Paywalls and pricing
Subscription plan tactics
Which plan lengths apps offered (weekly, monthly, annual, lifetime) and how the mix affected revenue. 120 tactics from 84 founder interviews.
Founders mostly tested which plans to show and at what price: weekly against monthly or yearly, a pushed or preselected annual plan, and lifetime options. Price rises usually held or even lifted conversion, and switching from a paid download to a subscription brought some of the largest jumps. Pushing everyone toward one plan was riskier, with several teams seeing annual picks rise but revenue or trial-to-paid fall.
- Moving from a paid download to a free app with subscriptions paid off: Fitbit to Apple Health Sync went from about $200 to $2,000 a day overnight, and Cardstock called its 2021 switch the biggest revenue jump it ever had.Fitbit to Apple Health SyncCardstock
- Higher prices often held: Coconote's move from $99 to $129 a year brought more users and revenue, GlamUp's weekly price tripled to $9 and conversion rose, and MySwimPro raised yearly from $100 to $180 with little conversion change.CoconoteGlamUpMySwimPro
- Weekly plans split results: one AI app made about 3x revenue from the same downloads, and Momego's weekly option nearly doubled trial starts, while Pushcroll saw only slightly more revenue per user and Sway AI grew slower.A niche AI appMomegoPushcrollSway AI
- Ladder sold monthly only until retention was clear, then added a side-by-side annual plan that went from about 0% to 20% of new payers, and about 30% once priced at half the monthly rate.Ladder (1)Ladder (2)
- Narrowing choice to annual backfired for some: Reading.com dropping the monthly trial cut realized LTV 17%, Headspace's annual push lowered trial-to-paid, and one app removing its $1.99 monthly anchor saw sales fall.Reading.comHeadspaceA subscription app
- For lifetime plans, one team raised the price in steps at fixed ad spend and found $29.99 beat $49.99 on day-one revenue, and Apollo raised lifetime from $19.99 to about $30-40 with no change in take rate.An AI Bible study appApollo
Summary written 2026-09-29 from the tactics below. Figures are as founders stated them.
What worked, most detailed first
What didn't work, or only partly
- Drop the $1.99 monthly plan because 90% buy the $10 yearly oneSales went down; the monthly price was the anchor that made $10/year look cheap
- Reading.com: Drop the free trial on the monthly plan to push people to annualMore annual picks, but realized LTV fell 17%; not rolled out
- Value Study: Add a one-time Pro unlock to an app that has always been freeAbout £200 a month, steady; most users stayed free and missed key features
- Use weekly plans for apps people need for a short time, like datingWorks well in dating and follower-tracking apps; fine for cash flow, weaker for an exit
- Split the paywall into two pages, with a 3-day trial and weekly planHurt conversions; host says it works better with yearly plans
- Push the lifetime plan on the paywall right before selling the appKnocks down negotiations; the buyer can't monetize those users again
- Charge $40 a year when most rivals charge $20-25~40% year-one retention; host now thinks a lower price would have done better
- Headspace: Push the yearly plan hardest on the paywall, keeping monthly as an optionMore picked annual, but fewer paid after the trial; went back to equal plans
- Calm: Show only a yearly plan on the paywallMonthly plan was back within 2-3 weeks; observed from outside
- Dipsea: Test sending paywall taps to a web checkout pageRealized LTV down 6% at first; fewer web subscribers turned off auto-renew
- Charge a subscription for a simple flashcard-style appDidn't work; host suggests a lifetime offer or per-deck unlocks instead
Companies in this topic
Benchmarks
- What subscription apps charge · 304 figures
More tactics (97)
- GlamUp: When people close the paywall, show the same plans at 50% off
- Locked: When people close the paywall, offer the yearly plan at half price ($20)
- When users close the paywall, show cheaper plans, then a 33%-off yearly dealNo result given; guest's go-to for apps that already test a lot
- Value Study: Announce 3 months ahead that the free tier ends; lifetime buyers keep accessClear spike in lifetime purchases before the switch; no review backlash mentioned
- Lyzr: Launch with a $10K annual plan, then add $50K and $100K plans25 customers and $250K ARR in Q1; $650K ARR by Q3
- Vaultaire: Keep the app free and sell advanced features, with a lifetime plan at twice the annual priceLifetime is ~60% of purchases and 80%+ of revenue; conversion keeps rising past Day 35
- Cancel subscriptions for people who pay but never open the appHealthier than handling their complaints later; no numbers
- Maxed AI: Charge one low yearly price upfront, about $2 a monthMRR looks low, but ~$14K came in over the last 28 days
- Put the free trial on the weekly plan instead of the yearly planRevenue tripled; the 7-day yearly trial had starts but no conversions
- Raise the weekly price to $9.99 so a $50 yearly plan looks like a dealBeat $6.99/week; more people buying the yearly plan
- App Masters: Price utility apps at $5 a week, $20 a year, or $30 once
- BoldVoice: Show the ~$150 annual plan first so ad spend pays back when trials endCash lands 7 days after install, so each channel's ROI is known at once; no numbers
