Metric
Refund rate
Refunds issued divided by paying customers (or orders) in the period; lower is better. A default revenue-quality guardrail for pricing, paywall, urgency and trial tests.
Plain label: share of payers refundedAlso known as: refunds, refund ratio
Typical subscription-app refunds run 2-5% of payers, with category differences (Education 4.9%, Health & Fitness 4.7%, Travel 1.5%; benchmark confidence B). Card disputes count too: Visa's monitoring program treats a dispute ratio of 1.5% or more as excessive from April 2026 (benchmark confidence B). A lift that raises refunds beyond the pre-set margin is a failed test.
Benchmarks
Every benchmark carries its year and a confidence grade for its source. Use them to calibrate, not as targets.
| Context | Median | Top 25% | Top 10% | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| refunds / payers, freemium subscription apps; reported rate (lower is better)Consumer subscription | 3.4% | — | — | RevenueCat State of Subscription Apps 2025, 2025Benchmark confidence B. A reputable dataset. |
| refunds / payers, hard-paywall subscription apps; reported rate (lower is better)Consumer subscription | 5.8% | — | — | RevenueCat State of Subscription Apps 2025, 2025Benchmark confidence B. A reputable dataset. |
Sources
State of Subscription Apps 2025 · RevenueCat, 2025
Benchmark confidence B. A reputable dataset.
Book content is paraphrased, never quoted at length. Last verified October 24, 2026.
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