Shape
What happened during each period
Chart · Subscriptions
New paid subscriptions: trial conversions, direct purchases and more
New paid subscriptions counts subscriptions whose first paid period started in each period, split by how they started: trial conversions, direct purchases, product changes and resubscriptions. A trial counts on the day it converts to paid, not on the day it starts. RevenueDot shows the total as well.
Formula
New paid subscriptions = trial conversions + direct purchases + product changes + resubscriptions
API name
actives_new
Measures
Trial Conversions (Count), Direct Purchases (Count), Product Changes (Count), Resubscriptions (Count)
Filter and segment by
App, Store, Product, Product duration, Offering, Country, Platform, App version
Definition
How RevenueDot calculates Paid Subscriptions
A subscription's paid start is its first non-trial period. RevenueDot counts the subscription in the period that holds that moment and puts it in one of four groups. Trial Conversions started with a free trial and then paid. Direct Purchases were bought without a trial. Product Changes started when the customer changed from another product. Resubscriptions were started by customers whose earlier subscription had already ended. The total, New Paid Subscriptions, is in the table and the API but is not plotted.
Paid introductory offers are not told apart from regular paid periods yet, because the purchase ledger has no offer type. They show up as direct purchases. A paid-to-paid product change is counted here as a product change, while Active Subscriptions Movement counts it in neither its new nor its churned measure.
Everything is counted on the date it happened, in UTC. Sandbox purchases, granted access and Family Sharing purchases are excluded. Filter or segment by app, store, product, product duration, offering, country, platform and app version. The chart is a stacked bar with day as the default resolution.
Find it in the dashboard under Analytics > Charts, or call GET /v2/projects/{project_id}/charts/actives_new. The response has the same shape as RevenueCat's Charts API.
Worked example
Paid Subscriptions, step by step
Illustrative numbers for one week.
| Group | Subscriptions |
|---|---|
| Trial conversions | 40 |
| Direct purchases | 25 |
| Product changes | 5 |
| Resubscriptions | 10 |
New paid subscriptions for the week = 40 + 25 + 5 + 10 = 80.
Why it matters
What Paid Subscriptions tells you
This chart shows how people become paying subscribers. If most new subscribers come from trial conversions, your trial and its paywall drive growth, and a change to the trial length will move this chart a trial length later. If most are direct purchases, your paywall converts without a trial.
A growing resubscription bar means returning customers are coming back, which tells you win-back offers and reminders work. A growing product-change bar means customers move between your plans. Use it with the New Trials chart to see whether trial volume or trial conversion explains a change.
How to read it
- Trial conversions lag trial starts by the trial length. A trial that starts on Monday with 7 days appears here the following Monday.
- Paid introductory offers count as direct purchases today, so a heavy introductory-offer app will show a large direct purchases bar.
- This chart counts subscriptions, not new customers. A returning customer is a resubscription, not a new customer.
- If the total looks low, check whether trials that started this week have converted yet. They have not.
- Segment by product to see which plan converts best.
API
Get Paid Subscriptions from the Charts API
Same path and response shape as RevenueCat's Charts API, so existing scripts keep working.
Requestshell
curl "https://api.revenuedot.app/v2/projects/$PROJECT_ID/charts/actives_new?resolution=day" \
-H "Authorization: Bearer $SECRET_KEY" # sk_... with charts_metrics:charts:readReference: Charts guide · REST API v2
FAQ
Paid Subscriptions: questions people ask
What counts as a new paid subscription?
A subscription whose first paid period starts in the period. That includes a trial converting to paid, a direct purchase, a switch from another product, and a returning customer's resubscription.
Do free trials count as new paid subscriptions?
No. A trial counts only on the day it converts to paid. Trial starts have their own New Trials chart.
What is the difference between a trial conversion and a direct purchase?
A trial conversion started with a free trial and then paid. A direct purchase paid from the start, with no free trial.
Are introductory offers counted as direct purchases?
Yes. RevenueDot cannot tell a paid introductory offer from a regular paid period yet, so it counts the subscription as a direct purchase.
Is a resubscription a new subscription?
Yes. When a customer comes back after their earlier subscription ended, RevenueDot starts a new subscription and counts it as a resubscription.
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