From what community size does your own subscription app pay off?

From what community size does your own subscription app pay off?

There is no community size at which your own subscription app reliably pays off, because the threshold depends on your subscription price, your fixed costs and the share of your community that pays. As a worked example with assumed values: with €600 of fixed costs a month, a €12 subscription price (including 19% German VAT, other countries have other rates) and a 15% store commission, 71 paying members cover the fixed costs, and if 1% of your community pays, that equals a community of about 7,100 people.

With other assumptions the threshold in our scenarios lies between 63 and 135 paying members, which is roughly 3,150 to 27,000 people depending on the share that pays. These are worked examples, not a forecast: no source can tell you in advance how many people in your community will really pay. The numbers assume that every paying member comes through the app: if you already have paying members elsewhere, only the extra revenue the app brings counts against its costs. With a pre-funded partnership such as CreatorStack you have no fixed costs, and you give up an agreed share of the revenue instead.

The fees and prices on this page were read on the pages of Apple, Google, Stripe and the providers named on 8 November 2026, and they change. Benchmarks come from RevenueCat and, where stated, from providers that sell a product of their own. This is not tax or legal advice and no promise of income.

Why do sources name such different thresholds?

Because each source makes different assumptions and rarely says which. On 8 November 2026 we read five answers from widely used AI assistants to exactly this question (one query per assistant): as a rule of thumb they name between 50 and 500 paying members for an app on an existing provider and between 10,000 and 100,000 followers, and none of them cites a neutral measurement for the share that pays.

The differences come from three levers: the subscription price (for example €8 or €20 a month, see the table below), the fixed costs (for example €600 or €1,000 a month) and the assumed share that pays (for example 0.5% or 2%). Move one of them and the threshold moves by a multiple. That is why this page shows the calculation instead of a single number.

How do you calculate the threshold?

Step 1: paying members

Paying members you need at least = fixed costs per month ÷ the amount left per member and month after VAT and the store or payment fee. Round up to a whole member.

Step 2: community

Community you need for that = paying members ÷ share of your community that pays.

The paying share, broken down

Step 2 bundles four things you can estimate separately: how many people you reach, which share of them installs the app, which share of those installing pays, and how long they stay. Example with assumed values: 20,000 people × 20% reached × 25% install × 10% pay = 100 paying members, which is 0.5% of the 20,000. Each of these shares is an assumption here, not a measured value.

Fixed costs of €600 a month (assumption)

Based on the plans with an own app at Disciple (Branded App) and Passion.io (Expand), which according to their pricing pages cost $599 a month billed yearly, read on 8 November 2026. The amount is an assumption in euros and not a quote, and like the worked example in the article "What a subscription app costs" it excludes transaction fees, legal texts and tax advice.

Fixed costs of €1,000 a month (assumption)

Worked example for a custom build: €25,000 of build cost spread over 36 months is €694 a month, plus 15% maintenance per year, which is €313 a month, together €1,007, rounded to €1,000. The €25,000 sits on the border between the ranges for an MVP (first version, €10,000 to €25,000) and for business apps (€25,000 to €80,000) of a software agency (Codana GmbH, maintenance 15 to 20% per year). These are the statements of a provider, not a market average. Hosting is missing because we found no neutral source for it, so the fixed costs are set rather low. The 36 months are an assumption.

Pre-funded app

For you €0 of fixed costs for build, running and publishing. The threshold in this calculation falls away; what remains is the question about the agreed revenue share (see below).

Not in the fixed costs

Store accounts (Apple USD 99 per year, Google USD 25 once), legal texts, tax advice, payment processing outside the stores and your own working time.

All amounts are per month. Fixed costs are the costs that run whether or not anyone subscribes.

What is left of a €12 subscription price per member and month?

Of €12 including 19% German VAT (other countries have other rates, which changes the amounts), between €7.46 and €9.57 is left depending on the payment route. The amounts are the same as in the worked example of the article "What a subscription app costs". Commissions and fees come from the pages of Apple (EU page, terms effective 1 October 2026), Google Play and Stripe, read on 8 November 2026.

