Key takeaways
- Dr. Squatch scored 73 and Mars Men 62 out of 100 on the same 48 subscription checkpoints, both scored in August 2026.
- Mars Men wins four of eight dimensions, all on getting people to subscribe, but keeps only 20.5 of 50 retention points against 36 for Dr. Squatch.
- Mars Men scores 1 out of 10 on loyalty because every gift lands at order one, while Dr. Squatch scores 8.
Two men’s brands, two very different subscriptions. Dr. Squatch sells a $6 bar of soap in a box that ships every 3 months, and Unilever bought it in 2025. Mars Men did $100 million in eighteen months on one supplement, billed every 30 days.
We scored both on the Subscription LTV Scorecard™: 8 dimensions, 48 checkpoints, public data only. Dr. Squatch got 73. Mars Men got 62. Mars Men actually wins more dimensions. It loses on the ones that come after the first order.
Dr. Squatch vs Mars Men: the short answer
Dr. Squatch runs the stronger subscription program, 73 against 62. Mars Men is better at getting someone to subscribe, 41.5 against 37 out of 50. Dr. Squatch is far better at keeping them, 36 against 20.5.
Mars Men is a machine built by conversion experts, aimed at order one. Dr. Squatch is the most balanced program we have scored, 37 on growth and 36 on retention.
The scores, dimension by dimension
Mars Men wins four dimensions, all in the front half. Dr. Squatch wins three, all in the back half. They tie on promotion.
| Dimension | Out of | Dr. Squatch | Mars Men | Better |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Structure & Frequency | 15 | 10.5 | 12 | Mars Men |
| Offer Engineering | 15 | 11 | 11.5 | Mars Men |
| Subscription Promotion | 10 | 9 | 9 | Tie |
| Subscription Messaging | 10 | 6.5 | 9 | Mars Men |
| Subscriber Onboarding | 15 | 9 | 10 | Mars Men |
| Cancellation & Dunning | 15 | 10.5 | 7 | Dr. Squatch |
| Flexibility | 10 | 8.5 | 2.5 | Dr. Squatch |
| Loyalty & Surprise/Delight | 10 | 8 | 1 | Dr. Squatch |
| Total | 100 | 73 | 62 | Dr. Squatch |
Mars Men was scored on rubric version 1.0 and Dr. Squatch on 1.1. Mars Men rescores the same under 1.1, because the checkpoint that changed covers rotating variety and Mars Men has one product.
Two ways to build the offer
The two brands solved the same problem in opposite ways. How often should a man get his product?
Dr. Squatch: fixed frequency, you choose the supply
Everything ships every 3 months. What changes is how many bars come in the box. Soap is personal. One man finishes a bar in two weeks, another takes two months. So Dr. Squatch does not ask how often. It asks how much.
A $6 bar cannot carry a subscription. A $36 box can. Where they lose points: no reason given anywhere for 3 months, monthly soap plans that exist but no page links to, and cologne and lip balm left off subscription. That is 10.5 out of 15.
Mars Men: one SKU, every 30 days
150 capsules at 5 a day is 30 days, and it ships every 30. One-time costs $118 plus $7 shipping. Subscription costs $59. More than half off, for life. Nobody has to think about which option is better.
The first order carries about $70 of gifts, an ebook and an app trial. Then the 90-day supply shows up on the next screen after checkout, for $82.60.
Clever for AOV. But Mars Men promises results over 90 days, and its guarantee runs 90 days, while the default plan ships 30. Everyone who declines the upsell goes back on the 30-day clock.
Getting people to subscribe
Mars Men wins the front half, 41.5 against 37. The gap is mostly messaging.
Mars Men answers “Do I have to sign up for a subscription?” on its own site, with a real argument. It frames the cost as $1.96 a day, sets a day 7, day 30 and day 90 timeline, and tells you to take 5 capsules every morning with food. That is 9 out of 10 on messaging.
Dr. Squatch scores 6.5. The pitch is convenience: subscribe once and relax. No case for the long term, no long-term subscribers on the page, and the subscription barely appears in its promotional emails. Their calendar is new scents and sales. Early access to new scents is a subscriber benefit on their own page, and I could not find one email that says so.
On discounts, both lose points. Dr. Squatch shows anything from 7% to 50% depending on the page. Mars Men is consistent on site and ads, then very different on Amazon.
