How Clarity and Personalization Help Drive Duolingo’s Growth – Anmol Tiwari, Duolingo

Default: a notification is sent about 2 days before the free trial expires. Test: at trial signup, let the user choose which day they get that reminder. The extra step draws attention to the fact that a reminder is coming and they can cancel later, so users wait until day 5 or 6 to judge whether they are getting value instead of cancelling immediately.

Goal is clarity and confidence, not persuasion: explain in a timeline what happens on which day of the trial and when the user is charged; when switching plans, state clearly how much money they get back.

When a learner runs out of hearts/energy mid-lesson, position the choice as: if you don't continue you lose your progress; pay gems or start the free trial now to keep your progress and finish the lesson. Still shows a sense of progress so it isn't punitive.

Instead of dropping the standard Super Duolingo upsell into the onboarding flow, make the offer contextual to onboarding: ask 'How do you want to achieve your goals? With ads or without ads? Learn faster or at your own pace?' so the subscription is part of the onboarding answers. New users are far more likely to convert than existing ones.

Tested reducing the free trial from two weeks to seven days in several combinations with how many trials a user is eligible for. Beyond conversion, the shorter trial means experiment readouts come in 7 days instead of 14, so losing tests are killed sooner and more tests run per quarter.

Users are eligible for multiple free trials, spread over time, because they are in different life stages or didn't get to experience the benefits the first time. Each user faces the purchase decision three or four times. (Apple allows the intro offer once per SKU, so this needs workarounds.)

'Free taste': a three-day, no-strings trial-like experience of Super or Max, with no auto-convert. User can convert during or after. Also used for paid-to-paid: Apple won't allow another free trial to an existing subscriber, but a Super subscriber can get a Max free taste and then return to Super. Aimed at users hesitant to start a real trial.

Instead of trialing the whole tier, offer a free taste of one feature in isolation: just one video call (part of the Max tier), then see if users convert.

Copy always states it's a three-day free period/preview and says 'Hey, you just earned this.' The reward chest used to sit on the learning path; moved it to after completing a lesson because earning it there felt more rewarding. Uses timers for urgency, and the subscriptions page says you can upgrade anytime and makes clear there won't be a surprise charge (so Super subscribers don't cancel).

After a free taste ends, a home drawer comes up stating 'Your X benefits have ended' with two options: continue (free), or explore/resubscribe. Emphasis on being clear it has ended and that rejoining is easy.

Free tier shows ads: a mix of house ads promoting subscriptions and third-party ads. First ML use: optimize the mix of own-product promos vs external ads. Then predict which plan (Super vs Max) a likely subscriber will pick, replacing fixed per-tier ad ratios, using signals like past taps on a plan or engaging with a video-call lesson.

Many creatives promote Super as an ad at the end of a lesson; a bandit optimizes which creative works best for which user.