Hard paywall vs freemium

'Proof of pay': ship a real app with a simple onboarding and a hard paywall showing one offer, submit every price you want to test up front, and run Apple Search Ads at the same daily spend (~$1K/day to learn fast; far less works over a longer period). Change only the lifetime price, walking it up: $4.99, $9.99, $29.99, $49.99. Read results directionally (day-one revenue per user), not for statistical significance. If you can't get past ~$4.99, drop or change the concept.

Couldn't outrank an app for a keyword wanted for a client, downloaded it and saw it was undermonetized: #1 for two keywords with ~28 and ~34 search volume, 100-150 downloads/day, one-time $2-3 price, no onboarding paywall. Benchmarked price on a similar client app doing ~$1M ARR at $60/year. Bought it (2022), added onboarding and a paywall (mid-May), went fully hard paywall with a trial at $60/year in June. No new features and no extra downloads.

Same app, same downloads: compared the paywall with a close (X) button against a hard paywall with no X. Watch trial-to-paid: if it holds while trial starts double, the hard paywall wins. Recommended at launch to force a product-market-fit test; exit-intent offers can mimic a soft paywall.

Onboarding order: choose language -> paywall 1 -> onboarding screens -> three trial-explainer screens ('try for free', 'we'll send you a reminder', 'here's how your free trial works') -> paywall 2. Paywall 1: soft paywall, close X delayed 3 seconds, weekly (slightly cheaper) + yearly plans, no trial. Paywall 2: 3-day free trial on the weekly plan, yearly at the same price as paywall 1, social proof at the bottom. Previously there was only one paywall, which carried the trial.

After many A/B tests on price and free trials, landed on a simple soft paywall with minimal onboarding (utility app, no emotional build-up): $59.99 lifetime and $39.99/year with a 3-day free trial.

Previously users finished onboarding and entered the app (home screen, pick a scan / swipe on jobs) and were paywalled at the first valuable action. Tested a complete hard paywall straight after onboarding, with no access to the app. Sprout also switched to a hard paywall and saw better conversion.

The app was freemium for a long time. A toggle mistake on New Year's Eve made it a hard paywall for a couple of hours; conversions spiked with few complaints. They then made it trial-first: to use the app you must start a Pro free trial; if you cancel, you get the free version after the trial expires.

Launched a free-for-life plan and put it front and center everywhere, including ads ('free-for-life ads'), to attract very small price-sensitive maid services who may pay later. Everyone goes through the same signup requiring credit card details, even for the free plan, and gets a 14-day trial with all paid features before choosing.

Replaced a single hard paywall with a multi-step paywall: the product is free forever, but users are invited to try the best version free for 7 days, then asked to keep paying for it. Rolled out with other pricing and packaging optimizations. Phil warns it only suits highly retentive products; hard paywall is right for most apps.

A/B tested removing the end-of-onboarding paywall so users reach the 'moment of maximal intrigue' (their lookalike result) as fast as possible. Works because the app already had ~10 optimized conversion placements downstream (on seeing the result, on sharing, on reopening). Advice: keep the onboarding paywall (hard or trial) unless there is a clearly better moment later in the app to ask.

Core feature is 'blocks' (scheduled app blocking, e.g. social media 9-10am Mon-Fri, or open limits like Instagram 10 opens/day). Tested free allowances from 1 block (too restrictive) up to several; measured two things together: LTV of installs (conversion and payment) and overall retention of free plus paid users, looking for the point where both rise. Landed on 3 free blocks; power users who want more pay.

Onboarding paywall is skippable; users can browse templates (hairstyles, decor, tattoos, cartoons) and upload a photo and write a prompt. On tapping send, they are asked to sign in and then hit a gated paywall; the core feature can't be used without paying.