Opal · screen time and focus app
Drop the hard paywall and give the core app away for free
Paying share of users fell 20% to 9%, but organic growth, 1M+ DAUs and revenue rose
Workedpaywallword-of-mouthpositioning-niche
What they did
After reaching $10M ARR on a hard paywall, Opal made the core product free ('truly freemium') so free users become the marketing. Success measured by install LTV plus overall free+paid retention. Freemium unlocked a new segment (high school and college students, now ~2/3 of DAUs) who spread it among classmates and family, and later pulled Opal into schools. Guiding test for where to draw the free line: would a non-payer recommend the app? If not, give away more; avoid a free tier that feels like a capped trial.
What happened
Pay penetration (paying subs / MAU) dropped from ~20% to 9%, but organic growth 'massively increased', DAUs passed 1M and revenue grew; founder says it pays back tenfold long term.
- Stage
- scale
“You mentioned that our pay penetration, so that's how many people are paying subscribers within the monthly active users went from about 20% to 9%. That's scary when you see this chart, but it was the right decision.”
“The reason it's the right decision is because when you give the product away for free, the people that are using the product become your marketing.”
“To sum up, we've seen a decrease in our conversion to paid, but we've also seen as a consequence of that, an explosion of our DAUs and revenue with it.”
“I think if you want the freemium dynamic to really pay out, you need to make sure that the free users are recommending the app.”
Related topics
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More from Opal
All 10 Opal tacticsMore from this episode
- Opal: Test how many app blocks free users get; settle where free users still love it3 free blocks gave free users a great experience while power users still pay
- Opal: Sell the app to schools as a phone policy after students asked for itGrew from one school to many US high schools; front-page LA Times coverage
- Opal: License a stranger's viral video about phone overuse and run it as your adSeen by dozens of millions; still running 1-2 years later
- Opal: Hire a user who posted about you to run her own educational channel for you0 to ~700K followers and millions of views in a few months
- Opal: Add focus streaks with an animated flame and gemstone rewards at milestonesBiggest win of the year for retention and growth; no numbers
- Opal: Let users tap to crack open a gemstone when they hit a focus milestoneThe app's most loved moment; users remember it and talk about it
- Opal: Buy a New York billboard saying "Scrolling Kills" with no app linkNo effect on downloads or revenue; helped close one school deal
- Opal: Hand out thousands of "Scrolling Kills" stickers that don't mention the app