- Show two paywalls in onboarding: no trial first, a 3-day trial laterStart rate 3% -> 7.7%, sales ~$1K -> ~$3K/month; not a clean test
- Fitbit to Apple Health Sync: Offer $59.99 lifetime or $39.99/year with a 3-day trial on a closable paywall~6% of installs buy; best revenue per 1,000 users of the variants tested
- Career Hound: Charge from day one: $7 a week, $20 a month or $50 a year779 active subs, $12K MRR, ~$50 LTV; 31% churn
- Welltory: Offer just a $99.99 yearly plan with no free trial, but let users close it
- Send yearly buyers to web checkout; keep weekly and monthly in the appAvoids the billing failures and fraud seen on short web plans; no numbers
- Price lifetime at least 3.5 times the yearly plan so yearly looks goodGuest's rule; says cheap lifetime just adds a decision
- Test $9.99 against $6.99 a week, with a $50 yearly plan$9.99 slightly ahead on small numbers; more people pick yearly
- WiseSam: Ask ad visitors many questions, reflect answers back, then offer a $1 first weekFounders say the long quiz works very well; no numbers yet
- Cat on Chair: Give the app away free; sell pro features for $29.99 lifetime or $19.99 a yearMost sales come from the $29.99 lifetime plan
- Waking Up: Charge $20 a month or $150 a year for a meditation app~25K downloads a month bring in over $1M a month (Sensor Tower estimate)
- GlamUp: Triple the weekly price from $3 to $9Conversion rate went up despite the 3x price
- Raise monthly and annual prices 20%, then test another 20%Conversion and revenue per download both rose; second +20% in test
- FaithFull: Test the yearly price at $89 instead of $59
- FaithFull: Label the yearly plan 'Most impact' and say 10% of revenue funds evangelism'Most impact' beat 'Best value' and 'Save X%' labels; no numbers given
- Pingo AI: Offer the free trial only on the yearly plan and hide the monthly one
- Coconote: Charge students $99/year and push the annual plan~80% chose annual
- For a use-it-a-few-times AI app, sell weekly with a 3-day trial3x revenue from the same number of downloads
- Cut the monthly plan; offer annual plus a weekly plan with 3 free daysBig conversion jump per the slide; exact number not read out
- Show two plans, hide the rest behind 'View all plans', preselect annualGuest's standard setup; no numbers given
- Lose It!: Retest higher prices you once rejected; double the yearly price if it breaks evenTest broke even for the first time; rollout matched tests and gives room for paid ads
- Skylight: Raise the yearly plan from $39 to $79, not the $99 tests favoredMinimal loss of subscribers or retention; ARR curve 'transformative'; no exact numbers
- Momego: Replace the monthly plan with a weekly plan sold as 'pay as you go'Trial start rate almost doubled in an A/B test; revenue up significantly
- Swap the 7-day trial on yearly for a 3-day trial on weeklyBetter results than the yearly trial; no numbers
- Cardstock: Make the app free to download and charge $5 a month instead of $4.99 onceBiggest revenue jump ever; growth took off from the 2021 switch
- GlowUp: Charge $9.99 a week or $39.99 a year for unlimited use~70K paying customers; ~$800K in year one; no pricing test reported
- AudioPen: Sell $99/year and $159/2-year plans that don't auto-renew, with a limited free tier5,000+ paying customers out of ~200K users
- Coherence: Give a 3-day free trial on the $40 yearly plan only; charge $10 monthly upfront
- Report each user's expected value at month 13, not what they paid on day oneGuest's main advanced lever; no numbers given
- NGL: Charge power users $1-$7 a week, priced by country wealth; keep the rest freeMulti-eight-figure yearly revenue from a small share of users
- Zumba: Give only a 7-day free trial on the annual plan, priced at $99Trial-to-paid rose from the 30s to ~56%; no drop in trial starts
- Ladder: Pitch annual only to trial users who worked out; offer others a cheap first monthHelped make annual the majority plan; no split numbers
- Apollo: Raise the lifetime price from $19.99 to $30-40Take rate didn't change at all
- Microsoft 365: Show the yearly price as a monthly amount, like $8/month for $99/yearVery successful in an A/B test; no numbers shared
- MySwimPro: Keep raising the yearly price, from $100 to $180, while conversion holdsConversion barely changed at each step (the app kept improving too)
- Ladder: Sell monthly only until retention is clear, then show an annual option side by sideAnnual went from ~0% to 20% of new paying members
- Spend on ads if they pay back by day 366, counting first renewals
- Hevy: Charge $24 a year and don't keep testing prices, so users happily tell friendsGrew to 2M users on word of mouth; guest admits revenue isn't maximized
- Headspace: Label the yearly plan 'best value' instead of showing the dollars savedThe simple 'best value' label beat showing the dollar savings
- Healthi: Charge $30 a year and offer a free version where rivals charge $230-400Guest calls it the 'sweet spot' of Healthi's success; no numbers
- Value Study: Offer a lifetime plan next to the yearly plan50% lifetime, 50% yearly until the Android launch
- Give the weekly plan a 3-day free trial instead of 7 daysHost says it performs a bit better; fewer cancellations is his guess why
