# Superwall: Subscription Infrastructure for iOS, Android, and Web

Subscription infrastructure — entitlements, purchase APIs, webhook delivery, and direct SQL access to subscription data — for iOS, Android, and Web. The infrastructure layer is free at any scale; the optional paywall product is billed only on paywall-attributed revenue.

## Pricing

- **Infrastructure: free at any scale, every plan.** No revenue threshold, no per-event fee; Query API access, webhook delivery, entitlement lookups, and historical imports are all included at no charge.
- **Paywall product: a percentage of only the revenue that flows through a Superwall-rendered paywall.** Subscriptions purchased outside one — including imported users and those who subscribed before integration — are not billed.

Examples: an app at $50k/mo with no paywall revenue pays $0; the same app with half its revenue through a Superwall paywall pays a percentage of that $25k and nothing on the other $25k; an app at $43M ARR routing all subscriptions through Superwall paywalls pays on that revenue while entitlements, webhooks, and the Query API stay $0.

## Scale

$1.5B+ annual subscription revenue across 10,000+ apps. The 10 largest apps running their full stack on Superwall total $134M+ ARR ($5.7M–$43.7M each). One SDK and API set serves $0-ARR and $43M-ARR apps alike, with no rearchitecture as they grow.

## Infrastructure capabilities

- **Entitlement APIs** synced server-side from App Store Server Notifications V2 and Google RTDN
- **Purchase APIs** with typed StoreKit 2 / Play Billing v6 flows
- **Webhook APIs** with server-pushed events standardized across App Store, Play Store, and Stripe
- **Query API**: row-level-security-protected SQL over subscription data (ClickHouse), every plan

Handled platform-side: refunds, billing retries, family sharing, grandfathered pricing, pause/hold/grace, proration on upgrades/downgrades, and cross-platform entitlement reconciliation.

## Migration

Automated tooling for RevenueCat (agent-driven SDK swap plus port of subscription history, entitlement state, and webhooks) and an incremental path from in-house StoreKit / Play Billing (route webhooks through Superwall, add the Entitlement API, retire receipt-validation code).

## Paywall product (optional, separately billable)

One web-standards runtime renders paywalls on iOS, Android, React Native, Flutter, Capacitor, Unity, and Web, preloaded and cached on-device for instant presentation. Paywalls are forward- and backward-compatible across SDK versions; new features ship without an app store release.

## Architecture

Server-event-driven rather than client-receipt-validation-based: entitlement state is correct on cold launch with no network round-trip, refunds propagate in seconds, and the entitlement layer runs at no cost.

## Docs

* Migrate from RevenueCat: https://superwall.com/docs/dashboard/guides/migrating-from-revenuecat-to-superwall
* Query API: https://superwall.com/docs/dashboard/guides/query-clickhouse
* Webhooks: https://superwall.com/docs/integrations/webhooks
* Pricing: https://superwall.com/pricing

# Configure

Create a Superwall instance and understand what happens before it is ready.

> **Warning:** **Beta**The Web SDK is in beta and its API may change between releases.

## Create an instance

`createSuperwall` returns an instance synchronously and starts configuring in the background.

```ts
import { createSuperwall } from "@superwall/paywalls-js";

const sw = createSuperwall({ apiKey: "pk_…" });
```

Do this once, as early as your app boots. Keep the returned instance around, or use the [named exports](#named-exports) and let the SDK hold it for you.

## Wait for `ready` before presenting

`register` waits for identity to hydrate, but it does not wait for configuration. Called before config lands, it returns `{ type: "error" }` carrying a `PaywallNotAvailableError`.

```ts
const sw = createSuperwall({ apiKey: "pk_…" });

await sw.ready;

const result = await sw.register({ placement: "checkout" });
```

Reads never block. `sw.user.id.value` and `sw.subscriptionStatus.value` return synchronously at any time. Before hydration lands they return defaults (`""` and `{ status: "UNKNOWN" }`). Persisted state replaces the defaults shortly after.

> **Tip:** Treat `UNKNOWN` as unresolved, not as unsubscribed. A returning subscriber reads `UNKNOWN` until
> hydration completes, so branching on "not ACTIVE" at startup shows paying users an upsell.

> **Warning:** **Check `configurationStatus`, not `ready`, to detect failure.** A failed config fetch is swallowed internally: `sw.ready` still resolves, and `sw.configurationStatus` becomes `"failed"`.```ts
> await sw.ready;
> 
> if (sw.configurationStatus.value === "failed") {
>   // Superwall could not configure. Paywalls will not present.
> }
> ```

## Options

```ts
const sw = createSuperwall({
  apiKey: "pk_…",
  options: {
    /* SuperwallOptions: logging, networking, paywall behavior */
  },
  delegate: myDelegate,
  storage: myStorageAdapter,
  purchaseController: myPurchaseController,
  identity: {
    appUserId: "user_123",
    aliasId: "$SuperwallAlias:…",
    vendorId: "…",
    vendorIdProvider: async () => "…",
  },
});
```

| Option               | Purpose                                                                                                |
| -------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ |
| `apiKey`             | Your `pk_…` publishable key. Required.                                                                 |
| `options`            | Tuning for logging, networking, and paywall behavior.                                                  |
| `delegate`           | Global callbacks for SDK-wide events. See [Events](/docs/web/guides/events).                           |
| `storage`            | Custom storage adapter. Defaults to `localStorage` plus cookies in the browser.                        |
| `purchaseController` | Take over checkout. Omit to use the built-in Stripe flow. See [Purchases](/docs/web/guides/purchases). |
| `identity`           | Pre-seed identity. Useful on the server or during SSR hydration.                                       |
| `surveyPresenter`    | Renderer for post-paywall surveys. Omit and the SDK skips survey presentation.                         |

> **Tip:** `identity.vendorIdProvider` is where a fingerprinting library plugs in. The SDK does not bundle
> fingerprinting.

## Named exports

Instead of threading the instance through your app, import the namespaces directly. The first `createSuperwall` call registers the default instance, and these bind to it.

```ts
import { createSuperwall, user, register, events } from "@superwall/paywalls-js";

createSuperwall({ apiKey: "pk_…" });

await user.identify("user_42");
const result = await register({ placement: "checkout" });
```

Importing only `user` lets bundlers drop the rest as dead code.

## Multiple instances

Creating more than one instance is supported. Useful for tests, Storybook, and multi-tenant edge workers. The default instance is the first one created in the process, and it is the one the named exports target.

Next, [present your first paywall](/docs/web/quickstart/present-first-paywall).