprise custom | None |
| Billing systems | Stripe, Chargebee, Paddle, Braintree, Recurly, Maxio | RevenueCat (App Store, Google Play, web) and Stripe |
| App Store and RevenueCat | Not confirmed on its consumer-app page | Yes, through RevenueCat webhooks |
| Cancel flows | Yes | No |
| Payment recovery | Yes; claims up to 89% (vendor claim) | Messages after the store or Stripe has finished retrying |
| Win-back after cancel | Yes, return campaigns | Yes, one personal message per person within your offer limits |
| MCP server | Yes | No |
| Track record | Established product | New, in early access, no customer results yet |
Churnkey details from churnkey.co and its consumer-app page, checked 17 Oct 2026. Winback pricing on the pricing page.
When Churnkey is the better pick
- You bill on the web through Stripe, Chargebee, Paddle, Braintree, Recurly or Maxio, and most cancels happen on your own cancel page. A cancel flow there can save people before they go, which Winback does not do.
- You have the volume to make a flat fee cheap per saved customer.
- You have a retention person who will run experiments in the tool every week.
- You want an MCP server so an AI agent can query your retention data.
When Winback may fit better
- Your subscriptions are mostly on the App Store or Google Play through RevenueCat. Store billing means the cancel happens in Apple's or Google's settings, not on your page, so a web cancel flow never sees it.
- You are small, and a fixed monthly fee would cost more than you recover in a slow month.
- You want each lost subscriber to get a message about what they actually did, not one template.
- You want to try it with no risk: if nobody comes back, you pay nothing.
What are the best Churnkey alternatives?
It depends on where you bill and how you want to pay. Here is the wider field, as each tool describes its own pricing:
| Tool | Best for | Pricing basis | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| RevenueCat web win-back | RevenueCat apps already selling on the web | Part of RevenueCat; free up to $2,500 monthly tracked revenue, then 1%. Beta: English only, no targeting, needs RevenueCat Web | RevenueCat docs, pricing |
| Recurflux | RevenueCat apps, also Stripe, Paddle, Razorpay; dunning and win-back emails | Not public (Rise and Surge tiers). Launched 12 May 2026 | recurflux.com |
| Churn Buster | Done-with-you dunning and cancel flows | Flat. Measure free; Dunning or Cancel Flows from $269/mo; both $430/mo | churnbuster.io |
| FlyCode | Larger brands; its estimator starts at $5M annual revenue | Only on recovered revenue above a baseline; no seats, minimums or setup fee | flycode.com |
| Stripe native | Every Stripe Billing user | Included. Stripe says users recover 55% of failed payments on average (vendor) | stripe.com/billing |
| Winback | Small app and SaaS founders who want to pay only on returns | 15% of returners' revenue for 6 months | pricing |
Checked 17 Oct 2026. Prices change; check each site before you buy.
Recurflux is the closest to Winback for RevenueCat apps. It is worth a look alongside us. RevenueCat's own web win-back is the cheapest option if you already use RevenueCat Web and one English email is enough.
Switching from Churnkey
You do not have to switch everything. A sensible split for a business that bills on both web and stores:
- Keep Churnkey's cancel flow on your web cancel page, if it is saving people.
- Point Winback at RevenueCat for App Store and Google Play subscribers, which a web cancel flow cannot see.
- Make sure the two tools never email the same person. We set exclusions with you during setup.
- Compare after 60 days: returns counted by each tool, and what each cost.
Related: Stripe churn recovery, RevenueCat win-back, integrations.
FAQ
How much does Churnkey cost?
Churnkey lists Starter at $250 a month billed yearly or $300 monthly, Core from $500 or $600, Intelligence from $625 or $750, and custom Enterprise pricing, as checked on churnkey.co on 17 Oct 2026.
Does Churnkey work with the App Store or RevenueCat?
Churnkey's consumer-app page names Stripe, Chargebee, Paddle, Braintree, Recurly and Maxio. It did not confirm App Store or RevenueCat support when we checked on 17 Oct 2026. Ask Churnkey directly if you need it.
Is Winback cheaper than Churnkey?
If few people come back, yes, because you pay nothing. If many come back at a high price, 15% for 6 months can cost more than a flat fee. Use the revenue calculator with your own numbers.
Does Winback have cancel flows?
No. Winback starts after the cancel. If you want to stop cancels on a web page, a cancel flow tool such as Churnkey or Churn Buster does that.
Who is behind Winback?
AGUNA Wellness Ltd (RC 9590421) in Abuja, Nigeria. We run Winback on our own subscription app, AGUNA, first. It 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.