Offer codes for subscriptions, step by step

Offer codes give the people you choose a free or cheaper subscription for a set time. You make an offer in App Store Connect, create codes for it, and share them by email, on social media or through partners.

Two kinds of codes

• One-time-use codes: unique codes that each work once. Good for small groups, like your newsletter or support cases.
• Custom codes: one code you name yourself, like SPRINGPROMO, that many people can use. Good for big campaigns.

Apple's limits

• Up to 1 million codes per app, every quarter.
• Up to 10 active offers per subscription at a time.
• One-time-use codes come in batches of 500 to 25,000 and expire after 6 months at the latest.
• A custom code can be up to 64 characters, without special characters. You set how often it can be used, up to 25,000 at a time.
• Each person can use one code per offer.
• An offer can't be edited once it's made. To change it, make a new one.

Make your first offer

1. In App Store Connect, open your app and go to Subscriptions.
2. Pick the subscription group and the subscription.
3. Under Subscription Prices, click + and choose Create Offer Codes.
4. Give the offer a name you'll recognize later.
5. Choose who can use it: new, existing or expired subscribers, or a mix.
6. Pick the countries and the type: free, pay as you go or pay up front. Then the length and price.
7. Confirm, then create one-time-use codes or a custom code for the offer.

How people redeem a code

With a redemption link, in the App Store, or inside your app if it supports Apple's code redemption. Custom codes work through the link or inside your app. Your app has to be live on the App Store, and people who don't have it yet can download it while redeeming.

Not only for subscriptions

Offer codes now also work for consumables, non-consumables and non-renewing subscriptions. There you choose by purchase history: people who never bought in your app, or who bought in the last 30 days or before that.

Ideas to use them

• Win back people whose subscription ended, with a free month.
• Give partners or creators a custom code for their audience.
• Say sorry to a user who had a bad bug, with a free period.

In Fermium100 you make offer codes and free trials right in the app, and see what each offer brings in.