RevenueCat runs purchases and subscription data. Superwall builds and tests paywalls. Many apps use both. ActivationPal publishes this site and reads either provider's webhook for reporting; it replaces neither. Compared on 15 October 2026 from the vendors' own pages.
RevenueCat vs Superwall at a glance
| Product | Best for | Platform | Price as stated by the source |
|---|
| ActivationPal | Conversion and revenue reporting next to app events | Native Swift, Native Android, Flutter, React Native / Expo | First 10,000 events free; unlimited apps and members on every plan (pricing) |
| RevenueCat | Purchases, entitlements, customer data, paywalls and experiments | iOS, Android, React Native, Expo, Flutter, Kotlin Multiplatform, Capacitor, Cordova, Unity, Web, Roku (docs) | Free until $2,500 in monthly tracked revenue, then 1% of it (source) |
| Superwall | Paywalls, onboarding flows, experiments and web checkout | iOS, Android, Expo, Flutter, Kotlin Multiplatform, Unity, Web (docs) | Indie $0 per month up to $10k MAR, then 1% of total MAR; Startup $49 per month plus 1% of MAR; Scale $199 per month plus 1% of MAR; Enterprise custom (source) |
ActivationPal alongside both
ActivationPal is the reporting layer in this stack. It does not process purchases, validate receipts or show paywalls. It receives purchase events from one provider and puts them next to the onboarding and paywall events your app sends.
Two roles decide what you connect. The revenue provider is the system that records purchases, RevenueCat or Superwall. The paywall platform is what shows the paywall. Each ActivationPal app takes one revenue source, so a purchase is never counted twice.
- Revenue provider RevenueCat: connect the RevenueCat webhook. It is signed with HMAC and a per-app secret (setup).
- Revenue provider Superwall: connect the Superwall webhook. Deliveries are verified through Svix headers against a
whsec_ signing secret (setup).
- RevenueCat for purchases with Superwall for paywalls: keep the RevenueCat webhook only.
Both providers land as rc_* events with a source field. A trial start is an rc_initial_purchase with a trial period, and a trial conversion is an rc_renewal flagged as a conversion. Sandbox events stay out of release numbers. See subscription analytics for the dashboard, or the homepage for the demo.
What RevenueCat does
RevenueCat is a subscription backend. Its homepage describes purchase setup and receipt validation across StoreKit, Google Play, smart TV and web (RevenueCat). Its docs cover Offerings, Entitlements, Paywalls, Experiments, Targeting, Charts, webhooks and third-party integrations such as Amplitude, Braze and Mixpanel (docs). Pick it when you want one place for purchase logic and customer data across platforms.
What Superwall does
Superwall is built around the paywall. Its homepage shows a paywall editor and templates, placements and audiences, experiments with a holdout, onboarding flows and web checkout through Stripe (Superwall). Its pricing page says entitlement APIs, purchase APIs, webhook delivery and SQL access to subscription data are free on every plan, and that the paywall product is billed only on revenue that flows through a Superwall paywall (pricing).
Where RevenueCat and Superwall overlap
- Paywalls and experiments. RevenueCat has Paywalls and Experiments; Superwall has paywalls, campaigns and experiments.
- Targeting. RevenueCat targets Offerings by rules; Superwall targets paywalls by audience.
- Entitlements and purchases. Both document entitlements and purchase handling.
- Webhooks and integrations. Both send subscription events to your server and to analytics tools. Superwall's integrations list includes RevenueCat.
- Web sales. RevenueCat lists RevenueCat Billing, Stripe Billing and Paddle Billing; Superwall's web checkout runs on Stripe.
Example subscription stacks
RevenueCat for purchases:
App -> RevenueCat -> webhook -> ActivationPal
Enable the ActivationPal RevenueCat webhook.
RevenueCat for purchases, Superwall for paywalls:
App -> Superwall paywall -> RevenueCat purchase -> RevenueCat webhook -> ActivationPal
Enable the RevenueCat webhook. Leave the Superwall webhook off.
Superwall for paywalls and purchases:
App -> Superwall (paywall + purchase) -> Superwall webhook -> ActivationPal
Enable the Superwall webhook. Leave the RevenueCat webhook off.
Analytics integration checklist
- Pick one revenue provider per app.
- Create the app in ActivationPal and add the SDK with the quickstart steps.
- Pass the same user id to ActivationPal and the provider: the RevenueCat app user id, or the Superwall UUID. If the identity changes, update both SDKs together.
- Add the signed webhook URL for the chosen provider and save its signing secret in ActivationPal.
- For RevenueCat, set the webhook environment to Production.
- Make a sandbox purchase and check the live feed, or call
get_events with source=revenuecat or source=superwall.
The user id is one argument to configure:
ActivationPal.configure(app: "myapp", key: "ap_pk_YOUR_KEY", userId: Purchases.shared.appUserID)
ActivationPal.configure(app: "myapp", key: "ap_pk_YOUR_KEY", userId: Superwall.shared.userId)
Use the first line with RevenueCat and the second with Superwall. Provider steps are in the RevenueCat and Superwall docs.
How to choose
- RevenueCat if you want one subscription backend and customer data across platforms.
- Superwall if paywall iteration and experiments come first.
- Both if you want RevenueCat's purchase layer with Superwall's paywalls.
- ActivationPal if the question is what users did before and after the paywall, next to revenue. It sits beside either provider and replaces neither.
For the install-to-purchase view, read funnel analysis for mobile apps.