Paywall Checklist: 6 Areas to Check, Built from Real App Tests

A paywall checklist covers six things, in this order: the plans and which one is selected by default, how the trial is explained, the copy and proof, where the paywall appears, the App Store and Google Play disclosure rules, and how you turn any failed check into an A/B test.

Check plans and trial terms first. In our database, those are the paywall changes with the largest reported swings in revenue.

Every item below links to a real experiment from our paywall test library, credited to the app or team that ran it.

Most of these results are vendor-reported in RevenueCat and Superwall case studies, so treat them as ideas to test, not rules to copy.

1. Plans and the default plan

Start here, because the plan lineup decides how much each buyer is worth. Open your paywall and check each item.

• Two or three plans, not five. A party game app went to a shorter paywall with fewer plans and saw +31% install-to-trial and +64% revenue, in a bundled redesign analyzed by Vahe Baghdasaryan. Mojo hid its credit packs and showed subscriptions only and reported +14% new subscription revenue.
• Don't cut to one plan without testing it. Mojo's yearly-only paywall raised the yearly share by 15-20 percentage points. Stardust tried the same idea and its yearly-only paywall lost on both conversion and proceeds per user.
• One plan is clearly marked as the pick. Rash ID tested three plans with a best-offer badge and reported about +20% ARPU and over +50% conversion to paid.
• Other plans are visible, not buried. Stardust put its other plans behind a "More Pricing" drawer, and that version lost on conversion and proceeds per user.
• The order of plans is a choice, not an accident. Microsoft 365 listed the pricier plan first, and both plans sold more, the personal plan much more.
• The plan length fits how people use the app. Pixelcut tested a weekly plan instead of monthly and got +16% paying customers. dub moved its paywalls toward annual plans and reported +207% LTV.

Our pages on paywall plans and subscription pricing cover the price side in more depth.

2. Trial messaging and timeline

Users hesitate at a trial because they fear forgetting to cancel.

Your paywall should answer that fear before they ask.

• The trial length and the price after it are both on screen. Apple's subscription guidance says the purchase flow for a free trial must clearly show how long the trial lasts and the price billed once it ends.
• A timeline shows what happens on each day. Blinkist's trial timeline paywall brought a significant rise in trial opt-in and 4% fewer trial cancellations. Stardust's timeline design lifted conversion 13.6% with trial-to-paid unchanged.
• The trial offer has been tested against no trial. Stardust added a 7-day free trial on the yearly plan and reported +131% paywall conversion. But one new app dropped its free trial and saw LTV per paying customer go from $35-40 to over $60 in one month, measured before and after by David Vargas.
• The trial length has been tested. Zumba moved to a 7-day trial instead of 14 days and got +8% install-to-paid. A wellness app tested the reverse, and the 14-day trial brought slightly more trial starts but fewer paid conversions.
• A toggle or a timeline is a deliberate pick. Fits ran a toggle paywall against a timeline paywall, and the toggle won by +19% ARPU. Toggles have store-policy risk, so check section 5 before you copy one.

See our free trial tests for every trial experiment in the database.

3. Copy and proof

The copy should say what the user gets, show that it works, and keep the buyer moving. Check each line on the screen.

• The headline names the outcome, not the feature list. Clear 30 rewrote its paywall to preview the program the user would follow, and conversion went from 20% to 30% (+50%), measured before and after.
• Premium is shown, not just described. Unchaind's paywall that previews premium features got over +50% conversion and +64% estimated ARPU. FitnessAI added video to the paywall and saw about +80% revenue, measured before and after.
• There is one piece of proof near the button. A food app's short paywall with a review and a results stat gained +72% install-to-trial. That was a bundled redesign, so the proof alone may not explain the lift.
• Free vs paid is easy to compare. Symmetry's Free vs Pro table produced +1% conversion and +5% paid user activation. That is a small win, so a table is a low priority for most apps.
• Copy and prices are localized. Photoroom's localized upsell paywalls lifted upsell screen conversion 50%. Google Play's policy also lists incomplete localization of pricing and terms as a violation.
• The screen is as long as it needs to be, and no longer. Speak4Me's multi-step paywall (features before prices) won +27% conversion and +36% proceeds. Stompers ran the same idea, and its single page beat the multi-page version by over 16%.

