Non-subscription purchases
Not every paying user subscribes. Non-subscription purchases are the one-time buys, from a pack of credits to a lifetime unlock, and Adapty Ads Manager counts them separately so you can see what ad traffic earns outside the subscription funnel.
Updated
Many subscription apps also sell something once: extra AI generations, a filter pack, a lifetime plan. Games and utilities may sell almost nothing else. When you buy traffic with Apple Ads, those purchases are part of the return, and ignoring them understates what a keyword is worth.
Consumables and non-consumables
On the App Store, one-time in-app purchases come in two kinds. Both count as non-subscription purchases in Ads Manager.
| Consumable | Non-consumable | |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | Used up and can be bought again | Bought once and kept |
| Examples | Coins, credits, extra lives, a single export | Remove ads, a premium filter set, a lifetime plan |
| Repeat purchases | Yes, the same user can buy many times | No, one purchase per user |
| Restore on a new device | Not required | Required |
The distinction affects how you read the numbers. Consumables can generate repeat revenue from one user, which makes them behave a little like a subscription. A lifetime plan is a single large payment that replaces the recurring revenue the same user might otherwise have brought.
How Ads Manager counts them
Adapty Ads Manager reports Non-subscriptions started, the total number of one-time in-app purchases that are not subscription-based, for each campaign, ad group and keyword. Two derived metrics make the count comparable.
Because the numerator counts purchases, not users, a single user who buys three credit packs adds three. A high Non-subscription CR on a consumables-heavy app can reflect a few enthusiastic buyers rather than broad conversion. Check revenue alongside the count.
Non-subscription purchases also feed Conversions, which is trials started plus subscriptions started plus non-subscriptions, and they contribute to Revenue and ROAS.
Why subscription apps should track them
- Hybrid monetization. Apps that combine a subscription with one-time purchases need both counts to see the full return on a keyword.
- Lifetime plans. A lifetime option on the paywall moves some buyers out of Subscriptions and into non-subscription purchases. If you add one, expect Subscriptions to fall and watch total revenue instead.
- Non-payers who still spend. Users who decline a subscription may still buy a single unlock, and those users would look like zero-value traffic if you only tracked subscriptions.
- Keyword intent. Some searches, such as a specific feature or tool, attract people who want one thing once. They may convert to purchases but not to subscriptions.
Pitfalls when comparing keywords
Cost per non-subscription is only comparable between products with similar prices. A keyword that sells cheap consumables will show a low cost per purchase and may still lose money; a keyword that sells lifetime plans will show a high one and may pay back in a week. Compare on revenue and ROAS, and use the count to understand why they move.
Related metrics
Non-subscription purchases sit next to Subscriptions, Trials and Conversions in Ads Manager. Revenue, ROAS and ARPPU show what these purchases are worth relative to the spend behind them.