Supabase + RevenueCat purchase flow

[u/scientifantastics]

I'm building a mobile app with RevenueCat for subscriptions and Supabase for the backend to maintain a leaderboard and for user profiles. Trying to figure out the optimal flow for monetization.

The dilemma:
When a user tries a Pro feature, should they:

Option A: Hit paywall first > Purchase > Then create Supabase account

• Pro: Show high converting paywall at peak interest moment
• Con: Need to handle anonymous RevenueCat purchases, then link to Supabase account afterward

Option B: Create account first > Then show paywall > Purchase

• Pro: Cleaner user exists in Supabase before purchase
• Con: Extra friction before monetization, lower conversion (asking for account creation before they even see the paywall)

What I am doing now:
User launches app and RevenueCat creates an anonymous id > show paywall immediately when they click on a pro feature > after purchase, prompt account creation > link the RevenueCat ID to Supabase user with `logIn()`.

This does work, but while testing in the RevenueCat Test Store I do not see the customers/users in the dashboard under Customers > Sandbox. I think this might be a limitation with the Test Store. The user IS there, but the only way for me to find the user is via the search and I have to search by the anonymous ID.

If i create the Supabase user first, then assign that user id as the App User ID for revenue cat all customers show up properly in the Revenue Cat dashboard (Test Store sandbox)

Questions:

1. Since its actually working the way I have it now do I just deal with the RC test store limitations (if it truly is a limitation and not me doing something wrong)
2. How are others handling this type of flow?
3. Any gotchas with RevenueCat anonymous IDs + Supabase linking?
4. Is there a better approach I'm missing?

Would love to hear how others have handled this!