RevenueCat vs Adapty vs Wanilla: Which Monetization Stack for AI-Built Apps?

These three options solve overlapping problems in very different ways. RevenueCat and Adapty are subscription infrastructure you integrate into an app you already have. Wanilla is a guided launch service that builds the native iOS app with you, paywall included, ready for you to submit from your own Apple Developer account. The right answer depends on whether your bottleneck is code or time.

Side by side

	RevenueCat	Adapty	Wanilla
What it is	Subscription SDK and analytics	Subscription SDK with paywall A/B testing	Guided launch: native app, paywall, submission materials
Who builds the app	You	You	We build with you
Pricing model	Free tier, then a percentage of tracked revenue	Free tier, then a percentage of tracked revenue	Fixed launch fee plus a flat monthly
Paywall experiments	Yes	Yes, strongest of the three	Built with you, iterated on request
Time to live	Weeks, depending on your team	Weeks	Days
Best for	Teams with mobile engineers	Growth teams optimising paywalls	Founders with a web app and no iOS team

RevenueCat

The default choice for teams that already ship native apps. It abstracts StoreKit and Google Play Billing, handles receipt validation, entitlements and cross-platform restore, and gives you clean subscription analytics. You still design and build the paywall, wire the SDK, and own App Store submission. Cost is a percentage of tracked revenue above a generous free tier.

Adapty

Similar infrastructure with a stronger focus on paywall experimentation — remote paywall configuration, A/B tests and cohort analysis without shipping a new build. If you already have installs and want to raise conversion, that matters. If you have no app yet, it solves a problem you do not have.

Wanilla

Wanilla is not an SDK. If you built with Lovable, Base44 or Replit, we take the web product and deliver a native iOS app with real native capability, a working native paywall, purchase and restore flows, and the App Store listing — ready for you to submit from your own Apple Developer account. Pricing is a fixed fee rather than a share of revenue, so it does not scale with your success.

How to choose

• You have mobile engineers and an app in the store. RevenueCat, or Adapty if paywall testing is your priority.
• You have a web app and no iOS experience. A guided launch removes the whole packaging problem — certificates, guideline 4.2, StoreKit, review.
• You want both. These are not mutually exclusive; a guided launch can ship with subscription infrastructure inside it.

Whichever you pick, these still apply

Digital goods consumed in the app must use Apple's in-app purchase system, restore purchases must work or you will be rejected, and enrolling in the Small Business Program takes Apple's cut from 30% to 15%. The subscription layer is the easy half; passing review is the half that delays launches. See the App Store launch checklist before you submit, or the guided launch offer if you want us to prepare your submission.