Consumers in the US spend an average of $20.78 per month on app subscriptions

[Shawn Knight]

Editor's take: Now more than ever, companies are migrating to subscription models for their services in what has proven to be a win-win proposition for everyone involved. Consumers get access to a premium service for a low price and can usually cancel whenever they’d like while businesses lock in a steady stream of revenue.

According to the latest research from Adjust, nearly 80 percent of the top 225 apps in the Google Play Store and 49 percent of the top 225 apps in the App Store utilize subscriptions. That’s impressive considering subscription-based apps account for less than one percent of all apps.

Breaking it down further, Adjust found that the average user spends just shy of $21 per month across four subscriptions. Unsurprisingly, those in the 25-34 age range spend the most on app subscriptions - $25.85 – while those 55 and older spend far less at around $13.97 on average per month.

Keep in mind that these are purely app subscriptions. Streaming and on-demand entertainment services like Netflix, Hulu, Disney+ and YouTube TV are a whole separate category.

There, survey respondents on average said they spend $33.58 per month.

Where do you fall on the subscription spectrum? I’ve got a music streaming subscription and a couple of video on-demand subs, so I’m probably pretty close to the average for my age group.

Masthead credit: Andrew Krasovitckii

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https://www.techspot.com/news/87132-consumers-us-spend-average-2078-month-app-subscriptions.html

 

[EClyde]

95% of the apps are useless

 

[mrtraver]

I have several media streaming apps (Spotify, Netflix, etc.), but not a single "purely app subscription." What in the world are people subscribing to? Am I missing out? My messaging and social media apps, weather app, news apps, and games are all free, or I paid one time.

 

[MasterMace]

I'm at a flat 0. Why would I pay a sub for an app? I find no benefit in them.

 

[duckofdeath]

I'm at a flat 0. Why would I pay a sub for an app? I find no benefit in them.

I subscribe to things I use a lot and want to see kept updated.
It's unfortunately the way apps works now. Even PC apps have been going away from version numbers into subscriptions for years now. Well, there often still is an outright buy-option on PC, but, they usually make the sub look at lot more enticing.

 

[ypsylon]

It's truly terrifying that market picks this milking route. Because that's the easiest way to screw customer, no upgrades, just perpetual never ending project like Star Citizen in a sense. What year they started, like 1745 or something and still isn't even close to finished and nutjobs pay for this.

I'll never understand people subscribing to services like Twitch or Netflix. :whaaaat?:

Just this year after 9 versions Marvelous Designer started offering only subscriptions. Suckers I'm not putting money down that hole ever again.

Of course Adobe is king of sub scams on PC. Everything across the board. Even Apple isn't that bad.

On the other hand we have amazing company like Pixologic with its staple ZBrush. You can upgrade to ZBrush 2021 for free, absolutely bloody free even if you have 10 year old version of the software. Yeah perpetual license cost what 800$ (only for individuals not studios) IIRC, but you have so much value in this investment. Literally jaw dropping value and probably best purchase you can make in this business if you're a freelancer.

In a way I'm glad that so many people see potential in Blender. If things stay as is I can see Maya or 3ds Max dying away. Who in right frame of mind will pay like 4000$ per year when Blender offers 100% of that for free. Especially now, with all that Human malware around.

On my front, the only sub I'm running is my e-mail provider.

 

[mbrowne5061]

I have several media streaming apps (Spotify, Netflix, etc.), but not a single "purely app subscription." What in the world are people subscribing to? Am I missing out? My messaging and social media apps, weather app, news apps, and games are all free, or I paid one time.

I used to have a subscription to Weather Underground - cost me about $1/yr. Then they got bought by IBM, who gutted features, made the widgets useless, and made the app more difficult to use - so I canceled. And I briefly was subscribed to PyDroid because of a class I was taking. You aren't missing much.