This is a simplified model: the store commission is calculated on the price without VAT, and the Stripe row applies to a standard card from the EEA including the 0.7% billing fee. The 15% row applies to Apple in the Small Business Program (enrolment required) and to Google up to USD 1 million of annual earnings, the 26% row to Apple outside the program. Not yet deducted are refunds, fees of a provider, partner shares and income tax.

How many paying members and what community size do you need?

The table calculates both fixed-cost assumptions with the three payment routes at a €12 subscription price including 19% German VAT. "Paying members" = fixed costs ÷ amount per member, rounded up to a whole member, using the cent amounts of the table "Left per member and month". The three right-hand columns = paying members ÷ share that pays (0.5%, 1%, 2%). "15%" stands for Apple in the Small Business Program or Google up to USD 1 million. The three shares are assumptions to calculate with, not an industry value and not a forecast.

Reading example: with €600 of fixed costs, a €12 subscription price and a 15% store commission you need 71 paying members (600 ÷ 8.57 = 70.01, rounded up to 71; without rounding the cents exactly 70). If 1% of your community pays, that is 71 ÷ 0.01 = 7,100 people, if only 0.5% pay, it is 14,200. The table only shows when the fixed costs would be covered, not that these shares will be reached, and covered fixed costs are not yet a profit.

The table counts every paying member as if the app were what brings them in. If you already have paying members on a website or with another provider, the app does not bring those in new: then only the extra revenue it brings counts against its costs, for example through more sign-ups or longer memberships.

How strongly does the subscription price move the threshold?

Strongly: at €600 of fixed costs, the 15% row and 19% German VAT (other countries have other rates, which changes the amounts), you need 106 paying members at an €8 subscription price, 71 at €12 and 42 at €20. Calculation per row: price ÷ 1.19 = price without VAT; VAT = price minus that amount; commission = 15% of the price without VAT; left per member = price minus VAT minus commission; paying members = 600 ÷ left per member, rounded up. A higher price helps only if enough members accept it, and no source tells you that in advance.

Which benchmarks exist for installs and paying shares?

For the share of your community that pays we found no neutral measurement. The 1 to 3% that guides and AI answers often quote name no source we could read. There are measurements for subscription apps in general and figures from individual providers about the communities on their own product, and both answer your question only in part. The paying share is therefore the least certain number in the whole calculation and appears in the tables as an assumption in three steps. If you already have a paying community, your own value (paying members ÷ people who regularly use your content) replaces each of these assumptions.

The RevenueCat figures come from the report "State of Subscription Apps 2026" (according to the page: over 115,000 apps, over USD 16 billion of revenue, reference year 2025). RevenueCat sells software for subscription apps. It measures apps in the stores, not fans you invite personally. Whether your community pays more or less, the source does not say.

What does the calculation not show?

Time for content

A subscription app depends on new content appearing regularly. That time is in no fixed-cost line, and it stays with you even if the technology sits with someone else.

Cancellations

Paying members leave again. With an assumed cancellation rate of 10% a month you need about 7 new members a month to keep 71 (case of €600 fixed costs, €12 subscription price, 15%; 71 × 0.10 = 7.1), at 20% about 14 (71 × 0.20 = 14.2). For comparison: for monthly plans after one year, RevenueCat gives a median of 6 to 14% of subscriptions still active, across all categories. That works out to an average loss of roughly 15 to 21% a month over the first year (the 12th root of 0.14 is 0.85, of 0.06 is 0.79), for subscription apps in general and not for communities, and the loss is larger at the start. A community with strong ties can be lower, the source says nothing about that.

Refunds

Refunds reduce revenue. RevenueCat gives 3 to 4% of subscriptions in the first billing period for most categories. With Stripe, each dispute costs another €20.

Support and upkeep

Questions, login problems and looking after the content cost time, and with an app builder or a custom build also money or your hours.

Introducing the app

For people to install the app you have to introduce it in your own channels, and not just once. That takes time, and the reach of your posts is not guaranteed.

Tax on profit

The amounts are before income tax and before your working time. A tax adviser clarifies tax questions.

A test without a store app

If you first want to test whether members pay, you can do that on a website without a store app; the fees there are in the table as "Own website, Stripe". Whether an own app then brings more than it costs only your own number shows.

