Calm · B2C · meditation app
Show only a yearly plan on the paywall
Monthly plan was back within 2-3 weeks; observed from outside
Failedpricingpaywall
What they did
Calm's paywall showed only the yearly plan for a period, then re-added the monthly plan two to three weeks later.
What happened
Reverted within weeks; Steve infers it did not work ('because it works').
“At the time, Calm did just have the yearly. Guess what, a month, two or three weeks later, they have their monthly back, because it works.”
Related topics
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More from Calm
All 3 Calm tacticsMore from this episode
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- Add a hard paywall to an app that used to be freeWorked well for revenue, but brought many 1-star reviews from people who reinstalled
- Give ad-driven users a hard paywall and App Store searchers a closable oneFounder said it worked really well; no numbers
- App Masters: Price utility apps at $5 a week, $20 a year, or $30 once
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- App Masters: Test different app icons on a new utility app
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- Grow with Meta ads alone before adding any other channel$4M+ ARR for one client and ~$1M MRR for another, Meta only
- Value Study: Give existing users 3 months' notice before charging for a free app90-99% of existing users happy to pay; new users complained
- Value Study: Find UGC creators on Collabstr and work with micro-influencersDeveloper calls it a great success; one creator had a big impact; no numbers
- Switch from a paid app to free with purchases, then to subscriptionsMade more money at each step, per the friend; no numbers
- Show different prices depending on what people answer in onboardingHeard it works really well; app unnamed, no numbers