4. Placement

A good paywall shown at the wrong moment still loses.

Map every place your paywall appears, then check these items.

• The paywall appears during onboarding, not only later. Rootd moved its paywall to the start of onboarding and reported 5x revenue, measured before and after. Greg added a paywall in onboarding for everyone and saw about +400% trial sign-ups, with sign-up-to-trial going from 3% to 15%.
• Paywalls match the moment. JourneyStamp showed paywalls matched to the user's context and reported +50% conversion rate (7.3% overall). Wizz showed fewer offers at better moments and saw +81% on the primary offer flow, with LTV up about 20%.
• The free-versus-paid model has been tested. Opal replaced its hard paywall with a free tier and pay penetration fell from 20% to 9%. Our hard vs soft paywall guide covers when each model fits.
• The paywall is not the only ask. Slopes swapped its paywall for a one-tap trial card and got +25% trial starts, with trial-to-paid about the same.

Our paywall timing tests and the app onboarding checklist cover the screens around the paywall.

5. Legal and store rules

Check these before you ship any variant. A test that wins but breaks store rules can get your update rejected or your app removed.

• Required items on the sign-up screen (Apple). Apple's auto-renewable subscriptions page lists the subscription name and duration, what the user gets, the full renewal price shown clearly and localized, and a way for current subscribers to sign in or restore purchases. The app and its metadata must also link to your Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.
• The billed amount is the most prominent price. Apple says the amount that will be billed must be the most prominent pricing element. Google Play's subscriptions policy lists annual plans that stress a monthly breakdown over the real charge as a violation. Mojo's annual plan shown as a monthly price won +45% in Brazil, +26% in Mexico and +8% in the USA, so if you test monthly equivalents, keep the full yearly charge as the main price.
• Trial terms are spelled out (Google Play). Google Play requires apps to explain the trial length, how and when it turns into a paid subscription, what the paid plan costs, and how to cancel.
• The paywall can be closed. Google Play lists missing or unclear dismiss buttons as a violation. BoldVoice tested a hard paywall with no close button and got more trial starts, but refunds rose by more than the gain.
• Nothing tricks the user. Apple's App Review Guidelines (3.1.2(a)) say apps that trick users into buying a subscription under false pretenses or use bait-and-switch practices will be removed. Before you test a trial toggle, read it the way a skeptical reviewer would.
• Web checkout links follow the storefront rules. Under Apple's guidelines 3.1.1(a) and 3.1.3, US storefront apps may include buttons and links to other ways to pay. Elsewhere, that is limited to specific entitlements. Zumba's button to web checkout cut immediate conversions 25% but raised LTV 17%. See our web-to-app guide.

Store rules change often. Re-read the current Apple and Google pages before each release, not just this summary.

6. Turn a failed check into a test

A failed check is a test idea, not a fix to ship blind.

The same change won in one app and lost in another throughout this list, so test it in your own app.

1. Write the failed check as a hypothesis. "Our paywall shows five plans, so cutting to two will raise trial starts without lowering ARPU." Our guide to writing a test hypothesis shows the format.
2. Pick a revenue metric, not only conversion. Many wins above came with a trade-off. BuyBye's 50% higher yearly price lost 19% of conversions but raised proceeds per user 25%. Track trial starts, trial-to-paid, refunds and ARPU.
3. Change one thing when you can. Several results above are bundled redesigns, so you can't tell which part did the work. If traffic is low, a bundled test is fine, but follow it with smaller tests. See testing with low traffic.
4. Wait for trials to convert. A trial test isn't done when trial starts look good. Wait until the trial period has ended and renewals have come in.
5. Pick a tool that can run paywall tests. Our paywall tools roundup compares the options, and the app A/B testing guide covers setup.

Start with the checks in sections 1 and 2. Then browse the full paywall test database or our guide to app paywalls for more ideas.