Subscriber - Overview
Introduction
The Overview tab gives you a single, at-a-glance health check of your entire subscriber base. Instead of opening several separate reports, you see the numbers that matter most on one screen: how many active subscribers you have, how much each one is worth on average, how many you're losing, and whether your base is growing or shrinking.
Think of it as the dashboard you check first thing each morning. It tells you whether your subscription program is healthy today, and points you toward the deeper LTV, Retention, and Churn tabs whenever a number looks off and you want to investigate.
How to open the Overview
Step 1: Navigate to Analytics in the Joy Subscriptions sidebar.
Step 2: Select Subscriber from the page title dropdown at the top of the page.
Step 3: Click the Overview tab. Use the date range picker in the filter bar to choose your reporting period — every card on the page updates to reflect the range you select. Each card also compares the current period against the previous one, so you can see at a glance whether a metric is improving or declining.
Total active subscribers
This card shows the total number of subscribers who are active at the end of the reporting period, split into three groups so you can see where your active base comes from:
| Group | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Ongoing subscribers | Were already active before this period started. |
| Newly started subscribers | Activated their first subscription during this period. |
| Reactivated subscribers | Returned from a cancelled status during this period. |
For example, a total of 1,194 active subscribers might be made up of 1,090 ongoing, 74 newly started, and 30 reactivated. A healthy base is one where newly started and reactivated subscribers consistently outpace the losses shown in your Churn card.
Average active subscriber value
This card breaks down the average worth of a single active subscriber into four mini-metrics. Together they tell you not just how many subscribers you have, but how valuable and engaged each one is.
| Metric | What it tells you | Formula |
|---|---|---|
| Average revenue | Average subscription revenue per active subscriber in the period. Excludes shipping and tax; only revenue billed inside the period counts. | Subscription revenue in the period ÷ Active subscribers in the period |
| Average orders | Average number of subscription orders each active subscriber received in the period. | Subscription orders in the period ÷ Active subscribers in the period |
| Average active subs | Average number of active subscriptions per subscriber, measured at period end. A value above 1 means subscribers hold more than one plan. | Active subscriptions at period end ÷ Active subscribers in the period |
| Average active days | Average number of days each subscriber stayed active within the period. Paused days count as active; cancelled days do not. The maximum equals the length of the period. | Active days within the period (all subscribers) ÷ Active subscribers in the period |
Watch the trend on Average revenue and Average orders — when these rise, your existing subscribers are buying more, which grows revenue without any extra acquisition cost.
Churned subscribers
This card shows the total number of subscribers who no longer have any active subscription during the period. It is broken down by how they left:
| Churn type | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Active churn | Canceled manually — by the customer through the Customer Portal, or by you through the Admin. |
| Passive churn | Auto-canceled by the Payment Recovery process after all retry attempts failed. |
| Expired churn | The subscription reached its end date or completed all of its prepaid charges. |
Knowing the mix matters, because each type has a different fix. High passive churn points to payment problems you can recover with dunning settings, while high active churn points to a value or experience problem you can address with your Cancellation Flow. For the full breakdown over time, open the dedicated Churn tab.
Active subscriber growth over time
This line chart shows the number of active subscribers at each point during the reporting period, so you can see the shape of your growth rather than just the start and end numbers.
The dashed line marks the average number of active subscribers over the period. When your live line sits above the dashed average, your base is trending up; when it dips below, growth is stalling. Hover over any point to see the exact count on that day.
Subscriber change over time
While the previous chart shows your total, this stacked bar chart shows the flow — how many subscribers moved in and out during each interval. Each bar combines three movements:
| Bar segment | Meaning |
|---|---|
| New | Subscribers who started their first subscription. |
| Reactivated | Subscribers who returned from a cancelled status. |
| Churned | Subscribers who no longer have any active subscriptions. |
The Net change figure summarizes the whole period in one number:
Net change = (New subscribers + Reactivated subscribers) − Churned subscribersA positive net change means you gained more subscribers than you lost. A negative net change — for example −67 — is an early warning that churn is outrunning acquisition, and a signal to look closely at your Retention and Churn tabs.
Subscriber churn rate
This funnel shows what share of your subscribers churned during the period, expressed as a percentage.
Subscriber churn rate = Churned subscribers in period ÷ (Active at start of period + New in period) × 100For example, losing 150 subscribers against a base of 1,000 gives a 15% churn rate. Lower is better. Tracking this number period over period is the single fastest way to tell whether your retention efforts are working — if the rate creeps up, revenue growth will slow even when acquisition stays strong.
Tips and best practices
- Start every review with Total active subscribers and Net change. If net change is negative, treat it as the headline problem and work backward through the Churn card to find the cause.
- Use the Average active subscriber value card to spot upsell opportunities. If average active subs is close to 1, most subscribers only hold one plan — a good sign that bundling or a second product line could grow revenue.
- Compare Active churn vs. Passive churn on the Churned subscribers card. Passive churn is often the easiest revenue to win back, because it's caused by failed payments rather than unhappy customers — tighten your Payment Recovery settings to reduce it.
- When a number looks wrong, click into the matching deep-dive tab. The Overview answers what is happening; LTV, Retention, and Churn answer why.
- Check the Overview against the same period last month or last year, not just the previous period, so seasonal swings don't mislead you.
Overall
The Subscriber Overview is your daily command center for subscription health. In one screen it tells you how big your base is, how valuable each subscriber is, how many you're losing and why, and whether you're growing on balance. Use it to catch problems early, then follow the signals into the LTV, Retention, and Churn tabs to understand the details and take action.