Figures change

Plans, commissions and rules change. Read the figures again with the providers before you decide.

These points sit outside the tables above, and each of them can move the threshold up.

How does a pre-funded partnership change the calculation?

With a pre-funded partnership such as CreatorStack you pay nothing for build, running and publishing, so this calculation has no fixed costs that first have to be covered. The threshold does not disappear, it moves: instead of "When do I cover my costs?" you ask "Is the agreed revenue share I give up worth it compared with my alternatives?".

The revenue share is the price. Which share applies is set in writing in the contract before development begins. From every subscription, store fees, payment processing, taxes, refunds and chargebacks come off first, and the rest is split. So calculate with the amount after VAT and deductions, not with the subscription price. The exact deductions are in the contract.

CreatorStack carries the risk of the build, which is why partnerships are selective: whether a community fits depends on community, brand, content and commercial fit. There is no minimum number of followers, and there is no promise of income either. Your content and the ongoing introduction of the app in your own channels stay with you: the partnership replaces the fixed costs and the build risk, not your work.

Are 10,000 to 50,000 followers enough for an own subscription app?

A follower count alone does not decide that, because only the part that regularly uses your content and is willing to pay counts. With the assumptions of the tables above: from 10,000 people at a €12 subscription price you get 50 (0.5%), 100 (1%) or 200 (2%) paying members. 100 cover €600 of fixed costs at a 15% store commission (71 needed) but not €1,000 (117 needed). From 50,000 people it would be 250, 500 or 1,000 paying members, more than any threshold in the scenarios.

"People" here means the community that regularly uses your content, not the sum of all followers on all channels. These are worked examples and not a statement that this many people will pay. Engagement says more than the follower count, and whether a partnership with CreatorStack fits is decided case by case.

How do you check your own number?

Step 1: price

Set the subscription price you want to charge, including VAT.

Step 2: amount per member

Price ÷ 1.19 = price without VAT (19% in Germany, other countries have other rates). Then take off the store commission: × 0.85 at 15%, × 0.74 at 26%. At €12: 12 ÷ 1.19 × 0.85 = €8.57.

Step 3: fixed costs

Ask for quotes and enter the monthly fixed costs: plan, fees per subscriber, maintenance, hosting.

Step 4: paying members

Fixed costs ÷ amount per member, rounded up.

Step 5: community

Paying members ÷ share that pays. Use your own value if you have one, otherwise calculate 0.5%, 1% and 2% and see which case still holds.

Step 6: cross-check

Subtract cancellations, refunds and your time, and ask yourself whether what is left is worth the effort. If you already have paying members elsewhere, count only the extra revenue the app brings.

Do you want to go through the calculation for your community?

Write to us with who your community is and what you offer, and we will work through the threshold with your numbers. The conversation is non-binding, and we give no promise of income.

Keep reading

Pre-funded app or app builder : Who pays, who builds, who carries the risk: app builders and pre-funded apps compared.

From Instagram to your own app : Four steps from followers to members of your own app, with no promises.

Contract: the checklist : Nine points to have in writing before the build, if someone pre-funds your app.

What a subscription app costs : Custom build, app builder, platform or pre-funding: who pays what, including running costs, store fees and payments.

App, livestreams, memberships compared : Uscreen, Mighty Networks, Circle, Disciple and others compared, and when a pre-funded app fits better.

Providers paid by revenue share : Who builds a creator app with no upfront cost, what their pages say about cost, share and ownership, and what to watch for.

Subscription app without coding : Five routes to a community app with subscriptions without code, what stays with you and what Apple, Google and the law require.

App without start-up capital : Six ways to your own fan app without start-up capital, what pre-funded really means, and what applies extra to nutrition and health experts.

Income beyond ads : Ways to regular income without constant advertising: how the money recurs, fees according to providers, taxes in Germany and what nobody guarantees.

Is CreatorStack right for you? : What CreatorStack covers and what it does not: livestreams, a browser start, member chat, courses and follower count.

Own app name in the App Store : Name, icon and seller name in the stores: what Apple and Google set and what providers say about it on their own pages.

Requirements and process : What CreatorStack looks at in an application, how the partnership runs in four stages and what is agreed in writing before the build.