Why doesn't my Attentive subscriber total add up?
The Attentive help pages give 4 common reasons. The first to rule out: Suppressing or unsuppressing subscribers also changes the email subscriber total, so the total can move by more than new subscribes minus unsubscribes.
Is it broken, or just quiet?
A number can fall because fewer people came, or because something stopped counting them. Below are the causes the Attentive help pages give, and how to check each one yourself.
What causes it?
Suppressing or unsuppressing subscribers also changes the email subscriber total, so the total can move by more than new subscribes minus unsubscribes.
In the Attentive help:
In addition to new subscribes and unsubscribes, total email marketing subscribers also include suppression events, i.e., when subscribers are suppressed or unsuppressed.
Email reports, read 2026-11-12.Attentive's text sign-up counts can differ because one of them leaves out transactional subscribers.
In the Attentive help:
If you see a difference between SMS Subscribes and Text Subscribes, it’s likely because Text Subscribes doesn’t include transactional subscribers.
Reporting metrics glossary, read 2026-11-12.When someone on your team opts a subscriber out, Attentive removes them from that subscription straight away, so the total can fall the same day.
In the Attentive help:
Attentive will immediately remove them from the subscription.
Remove a subscriber, read 2026-11-12.A subscriber who was opted out comes back only by opting in again through one of your sign-up methods.
In the Attentive help:
To resubscribe, subscribers must opt in through your existing sign-up methods.
Remove a subscriber, read 2026-11-12.
How do I check it myself?
Read the email subscriber growth figures day by day, since new subscribes, unsubscribes and the total are each shown as of the end of every day.
In the Attentive help:
The report shows the number of Email Subscribes, Email Unsubscribes, and Total Email Marketing Subscribers as of the end of the day for each day in the selected date range.
Email reports, read 2026-11-12.Look at text unsubscribes for the same date range to see whether people left your text list on the days the total fell.
In the Attentive help:
Text Unsubscribes: Subscribers who unsubscribed from your text messages within the selected date range.
Subscribers & Sign-Up Units reports, read 2026-11-12.
How does Attentive work with Feder?
- Connect Attentive to Feder and it joins your Reach apps.
- When you connect Attentive, Feder checks the connection straight away and shows Connected only when that check passes. If a reading cannot be taken later, Feder shows it as not read, never as zero.
Some numbers are too quiet to judge daily, such as a form filled in a few times a week. Until there is enough of your own history to judge a change, Feder says it is still learning and scores nothing, rather than guessing.
See whether you can trust the numbers in Attentive, one of your Reach apps. Feder only reads. It never changes anything in Attentive.
What else goes wrong with these numbers?
- Why did my Attentive email opens jump?Attentive
- Why did my Attentive message sends drop?Attentive
- Why did Google Analytics stop collecting data?Google Analytics
- Why aren't my key events showing in Google Analytics?Google Analytics
- Why does Google Analytics show (not set)?Google Analytics
See every question.
Where do these answers come from?
Every cause and check on this page comes from the Attentive help pages, quoted above with the date we read them. Last reviewed 2026-11-12. We read them again by 2027-11-12. If one changes, this page changes or comes down.