Keeping them after the first order
Dr. Squatch wins the back half, 36 against 20.5. This is where 15.5 points move.
Cancellation: Dr. Squatch 10.5, Mars Men 7
Search how to cancel Dr. Squatch and their own help article comes up first, with numbered steps. Cancel online, no fees, no phone call. Their complaints are about stock: a scent sells out and a different bar ships without anyone asking.
Search the same for Mars Men and you get third-party cancel guides. We counted 19 BBB complaints in 12 months, mostly charges after cancelling. When we scored it, Trustpilot sat at 3.7.
Flexibility: Dr. Squatch 8.5, Mars Men 2.5
Every brand offers skip and swap. Very few get subscribers to use it. Dr. Squatch does. On Reddit and Trustpilot, people talk about swapping scents before the box ships. The fixed 3-month rhythm helps: everyone knows a box is coming, gets the reminder 5 days before, and opens the dashboard. The help centre even shows a screenshot of that dashboard.
Mars Men has nothing to swap to, and reviews say pause does not always stop the charge. That is a portal problem, which is fixable. We explain why pause and skip order matters in pause and skip.
Onboarding: Mars Men 10, Dr. Squatch 9
Close. Mars Men anchors the product to a morning routine but names no reminder before the charge, and people say they were charged without warning. Dr. Squatch sends a reminder 5 days before every charge but has no welcome email for new subscribers that we could find. Toothpaste gets morning and night. The bar of soap gets nothing. Tying a product to a moment is the idea behind habit stacking.
Loyalty: Dr. Squatch 8, Mars Men 1
The widest gap on the board. Dr. Squatch states rewards in dollars, 50 points for $5 off up to $30, shows the points balance, and gives subscribers early access to limited scents. Where it slips: points cannot be used on the subscription itself.
Mars Men gives $70 of gifts at order one. Then nothing. No milestone, no reward, no reason to reach order three. We see this on a lot of audits. Moving one of them to order 2 or 3 costs the same and protects the renewal, as we argue in gifts over discounts.
Front half vs back half
Mars Men won 83% of the growth points and 41% of the retention points. Dr. Squatch won 74% and 72%. Mars Men gets more people in. Dr. Squatch keeps more of the people it gets.
Where each one loses points
Look at what kind of problems these are. Dr. Squatch’s gaps are copy and setup: a welcome email, a reason for the cadence, a save offer. Mars Men’s are operations: charges after cancelling, pause that fails, a support inbox that is slow. None of it is strategy, and Mars Men has raised $27.5 million, so the money to fix it is there.
What to copy from each
From Dr. Squatch
- If use varies by person, fix the frequency and let them choose the quantity.
- If the item is small, sell a box. Build-a-box raises the order without a bigger discount.
- Put a screenshot of your customer dashboard in the help centre.
- Send a reminder 5 days before every charge.
From Mars Men
- Make the subscribe gap big and obvious on the product page.
- Answer “do I have to subscribe?” on the page, with a reason.
- Set a results timeline for day 7, day 30 and day 90.
- Offer the longer supply after checkout, when the first yes is done.
Full breakdowns: the Dr. Squatch breakdown and the Mars Men teardown. Want your own program scored the same way? The free subscription audit uses the same 48 checkpoints.
FAQ
Is the Dr. Squatch or Mars Men subscription better?
Dr. Squatch, on our scorecard: 73 against 62. Mars Men is better at the sign-up, Dr. Squatch at everything after it: cancelling, changing the box and rewards.
How often does each one ship?
Dr. Squatch ships every 3 months and lets you choose how many bars. Mars Men ships every 30 days, with a 90-day supply offered after checkout.
How much do you save by subscribing?
When we scored them, Mars Men was $59 against $118 plus shipping one-time. Dr. Squatch was a $36 box against $39.90 one-time, though the discount shown changes from page to page.
Is it easy to cancel Dr. Squatch or Mars Men?
Dr. Squatch publishes numbered cancel steps and lets you cancel online. Mars Men has a portal, but reviews and 19 BBB complaints in 12 months describe charges after cancelling.
Can you use Dr. Squatch points on a subscription?
No. Its help centre says points cannot be used on subscription orders, a complaint that shows up in its reviews.
One email a week on subscription retention: the numbers, the strategy, and what to fix first.
Rahi Jain
Rahi Jain is a subscription LTV specialist who helps DTC brands maximize their LTV from subscriptions.
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