Genius Scan · B2C · document scanning app
Skip the paywall at signup; show it only when someone taps a paid feature
Free users convert over time and recommend the app; no numbers
Unknownpaywallword-of-mouthonboarding
What they did
No onboarding flow and no paywall on first launch, no slow-fading close button. The paywall appears only when users try premium features (export, OCR) or tap the in-app banner. Free users keep a good experience; some convert later and they recommend the app to friends and family.
What happened
Guest says free users convert over the long term and they know for a fact free users recommend it; hosts suggest an aggressive paywall could triple revenue.
- Stage
- growth
In their words
Sub Club by RevenueCat · Bootstrapping a Subscription App to 5M MAU and 2X+ Revenue Growth — Bruno Virlet, Genius Scan“we don't have an onboarding, for instance. We don't show the paywall on onboarding. And if you talk, you know, to a paywall specialists, they will tell you that's the biggest mistake.”
“Whereas our users, we have like a free free users and and they some of them convert in the long term, and they are also like a benefit, because they recommend like the app to their, we we know that for a fact that they do that to friends, family”
Related topics
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More from this episode
- Genius Scan: Launch free for a few days, then switch to a $0.99 paid appDownloads fell from thousands a day to 1-2; switched back to free
- Genius Scan: Keep the app free with ads; sell a one-time upgrade that removes themStarted making real money from ads; founder gives no figures
- Genius Scan: Start charging monthly for cloud backup while keeping the one-time upgradeNo customer backlash; users understood storage costs recur
- Genius Scan: Let people who paid once keep their features when you switch to subscriptions
- Genius Scan: Drop the $0.99-a-month plan and sell only the $3 oneStill ~100 purchases a day, now all on the pricier plan
- Genius Scan: Show only the yearly plan on the paywall; tuck monthly one step deeperNearly everyone switched to yearly; no numbers
- Genius Scan: Keep the button for your top paid feature on screen, not in a menuHiding it cut paywall views ~10-20% for months; putting it back restored them
- Genius Scan: Test the words and icon on the in-app banner that opens your paywallOne wording converted 2x the old one; a deliberate A/B test confirmed it
- Genius Scan: Remove outside ads from the free app, even though they paid wellFounder believes happy free users drive recommendations; no numbers
- Genius Scan: Answer every support email yourselves and build what people ask for repeatedlyFounders say it gives the best pulse on problems; no numbers
- Genius Scan: Beat the phone's built-in scanner with better scans and auto-export to DropboxGrowth never stalled when Apple added native scanning
- Genius Scan: Tune App Store name and ratings but skip paying for search adsTop five for 'scanning'; can't pass rivals who buy Apple ads
- The Grizzly Labs: Hire only when founders are overloaded, and pick people who work independently10 people, little management needed and low turnover
- RevenueCat: Ask users how they heard about you, with a free-text boxRevealed ChatGPT and Claude were sending people; read daily
- RevenueCat: Check 5-10 key numbers every morning, with 30- and 90-day averages30-day above 90-day means healthy; no outcome reported