Duolingo · B2C · language learning app
Tell users on the paywall you'll remind them on day 5 of a 7-day trial
Won A/B tests by easing fear of subscription traps
What they did
What happened
In their words
Why Your Free Users Are Your Real Growth Engine – Cem Kansu, Duolingo CPO
Cem Kansu... it lowers the barrier to entry. So you're not committing payment. You're like, "I'll give it a go." And I think that's the real benefit of free trials.
Cem KansuSo at this point, we were very pro free trials and I think our purchase flows are now designed to highlight how our free trial works as a mechanic. We even have designed pages which communicate, "Hey, this is a seven day free trial. On day five we're going to send you a notification to see if you still want your subscription."
Cem KansuAnd this has performed well in AB tests because I think users have a subscription aversion and I think in a lot of countries, maybe not as much the US, there's also subscription scam aversion where you click on something you somehow can't get out.
Cem KansuI think if you highlight what a free trial is, one, it's you don't have to pay anything really and out of what the mechanics of it, it relieves this subscription aversion.
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More from this episode
- Keep lessons free and sell learners' translations to news sitesSmall revenue; dropped by 2016 (price race and low translation quality)
- Charge $1-3 to fix a broken streakA good share of users paid; showed how much users value their streak
- Show one ad only after a lesson ends, and test it against retentionRetention mostly neutral, at most a slight hit, across ad tests
- Count ad complaints per million users and compare them to other complaintsMissing-course complaints were 3x ad complaints; ads launched
- Block gambling and sketchy ad types, even if it costs revenueAccepted lost ad revenue for better experience; no numbers
- Sell ads directly to brands and have app characters introduce themUsers like the format; slow to sell because it's custom
- Use the end-of-lesson ad slot to advertise your own paid planGuest says house ads beat programmatic ads; no numbers
- Run 3-6 month holdouts for changes whose effects show up lateNew push lifts can turn negative after about 6 weeks
- Sell a one-time ad-free month at $3, $5 or $10 to test demandUptake far above expectations; led to the subscription
- Launch a plan with no ads, offline use, and 'support our mission'About half of early buyers paid to support the app; started a run rate
- Offer a free trial even though the app is already freeOne of the biggest unlocks; guest had expected it to flop
- Change the buy button to say 'Try for $0.00'Beat 'Try for free' on both trial starts and trial-to-paid
- Give subscribers unlimited hearts so mistakes never stop their lessonsBig turning point: raised subscription conversion and retention
- Make paid features free when a test shows they earn littleTook a small revenue hit on purpose to grow free users
- Add new subjects inside the main app instead of launching new appsSeparate apps were 'hard mode'; in-app works better, but many users still don't know
- Offer live human tutors on demand in a higher-priced planFailed: users joined, panicked and left; later replaced by AI video call
Tags: free-trial, trial-reminder, transparency, purchase-page