- Excel Exercises: Double your monthly price and keep the annual price the sameGrowth took off afterwards; no numbers given
- Shot Pattern: Raise your yearly price to about $75 so paid ads can pay offFounder says it set up profitable paid ads; no before/after numbers
- Cal AI: Charge about $30 a year so your app is the easiest to buyFounder credits it with mass popularity; price tests run but no numbers
- Fitbit to Apple Health Sync: Turn a $5.99 paid app into a free download with a subscriptionRevenue jumped from ~$200/day to ~$2,000/day overnight
- Bickster: Sell lifetime access instead of subscriptions unless the app has real running costsWorks well across their apps; subscriptions drew complaints on one
- Charge about $40 for lifetime access in party game appsHost says $40 works best for these games in App Masters' experience
- Pep AI: Show 'try it free' slides before a paywall with $40/year and $10/month plans
- 3AK: Charge teens $10 a month or $30 a year, below typical training plansTested several yearly prices; no results shared
- Simply Piano: Lean on monthly plans once people keep renewing month after monthHigher LTV on monthly than annual in Simply Piano; no numbers
- Offer phone cleaner apps as a weekly plan with a 3-day trialHost says weekly tends to win across cleaner apps he's worked with; no numbers
- ToneAdapt: Offer a $10 weekly plan next to a $60 yearly plan
- Sprout: Skip the annual plan for a job-search app; sell weekly and monthly via Stripe
- Sway AI: Preselect the yearly plan on the paywall to collect cash upfrontWeekly plan also tried; grew a lot slower
- Halo AI: Charge $8.99 a week after a free trial, with extra offers when people leaveWeekly has worked best so far; yearly tested and dropped for now
- Sunflower: Add a yearly plan and pre-select it on the paywallAdding annual brought some annual revenue; defaulting to it brought 'a lot more'
- FollowBuddy: Offer a free trial, then weekly, monthly or $50 yearly plans; push yearly
- Coconote: Raise the annual price from $99 to $129More users and more revenue at the same time
- Judge a new lifetime plan against what a subscriber pays over timeTests otherwise wrongly crown lifetime, e.g. 250 vs 100 instead of 250 vs 300 euros
- Yousician: Use monthly-plan renewals to set a warning threshold for yearly-plan test winners
- Skylight: Make every first purchase cover what you paid to get the customerEvery order in company history paid back on day zero; grew without VC money
- Drop the free trial on the monthly plan so people pick yearlyPretty good success across App Masters apps; watch annual trial-to-paid
- Pushscroll: Make everyone pay: a hard paywall at about $30 a year~4,000 paying customers from ~300K downloads
- WrestleAI: Offer the free trial only on the yearly planBrings in 'a lot of' yearly subscribers; no split given
- Payout: Offer weekly and yearly plans, and nudge people toward yearlyPaywall 'converting really well'; no conversion rate given
- Opal: Charge $120 a year and pitch it as paying for itself in work timeGuest says it unlocked very high LTV; no figures beyond price
- LinkedIn: Offer a two-person plan at 20% off, plus a big annual-plan discountBoth offers retain better; no retention figures given
- Let people buy the cheaper yearly plan but pay for it month by month
- Ladder: Test annual prices, lead the paywall with annual, and add annual-only featuresAnnual members now outnumber monthly; payback periods very tight
- 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: Show only the yearly plan on the paywall; tuck monthly one step deeperNearly everyone switched to yearly; no numbers
- Give a bigger annual discount and nudge more users to the yearly plan
- HabitKit: Charge $0.99 a month, $6 a year or $15 for lifeNever tested; hosts bet doubling would roughly double revenue; price test planned
- Offer 7-day passes, weekly plans or one-off packs next to your subscriptionPlay says hybrid apps, often from Asia, do very well even in the US; no numbers
- Opal: Charge about $100 a year from the start, after launching at $69Credited with reaching 100% 8-day ad return quickly
- Headspace: Show the yearly plan's per-month cost, with a cartoon character pointing at itHelped shift sign-ups toward annual alongside the price change; no separate numbers
- Ask engaged monthly subscribers to switch to yearly a few months in
- Put a hard paywall with one lifetime price on an app ranking in search
- Simply: Try weekly plans for a skill that takes months to learnTested in some apps; none offered now
- Glam Up: Lock every app behind a paywall with weekly or monthly plansUsed on apps peaking at $150K and $250K MRR; no test reported
- Sell weekly plans instead of yearly onesWeekly worked better than yearly; no numbers
- Elephas: Sell a one-time lifetime plan next to monthly and yearly, raising prices over time
- Pushcroll: Test a weekly plan against a monthly oneWeekly won, but only slightly more ARPU
- Clear 30: Test $30, $40 and $50 yearly pricesSettled on $30/year; no test numbers shared
- Shot Pattern: Add features users already want, then double the price to $75 a yearPrice now ~$75/year; no separate conversion impact reported
New tactics every Monday
The week's founder interviews, boiled down to what they did and what happened.